You are free to compete

Yesterday the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled against the British Olympic Associations (BOA) policy of handing out lifetime bans to athletes court cheating by taking drugs. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) argued that the BOA's stance is not compliant with the international code agreed by sports authorities.

There is no doubt that drug cheats should face a significant ban but the opportunity for redemption is important. This post is not intended to set forth a CYFC position on drug cheats in sport or the current ruling. We would not condone drug use or cheating in any way but on a daily basis we encounter young people who feel they face a lifetime of disqualification. This can be based on previous actions or on their sense of self-worth. In the Bible we are encouraged to "run with perseverance the race marked out for us" (Hebrews 12:1 NIV) but if we don't feel we will ever be allowed to start the race we will never feel able to complete it. Fortunately the message of the gospel is a message of redemption and freedom. No sporting body disqualifies us for running the race for Jesus, instead we are given the greatest running kit by the greatest coach, Jesus himself, who cheers us along tirelessly.

For a young person who has always been told they can't achieve anything the words of Philippians 4:13 "For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength" are words of freedom and acceptance. For some people Jesus may be the first person who has accepted them and believes in them. As we go and meet with young people we have the privilege and responsibility of sharing that message with them. The message of unconditional grace and acceptance in the gospel is a hard message to hear and sometimes we have to wait a long time until the young person we are meeting with finally gets it.

When I consider my own life as a young person I never felt up to the task and often, like Jeremiah, thought I was ruled out due to my age. (That is hard to claim now I am in my forties!) The encouragement of those around me gave me the determination to keep going. I for one want to be someone who encourages young people to achieve all that God sets before them. At times they may fail, the results may even be messy, but we have a God who believes in second chances. Thankfully we do not face lifetime bans.

Whatever the rights and wrongs in sport we can declare to young people that no matter what, they can have a second chance and a great future with God.

Rapping up the Gospel

Guvna B at All Saints Academy

Last week we were joined by Guvna B, a MOBO award winning gospel artist. When we say gospel we don’t mean in the Whoopi Goldberg sense. Guvna B is a straight talking Christian rapper that shares his story and the Good News through his music.  Over three days we took assemblies, music lessons and RE lessons in various local secondary and primary schools engaging with over 1,000 young people!

Guvna B’s song lyrics are inspired by the relationship he has with God. He also ensures that his music relates to the younger generation using catchy lyrics often coupled with remixes of chart hits. Guvna B’s music was well received by the young people with the song ‘Jesus Loves Me’ being one of the favourites. The acronym JLM (Jesus Loves Me) could be heard across school classrooms, corridors and even walking home.

MOBO award winning Guvna B performs a duet
with a sixth former from All Saints Academy

A musical master class with Guvna B

Over the three days he was here lots of young people, tweeted or posted on Facebook and YouTube about his time in schools.  Below are some of the quotes:

“Casually singing JLM by @guvnab walking home from school after he performed today in the tennis courts”

“@GuvnaB JLM JLM JLM”

“@GuvnaB should come do that at school lunch every Friday”

“…@GuvnaB you were great at Bournside today! Everyone, especially me and my friend Jemima, loved it!”

 “thanks Guvna B for coming 2 my school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“…i love you guvna b thank you soooo much for coming to… you have opened my mind up loads xx”

Timothy enjoying the Guvna B
gig at the offices

When Guvna B was not is schools he was doing gigs with the Underground young people at our office and in Costa. The idea behind these more intimate gigs was to give them the opportunity to bring their non-churched friends along to hear the message and have some fun. There were over twenty young people jumping up and down in our office on Wednesday night and the Costa gig saw over 50 young people. We would like to thank Costa for letting us run the evening there.  Once more young people tweeted loads but we particularly liked the following two:


“still have @GuvnaB's JLM song in my head after his gig in cheltenham costa last thursday :) “

“Today I met @GuvnaB and He really helped me gain faith in God again, When I thought it was lost.Thank you #TrustinGod”

Thanks to Costa for their loudest
night ever

On Friday we finished with a gig at St. Paul's Youth club.  At this gig a young man opened his heart and shared his life story and how he is starting to come to faith.  Guvna B shared how he was able to continue in the music industry even whilst staying true to his beliefs.  Once again lots of young people commented on social media.


"...@GuvnaB will you come back to cheltenham and go stpauls youth group cuz u was amazing XXXXXXXXXXXX"


It was a great week and a wonderful opportunity to share Good News in a relevant way.  based on feedback we have read and heard the three days were a great success.  It has been good to see so many young people engage with God or begin to ask questions and look more deeply at the the possibility of a saviour who is relevant to a generation desperate for answers in a confusing world.

Journeying with Jon

Jon is our youth worker.

The lives of the young people we work with are all too often not the perfect picture.  Over the past eighteen months, I have had the pleasure of accompanying many young people on their journey through life.  I want to share one young person’s story with you that I am currently journeying with.

I met Steve at an after school club I run.  He is an adrenaline junky, loving any sports that will get your heart pounding but he especially loves his bikes.  Each week Steve and I would chat endlessly about the latest trick he was trying to do.  Sometimes we would chase a football round trying to score as many goals as we could.  It was chasing a football round one   session when our conversation took a different path.  Steve opened up his heart and told me of his home life.  His dad used to drink, which would cause him to shout at Steve and his mother, he went on to say that he was now living with his mum.  As he shared, I could see him welling up and wanting to cry.  He told me that he had been in a fight at school and that this had made him feel better.  Steve is not a ‘bad boy’, I have seen him show amazing acts of kindness to those he knows.  I am not saying that he is perfect either, like all of us Steve is on a journey called life.  He is like many young men in that he finds it hard to  verbalise and communicate how he feels.

At the after school club I have made a conscious decision to lift up my hands and let Steve punch my hands.  I have found that he tells me about his home life and school life while he does this.  The repetitive action helps him open up and share with me the things that are really going on in his life.   During this time spent together, Steve has come to know that real men do cry and that anger is not the only emotion to display.

My hope is that this journey I am sharing with Steve is one that will lead him to the Kingdom.  It is through sharing stories of the  Gospel with Steve that I hope that he will see Jesus with and in me.  This is just one story of the adventurous journey I am sharing with young people.  Our hope is that as we journey with young people they will have their lives changed.

Cyclists Wanted

On June 17th we are entering a team of cyclists into the Great Western Sportive in Swindon.  The race is 49 miles and we are looking for riders to aim for an average speed of 13.75mph.  Entry is £24 and we would like people to raise sponsorship for CYFC.  Each rider will have a fundraising page set up on our Virgin Giving site to help them raise the sponsorship.  If you are interested in entering please email me.

We anticipate that we will need to enter riders by mid March so if you are interested please get in touch over the next few weeks.  If you are already entered for the sportive but would like to ride in aid of Cheltenham YFC then please let Paul know by calling the office or emailing him ( paul@cheltenhamyfc.co.uk ).

If you know of a local company who may wish to sponsor the teams then please contact Paul.

For information about the event visit:

 http://www.southernsportive.com/index.php?go=gwestern&page=home

Painting, decorating and prayer

The finished room.  Thank you to those of you who helped.

 During half term a number of members of Underground joined us for an afternoon of prayer and decorating.  After some prayer they helped decorate the meeting area in the office which we use for Underground.  A few coats of paint later we have a much nicer space for Underground and other meetings.We have more decorating to finish to give the offices a more professional feel.  If you would like to help please get in touch.


Thank you to the Dulux Decorator Centre in Fairview Road and Johnstones Paints in Kingsville Road for donating paint.

Members of Underground decorating

Maybe a roller would have been quicker!

Lucie's story

Someone once told me that they envied the job satisfaction that we as a team can receive.  As with many jobs we have some rather dull aspects, personally I am convinced that filing should be made illegal!  Fortunately the dull aspects of our work are far outweighed by the opportunity to work with some amazing young people.  Watching a young person change, grow and mature over the years is a real joy.  One such young person is Lucie who is in Year 11 at All Saints Academy who we have had the privilege of working with for the last four years.  Recently we have been asking young people about how our work has impacted them in order to reflect on the effectiveness of our work.  As part of this Lucie wrote the following paragraph about our work:

  

“Rock Solid and meeting Cheltenham Youth for Christ are one of the best things that has happened to me. The team are amazing, they are friendly, welcoming, supportive, the list goes on. A lot of peoples initial thoughts when you say a club based around the teachings of God and Jesus are ‘boring’ and ‘rubbish’. Rock Solid is the complete opposite; fun and games. They create ways to teach through fun. Whether it’s an egg and spoon race or doing quizzes, there’s always that element of fun. Without Cheltenham Youth for Christ I wouldn’t be where I am today, Rock Solid has taught me to be myself and do what I believe is right for me, even if people don’t agree with me or think that I’m stupid. Rock Solid has helped me increase my confidence. Leading a session was an experience that helped me with my confidence.”  Lucie

Whilst it is great to hear about the positive effects of our work it has been even better to have been part of Lucie’s story.  The poem Footprints talks about Jesus walking alongside us throughout our life.  For many people the Christians around them are the best picture of Jesus they will ever get, which is quite a responsibility.  In Youth For Christ we seek to walk alongside young people through their life’s journey.  Sometimes that journey is sad, other times full of joy, at points it can be messy but whatever young people go through we try to stay by their side to help them on the journey.

Happy Christmas from the Cheltenham YFC Team

Happy Christmas from the Cheltenham YFC team. Thank you for all your support this year. Your support this year has help us work with over 1000 young people. During this year we have had the privilege of seeing young peoples lives changed and young people move closer to knowing God. Thank you for making this possible.