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.