Here is a quick overview of the amazing week we had

We were blessed to have a team of young guys and girls from frontier project http://www.fp-impact.org/mid-uk/ come to work alongside Kings Church http://www.kingssouthend.org.uk/ delivering a packed week of both outreach and schools work.
The week kicked off with 3 days of outreach in Southend High Street talking with folks about life, God and the message of the bible and we were all blown away by the response.

We had some amazing conversations and the bus really did its job providing a place for questions to be asked and discussion to flow. Many people we chatted with spent anything up to an hour or even more on the bus and we filled out over 30 response cards with people who indicated they either wanted to take things further or wanted prayer. We also had the opportunity to pray with people for healing and saw some dramatic and instant answers. One of the greatest things we witnessed was the change in people as they spent time on the bus and started to really understand The Gospel.

After the 3 days in the High Street we went straight in to education mode as we took the bus to Southend High School for Boys. We have been in there with R1 before and this time we had 15 lessons to deliver. Subjects such as- how do Christians make ethical decisions, how do Christians view poverty & money, miracles, how Christians view other religions, death and judgement... All challenging stuff really.

We taught lessons both on the bus and in the classroom and again had a brilliant time. Our aim when working in schools is always to teach about faith in a relevant way and also inspire the students to think about issues for themselves. The students were not only well behaved but also more than willing to get involved in discussion and ask some great questions.

 
There was so much more than this that happened through the week but I feel a little bit like the apostle John when he said in John 21:25 -

“Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written. ”

My personal thanks goes to all those who made this week go so well, for your prayers, donations and for those who gave up there time to be trained and used to reach out to this town.

Thank you

Simon

We recently had the privilege of joining with Life in Abundance to take the resource into Shoebury High School. Life in Abundance is a Christian charity working in Shoebury High School and they work closely with Shoeburyness & Thorpe Bay Baptist Church. Over the 4 days we ran lessons on the bus with over 400 students and also took assemblies with Years 7,8,9 and 10 all looking at the subject of ‘You are Unique’.  The lessons involved the class being split in two and running 20 minute sessions with half of them on the top deck and half of them on the bottom deck before swapping them around to do the other 20 minute activity.

On the top deck we looked at loads of amazing facts about the human body including cells, DNA and the human eye whilst reflecting on scripture around the same subject. We then showed them a short video about a baby with Edward’s syndrome. The video whist being sad was a great way of focussing on the message we wanted to communicate which was that you are unique not because you are clever or talented, funny or attractive. You are unique because you just are amazing and you are loved. In the video the parents didn’t love their son because of anything great he had achieved; they loved him unconditionally and were proud of him. This was a real eye opener for the students and this part of the lesson finished off with us asking some questions and some discussion.

On the bottom deck we split the class into two smaller groups of around 7 and ran two 10 minute activities. One activity was a treasure hunt style activity with a work sheet the answers to which were all around the exhibition. This worksheet looked at things the bible says about you and what Christians believe Christianity is about and then focussed on David in the bible who was chosen to be king not because he was outwardly the greatest but because of something deeper- His heart. We used this bible verse to make the point-
"God does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7

The other 10 minute activity was a power point presentation looking at what the bible says about suffering. It was important to do this as the question of suffering comes up allot and it is important to look not just at how amazing life is but also at the harder side of life. This power point also gave us the opportunity to bring Jesus into the picture and explain what the bible says about Gods love for his fallen creation and what it says about Jesus coming to make a way for us to be saved.

It’s amazing how much you can fit into 40 minutes with a class when you have a team of 5-7 people who are trained up to deliver the activities with small groups and a bus which is designed for this purpose.

We also opened the bus up on two lunchtimes

and it was great to see cues of young people wanting to come on. We ran 10 minute activities on the bus and kept on rotating groups to give as many people as possible the opportunity to come onboard.

The feedback received so far has all been positive. Some of the students even wrote thank you letters to show their appreciation. It was very encouraging to read how they enjoyed the experience and also learnt something new. The team at Life in Abundance and the volunteers from the Church have also said how positive and productive the week was and the week was by no means in isolation as many of the students signed up to be involved in a week of activities in the community during the Easter holiday. Life in Abundance also have an office in the school making them a constant presence and

blessing to the school.

Looking back at 2009 I can't help being amazed at what has been achieved. This time last year we were just beginning the internal refit of the bus and here we are now up and running with stories to tell of the impact this resource has had wherever the church has taken it. We are currently completing the last section of the exhibition which as you can see below has been designed in an exciting way to communicate what the church is and what churches do.

The Christmas period was a great opportunity which we made the most of with visits to Hawkwell Baptist Church, Thundersley Congregational and the switching on of the Leigh-on-Sea Christmas lights. We have had the pleasure of showing the bus to a mayor, a member of parliament and a head teacher all of whom were very positive and interested in what we were doing.

2010 looks like being a fantastic year of growth for the project with bookings coming in as word spreads about Route One. Keep an eye on the upcoming events above as details are added of the events the bus will be at and contact us if you would like to be involved in any of them.