Mark Watson - Cambridge & District Youth For Christ

At Cambridge & District Youth for Christ we want to offer a pathway to fulness of life in Jesus to every young person in Cambridge and the surrounding area.

It is almost four years since I took the role of Director of Ministry, and it has been hugely exciting and rewarding to see how the projects have developed and grown. As ever I am truly grateful for the prayers and support of all at St John’s.

Fort Rocky

In February this year we ran our annual evangelistic residential for 11-14 year olds. This year, following a lot of prayer, conversations and exploration we moved to a new venue, Eaton Vale. Set just outside Norwich, this Scout and Girlguiding site sleeps 82 and is set in acres of beautiful woodland with the idyllic river Yare running through it. It’s a purpose-built and well-equipped centre with lots of new adventurous activities to try out. Importantly for us, moving to this new centre has also allowed us to keep the price point for the weekend lower so it is accessible to as many young people as possible.

Alongside all the usual wild Fort Rocky games, which this year included glow in the dark capture the flag, obstacle course, caving bus and pedal go-karts. It was incredible to witness 4 young people stand in front of a group of their peers on the Saturday night and make a commitment to follow Jesus for the first time, with another 16 recommitting their life to Jesus. These young people all had the opportunity to chat and pray with the youth workers who they came with.

When asked what the best thing about Fort Rocky was, one young person wrote ‘getting to know Jesus’. One leader commented that they valued ‘being in good hands for fun and gospel input all aiming to focus on young people’. There were so many encouraging conversations and memories made throughout the weekend, and we continue to pray for all 45 young people who joined us and the leaders that brought them.

Spring Harvest

Within my role at Cambridge Youth for Christ I am privileged to be released to sit on the Planning Group for Spring Harvest. This year four of our team and two local youth workers travelled to the sunny seaside towns of Skegness and/or Minehead to serve on teams. This year’s theme was ‘No Greater Story’ and we explored some of Isaiah and the idea that though very few of us get the story we want; our stories can be redeemed and find hope in God’s greater story. The story of God the creator at the beginning, God the redeemer in the middle and God the perfecter at the end.

One evening a grandmother dropped off a reluctant teenager at a youth venue. When she returned to collect them 2 hours later, she was greeted at the door by the sight of them standing to respond to the gospel and being prayed for by a member of the youth team. As she looked on, tears filled her eyes.

This is just one of the many stories of young people giving their lives to Jesus (over 100 first time commitments), encountering the Holy Spirit, hearing from God and experiencing healing in youth venues this year. Pray for those young people who encountered Jesus at Spring Harvest this year that their journey of transformation and discipleship continues at home and that Jesus uses them to impact the world around them.

Open House

We recently received an email from our contact teacher at one of the two schools our mentoring programme is currently running in which read: ‘You don't know how grateful we are for your project and your help. Both parents and students are very happy. Your project is working so well that students like Ed (not his real name) are learning to regulate their tempers in situations they didn't know how to do before (I have received many compliments that Ed’s behaviour has improved, so congratulations!)’. It is hugely encouraging to see the difference the mentoring programme is making in young people’s lives and how the school staff have noticed a marked improvement.

Over the course of this year, we have seen more consistency in our Drop In attendance and deeper relationships and open conversation with young people as we get to know them better. There have been several young people who we haven’t seen for a while reappear when there are significant changes in their lives and wanting to share those with our team of youth workers.

In the Spring Term we ran a Big Games Workshop, where 12 young people committed to 6 weekly sessions. There was lots of fun, laughter and a deepening sense of community alongside an opportunity to pause and reflect on their mental wellbeing. We are about to start an Arts and Crafts workshop for 6 weeks in the second half of the summer term. We hope this will provide space for young people to creatively engage and think about wellbeing whilst getting to know one another and leaders better and learning some new skills.

Discover launched in January which is an opportunity for young people to stick around for half an hour after Drop In and chat about faith. This ran for 6 weeks using material from Start to Stir and was run again after the Easter holidays. We have had small numbers engaged so far but those who have stayed were open and interested. We hope that as we run this consistently, continue building relationships and young people know this is a safe space that more young people will be open to exploring faith and discovering more about the person of Jesus.

Staff Vacancy

We are currently seeking to appoint a Senior Youth Ministry Manager to join our team, and this is a key role for the future of the organisation. The advert is currently live, and

we are hoping to appoint someone to start in September. Please do pray that God would bring the right person into the recruitment process and that there would be a sense of excitement, calling and unity from all involved.

Cambridge Inequality Triathlon

On a sunny day in May our team set out on the Cambridge Inequality Triathlon. We walked 7.5 miles, punted 3 miles and cycled 10 miles around the city of Cambridge with the aim of raising £5,000 in sponsorship. Along the route we stopped at a number of our partners to live stream interviews and stories of the amazing youth ministry happening across our city and the surrounding areas. I am delighted to say we reached our fundraising target and all the stories and interviews are still available to check out on our Instagram (@cambridgeyfc).