Belper Christian Union, which has been running since March 2010, had seen quite a few of its members go to University leaving a relatively small group. With support from a local Youth Worker and a local Curate the group launched the “Bless Project.” The adult leaders ran some assemblies advertising the project and at the launch party in November about 85 students turned up to eat cake, do a quiz, attempt a “bless challenge” and most importantly, to sign up to bless people through organised activities.

The next week 8 students attended a cake bake after school and then gave away these baked goodies to the “behind the scenes” staff in the school. A few weeks later 15 students joined in with a litter pick around the school.

Before Christmas the Bless Project did some card and present making with around 30 students turning up to join in. During the exam period 25 students helped to make small gifts with an encouraging message to give to all the students taking exams.

Other students also met over a few lunchtimes to come up with their own activity ideas, such as doing their own cake bake at home to bless family and neighbours.

One of the aims of the “Bless Project” has been to build the profile of the CU group in order to see it grow from the small number of Christians currently involved. It is also a great way of changing the school for the better, showing Christianity in a positive light. The teachers and pupils have received the “Bless Project” very warmly and it’s profile is spreading.

In the spring, the Christian Union in a neighbouring village school, Ecclesbourne, will also be launching the Bless Project. The aim again is to increase the profile of the Christian Union, engage with students who otherwise would not ever come into the group and to bless the school as a whole.

The C.U. are currently putting together ideas and preparing a presentation about the Bless Project and ideas for the Head teacher.

We think these ideas are brilliant! Here at New Generation we think initiatives like this are so important, as you will be spreading the love of Jesus across the school or college you have been placed. How can you bless your schoolmates?

One of the group members even gave one person a NG bible.

We met them in November and by the end of autumn their group doubled to about 14 and there were many
more people interested in the group.

They bravely got up in assembly to advertise their group and the response was positive. They then decided to do a Christmas Party at the end of term and fixed the date for the 9th Dec! They had lots of brilliant ideas and got in contact to ask for more.

The day came and three of them were waiting in the room, when a group of boys came in and stole the
biscuits and Lucy said she thought it would go bad! Thankfully the boys came and brought the biscuits back.

Then hear what Lucy told us:

‘In our Christian union we decided to have a Christmas party to advertise our CU. After a few weeks of
planning the day came. We were so excited! Once everyone had arrived we had about 20-25 people which
is amazing! Some non-Christians and some Christians! After a while people started playing games. It was
such a great atmosphere! We had help from a youth leader near us called Matt, he introduced us to New
Generation! Nearly all of the food disappeared! It was a great time and lots of people seemed interested!
Hopefully in the new year we will start seeing new faces in our CU. It just goes to show what you can
achieve when you put your faith in it!’

We thank God for this amazing story and want to encourage everyone to have faith in God to work through
their group!

“I’m now in Sixth Form and I’m starting up a CU. I’ve managed to get 5 other students helping me to start it up and we’ve got the school chapel every second Wednesday…”

And in a later email:

“… After the first CU meeting we have now about 10 very keen people to help which is AMAZING!!!”

That’s amazing!!! Well done Kathryne and keep it up St. Peter’s School CU! We just want to encourage you to have the boldness to do something in your school/college. It’s not always easy- in fact it’s often the opposite, but what you do is making a difference!

Everyone needs a bible. Why not hand out bibles in your school/college? Whether you’re on your own or part of a large Christian school group, handing the word of God to someone could change their life completely.

Our cool-looking New Testament bibles are just £3 each or £2.75/ea for 20+ and £2.50/ea for 100+! Head over to www.newgeneration.co.uk/shop to place your order or get in touch with us at hello@newgeneration.co.uk.

Over the years we’ve heard so many amazing stories and ideas. We’ve also seen some not so great ideas and some that are plain ridiculous. All that being said we want to pass those experiences on, and also hear what you are doing in school right now. You’ll also get an opportunity to meet other young people that are in the exact same position as you are.

The day is full of practical, interactive sessions all based around developing you as a young Christian who can positively impact the people around you. It’s not about success or numbers, it’s about following Jesus and being salt and light to a generation that needs to see him. It’s no easy task, but it’s still the right path and we hope the day will be inspirational, practical and will prepare you for the realities you face daily at school.

What can I expect the sessions to include?
- Prayer & Outreach
- Social Action and Jesus
- Bring out the organiser in you!
- Speaking to the Head teacher
- Shed-loads of testimonies
- Practical ideas and much much more…
Don’t take my word for it, you’ll just have to come along and see.

Awesome! Where and when is it going to be?

When: Feb 11th 2012
Where: Renewal Christian Centre (The Family Centre) Lode Lane, Solihull B91 2JR
From: 10:00 to 16:00
Cost: £3
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/272088332833265/

When: Feb 18th 2012
Where: !Audacious East Campus (Formerly New Life Church), Failsworth, Manchester, M35 9PA
From: 10:00 to 16:00
Cost: £3
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/242846285782423/

When: Feb 25th 2012
Where: The Old School Rooms, The Green, Stoke Gifford, Bristol BS34 8PD
From: 10:00 to 16:00
Cost: £3
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/191592964265096/

Faith, Hope & School is a fun, interactive training day for anyone involved in a Christian group in school/college, or interested in getting involved or starting a new group. Here’s some info on what to expect at FHS:

The day is packed with a variety of interactive sessions and time to exchange ideas and get advice.

Session topics include:
- young leadership
- resources available to your group
- hearing and sharing stories about what you are doing
- outreach ideas
- prayer for school
- fundraising
- social action
- dealing with opposition

*We’ll start off the day with prayer, waffles and a few surprises. Then get into some interactive sessions, eat and get to know each other and have some more packed sessions. Be prepared for challenges, videos and lots of stories, laughter and relevant, helpful tips from us and other CU members!

*Cost: £3 to cover lunch.

See you there!

“Thank you for praying on Monday! The outreach went really well we handed out 1000 candy canes- one for every pupil and member of staff. The reaction was really positive, everyone read their bible verses and hardly any were found lying about, so they must have kept them! One pupil stuck them all to his locker for all to see, while another stuck some to his jacket. Several from year 8 said that they found their bible verses really significant the best thing is that in less than half an hour we exposed everyone to the bible and because of Hebrews 4:12, it will surely have effect! Thank you for supporting us through it, we absolutely loved doing it!

Michaela”

Amazing! Well done!

He made an easy step by step plan of how he would move forward to start the group which included finding a time for praying in school and putting up posters.

His group started last Tuesday and it all paid off– 5 people turned up! He says, “It went pretty well, there were 5 of us including me; I just hope they come next time.”

We hope so too! Good job David! Please remember to pray for all the NG groups scattered around our great country who are taking bold initiatives every day.

We recently met the Christian Union of St Mary Redcliffe in Bristol. We asked Jonty and Jacob if they could share a bit of what’s been happening in their CU.

Jonty: -”We just want to tell you a little about what we’ve been up to. When we started off at the start of the year we had about 20 people; Then we started to pray and meet up, to decide what our group should do, and today we had 59 people! It’s very good and it’s really exciting what God has done, and he has been really faithful to us.”
Jacob continues: – “A few weeks ago we had a theme about ‘God’s love’. We put a big sheet of paper in the middle of the room and got everyone to write their testimonies down on it. On of my frees, I divided them up and now they’re hanging on the wall so that people can look at them and be encouraged”.

The testimonies are on the wall behind them in the picture. It was really encouraging to hear, and it’s a great idea to see what God is doing around the people you meet everyday.