Spring Harvest 2003
A group from QBC went to Spring Harvest at Skegness. Well what can we say!?! It was fantastic! It was a really good time to set things straight with our Creator and Father and to spend time together as a fellowship, getting to know each other better.
The week was about connecting with the global mission of God. Many started the day at a worship session called “Good Morning Big Top!”, an opportunity for all ages to pray and worship. The morning daily Bible reading was by Ajith Fernando. The teaching he gave was very inspiring, looking at the story of Jonah and God’s plan for his life.
In the afternoons we went to laser quest, bowling, fun-fair, swimming and football. We entered two football teams. One team crashed out in the ¼ finals to the winners, the other lost in the 3rd round to the runners up. Chris Jansen, Ryan Ketteringham and Sam Gibb braved the cold and took a dip in the North Sea! The seminar programme covered items from how to lead the worship in a Church to Global Warming and from coping with loss to reaching and keeping teenagers!
In the evening we enjoyed the main worship session at the Big Top. The leader for our week was Stuart Townend (writer of “How deep the Father’s love” and “In Christ Alone”). The speakers included Jeff Lucas, Nigel Pollock and Elaine Storkey. Late in the evening there were a variety of Christian performers including The Tribe, Bebo Norman and Steve. There were also orchestras, short plays and a gospel choir - all part of the worship experience.
From a personal point of view, I (Hannah) was on a spiritual ‘high’ when I was at Spring Harvest. God really touched my life and helped me see what I had to do to my own life to make it pleasing to him. The other young people also particularly enjoyed the Christian atmosphere where God’s love shone out. It was great to see the effect of God in other’s lives.
At Spring Harvest I went with Alina and Katherine to the 11-14 age group, called ‘Distinctive’. We had 3 sessions per day and I enjoyed the evenings best because most of our time then was in small groups which I prefer to a big crowd. I liked the little seminars which we did about strengthening our relationship with God and how people around us influence us. I also liked the worship because there were lots of instruments which were really cool! In the afternoons we girls plus Rebecca and Jennie went swimming, to lazer-quest and did a lot of shopping. I preferred it this year to last year because there were more people I knew there.
This was my second time at Spring Harvest, my first as part of a larger group. For me the real highlight were the morning Bible readings by Ajith Fernando, the head of student ministry in Sri Lanka. He spoke from Jonah, calling us to mission and challenging us to tell others, so that they learn to respect His power. He made me realise that God can use us despite our weaknesses and failures but He demands obedience and we need to be right with Him. I need to spend more time with God alone seeking His face as well as enjoying the benefits of being together in His family. The ‘song of the week’ was ‘In Christ alone’ by Stuart Townend – what wonderful words. It was so good to praise God for His blessing, His love and our salvation in Christ. At a personal level I praise Him for my improved health, for being together in a group and seeing everyone enjoy and benefit from Spring Harvest. Even the weather was fantastic including one beautiful sunrise.
The Spring Harvest programme is so rich and varied that you can pick and choose to suit your every need. It was good to spend time with others in the group, but there was no pressure to do things together. I was joined by one other on a couple of the early morning jogs, but most of the group stayed in bed. At a time when lots of things seem to be changing in my life, it was good to be reassured of God’s presence, and His call on my life. Good things: fellowship, worship, teaching, football, concerts. Bad things: not enough time to fit in all I wanted to do, having to leave.
We had four lads in our apartment; me, Sam, Joe and Pete and it stunk! we were also joined by Ryan, Chris and Sam. Instead of going to the activities for our age group, we went to the Big-Top in the mornings (if we were up) and the evenings. I think we all enjoyed that more. I especially enjoyed Jeff Lucas as a speaker. The worship was also very good. When not at the Big-Top, we usually played football. On the last night we played for about four hours. We had a big match with lots of Christians which really touched me and some of the other lads. It was the way that a group of Christians came together because of God. We had great fun and are hoping to go next year. I was genuinely disappointed to have to leave.
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