connecting the festival youth...

Sorry and Goodbye for now!

2008-02-23T11:24:00.003Z

To the few people who read this blog regularly, we're sorry that we won't be blogging anymore. However please come and join us over on facebook - search for the group Cliff College Festival. Hopefully this idea will work much better over there, where people can interact with each other and everyone can post topics! Hope to see you soon!

Thanks for reading over the time this blog has been running - God bless you!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10160148153

Is there anyone there?!

2008-01-31T12:18:00.000Z

Hi there!
Please could you drop a hello in the comments if you regularly (at least every couple of weeks) call in on this blog? We're trying to establish how many people read it. Could you also say if you are a member of any social networking sites like Facebook etc, as it may be more useful to set up a festival youth group there - much more interactive!
Thanks!

promises promises...

2008-01-22T12:04:00.000Z

Hello to everyone who visits this blog, Happy New Year! As I sit here writing this article, I can't believe we have started another year. I wonder what God has in store for you? I have been looking at the Methodist Covenant Prayer and wonder how many of us really understand what we are saying when we say this prayer at the beginning of the year? Do we say it because we're told to, or do we really think about it?

It is an awesome prayer, I've added it at the end of this post. We say that we give up our right to decide what we do in our lives, and give everything to God. In Luke 9:23 Jesus says 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.' As Jesus' disciples we must be ready to do what he wants, what is HE asking YOU to do this year? Its not easy to follow him, but with the help of the Holy Spirit it is possible. God can use us all, we just need to remember that everything is possible through the one who strengthen us. (Phil.4:13)

Right at the end of the prayer, the words mean that hopefully the covenant we have spoken will be acceptable to the Almighty. So I pray that as you go through this year you will experience the power of the Lord, Father Son and Holy Spirit, as you rely on Him for everything you could possibly need. Have a read and see if you can say it and mean it?

God's Blessings, Brenda

I am no longer my own but yours.

Your will, not mine, be done in all things,

wherever you may place me,

in all that I do and in all that I may endure;

when there is work for me and when there is none;

when I am troubled and when I am at peace.

Your will be done when I am valued

and when I am disregarded;

when I find fulfillment

and when it is lacking;

when I have all things,

and when I have nothing.

I willingly offer all I have and am to serve you,

as and where you choose.

Glorious and blessed God,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

you are mine and I am yours.

May it be so for ever.

Let this covenant now made on earth

be fulfilled in heaven. Amen.

Pub crawl with a difference!

2008-01-15T15:07:00.000Z

One evening in the final week of term before the Christmas break, around 15 staff, students and Cliff community members went carol singing in the local pubs in the neighbouring villages of Baslow and Calver. Although there weren't many people in some of the pubs, those who were there thoroughly enjoyed what we did; some clapping loudly and giving us requests!

Although sadly we would never have got through the first round of the X Factor, one person commented that she was thrilled at how good we all sounded after virtually no practice, particularly the spontaneous three part harmonies! One pub landlord asked if we could go back every night that week! It must be quite boring in his pub!

We sang a few carols in each pub, gave out free mince pies and collected over £80 for a local charity. For us at Cliff, this is one practical way of getting involved with our local community.

It sometimes feels as if the true message of Christmas is squeezed out more and more, as we focus on presents and even what's on TV, it was fantastic to bring something of the truth of the Gospel into the pubs around here. As we sang the most amazing words in many of the old carols, we truly sensed God at work.

Maybe this is something you could try next Christmas in your area?

Did you get up to anything in your area for Christmas? Drop us a note in the comments and let us know! Have a great 2008!

Sue

prayer...

2007-11-20T10:46:00.000Z

Hi! Brenda here! I have just been on a weekend mission with a team of seven to Bangor in Wales. The mission was about doing evangelism in the ordinary places. Looking at the place where God has placed us and seeing the mission field around us. This is something most of God's people are trying to do, praying for the leading of the Holy Spirit to show them just how to be more effective. The one thing that is exciting for me is seeing how so many of God’s people really want to see God’s kingdom coming into people's lives.

At Bangor we were giving them encouragement in what they were already doing and then looking outside of the box at other ways of sharing the Gospel message. The people were very interested in taking the ideas and picking the ones that they could do. One thing we must all do is to ask God what are the God ideas and what are our ideas and discerning between the two.

One of the things that the church took up was doing a prayer walk. We arranged to prayer walk with them and just doing something practical was very good. They knew their area and pointed out land marks to pray for, and this was something they found very beneficial and actually they could do on a regular basis.

Have you ever considered your local area and the places that may be in need of prayer? I pray Gods’ Blessing on all that you are doing in His church.

mission, mission, mission!

2007-11-02T14:18:00.000Z

Below you'll find some short accounts of our various mission weekends!

Bury St Edmunds - Sue Peat
I went with a very excited bunch of students all the way to Bury St. Edmonds….we definitely travelled the furthest! After a long journey involving many sweets (and a random pork pie…ask first year Matt Davies about this!) we finally arrived at the small Methodist church we were working at for the weekend. We did all sorts of things during the weekend, including workshops, an awesome labyrinth and church services. God challenged all of us – church members and Cliff team members alike. It was great to make some new friends and be part of what God is doing in Bury St. Edmonds.

Chesterfield: Heath and Holmewood - Lee Reddyhoff
The thing that was most impressive about this mission was the way that the team had a lot of fun. In this there was a real sense of pulling together and mutual support. This is what came accross to those within the church that we dealt with. One of the comments that came back was how much the team seemed to be friends as well as working together. We were able to have a number of good conversations with people from outside the church fellowship, which hopefully will lead to some people joining the Alpha Courses that the church is planning to run. Please pray that these people will come.

Hackenthorpe: Sheffield - Linda Egerton
The Bus on the Delves - 'Because You're Worth It'
The Cliff Team joined in with the Church Mission Team on their usual Friday visit to the Delves area of the local council estate. We accompanied members of Christ Church as they visited elderly folk, and those who were not so well, in their own homes for a chat and a cuppa. Some of us stayed on the bus, served drinks and chatted with passers-by. We prayer-walked the area, delivered 300 flyers (with information about the presence of the bus and the service to be held on the Sunday), and cleaned up all the litter and broken bottles around the take-always, the pub, the school and the flats around the 'village green'. On Sunday morning we joined with the early prayers (7.30 am - who says students can't get up early!) and enjoyed ourselves at the 9.00 am service at Christ Church, before making our way down to the Delves to lead an outdoor service. The team set out tables and chairs outside the derelict shops, offered drinks and biscuits to all those around, led prayer and a discussion about LOVE and finally played and sang worship songs.

The result of this weekend of relational mission was that the team made many new friends, not only amongst the Bus Mission Team but also the local folk. The local community is used to seeing young adults 'terrorising' the area after dark and they were attracted to the young people from Cliff, who looked like all other young people, but who cared, shared and served them. The weekend was such a success that not only the Christ Church Team asked the Cliff students to come back but also the local people, who have since told me they really enjoyed the outdoor Sunday 'service'. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of Cliff student teams joining in with the Christ Church Bus Mission on the Hackenthorpe Estate.

Lincoln - James Wallace
The mission that went to Lincoln was the biggest mission team that went out from Cliff College, there was seventeen of us in all. The mission was focussed on prayer most of all as we did a lot of prayer and detached work on the streets of Lincoln which included joining the Lincoln Street Pastors on the Saturday night which was a fantastic experience. One of students was even able to pray with a night clubber. Other detached work involved using a minibus called the God Pod on Saturday afternoon which was also a great success. There where many other activities including church breakfasts and church services which the team led. However, the great success story happened on Saturday moring when four of the students led a service at Lincoln Men's Prison and three of inmates made the decision to become Christians and get baptised. So please pray for contined work that is happening in Lincoln.

Rotherham: Swinton - Eva Walker
Our team of seven headed off on a convoy to our mission venue in Rotherham.
During the long journey (just over an hour) we kind of lost each other, but it was fun, because we got there almost at the same time. We had an amazing time on mission, because we saw God evident throughout the weekend, we saw God evident in the lives of the people from the churches (young and old) that we spent time with. We had a very busy programme starting with time of sharing with the church people, a drop in for the young people with lots of games, food and fun... (why is it that the youngsters are better than some of us at
buzz: big quiz?!) ...After that, believe it or not, we had a sleepover.... Again, I think we should change the name to awakeover, because nobody wants to sleep (apart from us oldies, ha!)
Then Saturday and Sunday were amazing throughout the different activities. We built amazing relationships with the people there and we look forward to see some of them again. All we can say is that God uses people no matter who they are if we allow him and offer ourselves to him. God is in the business of changing, transforming and saving lives. I love being part of his mission. What about you? Remember, he can use you in an amazing way!

Sheffield: Victory Assembly Conference - Brenda Emms
Cliff College team had been invited to lead a faith sharing weekend with the young people of Victory Assembly Church. Starting with a getting to know you event on the Friday Night, around thirty young people attended and the evening had many difficulties but God was definitely in it all. As the team reflected on the evening we turn to God for His inspiration. The whole of Saturday event was around looking at Moses and how God had called him to lead his people into the promised land. We encouraged the young people to look at God, maybe He was calling them to lead their friends into the promised land. The scripture verse which we used to encourage the young people was from Phil. 4 v 13’ I can do everything through CHRIST who gives me strength’. The group did many things, watching a clip of Prince of Egypt leading on to them doing a drama about what they had watched. But one of the moving things for me was when the team set up prayer stations, and encouraged the young people to use them. They did to great effect, they prayed to God and we prayed for them. They were also very eager to pray for us, which is very humbling. At the end of the day we had been asked to lead the youth group in the topics of sex before marriage and peer - pressure, the team members led this with sensitivity on two very difficult subjects. The whole team praise God for His faithfulness to us His children. A great time was had by all.

Telford: Wellington - Helen Edwards
Our weekend in Telford started with a great night with the youth of the church. We had a 'Battle of the Sexes' which I am sorry to report that the boys won! We had a good laugh seeing various people covered in flour, and chocolate covered flumps! On the Saturday morning we were involved in children's work, a big coffee morning, and a failed attempt at face-painting - only 3 kids were painted and all the old people refused! Saturday afternoon brought workshops and the evening a meal and student testimony afterwards - its always great to hear what God has been doing in people's lives. We led the service on Sunday morning, focussing on the story about Jesus walking on the water - and challenging the people in the church to not stay in the safety of the boat (the church) but to climb out and go and join Jesus on the waves (in the world) to see all the amazing things he's doing there.

Our next whole college mission time is just before Easter, from 7th - 16th March - and we have the opportunity for volunteers to join us for the mission. We're working with churches in Chesterfield, and the mission is part of Hope08. If you'd like to get involved get in touch!

All off on mission...

2007-10-18T15:55:00.000Z

We're all heading out on mission this weekend (19th-21st Oct), for our normal faith-sharing weekends. We're sending a total of 9 teams out to a variety of places throughout the country - 3 teams to Lincoln, 2 to Sheffield, then Bury St Edmunds, Chesterfield, Rotherham, and Telford! All the students are busy doing last minute prep, packing and panicking!

Its quite a scary thing to do for lots of our new students who have never been involved in missions before - staying with people you've never met before, in a church you've never been to before, and being expected to talk about your faith which you may not have done all that much before coming to Cliff!

Every time we go on mission we come back with special stories of what God's been doing during the time we have been away - and all of those students who are a bit scared and worried are going to have a great time and realise that God is definitely big enough to look after them - and give them loads of great opportunities to share their faith too!

If you're reading this before we go, or while we're away please take a moment to pray for us and the work that God is doing in people's lives through the Cliff teams out on mission.

Hope you're all well, God bless you!

Our new Student Evangelists!

2007-09-19T13:47:00.000Z

Hello from Brenda...

Hi, my name is Brenda Emms and I live in a place called Hull - it has been my home for around fifty years. It seems very strange to be writing about myself but here goes! I have three children and 1 grandchild. My first daughter is Louisa who is 33 and lives in South Africa; she decided to go around the world and when she arrived in Cape Town she fell in love with the place and stayed. She now works as a volunteer enabler for her own company. My second daughter is called Tessa, she is 29 and works in a Bank. She is married to Paul who is in the Army. And then there's my son Ian who lives at home with me, he is 27 and a mechanic. Last but not least is my granddaughter Abbie who is 10 and a great treasure, she has bought so much joy into our family.

In 2005 I came to cliff on a Gap year, and the year was full of great experiences. God showed His great awesome presence to me in many ways. One of these experiences, was going away on mission to Norway, seeing God work through the team was awesome. But after the year ended I returned home and believed that God would open up the next door, but this did not happen. In fact God ask me to wait upon Him, this lasted a whole year. I had never really understood what it meant to be laid aside for God, but now I do, this year has been special in many ways for God has been doing some amazing things with me. And now He has called me back to Cliff as a student evangelist, our journeys are often not what we expect, but with the Lord we always have the confidence that He knows what He's doing!

And Hi from James!

Hello Everyone! I’m James Wallace but most people call me Jay and I am one of the new Student Evangelists at Cliff College. So I just thought I should say hi and say a couple of things about myself.

I’m in my fourth year at Cliff and have just finished my degree in Theology. I did this over the last three years which was a real challenge considering I have dyslexia but God has been totally amazing and it’s a real privilege to be able to work at Cliff. The only other stuff you really need to know about me, is that I’m originally from Liverpool, support the Everton and I am getting married next summer!

September Strikes Again!

2007-09-06T14:39:00.000Z

Hi Everyone!

Sorry we haven't been writing over the summer, but life gets really busy for us as a department after Festival - with summer missions, graduation and our students leaving, and then other mission work, visits and meetings - and of course some very welcome holiday time!

We're all back at work now, getting our up and coming missions sorted out and planning for the reurn of the students on 15th!

Grace and Louise (our student evangelists last year) have left us now *sobs!* - but we have been joined by two new ones *cheers!*. Brenda and James will introduce themselves sometime very soon!

We're all off to Amsterdam for mission and some retreat/team planning time, so please pray for us over the next week as we talk to prostitutes and others staying in a Christian hostel, and spend some time praying and thinking about the coming year. Particularly think of us as we have to leave Cliff at 4am tomorrow (Friday) morning!!!! ;)

Hope you're all well - keep in touch via the comments! God bless, Evangelism Team :)

Festival Highlights!

2007-06-07T15:13:00.000Z

Hi Everyone!

We're back online now after recovering from Festival - we all had a great time this year and hope you did too! We'd love to know what were the things you enjoyed most - what were your highlights? Either respond through the comments section, or send us an email to festivalyouth@gmail.com and we'll create a series of posts written by you about this year's action.

What did God do in your life? Did he show you or tell you new things about himself and his massive love? What were the brillant moments with friends, and the funniest things that happened? Get in touch and let us know all the cool stuff that's been happening - send us your pics too!

Hope to hear from you all soon!

2007-05-17T09:25:00.000Z

Bowling Trip for Young People!

Festival is approaching fast and we are working like crazy to get ready for you all.

At the moment I am organising a Bowling trip to Chesterfield. Because of the Bank Holiday Weekend, we need to book in advance to have a secured place.

The trip is planned for Sunday afternoon on the 27th of May.

What I need to know is....

1. Whether you are coming
2. and your age

You can let me know asap by writing a comment to this post.

We can't wait to see you all next week....

For now....have a good time and full of God's blessings.......

2007-04-23T08:55:00.000Z

Change….change…..change….

Festival is approaching fast....Are you excited? Well, we are! Not only excited, but also busy making sure that you guys have a fantastic time while you are here. And of course praying that God’s power and joy will fill our hearts and minds during that time of celebration….

But, what is new?

The venue of the Youth Work

The name of the Youth Work

The leaders of the Youth Work

The band of the Youth Work

Let me explain...

The Youth Work this year is not going to be called ‘Area 51’ anymore, but will have another exciting name….have you got any suggestions?

The previous leaders, Matt and Yaz, are now parents and therefore not leading the work anymore. The two new wonderful leaders are Mick Walker and Graham Edwards. You will love them! Our very own Ian Coles, Lee Redyhoff and James Wood will be part of the worship band.
There will be a programme in the morning as well as the meeting in the evening.

The venue is going to be 'The Haddon Room'. It is situated underneath the canteen....it is bigger than the previous one and it is closer to the campsite.

We look forward to the exciting things that are going to happen this year.

What about the afternoon, some of you might be asking?

Well, there will not be a free minute for you out there. The Detached Team will keep you very busy. Amongst other things, we will be playing crazy golf, volleyball, football, rounders, frisbee. We are going to have a ‘photo’ competition…and we are going to have a trip out bowling (limited numbers, so make sure that you sign early!)

And of course, the Chill Out tent will be open from 11.00 pm to 1.00 am for all you that like staying up late and chatting and having fun.
More information on the Festival will follow. We can't wait to see you all here and take a journey of discovery with you.

In the meantime, enjoy life, have fun, be good and trust in God!

HELLO ALL

2007-04-20T14:23:00.000Z

Hope you have all had a great time over the Easter break, well, that is, if you like us, had one. I was especially pleased that the weather was way better than the usual April showers. In fact, I think that I, yes, even I, the one who is always cold, experienced the sensation referred to as 'pleasantly warm' by my English friends. It seemed to me that the sunny weather made everyone extra jubilant on Easter day as we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Not that one needs sunny weather to celebrate such an amazing act of God for all people.

A CONFESSION AND REFLECTION

I confess that although I like beaches, I tend to stay away from them when I am in England. During the Easter holidays, I happened to be somewhere around Skegness, I was led to the beach for a walk. It turned out to be a freezing experience. My earlier cravings for ice cream soon disappeared. I ended up sitting miserably all by myself on a bench. I was just getting ready to descend into self pity when I became increasingly aware of the people around me. There were many families having fun on the beach, even though I was cold!

So, instead of feeling sorry for myself I decided to enjoy the scene and use the time to reflect on life. This is my reflection on that experience - it is quite interesting to think that sometimes Christians can be so focused on themselves and how things are not so great that they forget how amazing God is, they forget His deep and life changing love for all people. If people tried to remind themselves in all situations of God's love for them and the power of that love, as the story of Easter demonstrates, well, if I tried to remember this at all times, I would not be half as miserable as I am sometimes when I concentrate all my attention on my issues (real and imagined issues).

The Evangelism Department at Cliff, I am glad to say, is nothing like me. It is as lively and jolly as ever! Hallelujah!!! All are eagerly looking forward to the Festival. Many truly wonderful plans are being made and everyone is working hard towards the great event (well, everyone except me, my brain seems to be on holiday!). I hope you are all coming and bringing your family and friends with you. I also hope that you will all come with great expectations and in anticipation of the wonderful things that God has in store for all of us.

See you all soon.

God bless

FRIEND FOREVER

2007-03-10T08:54:00.000Z

Good Morning!

I wonder how many of you are marking the Lenten Season?

A number of people in College have given up various things, the usual suspects like chocolate and puddings others have started new things! yes, new things, some weird and others not so weird.

Anyway, last night as I sat at my computer working, I started to think about what Lent and the whole Easter season meant to me? I am a very complex human whose thought pattern can be extremely convoluted but for some reason last night my thinking was as clear and refreshing as fresh coconut juice drunk straight from the coconut itself under the hot African sun, with the breeze tickling your skin aaaahhhhh, utter bliss. (sorry, I'm suffering terribly from homesickness). If you've never seen a coconut with its juice, feast your eyes on this beauty....

As I munched on the whole idea of Lent and Easter, I came to rest on one thing - friendship. Yes, friendship.
Now, I don't know what you are like with your friends but I am certainly not the easiest person to be friends with. But for some reason my friends don't leave me and I seem to make new ones even when I am not trying. The strangest thing about it all is that I am not particularly chatty or trendy or fun.

As I write, I am thinking about two of my freakiest friends - a Yorkshire man called Twist 4 Eyes and the other is called China, she's from China.

I disagree on matters of food with my Yorkshire friend - He likes pork pies(yuck!) and I prefer scotch eggs. He swears by marmite(disgusting!!!) and Henderson's Relish but I delight in Robertson's marmalade and hot chili sauces. I bet you all agree with me. don't you?

I have battles with Miss China about clothing. She likes pinks and purples I dwell in blacks and blacks.
She waves skirts under my nose but I think trousers are one of the best things ever made. what do you say to this?

Now, why do Lent and Easter make me think about friendship? I think that the greatest story ever told about friendship is that of Jesus - greater love had no one than He who gave His life for His friends. Jesus came into this world, lived and died and rose again for everyone who had and would ever live in this universe. All because God loves us and wants everyone to know His love.

Have you ever heard this song? - What a friend I've found
closer than a brother...
Jesus, Jesus, friend forever...

The friendship Jesus showed whilst on earth and the friendship He offers now is the best thing ever. This is because we can know that if He loved us enough to die for us then He really loves us. Nothing we can do or not do can change that. I feel so rotten when I start to think of the many, many, many, many times when I have ignored Jesus and not appreciated His friendship and amazing love.

This Lent and Easter season take time to think about Jesus' offer of friendship for now and all eternity, yes, all eternity... He will always be there for you and me.

I had another thought last night maybe this Lent and Easter season, you and I could start a 'friends appreciation' time. What do you say?

God bless you all

ps. you can meet Miss China and Mr. Twist 4 Eyes, when you come to Festival.

2007-03-02T14:46:00.000Z

Your favourite film?

Yesterday I went to the cinema to see ‘Music and Lyrics’. Has anybody seen it yet? I thought it was going to be very girly, but it was in fact very funny. It made me think about past and present.

The main character (Alex Fletcher) had been in a band in the 80’s, and now he didn’t know what to do with himself. He had lost hope in the fact that he could write for the people of today. Instead, he continued to live in the past, by playing and singing in reunion parties…..

Sophie helped him to move away from the past and look forward to the future.

As I was watching the film, I started thinking...

Do I live in the past or do I look forward to the future?

How has my past shaped the way that I live my life today?

What is my vision for the future?

What about our churches? Do they relate to the people of today, or do they live in the past days and experiences?

It is good to ask ourselves these questions, and to learn to trust God with the now and the future.

So then, what is it that you hold dear of the past and what is it that you are hoping for the future?

(Apart from chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate!)

Thought about becoming a student?

2007-02-20T11:53:00.000Z

At this time of year lots of people are starting to think about what they'll be doing next September, going to uni - leaving uni - starting a new job etc.

If you're heading to uni in September have you thought about having a year out at Cliff? Or even if you weren't planning on uni at all! We accept people from age 18 onwards, you don't need loads of qualifications - and we promise you a great year (or longer if you decide to stay)!

Strange they are, students!

Most of us in the office here were full time students at one time - some of us SO many years ago now when most of you were still in primary school!

Our current 'champion' football team!

If you don't know what you're doing in September - no matter what age you are - perhaps God wants you at Cliff? You'd have a great opportunity to learn loads about him, the Bible, theology and get involved in mission all around the country - plus obviously the chance to be involved in festival too! You'll spend time with some amazing fellow students and learn so much from each other through the year, deepen your faith and grow in confidence massively in talking about faith with other people.

If you're into Facebook check out the group Old Cliffians for loads of people who used to be students happily remembering their college days!

If you're interested and want to have a chat with someone about it all before applying drop an email to evangelism@cliffcollege.org with your phone number and someone will give you a call!

We hope to hear from you soon!

Hot Topic

2007-02-13T12:10:00.000Z

There is a really serious issue under debate here at College. Students and staff are divided over this question and we'd like to get your opinion:

Rich Tea Biscuits - Good or bad?

Personally I usually avoid them and would go for a nice custard cream or digestive instead, but there is a core of Cliffians defending the humble biscuit. What do you think?

My Spoon Booked!

2007-02-03T23:17:00.000Z

Hi everyone!

Just a quick one to let you know that My Spoon are booked to play at Festival LNE again this year - they've been fantastic the last two years and so we're really glad they're available to come and lead worship again for us.

The band are busy gigging etc - why not check out their website at http://www.passthespoon.com/ or their MySpace page http://www.myspace.com/myspoon and see if they're going to be playing somewhere near you?

They're disappearing on the Saturday of the Festival to play a gig at a festival called Firm Foundations that they had booked - so that means we're bandless for LNE that night. What I'm trying to work out is whether we should have a completely different night perhaps without a band... or have a special guest band for the night? Maybe you could pop your thoughts on this into the comments!

Hope you're all well - have you booked for festival yet?!

NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS

2007-01-23T09:29:00.000Z

I wonder if you make New Year resolutions…I don’t but for some weird reason I have a feeling that there may have been a time when I did. If I ever made any, I probably forgot them before the 7th of January. But why do we bother making them in the first place? By the way, did any of you make a New Year resolution? Would you like to share them with us?

There seems to be something attractive about them many people make new year’s resolutions every year – you know – eat more salad and less chocolate (totally unrealistic!), be more loving and caring, learn a new language (bonjour, gracias,…) , start dancing or singing classes etc. The thing about resolutions is that you either feel under pressure to keep them or you just forget them or if you are iron-willed you may keep it going till say, March or April and then slightly modify them, in order to make them achievable so that you don’t feel so bad about yourself.

I think that people generally make resolutions they think will help them be better people than they are. We always want to outdo our siblings, neighbours and friends (we may not want to admit it though); we want to look better than ever, dress more trendy or whacky, depending on what your particular reaction is to the contemporary styles. I personally have no sense of style neither do I have any idea as to what is in vogue or not, do I care?...hmm…err…hmm…let me think…hmm…err… NO!!! I happen to be very old fashioned by the way.

I think I prefer to have hopes and dreams or heart-felt desires instead of resolutions. My best and only strategy for doing anything about my hopes and dreams or heart-felt desires is sharing them with God. I share them with God because I know that without Him there is no point to them and without His help I may not even get to dream or imagine these things. I know that without God my dreams and hopes are empty, nothing…

By the way, God has done for me many of the things I have dreamt about and hoped for over the years and I know that there is more to come, for all this I give God the thanks and praise. In fact one of the things I hoped for this year has already been granted. For that I say a big HALLELUJAH!

Try sharing your new year’s resolutions, your hopes and dreams, your whole life with God and see what happens…

I hope you have all resolved to come to the Festival this year and every year.

Au revoir mes amis I shall go now for I feel like getting myself a cup of tea.

God bless you all xxx

Happy New Year!

2007-01-10T17:02:00.000Z

I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year………. I certainly did!

Have you made any New Year’s resolutions?

Here are a few of mine…..

Cut down on brussel sprouts...

Eat more salad (don't take the gherkin out of a Big Mac!)

Spend more time with my duvet!

Apart from these highly important resolutions I’ve made to myself, which I fully intend to keep, I’ve made a few promises to God…..

To pray more

To spend more time reading the Bible

To try to be more like Jesus in all that I do

Why not join me in making some promises of your own to God?

Something really important to remember is that we’re not on our own in all of this. God has promised to us to be with us always, by the power of his Holy Spirit.

He’s also promised that when we mess up, and don’t always keep our promises, He’s still there for us! God ALWAYS keeps his promises to us!

How amazing is that?!

God bless you this year, I hope you all have a fantastic 2007!

See you soon……Festival is just 19 weeks away!!!

Christmas fun and farewells

2006-12-18T13:54:00.000Z

We had a busy week last week at College – something Christmassy happening almost every night of the week! We started off on Monday with our yearly Christmas concert – I’m sorry to report that as Evangelists we never got our act together so we were forced to just sit and enjoy everyone else making a fool of themselves! Maybe Vicky Pollard will make an appearance next year… or not! Some of the highlights included some stunning musical talent – and a love song from our Principal Martyn to Clarence the Frog!

Tuesday we were out in the community with the local churches, with a live nativity called ‘Follow the Donkey’ – we started at Calver Cross, and ended up in the stable at the farm behind the Craft Shop, and were entertained by puppets telling the story along the way!

Wednesday was our annual Christmas Dinner, as you can see on the pic we’re all dressed up posh – probably the only time in our whole year when people make quite such a big effort! A couple of students went for alternative clothing arrangements this year as Father Christmas and his helper turned up! …wouldn’t have been allowed in my day (mutter mutter) !!!

Grace and Sue all festive...
(I'm going to be in so much trouble for adding this pic!)

Finally Thursday was our end of term carol service, where all the students and staff – and lots of people’s families and guests gather down in Cliff Hall for worship. This year’s was organised entirely by Mike, one of our 3rd year students and included among other things the Cliff Choir, Drama Group, James our resident rapper, and our Student Union President Darren who preached. It was a really good before saying our goodbyes for Christmas to worship together and to think about how Jesus came as one of us – and how now we should live as him amongst our families, friends and community.

The students all went home either Thursday or Friday, but we’re still here for another week working hard (sympathy please??!) – so keep chatting to us through the comments to keep us entertained!

We all hope you have a fantastic Christmas and experience something new of Jesus during the holiday time!

GIFTS, GIFTS, GIFTS AND MORE GIFTS, HOORAY!

2006-12-05T15:34:00.000Z

Yes, it is Christmas time again. Is there anyone out there like me who tries to guess what presents they’ll get?

Well, I do it every year. I try to guess what I’ll get and I really get so excited waiting for Christmas day so that I can open my presents.
I always like my presents but the problem is that I do not do anything with some of the things I am given. When I get them I am really excited but I kind of forget them… well, actually, I eat the chocolate and sweets etc. then forget the others, stupid huh?!

I feel really bad when I go through my stuff and discover things I was given at Christmas two or three years ago which have not even seen the light of day for ages! Recently, I gave away one of the things I was given for Christmas and I felt better because I felt that the gift could be used by someone else and not just sit somewhere in my room Christmas, after Christmas, after Christmas…

While I was thinking about all this a thought popped into my head... I just wondered if sometimes I treated Jesus, God’s gift, like the way I treat some of my presents – you know, stuffing the gift somewhere…and forgetting all about it…

What do you say to all this?

2006-11-29T16:08:00.000Z

Good afternoon,

I hope you have had a good week so far and that you have learnt to accept people around you for you they are......( and also accept Jan Leeming...although she seems like she is changing daily for the better)

Well, it is all work over here, but Christmas is almost here! Praise God!
I have already put up some lights on my windows and will be decorating the Christmas tree this weekend.

Tonight we are going to have a Christmas Baazar at college. I wasn't planning to go there...(opting for cinema instead), but somehow I am now officially 'Santa's little helper'.....Help!!!!!!!

I hope it will be fun, but will report once it is over.

I blame one of the other evangelists for what is happening.....and she is in so much trouble!

Joking apart though, it is a very special time of the year as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Sometimes we get too focused on presents and forget the greatest present of all times.

I am preparing a sermon for Sunday and I am thinking of hope, the hope that we find in Jesus because he came on this earth for us....and the hope of living everyday to the full with Christ, in a way that pleases him.

So, any of you out there doing something strange and wild during this season?

We usually have a Christmas Cabaret and we are thinking of maybe playing some of the characters of Little Britain (if we have time to prepare).....ssshhhh...we don't want the students to know, hahaha

May God's hope and peace be with you all this Christmas season!

Get me out of here??!

2006-11-22T14:43:00.000Z

Hello!!

How’s everyone doing? My life right now revolves around work (some boring, some less boring, and some really exciting!) and telly! I’m well into X Factor – come on Ben!!! And I’m a Celebrity Get me Out of Here - how annoying is Jan Leeming?!!

The thing that I’m reminded of when I watch I’m a Celebrity is that God has called us to live on this earth with a variety of people. Some we love, some we just cope with and some we flippin well can’t stand! Some people absolutely drive me crazy! But God says to us, ‘Love them all!’ Show patience to those who are irritating; show gentleness to those who are angry; show love to those who are far from lovely.

It’s a challenge isn’t it? Humanly speaking we can’t do any of these things very easily. It’s natural to fight back, to want revenge. With the Holy Spirit working through us though, and with a determination to live as Jesus wants us to, it IS possible!

As I’m writing all this, I’m realising that Jan on I’m a Celebrity might actually be a really great person, if people would just stop and get to know her!

What do you think about all this?

God bless and have a great day!

Hello from the Cliff Evangelists

2006-11-13T15:56:00.000Z

Dear all,

First of all, a huge congratulations to Matt and Yaz! It has been great having them for the past festivals and we are going to miss them this year. The good news is they can stay connected to all of us through this blog (if and when they find time when the baby goes to sleep...etc...etc).

We wish you all the best guys!

Well, this is the first time that we (evangelists) will be writing on this blog.....Well, do you know us? It will be good for you to get to know us, as we will be writing quite a bit on this blog....give you extra info about the coming Festival, talk about the weather, about the films, 'I'm a celebrity, get me out of here'....a random day at the office...etc..etc..

We would love to hear from you and find out what you think of different issues.

At the last year's festival there were three evangelists, but two more student evangelists are part of our team now.

We are posting pictures of all of us....(strange, we know!)

You need to guess who is who....(even if it is random guessing...it will be a laugh!)

God bless, have fun and be good!

news, news, news

2006-11-09T15:15:00.000Z

Hello there everyone!

First of all... Sorry the blog's been a bit quiet recently. Yaz, who does most of the blogging, has been really ill for 3 months. But she's getting better now and has contacted Cliff to try to get some more people blogging for you!

We’ve got a bit of festival youthwork gossip for you… The good news is Matt and Yaz are having a baby! Woohoo! But the bad news is that it means they wont be leading the youthteam at next year’s festival :-( We’re not sure what’s happening yet, but will keep you posted.

The other bit of news is that the evangelists at Cliff are going to be doing a bit of blogging themselves to keep the blog going and updated more often. It will also mean that you’ll hear a bit more about Cliff life through the year.

Hope you are all doing ok!

write some raps!

2006-06-05T09:27:00.000Z

One thing that can be such a come-down after something like Festival is going back to your own church the following week and feeling like God has been left behind in a tent somewhere and that the worship/prayer/teaching you experienced was all just a dream. I know I certainly had that feeling yesterday sat in a methodist church that had the feel of an old people's home as we HUMMED (yes, i said hummed) happy birthday (because we didn't want to get too over excited).

So what do we do? Well, we could all just leave the church and just hop from one Christian festival to the other, living permanently in tents and never really getting clean. However, I'm not sure that's a good long-term answer! Camp food for a week is ok, but a lifetime? No thanks.

One thing we can do is get involved. Try to change things. Craig our rapper has written up his raps and said we can put them on the blog for anyone to use. Even better they might inspire some of you to write your own (put them in the comments so we can have a look!). You don't even need to rap them, you could just read them in church. So get writing and get asking your minister/youthworker/anyone if you can read them and get involved in making your worship at your home church what you want it to be.

I look to return to the places i've previously been
things i've infrequently seen
revelations of a heart that manifests the father's love
I've stood in this place in a life that now seems left behind
a time in which i loved my Lord - strength, soul, heart, mind
But somehow in the year that's passed I've seen that passion dwindle
swindled from my birthright, Lord would you rekindle
that flame would you reign deep inside of me
would your love shine from my eyes sharing heaven's glory silently
I struggle to reconcile your grace
when i'm presented with the hurt that's caused when i think of that face
yet in this place
in the face of a years apparent waste
i remember
the tender words that render worse that I could live a life of freedom as if it was cursed
I am the worst of sinners
an absolute begginer
only able to stand through the mercy of your hands
pierced for my transgressions
so that i could learn lifes only worthwhile lesson
that while all earthly things fade and and all worldy wisdom ends
I could have no greater love than this
To lay down my life for my friend.

****************************************************

Uncomortably I stand
Mic in hand
hoping to enter the presence of the almighty
though this might be the hundreth time
somehow like the bread and the wine
it cant fail to excite me
But ever so slightly - I feel unsightly
Still failing to grasp that i need only to seek, knock and ask
so i speak to God of the past
the present the future
put into sharp focus by the words Jesus spoke
so that no man can convolute the
message
His breath is near.
Carressing every ear that is open to hear the blessings
And yet I stand here confessing
I still dont fully understand why I have a hand in it all
So now to the call.
Open your hearts.
Set this moment apart.
May this be a time that our Lord can treasure
A time we can look to and say "that was the beggining of forever"
as shoulder to shoulder we stand in the community of the redeemed
the only thing we really have in common is the unity of Jesus holding us in such high esteem
But that will always be enough.
so that through tearful eyes we can bring
the greatest words that a child can ever sing
But i trust.

late night on site you never know what you might find!

2006-06-02T21:39:00.000Z

what is the blog?

2006-05-31T17:07:00.000Z

The team realised that we'd given you lots of flyers about the blog, but didn't explain what it was!

It's the website for Area 51 and all the young peeps at Festival. The team post here through the year, letting you know whats going on, anything relevant and anything we think you might be interested in, as well as random things that pop into our heads!

We post when we can, sometimes more than others!

If you would like to contribute something there are 2 ways. You can leave a comment on a post, or if you fancy you could write your own post and e-mail it to festivalyouthteam@hotmail.com and we'll add it to the blog! You could send...

- what you thought of the festival
- what you got up to at the Festival
- share some testimony of what God did in your life at Festival
- let us know anything interesting your youth group's getting up too!
- send us any photo's that you'd like to put up
- any websites that you think we should list

So get e-mailing coz we'd love to hear from you!

turtle power!

2006-05-31T16:48:00.000Z

we're home!

2006-05-30T22:02:00.000Z

Everyone home now?

What were the highlights of the festival for you?

Youthteam loved...

*my spoon unplugged in area 51!
*meeting lots of you again and some for the first time.
*ninja turtle power
*listening to God with you peeps
*knowing that everyone on site was looking for our gnome!
*westy's zone's beatboxers and craig's zone's rappers - awesome!
*scoobee-mania
*sleeping in a building rather than a tent! sorry all you campers...

so what did you like??

we're here and the sun's shining!

2006-05-26T18:42:00.000Z

Well some of the youthteam has landed at Cliff and we're busy setting up! The sun is shining and we're feeling good! See you at 2pm tomorrow for the drop-in.

weather update!

2006-05-25T18:43:00.000Z

We're pleased to say the sun has been shining all day here at College and the fields are better than we'd dared to hope they would be! So, basically, you'll be pleased to know you're not coming to a swamp tomorrow! However, you may still want to be cautious and pack the wellies and waterproofs as a bit of rain has been forcast.

Can't wait to see you there!

meet noah...

2006-05-25T13:03:00.000Z

Noah, Noah-the-Gnome, is packed and ready for Festival 06. He's a recent meber of the youthteam and has been giving us all some make-up tips (check out the lippy!). His hobbies include fishing, sky-diving and foreign travel. In the past he has worked as a undercover spy and been sent to dangerous places like 'Granny's Garden' (GG for short). He hates the stereotype that Gnomes have of being lazy good-for-nothings who sit around all day. Noah also does alot of work for charity and has set up a rehab programme for Gnome-nappers.

Noah's going to be hanging around onsite and if you are one of the lucky people to spot Noah, you need to get him to Area 51 (the youth venue) asap and claim your prize! So make sure you are on the look-out when you arrive!

See you there!

meet the team!

2006-05-25T11:10:00.000Z

Meet Sam and Nick. Some lovely peeps from Reading who are new to Cliff this year (so be gentle with them!)...

We got married on April 8th this year! And it was the happiest day of our lives! We met whilst working for HMV on Oxford Street in the summer of 2001.

Nick Hook:

Aston Villa Fan

Loves Football & Cricket.

Also Loves Music: Fav's include: Puressence, Interpol, Bell X1, Depeche Mode, Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, Jeff Buckley, Kent, Damien Rice, Kasabian, The Killers, Muse, Placebo, Radiohead, Sufjan Stevens, The Sundays, The Wannadies, Manics, The Stills, Rufus Wainwright, The Cardigans, The Cure, Garbage, Sneaker Pimps to name just a few!

Fav Food: Italian

TV: Lost & 24

Film: Spinal Tap

Samantha Hook:

Teacher of Drama & Dance (secondary & sixth form)

Fav Music: Counting Crows, Jack Johnson, Puressence, Damien Rice, Joni Mitchell, Eddi Reader, Matchbox 20, Paul Weller, Pete Yorn, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Jewel, Alanis Morissette, Brendon Benson to name just a few!

Fav Food: Chocolate!

TV: Lost, 24, Dawsons Creek, Big Brother.

Film: 10 Things I Hate About You

welly warning!

2006-05-24T20:12:00.000Z

Calling all you campers... you may want to pack some wellies for this year's Festival. It's been raining like Noah's Ark here at Cliff and the fields are looking a bit on the soggy side!

We're not ones to be put off by a bit of water, so pack the funky wellies and bring it on! Waterslide anyone?

meet the team!

2006-05-24T20:01:00.000Z

Yeh! Renie's back again this year at la festivale! She's a cool chick (prob all those discount monsoon clothes!) with a weak spot for trashy tv, but a big heart 4 God...

Name: Renie Gray

Job: Monsoon Head Office London

Favourite food:Chocs, crisps,sweets and lots of other healthy food

Favourite Film: Point Break (Bank Robber Surfers with a Passion)

One of my favourite Bible Bits: Hebrew 12 "Running the race with perservance, forgetting all that is behind and pushing forward to win the prize Christ has called us to"

If I could Go Anywhere: Bondi Beach for surfing lessons, Whistlers for snowboarding lessons, New York Soho to shop (no lessons necessary), Ibiza to dance, A nice pub with a fire to chill & write my journal in..

Most Embrassing Moment: Tend to have one everyday, just watch me and you'll see what i mean

Favourite TV show: Sad but true....I loved "Celebrity Love Island" last year & Ship
Wrecked 2006, but I'll be cool and add in Lost, The Apprentice, Eastenders, Hollyoaks, T4 and to be totally honest I'll no doubt get sucked into Big Brother in a couple of weeks time. Getting a theme of Trash TV anyone??

One of my Biggest Influences: Cheesy but true...My Mum is an inspiration to me, she lives each day with a passion for God and for other people, she spends her entire life using all the many gifts and talents that God has blessed her with to serve others.

meet the team!

2006-05-22T19:21:00.000Z

Meet Jason, currently a Cliff College student. He'll be able to tell you all you need to know about what student life is like when you're 24/7 at Cliff! Check out the photo (eeek!)...

Profile: I am 40 yrs old have two children Jack and Mollie, my wife's name is Helen and we come from Southampton where I was a window cleaner for 10 yrs.

I came to the Lord in 1998 after a bad sort of background.

Helen and myself are looking to move on to a Council Estate back in Southampton and work for the Lord there.

This is after I finish at Cliff which will be the summer of next year, one more year to go.

This is me before the op...

.

detached team

2006-05-22T19:00:00.000Z

detached team

The detached team– Eva, Marc, Heather, Darren, Gaz, and Moses will be around the site all day every day, so we hope that you will soon get to know them. They will be organising the afternoon activities and also be around in the Chill Out tent…

chill out tent

The Chill Out Tent opens at 11.00 pm every night (after LNE). You will find it on the camp site at the Broadbelt/Eagles end. Come to chill, eat, watch, play games and chat. It is a great atmosphere and we look forward to see you there.

Here are a few photos from the Chill Out Tent last year...

afternoon sports

2006-05-22T18:40:00.000Z

Afternoon Activities

This year’s afternoons are looking really exciting. Make sure that you don’t miss out!

Volleyball Competition- Saturday afternoon

You will find this just before you get to Broadbelt/Eagles. (Follow the signs!) There will be notices and a sign up sheet in the reception area.

Football Competition– Monday afternoon

For those of you who love football (and you should, with the World Cup around the corner), we are going to organise a Football Competition in the football ground (you will find it at the end of the camp site, close to the road. Follow the signs and the crowds!) Again, do not forget to sign up!

Rounders - Sunday afternoon

Last year, this game was very popular and by great demand we are going to play it this year. Again, the place would be the Football grounds and you must sign up!

dance workshops

2006-05-22T18:37:00.000Z

Dance Workshops– Saturday & Sunday afternoons

For all those of you who love a workout and dancing, our very own Darren Middleton, a professional dancer and dance instructor will be leading you through this time. The workshops are going to happen on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, in the old library in the Main building (follow signs!). There will be a limit of twenty people per class, so you will need to sign up fairly quickly. There will be a sign up list at the reception and you can sign up from the moment you arrive on site.

Don’t miss out on such an opportunity!

getting excited now!!

2006-05-22T18:14:00.000Z

Beware of the weather!

It seems like it is going to rain for the rest of the week. Keep praying that we have wonderful weather for the Festival weekend…..If it continues to rain, we will have the chill out tent open in the mornings and/or afternoons where there will be indoor games to play…..But, let’s pray for sunny weather!

Are you the Cliff College Renegade?

This is the question that you must ask anybody and everybody around the site. Everyday, somebody (The Cliff College Renegate), will be going around the site, and you should try and find them, and the bounty (prize) will be yours.

There will be a different prize each day for the person that finds the Cliff College renegade!

how are you coming?

2006-05-22T09:46:00.000Z

And we don't mean car or campervan! We mean what are your expectations about God this year? How do you feel? Are you coming feeling like the last time you really hooked up with Jesus was last year's festival and there hasn't really been much mail between you since?

Or maybe your coming with stuff on your plate, you're busy: exams, girl/boyfriend, family, school?

Maybe you've got a question on your heart for God. What options? What college? What shall I do about x,y or z?

Or maybe you're coming feeling well up for it, you and Jesus are sorted and this is another opportunity to get closer.

Well, I expect you think the last one is the right one. It definately looks the most sorted one. But we on the youthteam reckon that they all are ok. However you come - not really to the Festival, but to Jesus - the point is that YOU COME.

God's not worried about where you've come from, he's worried about where you're going.

So, what about taking some time out this week. Not hours, but maybe just 10mins and saying to Jesus that you want to get closer to him, not just for a weekend festival, but for life.

meet the team!

2006-05-22T09:05:00.000Z

Well, not long to go now! I can tell you that the youthteam are well excited about seeing you all on friday! Not to mention panicking about all the prep we still need to do! How are you lot feeling? What are you most looking forward too??

Here's a bit more info on the team...

Some of you might remember Tom from last year. There was a lot of debate about how old he was! No-one would believe he was just in year 10. Well, he's year 11 now so watch out! You can see him here with the band on bongos...

Name : Tom Penn

Occupation : Student (apparantly...i sleep lots and work little, so must be right)

Hobbies : Acting (messing around pretending to be other people), drumming (hitting things with sticks), singing (warbling), football (running around a field for 90 mins trying to kick a pig's bladder), art (making a mess) and photography (clicky-whirring thingy)

Favourite film : The Lion King

Favourite people : My family, my friends, my God

Interesting fact : I'm scared of feet

***********************************************
Now who could forget Craig: beat-boxer, fatrunner and all-round groovy guy...

Name: Craig Young (AKA Cruci!!!)

Fav food: kao phad gai (mainly cos it's funny when you say it in a Thai accent!)

Fav colour: Blue

Fav things: Reading FC, Writing a heavy lyric, Westy's beats!

Most recently bought cd: Sway - This is my demo.

Fav TV thing: Beauty and the Geek.

Fav film: Teenwolf. There is no other film worth watching!

Fav Quote: "I've got a talent in my pants" - Chris West 2004.

******************************************************
And finally for now, Matt Finch: crazy hair = crazy guy...

name- Matt Finch

job- Methodist Minister- working with lots of old ladies!

favourite food- dark chocolate

if you could go anywhere in the world where would it be- A little place in
India called Darjeeling its in foothills of Everest

favourite tv show- Spooks- its the best program ever

film that you think everyone should watch- The Lord of the Rings- they are
just fantastic and inspiring

if you could take 3 things onto a desert island what would it be? My laptop,
a really comfy bed and book about gardening!

who would you most like to throw a custard pie at? Anybody who plays for
Ipswich Town FC

who's the biggest influence on your life? An old man called Denny Driver, he
used to pray for me and talk with me about God and life. If I hadn't met him
I might not be a Christian today.

who would you most like to have dinner with? This is really boring but two
really amazing theologians/writers, Dietrich Bohoeffer and Leslie Newbigin

what's your biggest disappointment? Alton Towers

most embarassing moment? I turned up to do a funeral and I had forgotten my
suit. I had to borrow sombody elses and it was about five sizes to big. I
had to keep pulling up the trousers because they were falling down and I
looked a right wolly!

interesting fact: Elephants can't jump

if you could invite one person to the festival, who would it be? Yaz, my
wife

meet the team!

2006-05-10T11:24:00.000Z

This is Gem from Reading, recently married to Chris and loving it...

name: mrs g j west

fav food: fajitas

fav colour: green

fav things: my husband, jesus and shoes

most recently bought cd: embrace (love it)

fav TV thing: LOST

fav film: for giggles-mr deeds, for love-the notebook

fav ice lolly: FAB!

that's it!
one love

meet the team!

2006-05-08T17:38:00.000Z

Meet Kimi from Norfolk...

Hi, I’m Kimi.

I’m a student at UEA in Norwich studying Occupational Therapy. Which I’m loving and the first year has gone way too quick. Enjoying student life too much!

I love dancing; my dancing society at uni performs at the club nights on campus a lot to songs like All That Jazz to Gwen Stefani. I’ve also done Irish dancing since I was 6 and helped run the best dance group in the world at my church back home that is the amazing Ely.

I have quite random taste in music, I like my oldies like Michael Jackson and Aretha Franklin and then I like Alanis Morrisette and Jamiroquai and my Irish folk of course.

And meet Chris from Reading...

-Chris West aka Westy

-Full time student/youth worker

-Never been kissed

-World record holder for 'most amount of people
beatboxing at the same time'

-6ft tall with great legs

-Best friends are Gem and Jesus

-Love being married and laughing at my wife being
silly all the time

Thats it I think!

bishop in hoodie

2006-05-08T16:25:00.000Z

It's great when you hear about a vicar/minister/church leader getting it right for once and that's why I was so pleased to hear about Bishop John Sentamu wearing a hoodie as a sign of solidarity with hoodie-wearing young people who have been stereotyped by the media. In a bid to stand up for young people he said that,

"Ninety-nine per cent of those who wear hoodies are law-abiding citizens."

And he went on to say,

"We have a lot to learn from young people as well as much responsibility for them."

Often the world judges us by how we look, sadly the church sometimes does too. What I think Bishop John is trying to convey to us is the truth that Jesus does not look at what we are wearing, but at what we are like inside.

Rock on Bish. Read more of the story here.

meet the team!

2006-05-08T14:51:00.000Z

Well, we're hoping that over the next couple of weeks we'll be able to introduce you to some, if not all, of the youthteam that will be at festival 06. Now, we may not be rich or famous, but we're well up for making this year's festival one that will go down in memory. Imagine the reunions in 20 years time, when you get together and say, "ooo... do you remember that year at cliff college festival... you know the one that *insert memory* (the sheep ate the tents/the marquee blew away/we stayed up all night singing in a field etc). So we thought we'd introduce you to some of the team who are going to be catering for your every need!

Meet Yaz Finch - ex-cliff student; was at festival 05; co-leads the youthteam with Matt.

I'm married to Matt and I don’t have any kids, pets, farm animals or infectious diseases.

We live in Norfolk where there are a lot of vegetables and not many nightclubs (but plenty of illegal raves).

I am a full time student at Sheffield Uni and am meant to be working on a PhD. PhD does NOT stand for Polishing, Hoovering and Dusting.

I also work as an artist and paint abstract modern art. The dining room is currently my studio and I hope our landlord doesn’t notice all the spilt paint.

My favourite food is currently avocado mixed in a blender with soya milk, frozen fruit and a bit of honey. YUM.

If I could live anywhere I would move to a sleepy little town called Soriano, in Italy. We go there every winter on holiday and the locals can’t understand why we like it so much!

3 weeks to go!

2006-05-05T09:08:00.000Z

Well folks it's only 3 weeks to go until we squeeze in the overloaded cars and head on over to Cliff College for another year's festival! The youthteam are working away 24/7 (well, nearly...) to make it another great year.

This year we have a few new faces and a few new things to add to the programme. One thing some of you may be excited to hear is that we have a new team member, Kimi, a uni student at Norwich, who is a great dancer and has run a dance group for a couple of years and will be running some workshops for all you keen dancers

Another big source of excitement in the youthteam is that on night 1 we will be having the one and only My Spoon as a guest band to lead our worship! Woo whoo! And we have managed to talk them into doing a special 'up-close-with-my-spoon' zone to take some questions and get to know you a bit better. So, if you're interested in that make sure you're there early on night 1 and get signed up!

labour of love

2006-04-10T18:55:00.000Z

For those of you who thought art homework was a chore, check out James Pepper, author of The Pepper Bible. He has spent 18 years copying out the bible by hand as an illuminated manuscript, just like the old monks used to do!

You can have a look at his project here.

new web bible study

2006-04-08T16:53:00.000Z

For those of you out there who are wanting to go a bit deeper with your bible study and quiet times, or maybe you never know where to start and could do with some ideas... you'll be pleased to know that ex-Cliff tutor and all-time Old Testament guru Paul Ashby has started an online devotional/bible study website prayerandbiblestudy.com.

There's a reading and thought for everyday packed with loads of juicy little bits of info on the bible, thoughts of what it means to us today and a few ideas for how to get real with God and live our faith. We love it and hope that you do too!

aqa

2006-04-02T12:53:00.000Z

What do you want to know?

Well with AQA - Any Questions Answered - you can get any question, any time answered! You text your question to 63336. It can be anything from 'What is the capital of Turkmenistan?' to "What shall i have for dinner?'

It's Sunday afternoon here and we have just asked 'What shall we do this afternoon?' It recommended a walk in the country, nice. We were tempted to text back, 'But I'm in prison...' but we thought that at 50p-a-go (so watch out) we'd just chuckle to ourselves.

Check out here for more info.

****UPDATE**** The AQA website says it's £1 a go, unlike the magazine article we read that said 50p. We think the website is probably the correct one so be careful with the phone bills!

planning!

2006-04-02T12:26:00.000Z

Well folks, we're pleased to say area 51 planning is well and truely underway! We had a meeting at Cliff this weekend and we are all v excited about what we have in store for you guys. The theme for the week is 'chosen' and we'll be running the afternoon drop-in sesh and the evening area 51 sesh again like we did last year.

The team willl be slightly different this year with a few new faces and, of course, we'll have a few new cliff students hanging out with us as well.

If you've not booked in yet, get going! We're going to have a great time and we don't want you to miss out!

..so what are people giving up for lent?!

2006-03-02T16:41:00.000Z

i thought about chocolate...and then cups of tea..
but to be honest, i would eat haribo and diet coke insted..

..i found www.shipoffools.com and it has a great lent plan..with no lack of chocolate in sight!

woohoo!
check it out!

dubble comp

2006-02-22T20:38:00.000Z

Fancy a month's supply of Fairtrade chocolate?

Over on the tearfund youth site they're offering just that. Dubble are celebrating the launch of their new website www.dubble.co.uk and have offered 30 bars of chocolate as a competition prize.

Simply answer the following question and complete the tie breaker.

Question: What is the name of the co-operative that produces the cocoa beans for Dubble? Hint: you may find the answer at www.dubble.co.uk

Tie breaker: In less than 20 words describe an original way of promoting Fairtrade.

E-mail your answers to liftthelabel@tearfund.org before the end of Fairtrade Fortnight - 19th March.

moan moan moan...

2006-02-19T22:29:00.000Z

Sorry to hear the general moans about the youth blog not being updated enough. All the people who build and contribute to the blog do it in their spare time because they love Cliff and the Festival and wanted to provide something for the youth who come to the festival that is a bit more funky than the general cliff site.

At the moment there's no way that cliff can afford to employ someone to maintain the site or do the youthwork at the festival and so we're doing the best we can. It has to fit in between fulltime jobs, local church and youthwork, visiting family and friends, cooking a meal, feeding the dog etc etc...

The comments space is a place where you can post what you want. If you want to have a chat/start a debate/let us know what you're up to/chat about faith or ask a question/make a suggestion then you're welcome to use the space for that.

Or, if you're feeling very keen you can always write a draft post and e-mail it to us at festivalyouthteam@hotmail.com and if we like it we'll use it.

Otherwise, please remember we're doing our best!

meet phil smith...

2006-01-31T14:22:00.000Z

today we have a guest on the blog! meet Phil Smith, all round trendy bloke, Traidcraft employee and Festival regular. He's agreed to dish the dirt for us here on the youth blog about life, working in fair trade and his favourite team...

Hi Phil! Welcome to the festival youthblog! Tell us about yourself.
Hey y’all! Phil Smith here, former youth-worker in Darlington and now working hard at Traidcraft in Gateshead. Who am I? DJ, footy fan, driver, uncle of three (soon to be four), god-father and all-round nice guy!!!

At 10.30am on a Monday morning where would we find you?
Sat at my desk, working hard fighting poverty through trade. Hmm… perhaps that is not the most descriptive answer I could give... I work for Traidcraft (think fair-trade) and my job is to encourage and assist people who want to sell/use fair-trade products in their school/churches/offices. Another part of my job is to develop Traidcraft’s work amongst young people and encourage you lot to buy fair-trade.

What’s your dream holiday?
Went to south west Ireland a couple of years ago. It was great so I’d probably go there again or maybe to Cuba.

Do you believe in God?
Yes, yes a thousand times yes!

What’s your favourite website?
Howies they have the coolest clothing and a really good ethical policy- so the clothes aren’t saturated in chemicals and workers aren’t abused…

If you had a really big decision to make, what would you do to help you make it?
I’d probably ask my fiancé zoe, consult a few wise Christians I have on speed-dial and ask the boss to help me make the right decision… and then I’d go for it.

What football team do you support?
Liverpool, Champions of Europe.

Why?
Spent the first eight years of my life in Liverpool and then lived in Manchester for ten years. While living in Manchester I got bullied a bit for supporting the mighty reds as a result it became a bit of a die hard commitment.

When have felt closest to God?
Probably a couple of years ago when I was studying at Cliff. That was a real special time, in what remains a really special place.

What’s your favourite CD?
Probably Joshua Tree by U2. But just bought the Arctic Monkeys CD so think that might be playing a lot over the next few weeks.

how stupid are these...?

2006-01-26T13:23:00.001Z

just preparing for leading a service and its all about God accepting because he loves us not because we obey lots of laws and rules that the church is so good at creating. I have discovered some different stupid laws from around the world so how about these...

In England...
Beds must not be hung out of windows
All Englishmen over 14 are meant to carry out two hours of longbow practice a week under the supervision of the local clergy.

In France...
It is illegal to park or land a flying saucer in any vineyard in France.

In that wonderful country USA...
In Alabama it is against the law for a driver to wear a blindfold while driving their vehicle

This is my personal favourite for USA...

It is illegal to wear a false moustache that causes inappropriate laughter in church

If you know anymore stupid laws I would love to hear them. And try not to strive to hard for perfection with God, he accepts us as we are!

how stupid are these...?

2006-01-26T13:23:00.000Z

just preparing for leading a service and its all about that God accepts because he loves us not because we obey lots of laws and rules that the church is so good at creating. I have discovered some different stupid laws from around the world so how about these...

In England...
Beds must not be hung out of windows
All Englishmen over 14 are meant to carry out two hours of longbow practice a week under the supervision of the local clergy.

In France...
It is illegal to park or land a flying saucer in any vineyard in France.

In that wonderful country USA...
In Alabama it is against the law for a driver to wear a blindfold while driving their vehicle

This is my personal favourite for USA...

It is illegal to wear a false moustache that causes inappropriate laughter in church

If you know anymore stupid laws I would love to hear them. And try not to strive to hard for perfection with God, he accepts us as we are!

don't mess with grandma

2006-01-23T10:49:00.000Z

Take a look at this! Very funny.

teamwest is the best!!

2006-01-06T13:31:00.000Z

woohoo!

you've seen some pix..here are some more! seriously, getting married is a fab thing to do!

Craig mc'd, Greg drummed, Renie looked fab..it's all good!

ever wonder wot my spoon are upto?

2006-01-05T21:23:00.000Z

there we were new years day wondering what to do and sam woods who was at the same house as me decided to look online and show me the 'my spoon' website.

sorry all you festival youth that we haven't put this up before. go and check out the wonderful band's site and leave them loads of lovely comments!

New Years resolutions...

2006-01-04T22:58:00.000Z

...what were yours? I've never really been a great beleiver in resolutions (mainly as I can never stick to them!). And my lack of tolerance for other new years traditions has only grown stronger having read ridiculous websites like this...

"Global Good Luck Traditions
With New Year's upon us, here's a look at some of the good luck rituals from around the world. They are believed to bring good fortune and prosperity in the coming year...

ENGLAND - The British place their fortunes for the coming year in the hands of their first guest. They believe the first visitor of each year should be male and bearing gifts. Traditional gifts are coal for the fire, a loaf for the table and a drink for the master. For good luck, the guest should enter through the front door and leave through the back. Guests who are empty-handed or unwanted are not allowed to enter first."

Now correct me if I'm wrong, as I haven't strayed north of Watford for a while, but the last time I looked we never did anything of the sort! Anyways, this year I decided to bite the bullett and go for it...

My first was very simple...actually post something on this Blog...and i've only gone and done it already on the 4th of January...I can sit back and koch for the rest of the year now!

My other resolution was to be less slack in keeping in touch with friends, so this kind of helps fulfil that one aswell. Apologies to all of you who I haven't e-mailed when I said I would. It's really poor of me, but I'm so looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible at Cliff this year. In particular - Amy - sorry for not sending you a copy of beautiful one, but we haven't recorded our version still and I cant really send you the Tim Hughes version! - and Brett - I deleted your number from my phone, so drop me a text if you see this.

That's me for now, I hope you are all well. Keep it Cliff.

Craig.

P.S. www.myspace.com/cruci

ever wondered what cliff college does at christmas?

2005-12-21T20:44:00.000Z

Thanks to Steve Wilde (see picture) for telling us what the cliff college community has been upto as it prepares for christmas.

Steve says...
"This year has been a very full programme
On Friday 9th December we took part in ‘Follow the Donkey’ a village live nativity with the Parish Church, Curbar Wesleyan Reform and Calver, Bakewell Methodist. Starting outside Calver Post Office and ending on ‘Stocking’ Farm it was brilliant with 140 people taking part one of our MA students Sunday Plinney and his wife Sarah played the part of Mary and Joseph with 10 day old Timothy as Jesus. Evangelist Sue Peat shared the message and we even had three ‘Punk Rock’ Angels who sang the Robbie Williams song ‘Angels’
On Monday 12th December we had the College Concert in the Chatsworth room which was hilarious Martyn the principal played his guitar and sang as did tutors Pete Philips and David Firth.
Tuesday 13th December saw the delicious Christmas Dinner with guest speaker Rev Ernie Grimshaw former Cliff student and Royal Navy Chaplain who came to Cliff in the late 1970’s unable to read and write he said ‘I owe everything to Cliff’if Wednesday was the years college Carol Service in the Cliff Hall it involved the whole community. Tutor Stephen Skuce shared a wonderful message and the college choir sang two items.
On Christmas day the College Chapel plays host to local churches who will all come to share ‘All Age’ Christmas Worship this service will involve a 4 foot cloth frog called ‘Clarence’ who will be a policeman ….the mind boggles"

Happy Christmas!

hunt for the best cracker jokes!

2005-12-15T17:13:00.000Z

now then, it is that wonderful time of year when we get all excited about what might be contained in our christmas crackers. who cares about the hat or the plastic presents that get thrown in the bin, the thing we care about is the jokes! The jokes that are so bad that they hurt, the same jokes that appear year after year, the jokes that just aren't funny but without them our christmas would not be complete!

below are some jokes that have been found in crackers already, as you can see they are so unfunny that they are painful! Here goes:

Q: why don't ducks tell jokes when they're flying?
A: because they would quack up!

Q: How do you make gold soup?
A: put nine carrots in it!

Q: where do fish get their petrol?
A: shell!

Q: why was Cinderella no good at football?
A: because her coach was a pumpkin!

Q: why don't robots have brothers?
A: because they all have trans-sisters!

So there you go folks, lets hope that your cracker jjokes are as good as them. if you come across any better ones (or worse) then post them so we can all share them.

teamwest!

2005-12-11T22:32:00.000Z

Well, they did it! Mr&Mrs West, or 'Teamwest' as they have named themselves! It was a fab wedding with lots of laughs, love and even a few tears. Here are a few photos, I'm sure Gem & Westy will have a few more to post after they get back off honeymoon.

changing tracks

2005-12-08T16:17:00.000Z

seeing as some of you like the jcb song and some of you don't, we want to know what you love listening to.

if you ever listen to jo whiley on radio one you will have heard 'changing tracks'. this is when the listeners tell their favourite tracks and the reasons why they love them so much. sometimes it is simply because it makes them feel great, other times it is because it reminds them of happy memories, some tracks are picked because they helped the listener through a really tough point in their life.

if you asked me, my changing track would be 'one and only' by the drum & bass guru called ltj bukem. i remember hearing this for the first time round my mates house and it seemed to sum up the way i felt about God. i then got my own copy of it and kept playing it and playing it in my room at college. it also became the first drum & bass tune i used in a worship service. i love this song so much, it makes me smile and lifts my spirits every time i hear it.

so what are your changing tracks? let us know, what they are, why they are so important, and how they make you feel. i bet that you can't beat my bukem tune though!

can't wait to hear your tune selections!

matt

more festival fotos!

2005-12-06T12:56:00.000Z

a big thank-you to amy for sending us some great pictures of last year's festival. loving the ducks and sheep!

jcb song

2005-12-05T19:45:00.000Z

go buy this song! go buy this song! (oh, it's out on 12th dec- so go pre-order this song! go pre-order this song!)

this is the best song i've heard for ages. if you're on broadband go and watch the video here. it's so great! what do you think? come on, if we all buy it it might be number 1 for chrimbo!

love yaz
x

ps. sorry for using the youthblog to shamelessly advertise music i like!
pps. maybe there's some deep spiritual connection and God is speaking to us through it...
ppps. or maybe not.

wedding!

2005-12-02T14:24:00.000Z

pray for gem&chris on 9th december @2pm

cos we will be getting married!

cartoonchurch.com

2005-11-30T00:22:00.000Z

Check out this cool site that has loads of cartoons related to church life. It's great. The Christmas ones are especially funny! Now all you need to do is pester your minister to sign up with cartoonchurch and you can enjoy them every week on the service sheet/notice board/newsletter/prayerletter/church mag etc etc!

advent calendars

2005-11-28T21:44:00.000Z

Hey folks! It's nearly advent, which means it's nearly Christmas-hurrah! But more of the C-word later. If you're off to get yourself an advent calendar this week, make sure you get yourself a Divine choc one complete with fairly traded choc hearts, yum. You'll be making sure that the people thousands of miles away who have been slogging it out all year growing the cocoa pods to harvest to make you the choc, will get a fair price for their work, rather than being ripped off.

So come on, get in the Chrimbo spirit, pull on the hat and gloves and get yourself down to your local oxfam to buy up their stock. One for you, one for your sis, bro, mum, dad, gran, best mate, worst mate, minister, youth leader, great aunty mavis... the list is endless!

very funny!

2005-11-28T21:29:00.000Z

crazy laws

2005-11-28T21:02:00.000Z

Did you know that...

in Alabama (USA) you must not carry an icecream cone in your back pocket at any time.

in San Francisco (USA) elephants are not allowed to stroll down Market street, unless they are on a lead.

in Maine (USA) if you leave your Christmas decorations up after 14th Jan - you may get a fine!

in Switzerland it is against the law to flush the loo after 10pm if you live in an apartment.

wierd eh?

christmas @ cliff

2005-11-28T20:58:00.000Z

Just want to let you all know that we are holding the College's Annual Carol Service on Wednesday 14th December at 7.00pm and all are welcome to come and share with us in a great celebration of the true meaning of Christmas - "Love Came Down". If you live near cliff you're welcome to come down and join us!

Find Your New Name

2005-11-24T12:57:00.000Z

What is your new name? Follow the instructions to find your new name. My new name is Snickle Dippindunkin!!! Have fun finding your new name!!! Jo (Joanna Sankey)

The following is excerpted from a children's book, Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot Professor Poopypants, by Dave Pilkey, in which the evil Professor forces everyone to assume new names...

1. Use the third letter of your first name to determine your new first name:

a = snickle
b = doombah
c = goober
d = cheesey
e = crusty
f = greasy
g = dumbo
h = farcus
i = dorky
j = doofus
k = funky
l = boobie
m = sleezy
n = sloopy
o = fluffy
p = stinky
q = slimy
r = dorfus
s = snooty
t = tootsie
u = dipsy
v = sneezy
w = liver
x = skippy
y = dinky
z = zippy

2. Use the second letter of your last name to determine the first half of your new last name:

a = dippin
b = feather
c = batty
d = burger
e = chicken
f = barffy
g = lizard
h = waffle
i = farkle
j = monkey
k = flippin
l = fricken
m = bubble
n = rhino
o = potty
p = hamster
q = buckle
r = gizzard
s = lickin
t = snickle
u = chuckle
v = pickle
w = hubble
x = dingle
y = gorilla
z = girdle

3. Use the third letter of your last name to determine the second half of your new last name:

a = butt
b = boob
c = face
d = nose
e = hump
f = breath
g = pants
h = shorts
i = lips
j = honker
k = head
l = tush
m = chunks
n = dunkin
o = brains
p = biscuits
q = toes
r = doodle
s = fanny
t = sniffer
u = sprinkles
v = frack
w = squirt
x = humperdinck
y = hiney
z = juice

Thus, for example, George W. Bush's new name is: Fluffy Chucklefanny!

i am a hobbit

2005-11-19T16:45:00.000Z

i am a hobbit, that's right, a cute, slightly fat, hairy toed, fearful, rhyme singing hole dweller. i must admit, i always identified with sam in the story and finally i had the hobbit hunch confirmed when i did a this funky quiz online. forever more i can rest easy in the knowledge that if i were ever to find myself in middle earth i would get a warm welcome at bag end!

why don't you guys have a look and let us know what you would be and whether you are happy with you middle earth race. come on you hobbits join with me and we shall rule the earth!

rave safe, matt

festival 05 pics!

2005-11-15T00:12:00.000Z

feeling like winter is here complete with dark nights, colds, freezing mornings at the bus stop etc etc? well, here are a few pictures of festival 05 to get you feeling like spring is not so far away! we'll be uploading some from time to time, so if you have any send them on an e-mail to us and we'll publish the best!
Yaz
x

bullying

2005-11-14T23:48:00.000Z

Joss Stone wearing an anti-bullying wristband

It was so sad to hear the story this week in the news about Natashia Jackman, 15 who was attacked with a pair of scissors at her college and needed surgery on her left eye. Bullying is a huge problem in the UK, here are some stats...

Every seven seconds someone in Britain is being bullied
One in five secondary school pupils have experience of bullying
Bullying can happen anywhere; one in four people are bullied at work
Bullying can make you feel depressed, shy, isolated, insecure and even suicidal
Most people who bully have been bullied themselves
In many cases the effects of bullying aren't visible at all. But this doesn't mean they're less hurtful.
20,000 young people got help last year when they spoke out against bullying.

So that's where it's at peeps. If you are being bullied, or know someone who's being bullied, you're not alone and there's loads of people around to help you, you just need to ask. There's loads of info and stuff here if you want to look into it more.

Anti-bullying week is 21-25th Nov 05.

billy elliot

2005-11-14T23:12:00.001Z

Matt & i went to see Billy Elliot The Musical for Matt's birthday treat on Thursday. After a bit of a trauma walking round aimlessly we found the right theatre and it was amazing! The film's great (if you've not seen it - then do!) and the musical version had a lot to live up to. The story is basically about a northern lad who's dad is a miner. Billy wants something different out of life, he wants to be a ballet dancer, which is unheard of where he comes from. He has a rough time, everyone is against him, but in his heart he knows what his dream is.

Sometimes following Jesus can feel a bit like that. Your mates think you've just arrived from Planet Zog and your sundays feel like you've joined the local Old-Lady Club. It's not easy sometimes, but those are the times we need to be faithful to who we really are. Life will never be one long Christian festival, we have to find a path for our faith out there in the scary world. But we know that we're never alone and that in all the craziness Jesus will get us through.

Keep the faith,
Love Yaz
x

lookin good

2005-11-07T21:59:00.000Z

now, now girls. i know you all want their phone numbers, but there's just not enough of them to go round. sorry...

welcome

2005-11-07T21:47:00.000Z

welcome to the festival youth blog! make yourself at home, post a comment, send us an email, help yourself to biscuits (virtual of course!).

Yaz and Matt