St. Augustine once prayed, ‘I am seeking. I am hesitant and uncertain but will you, O God, watch over every step of mine and guide me in your way’. This is certainly a prayer I can relate to as I move into the third month of my new job as youth and children’s worker at St Mary’s Ash Vale. After two months of settling in (and eating lots of cake) I now have a lot of work to be getting on with!
So what have the young people and children of St Mary’s been up to?
On the 31st October alongside St Peter’s Church in Ash and St Paul’s in Tongham we ran a Light Party for children and young people as an alternative to Halloween. I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who came, gave and helped! It was an amazing event and we had a total of 70 people attend in the end. We enjoyed crafts, games, Bokwa dancing and of course lots of cakes!
I’d also like to say a big thank you to everyone who has helped organise Youth Alpha – so far it is going really well! We often start with a messy game (last week teams had to see how many cotton wool buds they could pick up by sticking noses covered in Vaseline into a big bowl- it’s safe to say we all had very soft noses afterwards!). Then we play ping pong, chat over food and explore together some of the big questions of life.
What’s coming up?
In January Youth Alpha will be continuing as a Youth Group at the Chapel for 11-16 year olds. There will be ping pong, games, hot drinks, movies, giant Jenga and we will be learning about the Bible and having a time of discussion about the things that matter to us. If you are between 11-16 and are interested in finding out more then please text or call me on 07838 495 116 or email me at harrietstmarys@hotmail.co.uk. You can also find me on facebook!
On the 9th December the Chapel is hosting a Youth Event called ‘1 Night to Unite’ for young Christians around the area. There will be prayer, painting, games, tea and coffee and music. For more info contact Pierce Drake on jpiercedii@gmail.com or on 07510 185 913.
After Christmas, we have a few exciting projects starting at the Chapel. Firstly, alongside other local initiatives St Mary’s hopes to start a Youth Café for young people between the ages of 11-16 in the community to come hang out and have fun. The Youth Café will be a safe, relaxing and welcoming environment for young people to come to once a week after school. We hope to have ping pong, hot drinks, games consoles, films, Wi-Fi, board games and much more. So watch this space, more information will be available after Christmas! If you are interested in being involved please do contact me… we will need all hands on deck to get this up and running!
Secondly, we hope to start MESSY CHURCH for anyone (big and small) who wants to come and get messy, have fun and learn more about Jesus at the Chapel. There will be crafts, painting, games, a bible story, singing and a picnic tea to finish. Messy Church starting once a month after Christmas… dates to be confirmed in January!
There is much more planned for the New Year but that’s it for now. Please feel free to contact me on 07839 495 116 or at harrietstmarys@hotmail.co.uk if you have any suggestions or questions about the Children’s and Youth Work at St Mary’s and the Chapel. Or if you just want to say hello…
I hope you all have a very special Christmas!
God bless,
Love Harriet Leefe
St Mary’s Church, Youth and Children’s Worker
