Back to work!

I've decided... I hate trains... Traveling back from home on the train was one CRAZY journey! On the morning of my return, Saturday 5th January, my dad took me and my luggage to Burscough Junction Station, to find that I had no way of collecting the tickets I had ordered. So we quickly went to Burscough Bridge and found out there was no way there either, so by the time we realised this, I'd missed my train and had to travel to Southport to catch a train to Preston in order to get home. After stopping at Wigan and waiting for the train to Preston, I decided to change my route ever so slightly to head to Birmingham. An hour later, I arrived in Birmingham and swapped trains to Burton, realising my ticket was invalid at that time and had to buy a new one on the train. The ticket guy was NOT impressed, he said "You should have bought this type of ticket at the station!" I was so embarrassed. Anyway on the train to Burton, I found that I had a massive painful bruise on my calf from the heavy bag rubbing against it as I ran from platform to platform and station to station. I got home and dumped my bags in my room. I can't really remember much after that... Until of course... Conference...

Frankfurt German Market - 15th December

On the 15th of December, Julia and I went to the German Christmas Market in Birmingham. It was very busy but that added to the festive atmosphere. The best thing about going to the German Market with Julia is I had my own personal 'tour guide' who could point out the most traditional German stands and suggest the tastiest of the German food and drink on offer! I tried all sorts, from little marshmallow things to a frankfurter sausage! We also tried mulled wine which was very nice and warmed us up completely! After listening to some carol singers, we headed back down the market to the train station and eventually headed home! I showed Daryl and Karen the presents I had bought for my friends from the market, as well as the photos I had taken during the day!

BYFC Christmas Meal

Secret Santa!

Team BYFC!

On Tuesday 18th December, the BYFC Team had their Christmas meal at the Toby Carvery. We sat at our table for 8, of course waiting for Dan Ortiz to re-appear as in the short time it took for us to walk from the car park to our table, about 2 minutes, we had managed to lose him. Once Dan arrived, we ordered our starters and shared our secret Santa presents. Julia and I had each other so we swapped our presents. I got her a little glass ballerina from the German Market and she got me some marshmallow thingies, a hand warmer and a Hello Kitty pocket mirror. Our starters then came and I had pieces of melon with raspberry coulis in what looked like a prawn cocktail glass. It was very tasty. Then we went to have our main course from the Carvery and I ate A LOT! Finally it was time for dessert and thanks to Matt, who asked if he could have something from the special menu, I got a chocolate fudge brownie sundae! Amazing! :) it was a good meal and it was fun to spend time with my YFC colleagues! :D

John Archer Evening - 1st December

Hello again! I'm powering through my updates and stretching my memory to recall the stories from ages ago! Ok... So December 1st! It was an exciting day for me as John Archer, the comedy/magic man, as seen on CBBC and Fool Us with Penn and Teller, was coming to Riverside! (Thanks to my connections of course!) Being a friend of John's on Facebook, I mentioned him to Daryl who started looking into booking John for our fundraiser in December. After a long wait, the day finally arrived! I had some shopping to do so I took the bus into town and started on my day. Of course that Saturday was the day after Rise of the Guardians came out in the cinemas. I really wanted to go and see it but I had nobody to go see it with. However, whilst sitting in McDonalds eating my lunch, I overheard a conversation between a father and son about a trip to the cinema to watch Rise of the Guardians... So I decided to do a VERY brave thing... Or very stupid... I have yet to decide which it is! I put my rubbish in the bin and headed off to the cinema, bought a ticket and some Ben & Jerry's and went to the cinema... On my own! You may be thinking "Jess! You're crazy! It's a social faux pas to go to the cinema all by yourself! Talk about Forever Alone Meme alert!" But of course... I wasn't afraid! XD it was actually rather fun! It was like watching a movie at home in my bedroom, but with a massive screen! The best part was there weren't many people in the screen-room so it was very quiet! Anyway after my little treat to me, I headed back on the bus to get ready for that evening. We travelled down to church early at about 5pm and started to prepare the bar, the tables and everywhere else. At about 6:15, John arrived and have me a big hug! He started to set up his things whilst I watched the ticket table and Rachel went to get food. Then people started to arrive and we sat in our place near the front. John did a lot of tricks from his usual routine including eating a balloon and the number grid trick, as well as one I hadn't seen before involving a several books of maps and guessing a street name! That was mind-blowing! Then about half way through the evening we had a break where people went to get snacks and drinks from the bar area and I went to see some of the youth, and steal some of the peanuts left in little dishes on their tables. The second half of the evening was basically John giving us his testimony. It was very interesting and definitely worth hearing! After he finished, he spent some time talking to people afterwards and I asked him to sign my ticket, which he did. It's now pinned to the notice board in my room along with several other memories. After he and everyone else left, it was time to pack away and transform the church back into its usual format for the Sunday morning service the following day. After 6 hours straight of being out it was time for home... At LAST!

Café Zen November 17th

Mel wins the arm wrestle!

The sock challenge... EWW!

The next Whitney Houston? Maybe not...

Brussel Sprout milkshake... Yum?

Gangnam Style!

Sue's pink hair!

Hello all! Yes I finally got round to posting my updates! So much has happened since I last updated that I've decided to post about the major things that have happened! So... Around mid-November, BYFC hosted a youth event in a local community cafe (Cafe Zen). The theme of the evening was Challenge YFC, and the young people of Burton took to Facebook to post challenges for the staff and volunteers of Burton YFC. The event was kicked off with some music, YMCA style. Then the first challenge was announced! Mel was challenged to arm wrestle one of the youth but since the youth who challenged her wasn't at the event, so Ash, a youth worker, stepped up to challenge Mel... He lost! After this challenge we had more music then the next challenge was given. The challenge was for Simon, Julia and I to drink a can of coke (or lemonade) through a sock from the feet of the young people present! Sweat and all! Disgusting! Naturally, my host's son offered his sock for my challenge and another young person offered both of hers for the other two. Let's just say I felt very ill after that challenge! The next challenge was for four of our workers to do the after eight challenge, where you have to move an after eight mint from your forehead to your mouth, without using your hands! The partakers ended up with smears of melted chocolate on their foreheads and hair pushed back off the face looking slightly crazy! The next challenge was for Graham to sing Amazing Grace! I think he did very well and he got a round of applause at the end of the song for effort! Next I tried my hand at hosting, I was asked some... Interesting (slightly embarrassing) questions by the other hosts and it was time to pick the next challenge... For me... Possibly one of the worst! I had to get down on one knee and sing I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston to Simon, my fellow YFC One volunteer. I did awfully and managed to earn myself a new nickname: Whitney. Just great! Next it was Matt's turn to take the mic! He sand Born This Way by Lady Gaga which was FUNNY! The next challenge was for Graham to drink a vile concoction of blended Brussel sprouts, milk, vinegar and a tomato! The smell was enough to churn the stomach but poor Graham had to drink it! He did amazingly well and managed about 3/4 of the large smoothie with the challenger finishing it off! The next challenge was for Matt and Mel to sing a duet to Summer Nights from Grease, with Matt doing the famous ending, Travolta style! A couple of the girls and guys joined the pair as backing singers and as expected, an interesting performance followed, with Matt hitting the show-stopping high note! Well almost! He gets extra points for the pose right? The next challenge was for Sue to spray her hair pink! To some of you it may seem pretty boring but of course Sue was worried about her highlights so PINK was a big deal for her! We took her outside to do the deed whilst the final challenge for YFC team members took place... Matt and Graham... Gangnam Style! They had to do the internationally famous dance to the equally famous song by PSY, the South Korean singer. An enthusiastic performance in which the entire cafe joined towards the end! Sue rejoined us with her hair the colour of candy floss and we started to say our goodnights... But we weren't done! We still had one challenge left... And we weren't letting the youth who challenged us get off that easily! We picked out three volunteers and challenged them to drink a Sour Cream and Onion Pringles milkshake! Ha! Payback time! :) After watching another disgusting beverage disappear into the sickly stomachs of our challengers, it was time to clear up and clear off! Phew! That was an entertaining but FUN evening! Awesome!

Commission, home and back again!

Wow! I've got a big update to write! Where do I start?! Well I guess I'll start with commissioning! It was a great day with great worship, a great talk and of course great company! Thanks to my parents, the Kenyons and Brenda and Denis for coming to support me! It was great seeing all my YFC friends again too! However its amazing we even found the venue! After leaving the house at around 8:20am I went to Julia's house to get her blazer which she had forgotten to take with her to London. Then at the station Simon had lost his railcard and tickets so I gave him mine and bought some more. When we arrived in Birmingham we set off for the BCC but as we did, I was asked to do an interview for some university students on student loans... Which of course I knew nothing about. Anyway after about half an hour wandering around Birmingham, Simon and I eventually made it to the church. We grouped together with our fellow YFC volunteers for a prayer time before moving into the lounge area for refreshments. Whilst I was stood with my friends talking, I didn't notice my mum stood right in front of me! Eventually I came to my senses and gave her and my dad a massive hug! Not long after that, I spotted Frances, Sophie and Eleanor Kenyon. We had a great chat catching up with each other and of course... The famous handshake!

We moved to the hall and worshipped for a while. Then we had a performance from Stance, YFC's street dance group, a talk from Gavin Calver, the YFC Director and then the new staff and volunteers at YFC were commissioned :)
After the service we spent some time saying goodbye before it was time to head back to Burton. Simon, Julia and I walked back to the station and after a temporary delay, (Julia forgot her purse) we headed home.

Just a few days later... Tuesday 30th October to be exact, I set off from Burton Station once again... This time headed for Burscough Bridge.

That's right! I traveled home! At around 7am I left my home in Anslow to take a train to Birmingham, where I changed to a train to Wigan North Western, after a quick coffee break and almost missing my train. That journey lasted about an hour and a half. I had half an hour to get my breakfast, a tasty cheese and mushroom toastie at the Station cafe. Then I walked over to the Wigan Wallgate station and set off on the final stretch of my journey. At about half 10, I finally arrived in Burscough. I paid a visit to Phil, who's birthday it was the next day. Then I headed home and just sat in my room for a while. After that, I headed over to Frances' house and I surprised her and her sisters! They didn't know I was home and they were so surprised to see me on their door step holding up a sign with my new address on it. I stayed there for an hour or so. We watched the DVD that Lauren made of my surprise meal and I shed a few tears. Then Frances and I formulated a plan to visit Nadia. Eventually we decided that Frances would knock on the door under the guise of borrowing a CD. We did this and Sonia answered. Frances asked if Nadia was in. Sonia told Frances to come in and Frances hovered awkwardly on the door step. I waited for my cue when Nad asked why Frances was here and I jumped out from the side. It was a great (late) birthday surprise. The next few days I spent relaxing at home, going out with mum and visiting people! Friday night we had a firework party at the kenyons and we took loads of great photos of our sparklers! After an amazing 5 days at home, I left after Strictly come dancing on Saturday night. My dad drove me all the way down to Burton then drove all the way back!

Performing the 27 Million dance at King's Way Church

After all this adventure you'd think I would settle down for a rest? Nope! The next day, I was at King's Way Church helping at a youth service. I took part in a dance to LZ7 and Matt Redman's Twentyseven million. Then I had a small part in the talk we did about poverty. I also sold myself in a slave auction... Don't worry! I'm not crazy! It was for charity and we were auctioning off skills, so for example,guitar lessons or making a meal, or in my case... Spanish lessons. Then we performed a few sketches about how stupid poverty is and I played a moving statue. Anyway after that busy service, I went home to find that my host family had gone out to look at a university and wouldn't be back until at least 6pm... At about 1pm, I was taking some rubbish out to the wheelie bins just outside the door and when I turned back around to go inside, the door had closed... And locked... Were my keys in my pocket? No! Was my phone in my pocket? No! Did I have shoes on? Do slippers count as shoes? No! In short, I was stuck. I managed to get back in thankfully, and sat myself down for half an hour, refusing to work on tidying my room until I had calmed down. Then I saw a movie on tv and decided to watch that instead. What... A... Week!

Blackberries & Fun!

Hello all! It's 2 weeks until commissioning and I'm super excited about seeing my friends again :) if you're coming down for the commission then let me know so I get the chance to catch up with you!

Just seen my first blackberries of the season and they reminded me of home... Scratched up hands and lots of yummy jam from when we went blackberry picking :D here's a photo! Miss you mum!

Off to town as I write this! So thankful for my new HTC! I really wanted a new phone after I accidentally knelt on my old pink one... God provided a brand new phone for next to nothing and now I can update my blog on the go! Three cheers for free internet :)

I missed the bus so I decided to walk the 2 & 1/4 miles into town to get some excersise :) surprisingly its not taken as long as I thought :O I've got some time on my hands before I meet up with Simon and Julia to go to the cinema so I'm doing a bit of shopping in town before hand... Speaking of which... For those of you who like LZ7... I was in one of the shopping centres on Thursday as I'd left my office keys at home and I had run out of a certain essential... Anyway I came out of superdrug and what should be playing over the sound system... Only This little light! I was so amazed and encouraged by this that I immediately called the biggest LZ7 fan I know... My dad! So there you go! Christian music is good enough to be played in shopping centres bringing light to an otherwise dull day!

I realise I've not really spoken much about my work outside the office! Whoops! Well first off I'm kept really busy so don't worry! I'm not slacking off! I'll tell you just what I get up to and if you could make time to pray that God will work through me and my team mates in the situations that would be fantastic!

So Mondays, depending on the week, I either do a lunch club and two nurture groups (from 12:25-3:30) or I have a day of training with the YFC volunteers in Ashby and Nottingham from 10am til 4pm. The next Hub Training is on the 22nd October so prayer for that will be great!

Tuesdays I have church support from 9am-12pm in which I help out at the mums and toddlers group. Then at around 1:45pm I'm at one of the local High Schools (Paulet) helping the Year 11 Spanish class with pronunciation and other speaking stuff. Starting this Tuesday coming (16th Oct) I'll be helping out at an arts and crafts club at St. Mary's church at 3pm. By 5pm I'm just about done! I've started going to a home group hosted by a couple at my church which I'm really enjoying. It's not work but its part of my growth so I thought I'd let you know. That's at 7:30pm but its a long ride from Anslow where I live to Winshill so prayer for a safe ride especially in these darker autumnal days. That's every two weeks.

On Wednesday I have a pretty quiet day. I just have a homework drop in club at King's Way church from 3:30pm til 5pm where the young people can come to either do homework or hang out with their friends after school.

Thursday... Wow its a busy day! A late start at 12:05 at Paulet for another Spanish support session until 1:05pm. Then its off to the after school club at St. Chad's church from 3 ish until 5pm. Prayer for this club will be especially appreciated as the kids tend to be very... Hyperactive... And it is very exhausting. After that I have about an hour to grab some grub then I'm off to King's Way church for N:Gage... The equivalent of Pathfinders. That's from 6:30pm til 8:30pm... We are preparing for a showcase on the 4th November which has a dance to 27 Million by LZ7 and Matt Redman, the dance looks fantastic however the YFC policy calls for the youth workers to take part in the activities with the young people... In other words my calf muscles are aching from my awesome dance workout... At least the dance looks cool :) so yeah... Prayer for energy on Thursdays would be especially apperciated as I only get home around 9pm.

Fridays we have just started up a new after school club at Riverview Primary School which we are fully booked up for! Popularity is great but it can be tough keeping the kids entertained so prayer for that will be great! That's from 3:30 til 4:30... Then I'm out in the evening at 7pm for Riverside's youth group! Phew!

That's my week day schedule... Now for weekends! Saturdays are usually my day off... However on Sunday I have youth work at church during the service. Then depending on the week I may have an event on during the evening. This Sunday I am going to a family's house after church for lunch which will be great. Then I'm out at a service in the evening and if all goes to plan... I will be sharing my full testimony for the first time! So prayer for that especially will be amazing!

There we have it! My full timetable! Prayer for any of the work I do will be fabulous and if you are praying for something in particular just let me know! Either by contacting me on facebook or just chat to my mum or dad! I have to go now as its about time to meet Simon and Julia! Thanks so much for reading! And thanks so much for the prayer! God bless!