With two dozen young people, a dozen helpers, half a dozen projects, a dose of fun and games, a dollop of Bible teaching and a degree of trepidation we stepped excitedly into the melee of Mission 2025!!!
Everyone arrived with eager anticipation on Monday morning ready to be organised and orientated for an action-packed few days. After some team-building, an introduction to the theme of the week and some lunch it was straight off to Hawbush Gardens where Ken led us to a large overgrown area that needed some serious sorting.
So with loppers, shears, rakes and electric cutters we all piled in there and after a couple of hours our army of young people saw victory over the wild weeds! The fun of make-your-own pizza was then followed by a bonfire complete with marshmallow and digestive s’mores before returning to ACC and a few games before bed.
Each morning after breakfast there was some time spent in small groups and a chance to delve into the Bible teaching on the Fruit of the Spirit. With activity and discussion there was much to take in about how God wants to grow in us qualities such kindness, joyfulness and peace so that we can become more like Jesus in the way we think and the things we say and do.
Our first expression of this on Tuesday was by litter picking in canoes on the canals in Kinver. Everyone paired up and with varying success tried to steer in a straight line whilst getting each other soaking wet! The litter picking seemed to take second place though to be fair there wasn’t that much to be found in such a picturesque place.
After a canal-side picnic there was more serious work to be done in the afternoon, clearing a very poorly man’s garden in Wordsley and cleaning and painting a church hall in Brockmoor.
After showers at the Dell and a lovely meal back at ACC we all headed over to Arise church who had kindly agreed to host us for a worship evening along with their own young people. A brilliant time of singing, dancing and a powerful message about God’s immense love for us from Ben Willmott ended a fantastic second day with many lives touched by all that was said and done.
Wednesday was even more action-packed with everyone divided into smaller groups to cover a plethora of projects such as clearing a flat, visiting a care home and helping at kids clothes project, food bank and a Hawbush families event.
Another delicious meal back at ACC was followed by the return of the epic Among Us game which saw the church transformed into a spaceship in danger of being sabotaged by alien imposters unless the trusty crew could avoid being killed and identify the enemy. It was great fun and thankfully with so much help, turning the church back into a ‘bedroom’ took a lot less time than the hours of set up.
‘Bedroom’ and ‘sleep’ are not always synonymous at Mission and apparently there were significant shenanigans, although the planners and perpetrators of such nocturnal pranks may never be truly identified and to be honest we’d actually rather not know!
Thursday was our last day together and we had the privilege of a trip to visit Willowdene Farm near Bridgnorth. With strong connections to ACC they do an amazing rehabilitation work there helping men and women in very challenging circumstances to overcome the difficulties they face and turn their lives around. Check out their website
After a brief introduction about the farm our young people were given the challenge of rounding up two fields of sheep into one small barn – much easier said than done! It took a while, involved a lot of random running around, used up a lot of youthful energy and was very entertaining for the onlooker with greater admiration and respect for sheepdogs duly earned.
After lunch the young people were divided into two groups with half entering the well equipped on-site workshop to learn some crafting skills as they made and decorated wooden planters whilst the other half returned to the barn where the still captive sheep were to be weighed and wormed. Again, it was a joy to observe both groups at work and see so much fun-filled learning take place as youngsters found out how to handle difficult tools and even more difficult sheep!
Before we left, the generous folk at Willowdene provided yet another hearty healthy meal, having given us so much time and attention all day. It was a brilliant end to Mission week as we headed back home tired but full of grateful thanks to God and to every young person, leader and helper for such a successful and fruitful week.
We’ve already received much gratitude from those who benefitted from our young people’s hard work…
“It went so well. Everyone was so happy to see the youth and they loved the experience. The youth were all fantastic, Chase in particular did a great job, he was confidently going and speaking to people which was lovely to see x”
“Could you tell the mission team that came to the South Street foodbank today, they were brilliant, it was a pleasure to have them. They did Amblecote proud. Please let them know we had 25 vouchers, covering 61 people in total. That’s 579 meals over three days, they helped put up. Thank them all for their help in achieving this today.”
“Really good team, was able to get lots done. They were a lovely bunch x”
Heartfelt thanks go to everyone for all the practical and financial help, prayer, encouragement and support we received in the planning, preparation and delivery of Mission 2025. We are very grateful.
– Emilia, Joy and Andy