Newday 2010
Stephanie-Elise Melrose reviews the recently concluded Newday 2010 youth conference.
On 11th August, 73 CCK youth plus numerous leaders and servers, gathered at the Norfolk Showground for Newday 2010. Whilst not exactly the sunny spot we encountered last year, this year’s conference more than made up for the weather in terms of amazing encounters with God and the challenge of living out the love of Jesus.
This is the first time that some of the youth have been of an age to take part in the Outreach projects, which are such a key part of Newday. Oliviah and Alison were out painting fences and initially, were suspected of being on parole because they were doing so! Despite this initial misunderstanding, the girls said, “they were really kind and grateful.” They had a lot of fun; and managed to warm up after a very rainy day with hot chocolate!
12-14s teaching was once again led by Andrew Wilson, who focused in on incarnation, substitution, resurrection and grace to expand on ‘What’s The Difference?’ between Christianity and other world religions. CCKYer Jasmine found his teaching on grace particularly powerful – but was also very excited by some tangible experiences of God, including speaking in tongues for the first time.
Meanwhile, Stef Liston challenged the 15-19s sessions with a fast-paced series on ‘the real Jesus’: showing different amazing aspects and attributes of our God, and why He should be the foundation of our lives. On Saturday, one Engage delegate said, ‘the main sessions today were both great. In the morning [Stef] did a whole thing on freedom. And tonight, it was Adrian. So of course it was great!’
The Gospel presentation evening is always a highlight of Newday, and this year didn’t disappoint. After a great time of worship led by Matt Redman, Adrian Holloway began praying for healing. God’s power was breaking out all over the tent: with medical professionals on hand, it was confirmed that 371 people were healed in about half an hour! After Adrian’s powerful gospel preach ‘Through the Tunnel’, we saw again just how much Jesus loves to save people. With ministry team forming a circle, literally hundreds of youth pushed through in order to give their lives to Christ. Joel requested with delight that more team be on hand to pray with people, due to the sheer number who wanted to commit their lives to Christ. Amazingly, 334 young people made the decision for the very first time that night.
Other highlights, for Brighton folk in particular, included seeing Stephen Dawson’s ‘special’ birthday treat in 12-14s on Sunday. Well known for aiding and abetting some truly disgusting challenges for delegates – which this year involved items like vinegar, honey and chicken feathers, to name but a few – his co-leaders presented Stephen with a concoction involving all the random foods which the youth had consumed during the week. Which, of course, he ate.
The entire camp was also blessed on Sunday night not only by Joel’s preaching but also by his drumming skills, which were demonstrated in the Big Top to rapturous applause.
Following this excitement, we had the amazing privilege of seeing many young people touched by the power of God, as Joel led into a time of ministry after preaching from the second of his Psalm 2 preaches on Jesus as King. All over the tents, hearts were surrendered to our King and broken for His world. How exciting to be part of an evening that could have eternal impact for the Kingdom of God.
