Ventures Update

Prayer and praise

www.ventures.org.uk

Summer 2014

I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens,for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.

Those who sacrifice thank offerings honour me, and to the blameless I will show my salvation.

Psalm 50:9-10, 23

As a child, the highlight of my summers was staying on my grandads farm and, from there, heading to Bible camp. So taking a bull and a few goats along to a Venture would have been a possible, though expensive, way to try and win Gods favour!

But the cattle on a thousand hills belong to him already, so what can we really give?

In truth, it is us who need his offering. At Ventures, we teach children and young people in our care that only by the sacrifice of his own Son, can we become his blameless and liberated people.

Its little wonder that this discovery drives us to respond generously by giving of ourselves!

Thousands of us are getting ready to serve on a Venture this summer, and many more are supporting the events through prayer, finances and talking about the holidays with others. I have been hugely encouraged to learn that many Venture leaders are serving on the same Ventures that they attended as young people. They have discovered and grown in their walk with Christ, and are now pouring their time, money and energy into giving others the same opportunity for such a life-changing holiday.

Having seen his salvation for ourselves, we now have the privilege of seeing him open the eyes of the young.

On a recent Venture, I enjoyed activities in the great outdoors amongst the young people. I watched them develop new skills, grow in confidence, beam with delight with each achievement, and bond with their peers and leaders. This provided a fantastic context for the real highlight of the day, when later that evening many of them responded to Christs sacrifice with empty hands. What a joy to see Gods salvation! What an honour to offer back something of ourselves in thanks.

Huge thanks to all of you who are contributing to the life-changing ministry of Ventures,

Tim FriendVentures and Falcon Camps Principal

PS: To help you tell more people about how great Ventures are, theres a new video which youll find at www.ventures.org.uk/new.

What were the highlights for you?It was wonderful to see young people respond

to the gospel as it was clearly explained to them

evening by evening. I think a great strength of

Ventures is the time and space they allow to really

invest in young people as individuals. Many come

for a holiday, and find they are cared for, listened

to, and given the chance to hear the Christian

message, have their questions answered and

ultimately grow in faith.

It was a real encouragement to see those I had

known as youngsters now leading, and doing it

really well. Ventures were an important part of my

own development as a leader, and its good to see

others growing in their leadership at Barnstaple.

Last summer, Bishop Nick McKinnel went on the Barnstaple 2 Venture as chaplain to the leaders. We talked to him about his experiences of supporting and encouraging the leaders and seeing young people grow in faith.

Bishop Nick at Barnstaple

Will you be back again this year?Hopefully, yes! Its a privilege to be able to support leaders and draw alongside young people on a Venture, helping them one by one to get to know Jesus better. Id encourage anyone who is interested in investing in the future through discipling young people to lead on a Venture. Who knows how many lives we will change when we invest in one young person?

What does the role of chaplain involve?My role was to encourage the leaders and young

people in a variety of ways. I spoke on 2 Timothy

at the leaders prayer meeting each evening. We

looked at Pauls description of Christ-centred

leadership, and thought about how we could

apply this. Beyond this, I didnt have any official

responsibilities which left me free to spend time

with the young people, leaders and their families. I

also joined in some of the (less energetic!) games.

How did you get involved with Ventures?I was a leader myself in the 1980s and 1990s, and my own children all enjoyed going on Pathfinder and CYFA holidays (which are now known as Ventures). The church I was minister of before I became Bishop of Crediton has strong links with the Barnstaple and Sparkford Ventures, and so I was delighted to have the opportunity to attend as chaplain to the leaders, many of whom I know both through my time as a vicar and in my diocese as a bishop.

I was twelve when I attended the Bakewell Venture for the first time. Id heard about it through the local church youth group I was attending with some school friends and we decided to ask our parents if we could all go along. I didnt know it then, but the holiday was going to totally shake my world.

Id been baptised as a baby and attended a Church of England primary school but that was as far as it went. I knew some of the basic stories and was pretty content with it staying that way. The moment I decided I wanted that to change, is the one Ill always look back upon as the start of both my faith and passion for Christian residentials.

Id spent the week listening to some really cool, lovely, funny leaders talk about this amazing man called Jesus. Id heard about him, but I guess Id never really understood he had any relation to my life. Then one

My experience didnt end there however. It took me a whole year and another week-long Venture but then I finally plucked up the courage to go to church and call myself a Christian. For a good while this was very difficult as I hadnt realised my familys stance on faith. At 13, I was standing tall for Jesus despite a huge backlash from my strongly atheist family who were armed with the standard Bible basher and God squad comments. I guess they assumed that it was just a phase. But the Venture got me involved with the local church and soon enough I was attending all of the youth activities they could offer.

night during worship in the evening meeting I felt Jesuss presence. Not in a big, loud, moment often talked about when people come to faith but more just a simple but undeniable feeling of love and amazement. It was a total wow moment for a shy, chubby twelve year old ... Jesus loves ME! And he wants to be in MY life! I didnt tell another member or leader but I sang along to God of the impossible with all my heart and soul, fully understanding for the first time what it meant. Jesus was real, relevant, and wanted a relationship with me.

The culmination of everything a Christian residential offers helped me gain understanding of this, but also gave me a really, really good week away. Great teaching and leaders were mixed with fun activities and new friends and I went home with loads of fab memories and stories to share.

19 year-old Jess Corcoran shares how she discovered Jesus love on a Venture aged 12, and hasnt looked back.

I want to tell people how amazing Jesus is!

2013

My faith and confidence grew so much and soon enough I was the loud Christian girl who was super proud about it and would openly talk about Jesus and my faith. I gave assemblies, talked at youth groups and even went back as a leader myself. I cant even explain how utterly life-changing that initial one week on camp was for me except to say my whole life has been moulded by the experience. Im not yet 19 but this summer Ill be leading on a Venture for the fourth time, loving every single minute of it.

What keeps me passionate about Christian residentials is knowing just how easily I could have never really known Jesus. Ive jokingly referred to myself as the biggest Efriday success (the name of the church youth group) in the past because I was the totally unchurched kid with the atheist family. I didnt grow up with VeggieTales nor learn the classic songs to help you know the order of the books in the Bible but I gave my life to God and gained so much in the process. I lead on camp, tell people about my faith and write this because I want to tell people how amazing Jesus is. See once upon a time I was just a girl who was captivated on camp by Jesuss love and since then life has never been the same. 2010

What keeps me passionate about Christian residentials is knowing just how easily

I could have never really known Jesus.

2011

2009

2008

2012

Watch Jess tell her story at www.youtube.com/ventureholidays

Dear Ventures supporters

I wanted to say thank you for

the bursary which enabled me

to go to on a Venture holiday.

I had an absolutely brilliant time

and made loads of great friends.

The atmosphere was so

inspirational and frankly, I can

honestly say the days I spent

there were the best of my

life. So, thank you so much.

Hopefully Ill be able to go again

sometime!

Yours sincerelyHeather, 14

thank you

Wed love to give as many young people as possible the chance to benefit from a Ventures bursary. Please consider donating online at www.cpas.org.uk/bursary.

Hi to all,

I would just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who donated money for me to be able to go to on a Venture. It was amazing and, apart from learning loads about the Bible, I learnt loads about myself. The friendships I made were priceless.

Thank you so muchBrandon, 17

Why not encourage your church family to fund a young persons place on a Venture?

Read the full version of Heathers letter and give to this years bursary fund at www.cpas.org.uk/bursary.

Brandons church family donated his Venture fees.

Dear Sir/Madam

I wanted to express our deep appreciation for granting a bursary for two of our church girls who are attending a Venture in a few weeks time. They both come from single parent families who are on benefits. Without this bursary the parents would not have been able to send their children on this camp.We are therefore really grateful and continue to pray that God would speak to these children and bring them into a saving knowledge of Jesus.

With thanks,Mark

Mark is the pastor of a church in Blackpool.

Prayers for VenturesPrayers for the summer, from the profound to the practical.

Almighty God, be in the planning and

preparation in the weeks leading up

to Ventures. May your will be done.

Lord, we pray both members and leaders gain a greater understanding of your love for them this summer.

We pray for the partnerships between Ventures and local churches, and in particular for the relationships with churches who are sending members or leaders for the first time.

Lord Jesus, we ask that you will provide leaders with energy, clear thinking and good sleep.

We ask that good Christian

friendships develop on Ventures,

which last far beyond the summer.

Father, we ask for increased awareness of Ventures within churches, schools and youth groups.

Father God, we ask for your hand

to be over the safety and smooth

running of every Venture.

As the gospel is presented to thousands of young people over July and August, we pray that many will respond, and give their lives to Jesus Christ.Jesus, please give us good weather, great experiences and fantastic fun!

If you would like to receive a free poster with dates and details of all Ventures and Falcon Camps to aid your prayers, please contact the Ventures team on ventures@cpas.org.uk or 0300 123 0780 (option 2). If you already subscribe to the CPAS Prayer Diary, you will receive one automatically.

CPAS, Sovereign Court One (Unit 3), Sir William Lyons Road, University of Warwick Science Park, COVENTRY CV4 7EZT 0300 123 0780 (option 2) E ventures@cpas.org.uk W www.ventures.org.uk

Church Pastoral Aid Society Registered charity no 1007820 A company limited by guarantee Registered in England no 2673220 Registered office at above address

Ventures is part of the ministry of CPAS

Scan to visit www.ventures.org.uk

Ventures prayer poster available from early July!