Flow Magazine – Issue 14

THE MAGAZINE OF THE

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E READ MOR INSIDE

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE FEEL THE FEAR… AND FUNDRAISE! HOPE RETURNS TO HAITI GREAT TEACHING

THE GRADUATES REad their amazing stories and help us find the next generation of WORLD CHANGERS

About the Cover Editor: Alistair Metcalfe Associate Editor: Ian Rowbottom Senior Art Director & Graphic Design: Dan Hasler – Message:Creative PICTURE EDITOR: Hannah Beatrice Prittie

Laura Jones, Ryan Griggs and Tim Mycock are three graduates of our world-class evangelism training school.

Read their stories starting p16 and help us find a new batch of pioneer evangelists on p23.

Graphic Design: Hannah Beatrice Prittie, Matt Varah Wilson Contributors: Andy Hawthorne Stuart Chell Tim Tucker Subscription & Supporter Enquiries: E: info@message.org.uk T: 0161 946 2300 Giving: E: giving@message.org.uk T: Lauren Dawson 0161 946 2304 Contributing Photographers COVER STORY: Hannah Beatrice Prittie INTERNALS: P3/6 – Lucy West Images P4/12/26 – Hannah Beatrice Prittie P9 – flickr gre.ceres P9 – flickr Greg Palmer P9 – flickr merfam P9 – flickr mitchpa1984 P9 – flickr sapiensolutions P9 – flickr Stig Nygaard P9 – flickr Stuart Grout P9 – flickr The Pug Father P31 – flickr I Believe ILLUSTRATIONS: P24/28 – Matt Varah Wilson Contact: E: flow@message.org.uk T: 0161 946 2300 flow – The Message Magazine Lancaster House Lancaster Campus Harper Road Sharston Manchester M22 4RG www.message.org.uk/flow

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PAGE News, including CLAN Games and Message SA

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PAGE Testimony: Laura’s story

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PAGE Help find the Class of 14-15

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PAGE Be Strong in Grace: Tim Tucker PAGE

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MBN: It’s Business Time

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PAGE Teaching from Andy Hawthorne The Message Trust is a registered data user and only uses personal data in connection with its charitable purposes.

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Registered Office: Lancaster House, Lancaster Campus, Harper Road, Sharston, Manchester, M22 4RG The Message Trust is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales No. 3961183 Registered Charity No. 1081467 VAT Registration No. GB 727 177616

Catch all of the latest news from The Message on our brand-new website:

www.message.org.uk OUR COMMITMENT TO THE ENVIRONMENT

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ANDY'S RANT

All over the world, the Spirit is moving!

Dear friend, One thing’s for sure, you couldn't say my life is boring! In January, alongside playing my part in leading all the exciting growth here in Manchester, I got the chance to visit Haiti, a country that God has well and truly put on our hearts.

As I'm sure you know, it's a place of desperate poverty where over half the population survives on under a pound a day. Way back in 2002, we had a prophetic word from God that he loves our hearts for urban youth and that that's to be our priority, but that we should ‘never forget the poorest of the poor.’

As a result, pretty much everyone at The Message sponsors children in Haiti through the amazing charity Compassion, plus we've had the privilege of supporting prisons ministry, orphanages and various rebuilding projects after the catastrophic earthquake of 2010. What a blessing it is to see the impact this has made, and what a joy to see the church of Jesus growing even in the face of the worst imaginable obstacles (see page 6 for more on my trip).

Just a week after getting back from Haiti, I was invited by a generous couple who support The Message to spend a few days skiing with them in the beautiful French Alps. The contrast with Haiti couldn't have been more stark, yet God was clearly moving in the life and work of this couple too. Don't you think it's quite something that the gospel of Jesus is just as relevant in the swish ski chalet as it is in the slums? And of course, it’s just as relevant as ever to the tough urban communities where we’re at work.

There really is nothing like it and as long as we keep this gospel and our Saviour central to all we do, I honestly believe anything is possible for us.

God bless you and thanks for all your support,

SMILE AWAY ‘Once upon a time children were made in the image of laughter. Until Grim appeared with tales of the sophisticated frown, and laughter turned to misery…’

This striking composite of Square1’s team leader Sola is the face of ‘Smile Away,’ a groundbreaking new collaboration from In Yer Face Theatre Company and Square1 Dance Crew. The drama-dance show, which is soon to be touring schools, prisons and churches, is a radical retelling of the Easter story.

Find out more at www.message.org.uk/iyf

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NEWS

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NEWS

Hope returning to Haiti Haiti continues to be strongly on our heart at The Message, as we remember God’s word to us to ‘Never forget the poorest of the poor.’

That’s why Andy and Michele Hawthorne and a small team from the UK joined Compassion staff on a visit in February. While there, they saw the ongoing rebuilding work after the devastating earthquakes in 2010, and were reminded of the incredible power of child sponsorship to change lives for good.

‘We spent a week visiting projects, praying with people and meeting hundreds of sponsored children,’ says Andy.

‘These are some of the world’s poorest people – most of them living on a pound a day or less. But the overriding sense we had travelling around was of hope, and joy.’

‘We returned to Leogane, the epicentre of the earthquake, where I remember witnessing hundreds of dead bodies piled up and the stink of rotten flesh in the air just a few days after the earthquake in 2010. It was an apocalyptic scene. There, sweeping up among the ruins, was a pastor, a former Compassion sponsored child, mourning the loss of so many of his people and the destruction of his church and school building. Today, not only are they rebuilt, but his church has grown massively and so has their hunger for God. He was full of faith. Joy was there, the joy of Jesus.

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‘We met up with a family we first met on the streets in 2002 and began helping through Compassion. We’ve journeyed with that family over 12 years now, seen them all become Christians and their young lad grow up and train to be a mechanic. What a privilege to see that happen!

‘And we went back to the women’s prison in Pétion-ville.

Eight years ago we set up a partnership with a local church to supply sanitary packs to the women, funded by us. This has grown into Alpha courses and Bible studies, and supporting girls once they leave the prison.

Amazingly, the project has made such an impact that the government has asked to see it rolled out into every prison across Haiti.’

THANK YOU! Because we tithe our unrestricted income to ministries working with the poorest of the poor, your gifts to The Message are helping transform the lives of young people not only in the UK but all around the world. We’ve also encouraged over a thousand people like you to sponsor children through Compassion – if you’d like to do the same, visit www.compassionuk.org.

Iain Duncan Smith honours London’s Urban Heroes Our first ever Urban Hero Awards for London took place on March 14 at the Emirates Stadium in North London. Among the guests gathered to honour the four winners was Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith.

The four winners were chosen from London’s six Eden teams, nominated for their exceptional courage, voluntary work or the way they have inspired or championed others. Eden leader Alex Hall also won a Special Leadership Award for her tireless work in the Bow area over the last three years.

ABOVE: Richard Doherty, Inspiration Nominee ‘These young people are powerful agents of change in their local communities,’ commented Dan Haigh, Eden London Director. ‘They are bringing hope to other young people that there is a better life outside of the drugs, crime and gangs so endemic on our city estates.'

You can see the four nomination videos seen on the night together with an introduction to Eden London at www.eden-network.org

Don’t miss May’s Prayer Storm The next Prayer Storm Gathering takes place on May 24, 2014 from 12-7pm at Audacious Church, Manchester.

Prayer Storm continues to grow rapidly, seeing hundreds gathering for days of worship and intercession twice a year and at the annual Prayer Culture conference in February. Each time God moves in power and lives are changed for good.

The Prayer Storm podcast features teaching from James Aladiran at recent gatherings plus inspiring videos you can share on social media or in church. Search for ‘Prayer Storm Podcast’ on iTunes or access via the Prayer Storm website, www.prayerstorm.org

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NEWS

Proximity Conference

It is our privilege to host Proximity every year in Manchester – gathering our Eden partners together with lots of other friends who share our passion for ministry in forsaken urban communities.

This year, the event takes place on May 9 and 10 and we’ve got a stellar lineup of guest speakers: Bill Hogg, Carl Beech, Francis Chan (via Skype) and Andy Hawthorne will all be joining us.

‘Proximity is one of the highlights of my year,’ says Sam Ward, National Director of the Eden Network. ‘Getting together with like-minded community activists from around the country for

‘The Pace Setter’ out of the blocks

New Message South Africa Director Tim Tucker is releasing his first book this May, published by Message Books.

Called The Pace Setter, the book explores the dynamic mentoring relationship between Paul and Timothy and specifically the wise counsel Paul gives in the book of 2 Timothy. It’s a must-read for anyone involved in mentoring young leaders or with a passion for passing on the baton to the next generation.

'Tim Tucker is what Jim Collins would call a "Level 5" leader – driven by passion, highly effective, genuinely humble,’ writes Andy Hawthorne in his Foreword.

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two days of worship and teaching is just incredible.

Come and use this time out to learn and share, dream and conspire.’

The vision for Proximity is to collaborate with all those bringing the church into much closer proximity with communities that have experienced decades of social decay; simultaneously bringing transformation to broken lives and restoring authenticity to Christian discipleship.

If that sounds like your way to spend a weekend, book now at eden-network.org. Tickets start at £29 for a one-day ticket or £55 for the whole weekend.

Get a flavour of the Proximity conference by checking out last year’s keynote messages from Ash Barker, and breakout talks and discussion groups.

Visit eden-network.org/media

'But as he has built his team for Message SA, it’s become clear to me that he is also a man who produces Level 5 leaders. This is the message of his book – and, more importantly, is the only way people like us are really going to change the world.’

LAUNCH EVENT The book launches at a special reception at the MEC on Friday 16 May with the ticket price of £12 (couples £20) including a copy of the book and a buffet meal. For ticket details, check our website: www.message.org.uk

FUNDRAISING

Feel the fear… and do it anyway!

Get involved with a Challenge Event and raise vital funds for The Message this year Fancy a real challenge in 2014?

We’ve got a range of adrenalinefuelled challenge events that you can do to stretch your limits while raising much-needed funds towards our work with young people.

Every challenge event participant gets a free Message T-shirt and a sponsorship pack to kick-start your fundraising. We still have spaces left for the following challenges listed opposite this year....

We love it when people catch the vision for our work and start to cheer us on by praying for us and raising money wherever they are.

That’s what happened with a group of churches in Devon who heard about the MEC’s Houses of Hope and chose it as their Benefice Project for 2013. Through a series of events including sponsored walks (see picture) the Five Parishes Benefice near Yeovil raised over £1000 towards making two of our houses into homes for young people leaving prison. If you’d like to get fundraising for The Message, contact: helen.murphy@message.org.uk.

Could you run the Great Manchester 10K? Join 40,000 other runners for Europe’s biggest 10K event on Sunday May 18.

How about a team challenge?

Go White Water Rafting!

Teams of 4 to 7 enter to compete for the fastest time. Takes place May 8-10 at the National White Water Rafting centre in Wales.

Grab a bike and do the Great Manchester Cycle!

Take part in a 13-, 26- or 52-mile challenge on Sunday June 29.

Think you are strong enough to tackle the Tough Mudder?

Known as ‘probably the toughest event on the planet’, this endurance race will take place at various dates and locations across the UK.

Are you brave enough to Skydive?

If a 10,000ft freefall parachute jump sounds up your street, then we would love to hear from you!

Join this year’s running craze… The Colour Run! Old or young, fast or slow, first time runner or competitive athlete, this 5K is for you! Takes place in Manchester on Saturday July 5.

And finally… how about the challenge of a lifetime?

Join us for our first team Kilimanjaro Climb This 10-day challenge is not for the fainthearted, but well worth it! Journey with us to the ‘rooftop of Africa’ this October.

Visit our Challenge Events webpage for more information on all these challenges: www.message.org.uk/challenge www.message.org.uk/flow

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GATHERING THE CLAN FOR THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES This summer, Glasgow is playing host to the Commonwealth Games and tens of thousands of visitors are expected to flood the city for two weeks of the world’s finest athletics and sporting events.

In the build-up to the official Opening Ceremony on July 23, the brand-new Message Scotland team will be joining forces with local churches, New Wine Scotland (CLAN) and other mission agencies to make the most of this amazing opportunity to reach the city with the good news of Jesus.

CLAN Games takes place July 19-23 and will create dozens of opportunities for relevant mission in word and action in a festival atmosphere. People will get to see the church doing what it does best – loving and serving its community with the good news of Jesus.

‘CLAN Games has a very similar heart to Message 2000 and the festivals on the street down the years. It’s about teams coming in to equip and energise local churches doing local mission. It’s the opposite of “flash in the pan” ministry but actually contributes to long-term transformation of city communities.’

Alan McWilliam, Chair of CLAN

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NEWS The CLAN Games team is hoping to see between 300 and 600 fired-up people joining in, working closely with 20 different churches in the Glasgow area. During the five days, there will be training and input from speakers including Andy Hawthorne, Debra Green (Redeeming Our Communities) and Chris Duffett of the Light Project, and a massive celebration will bring the mission to a close.

But the main event will be the mission itself, with teams engaged in seven different kinds of outreach, including creative arts and performance, community outreach, healing on the streets, service and social action, prophetic evangelism and, of course, lots of sports ministry.

‘More than anything, we want to see people coming into relationship with Jesus and the harvest brought home,’ says Alan. ‘We’re going to see local churches enabled and equipped to connect with, serve and demonstrate the gospel to the community in a focussed and powerful way.’

The fruit won’t stop there. There will be several legacy projects from the Games, including up to three new Eden teams on estates around Glasgow, including the Parkhead area of the city. Other exciting initiatives in the pipeline include a new creative arts schools team serving Glasgow and beyond.

CLAN Games will mark the official launch of Message Scotland, which has been gathering pace over the last few months. Scotland Director John McIntosh-Brown has been working closely with a host of mission agencies under the banner of More Than Gold.

‘Working together with Message Scotland has been an absolute delight,’ comments Alan. ‘We’ve just found that there’s a real sense of both unity and purpose – it’s been a really dynamic partnership.’

Find out more about Message Scotland at

www.messagescotland.org

Want to be a part of the action?

Come up and be part of the buzz around the Commonwealth Games, and see lives transformed as you serve and share the good news. You could come on your own, with a bunch of mates or as part of a church group. There are seven kinds of mission to choose from: Creative Arts Use your artistic, music or dance talents in a variety of relevant ways Community Outreach Running events such as a community gala day day, /street streetparty, party,ororhelping helpingwith witha akids kidsholiday holidayclub club Healing Outreach Taking healing prayer out on to the streets of Glasgow alongside an experienced team

Please note: there is no programme for children. High School age children are welcome to be part of the mission if accompanied by a parent/carer/youth leader.

Street Work From sharing our testimonies to giving free hugs Service and Social Action Grabbing a shovel or a paintbrush and bringing renewal to tired areas Prophetic Evangelism Gazebo and café-style outreaches as well as ‘treasure-hunting’ on the streets Sports Mission What else? Loads of sportsrelated relatedfun funfor forall allages. ages Find out more and book online at www.clangathering.org.uk

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True

Colours Laura Nicolson from Shine Hair & Beauty tells her own amazing story

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TESTIMONY

f you come through the doors of Shine, there is every chance you’ll find me chatting away to a client as I cut or colour their hair. I trained to be a hairdresser years ago.

But I can honestly say I am learning new things every day – about the never-ending goodness of God. Two and a half years ago I knew my life really needed to change. I’d been a heroin addict for 17 years, on methadone for 13 years and on all sort of anti-depressants and anti-psychotic drugs. I was taking uppers to wake up, downers to go to sleep and other stuff to get through the day. Things got so bad that I was in a mental hospital with druginduced psychosis, and my parents were told I would spend the rest of my life in there.

I was in and out of violent relationships and I was involved in all sorts of crime and theft to feed my drug habit. On top of all this, I’d lost my son at 16 months old because I couldn’t cope with being a mother at that point. I was even told I had a personality disorder. So I was trapped in a place of shame and guilt.

Basically, my life was a mess. I got to the point where I got to thinking I only had three options – either kill myself, kill somebody else or be killed.

One way or the other, I was going to die.

But it all changed one night – the night I heard about Jesus. I was hearing all these testimonies, one after another about how he had changed people’s lives. One person even testified to being healed from a personality disorder. So that night I made up my mind. I went to the front and said, ‘If you can do it for these people, then please do it for me because I can’t live like this any more.’

Within 12 hours I was on the Victory Outreach recovery programme where I spent the next 18 months getting my life sorted out. The church runs a rehab with homes for men and women and a structured programme which gives people from broken backgrounds a new home and somewhere to belong.

More than anything, it’s been about getting closer to God who I knew could change my life. And he has. He’s given me everything back that the devil stole from me. I hadn’t worked as a hairdresser for years. Now he’s given me a job doing what I love.

He’s set me free from drugs, healed me several times over and reconciled me with my family. I’ve now got a good relationship with my parents and I’m starting to get to know my son. This Christmas was the first Christmas I was able to spend at home with him since he was a baby and the first time I’ve ever seen him open his presents. I just thought, ‘God, you’ve been so good to me.’

If you’d told me a couple of years ago that all this would have changed, I’d have called you a liar because I never thought that could happen to me.

I didn’t think I was worthy of that. But if he can do all this within just two and a half years, what’s he going to do with me in the future?

Shine is an amazing place. Business is growing and I’m getting the chance to be a mentor for the new apprentices coming through the salon. I feel like we’re trailblazers, investing for the future.

If he can do all this within just two and a half years, what,s he going to do with me in the future?

God’s using me, too. He’s given me a real heart to reach out to people who don’t know him who come into the salon. I can testify to his goodness. I want other people to hear me sharing my testimony and be asking God, ‘If you can do it for her, will you do it for me too?’

It’s amazing to see that and to think that God could use someone like me to be a blessing to other people.

Find out more about what's going on at the MEC at: www.message.org.uk/mec

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FEATURE

NEXT LEVEL DISCIPLESHIP Our friends at Light have pioneered a new resource to help thousands of young people take the next step in their walk with God

e did 65 schools gigs in partnership with local churches last year and, no disrespect to them, but not one of them had anything credible for the young people to take away at the end of the night,’ begins Lindz West, frontman of LZ7 and its parent ministry, Light. ‘Some gave away tracts, others whole Bibles, and inevitably you would find piles of them in the bins at the end of the night.

The question was, how can we develop something that kids find really valuable and they want to go back to when they get home?’

The AAA Pass is their response – a free lanyard giving access to an online resource which Lindz describes as a ‘next-level discipleship course’.

Young people who respond at LZ7 gigs or events are presented with an AAA Pass on a lanyard with a scratch-off key code on the reverse. The code gives them access to a website, theAAApass.com, which opens with a presentation of the 4 Points

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and continues to a 9-step discipleship programme called living4God.net, presented by Lindz, LZ7 bandmate Remi, Twelve24's Ryan and Josh, Charlie Blyth from A21/Hillsong and rapper Guvna B. At each stage the resource is loaded with downloads, exclusive tracks and videos, but front and centre is an accessible, step-by-step introduction to the gospel, the church, the Bible and prayer, and topics including forgiveness and baptism. Living4God can also be used in the context of a 9-week Alpha-style youth course, meeting in a Starbucks or another neutral venue as a follow-up to a schools week.

The fact that the AAA Pass is an online resource means that not only are there multiple entry points – kids can access the material via a computer or any phone – but that it can be updated with the latest songs and videos. There’s also the potential to tailor the AAA Pass city by city, opening up the possibility of linking kids to specific churches and youth workers.

‘A thousand kids came to the end of week gig and we gave out 600 passes. Of these, 479 went through the whole course.'

But perhaps the most exciting feature of the AAA Pass is that it’s possible to track accurately how many people are engaging with the material and – crucially – how many are making it through to the end. In a recent pilot of the resource in Slough, says Lindz, the results were astonishing: ‘A thousand kids came to the end of week gig and we gave out 600 passes. Of these, 479 went through the whole course – we know because we could see how many had logged on with their pass.’

The band plans to give out thousands of the new passes at the Big Church Day Out at Wiston House, East Sussex on May 25. After that, they will be available in bundles from Light’s website.

With a massive audience through schools and festivals at home and abroad – the band estimate they have played to 750,000 young people over the last two years – the resource could be a catalyst for a huge amount of serious discipleship. Light are also gearing up to make the AAA Pass a central part of a massive national schools tour they are planning for 2015.

‘I’d love to see a tipping point happening,’ says Lindz. ‘More young people engaging with Jesus, resourcing the church in an incredible way. People are looking at this and calling it a game changer – that’s my dream for it.'

ANDY SAYS...

We’re so excited by what we’ve seen from Lindz and the Light guys since they became Associates back in 2011. Not only are they breaking new ground with the size of the platforms they’re on, but they’re working hard at the really important stuff – not just counting hands but making disciples. The AAA Pass is a big step forward in bringing together the technology every young person loves to use and the life-changing message of discipleship they need to hear.

They’re still a key part of the Message family and we’d love you to support them if you can.

Sign up to Light’s monthly prayer mailout at: info@light.uk.com

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LEAD FEATURE

NAME: Ryan GRIGGS YEAR OF STUDY: Class of 2007b (Genetik) SPECIALISM: Performance, rapper, youth worker MOST LIKELY TO BE: Will-i-am backing dancer QUOTE:

‘Much more than I expected’

WHAT THEY DID NEXT: Performer, Twelve 24 - The Message Trust

s one-third of Twelve24, Ryan Griggs is used to sharing his story of how a young rapper from Connecticut, USA, found his way into one of the UK’s most exciting new Christian bands.

‘It’s one of the questions I get asked the most in schools,’ says Ryan. ‘I tell them that while it’s true that I got my passion for rap growing up in the US, I actually found my purpose here in the UK.’ Growing up in a home without a dad, Ryan felt blessed to have father figures all around him in the church: ‘My pastor, my youth leader, a couple other guys really fathered me growing up. I had this feeling that I wanted to serve God in some way to “pay it back.”

‘I guess I thought I should be a pastor.

But although I was too shy to say it, I actually wanted to be a rapper.’

Ryan had grown up listening to bands like Cross Movement, and was excited by the powerful way they communicated the gospel through rap. But with his white, suburban upbringing (his neighbourhood was called ‘Country Place’) nothing seemed to quite fit. Until one day, an opportunity to rap in church opened up.

‘I was 16, maybe 17, still wondering where my life was going. My pastor had heard that me and this other guy had been rapping a

little and so he basically told us to get up and rap in church one Sunday morning. He didn’t give us much choice in the matter. So we did it, and it went off! People were crying, my mom and my brothers were amazed. Truth was, that was what I had always wanted to do, but I just didn’t know that I could.’

Shortly after, Ryan was introduced to a friend with connections to The Message and The Band With No Name, and he was encouraged to apply to train in Manchester: ‘He showed me videos of what LZ7 and The Band With No Name were doing and said I could be in a band like that. To be totally honest, I had this whole Christian celebrity thing in my head. I thought: I’m going to go out there, get in a band. I’m going to be big.’

With his obvious talent and passion for the gospel, Ryan was quickly accepted on to the course. But more or less straight away, things didn’t quite turn out as he had planned: ’I’d bought my plane ticket and three days before I was set to travel, I got a call from the Message office saying, “Sorry, but the other rapper pulled out and we can’t fund your track. You can still come but we’re not going to teach you to rap any more.” This was the first sign that Genetik was going to be about much more than I expected at the start.’

Ryan remembers his first impressions of Genetik as culture shock: ‘Being here really cont overleaf...

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challenged me to think for myself, read the Bible for myself and work out what I believed and why. I grew up so much by living with people who were different to me and had a different point of view on things.’

But it was his experiences out on mission that had the most profound impact of all: ‘The first time I went out on the Eden Bus, I looked out the window into the car park and there was a group of maybe ten young people gathered round. In the middle there was the obvious leader, a 13 year old kid with a girl on his lap, one hand clutching a Stella, the other hand down his pants. Another kid’s handing a spliff round.

As well as seeing amazing fruit from their diligent work in schools, Ryan and his bandmates Christina and Josh are being invited to play on bigger and bigger stages, and received wide acclaim for their recent album, Tell The Truth.

ABOVE: A MOODY LOOKING RYAN IN THE GENETIK REVOLUTION LINE-UP

ABOVE: RYAN DOING HIS THING IN A MANCHESTER HIGH SCHOOL ‘I wanted to cry. How does this happen?

And then it just clicked; the lights went on: These guys don’t have dads. Or if they do, they’re often not good dads, who can love them, tell them what’s right and tell them when they’re out of line.

‘That moment I knew: that’s why I’m here. I felt it whenever we would go on the estates, on Eden projects. It meant that when I rapped, I rapped with purpose as well as passion. I saw that I was able to personally mentor these guys, influence them, speak into their situations.’

At the end of their course, Ryan and a small team of others were selected to form a new schools band, at first dubbed Genetik Revolution. The band evolved its sound and line-up to today’s three-piece, Twelve24.

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‘Even if it hadn’t led to being in the band, the things I would have got out of Genetik would have been enough to change my life,’ reflects Ryan.

‘I see now that more than anything it was about my character. You don’t have to come with the right motivation – hey, I didn’t. But when you get here, you need to be humble enough to recognise that God might be up to something you didn’t expect, and go with that.’

ACADEMY ADVICE: RYAN ‘To be honest, it was the stuff they didn’t put ‘on the tin’ that developed us the most. It’s not only what’s in the syllabus that matters. Come for the syllabus, sure – you’ll get something out of it. But you’ll learn lots of the best stuff from just being in the room with the people who are here. If you go with a humble heart to serve, to learn, to take initiative, you will grow and people will sit up and take notice.’

LEAD FEATURE

NAME: Laura JONES YEAR OF STUDY: Class of: 2005 (Xcelerate 2005a) SPECIALISM: Urban youth work MOST LIKELY TO BE: Head Teacher QUOTE:

‘It was a defining moment’

WHAT THEY DID NEXT: Team Leader, Eden Preston Road (Hull)

Laura’s Eden journey began in 1997 on a trek from her home in Southport to attend Planet Life with her youth group: ‘I was 16 at the time and Eden was just being launched. I remember God just getting hold of my heart and thinking, “Yes, that’s the kind of thing I want to do with my life.” It was a God moment.’

So the first seeds were sown – but it would be another 15 years before Laura would herself join an Eden team. And a crucial part of this process? The Message’s Xcelerate course.

Leaving university, Laura started working with young people as a school teaching assistant while training to be a teacher. But before she took her first teaching job, she heard about the Xcelerate course.

‘I knew immediately it was the right thing for me – I felt I needed time out after my PGCE and I was hungry to grow deeper in my relationship with God. I got accepted and within weeks I was moving to Manchester!’

Laura was thrown into a dynamic mix of Bible teaching and hands-on placements, living in a community of fellow students and experiencing life on Eden, the Eden Bus and other outreach projects across the city.

For Laura it was a defining moment in her life: ‘The quality and depth of teaching we got, followed by the chance to work it out

on practical placements was life-changing.

I loved every aspect of it. I’m sure I’d not be where I am today if I’d not taken those five months out for God. Looking back, I wished it had been longer – today’s students are really lucky to get nine months!’

After graduating, Laura took up her first teaching job but soon found her main passion lay in youth and schools work. And it was while working in the Kensington area of Liverpool that she once again felt drawn to deprived areas.

‘I loved the job but I really felt the tension of driving forty minutes every day to and from my home in suburban Southport,’ remembers Laura. ‘I needed to make a decision: do I move into the community where I work, or should I move to live in a deprived area closer to home?’

It was a decision she never had to make because shortly after, she was offered the role of team leader for Eden Preston Road in Hull and moved in in summer 2012. Preston Road is a council estate in East Hull with high levels of unemployment and in the bottom 0.3% in terms of education, skills and training. It’s one of the poorest neighbourhoods in England, ranked 87th of over 32,000 council wards. So this Eden team has an exceptional opportunity to make a difference in the lives of local young people and their families, especially as 35.4% of the population are under 16.

The Eden team is closely linked to the life of the local school, Archbishop Sentamu cont overleaf...

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Academy, as Laura works regularly in the school, and her teammate Anna is employed there as a teaching assistant. ‘It helps us get to know a massive number of young people.

There are 1,400 kids in the school, many of whom live on the estate or nearby. And the school really values what we’re able to bring in terms of support to the pupils and staff.’

Things stepped up a gear last autumn when together with Twelve24, the team ran ‘ExploRE’ in Sentamu Academy. A week of assemblies, lessons, a free midweek gig and a Q&A session during school hours culminated in a gig where over 100 young people made a response.

ABOVE: LAURA ON THE ESTATE IN HULL next step for some of them in June.

‘I know this is where God’s calling me to be, long term,’ says Laura. ‘This is where my life is now – and we’re just praying for more people who feel the same.

‘There’s so much potential here. There’s a desperate need for something for younger kids on the estate as well as the youth.

We’ve recently had a fantastic grant from the council which means we’re all set to buy sports and craft equipment and develop our work. We just need the people!’

ACADEMY ADVICE: LAURA ABOVE: LAURA, ANNA AND TWELVE24 AT Sentamu Academy ‘Our after school club for Year 7s and 8s has really grown since the mission week.

They love reading the Bible and some are taking real steps in their faith.’ A Youth for Christ ‘Fort Rocky’ weekend is planned as a

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I was a little older than most of the students on my course – others were straight out of A-levels – and sometimes I felt like the mum of the house. But I found that having a bit more life experience really helped me to appreciate what was on offer and gave me a bit more confidence in myself.

LEAD FEATURE

NAME: Tim MYCOCK YEAR OF STUDY: Class of: 2005 (Xcelerate 2005a) SPECIALISM: Urban youth work MOST LIKELY TO BE: A town crier QUOTE:

‘A bigger vision of what God is up to’

WHAT THEY DID NEXT: Team Leader, Reflex

After more than ten years as a prisons outreach and resettlement worker, Tim Mycock recently took over leadership of the Reflex team which works in four prisons and young offenders’ institutions right across the North West.

He’s the only member of the original ‘Message in Prisons’ team, formed to respond to a growing realisation that work with the North West’s young offenders was vital if we were serious about sharing the gospel with the very hardest-to-reach: ‘We realised that although we were doing good work at reaching young people in schools and tough communities, we were not reaching the most damaged, and the most damaging, young people – those in the prisons,’ says Tim. For Tim, the journey began before he joined the Xcelerate course in 2002. He’d had a life-changing experience as a volunteer on Message 2000, where he’d played a part in helping a young offender find Christ.

Xcelerate seemed like the logical next step after completing his university degree.

‘God had broken my heart for young people and I knew youth work was going to be part of my future. But aside from volunteering with my church and at Message events, I wasn’t sure what that was going to look like.

Xcelerate helped me see it.’

Xcelerate provided Tim with a strong foundation for the calling he would go on to pursue: ‘We had teaching in everything – lots of doctrine and theology as well as practical youth work stuff. Even now, lads will ask me questions and I’ll find myself recalling teaching I had then that has stuck.

‘And I got exposure to a lot of the practical stuff of working with the poor and those on the margins – learning about issues like homelessness and what agencies there are and how they connect.’

Xcelerate gave Tim a bigger vision of what God is doing among the poor and how his people can join in: ‘I realised on Xcelerate that our job is to advance the Kingdom of heaven and as part of that, to see people coming to Christ. I learned that every time we speak truth, every time we serve the poor, ever time we love the unlovable, it’s a breakthrough of the Kingdom.

‘And I realised how important it is to look for the small successes because Christian ministry is hard and there’s always opposition.’

Tim finished Xcelerate having completed a wide variety of placements working with the marginalised. A few months later, two different people contacted him with news of a new job that was opening up in a new prisons team at The Message. He was strongly encouraged to apply.

Since then, Tim has worked in all four of the institutions where Reflex is now at work cont overleaf...

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and has seen prisons and resettlement work from all sides. When former team leader Simon Sullivan announced a new role with Eden in Manchester, Tim seemed perfectly placed to step into his shoes.

‘These days I miss prison, if I take time off! I need to go back in there to get a fresh view of God and my purpose again. Even if I wasn’t working in the field now, I think I’d still volunteer. It’s where my heart is.’

TIM: MENTORING YOUNG PEOPLE ONEON-ONE IS STILL PART OF TIM'S ROLE

ACADEMY ADVICE: TIM A big part of the experience is living with other students. They are the ones you celebrate with when you’ve just seen God working in miraculous ways, and the ones who can cry with you and pick you up when you’ve had a terrible day. I’m still in touch with most of my intake – they’ll become friends for life.

This is the best year out I’ve ever been involved in. Send us your best and we’ll send them back to you better – more alive and ready to go.

JAMIE HILL, Missions Director, THE MESSAGE

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LEAD FEATURE

The Message Academy is ten months of training for 18-25 year olds run by The Message Trust. We have over 20 years of experience in cutting-edge, innovative mission. By joining Message Academy, you will get to share in that experience and be part of Our future!

What’s involved?

We offer the opportunity to be immersed in a culture that creates and cultivates innovative mission. During the first four months, you will receive teaching and training (looking at topics ranging from Heart of an Evangelist to Old and New Testament), as well as workshops in Youth Work and Justice. It’s an intensive time of investment in you that will spark your imagination to the possibilities for what God can do through you.

During the final six months, you will be encouraged to innovate your own ideas and outreach projects, as well as working alongside our existing teams to share the gospel in a variety of ways through schools, youth clubs and on the city streets. Whether you are into music, theatre, extreme sports or academic sparring, Manchester is the perfect place to hone your talents and gifts and put them into practice.

Morning teachinG

Youth work placements

Church placements

Team time

To equip you with the knowledge of the scriptures, and to empower you to be all you can in God through the promises in his Word.

Fom detached work to youth clubs, street soccer or homeless outreach, helping on the Eden buses and more.

A chance to serve in every aspect of church life and be encouraged to use your skills learnt on the course.

Space to talk and pray through all that’s going on, with residential trips and the odd trip to McDonald’s for support through the year.

Know someone this sounds PERFECT for?

Most applications for Message Academy come from WORD OF MOUTH – in other words, people who have seen the power of Academy for themselves telling others. We believe Message Academy is the best year-out out there – and over 200 graduates like Ryan, Laura and Tim agree.

Please talk about us in your church, on Facebook and Twitter. And if you know any 18-25s who love God and love young people, make sure they check out:

www.message.org.uk/academy

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23

TEACHING

Message South Africa Director Tim Tucker describes the kindness that leads people to true repentance

‘God led us to salvation by demonstrating his eternal kindness, tolerance and patience to us’ 2 4 flow14APR-MAY 2014

s for you,’ says Paul to his protégé, Timothy, ‘be strong in grace.’

(2 Timothy 2:1).

A common phrase in sport is, ‘play to your strengths’.

If a rugby team doesn’t have an expansive back line that can make great creative attacking moves, then they should keep the ball with their forwards and grind out attacks through a war of attrition. If a tennis player has a great serve, then he should follow the ball into the net and attack with a volley rather than get into long baseline rallies.

This line of thinking has been applied to leadership development too. ‘Discover and build upon your strengths’, goes the mantra. I’m not necessarily saying this is bad advice – it can be helpful within a team to know who has particular strengths, and it is good to have enough selfawareness to know what our own weak areas are.

But there is one area that should be a strength for all leaders: we are to be strong in grace!

Grace should be the distinguishing mark of all Christian leaders. We must listen to Paul’s imperative to us: other leaders may be judgemental critical, power-hungry, self-seeking, egotistical, proud or arrogant. But as for you, be strong in grace.

The only remedy Recently I experienced two direct tests in this area. In the first, someone in our church had confessed to a serious matter of sin. As we discussed the matter as an eldership, we recognised the temptation to be judgemental. The second case was a series of emails that I received from someone that were full of anger and resentment toward me.

In my own heart I felt anger at the invasive and personal nature of what was written, and faced the temptation to defend my reputation and respond in kind.

Grace is the only remedy for the temptation to be judgemental and defensive and must be our response when facing such tests. As I reflected on my response to both situations, I was reminded of some other words of Paul: ‘You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone

else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself… do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realising that God’s kindness leads you towards repentance?’ (Romans 2:1,4).

A wake-up call This is a wake-up call for everyone who faces the temptation to judge, criticise or condemn others. When we do so, we are passing judgement on ourselves. If only the Body of Christ around the world today would recognise the damage we do to the reputation of Christ when we fail to follow this command. Too often we are seen as intolerant, impatient and ungracious. Sometimes we think that extending grace is a sign of weakness; Paul makes it abundantly clear that it takes a strong Christian to show grace.

According to Paul, the hallmark of Christians should reflect to the world what we ourselves have received from God, namely ‘the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience’. Our motivation for this is the same motivation which God has in his grace for us: because if we embody these qualities, they will lead people to repentance. It is neither the threat of hell, nor the lure of prosperity that leads people to true repentance. It is by grace that we have been saved. And God led us to salvation by demonstrating his eternal kindness, tolerance and patience to us.

As we show grace, we not only prove that we ourselves are recipients of grace, we also unlock the potential for others to be restored into relationship with God and receive his undeserved forgiveness and love.

[cta

WIN A SIGNED COPY SEE BACK PAGE FOR DETAILS

This article is based on a section from Tim’s upcoming book, The Pace Setter: Paul, Timothy and the Art of Multiplying Leaders (to be published by The Message in May).

Pre-order your copy now, priced £6.99 at message.org.uk/shop.

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25

MBN

Introducing the

Message Busi n ess Network he Message Business Network gives anyone in business a uniquely exciting way to engage with the life and work of The Message Trust.

It provides support and networking opportunities for visionary business people who want to see change come to our society through faith in young people.

Are you in business?

Then the MBN is for you

There are also exclusive opportunities to hear insights from some of the UK’s top business people – recent guests have included Sir Brian Souter and Sir Peter Vardy.

What’s coming up?

•

May 20, 2014 MBN Vision & Prayer Evening

Why joi n ?

•

June 28, 2014 Urban Hero Awards

As a member, you will be among the first to hear exciting new developments of The Message straight from Andy Hawthorne, as well being inspired by stories of transformation from those who are being impacted by our work. You will be invited to contribute your special expertise wherever possible, as well as your support in prayer and giving as you are able.

•

September 23, 2014 MBN Vision & Prayer Evening

•

November 4, 2014 An Evening with Dalton Philips, Chief Executive of Morrisons

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At a recent MBN event, we welcomed Brian Souter (pictured right), Chairman of Stagecoach, and one of Britain’s great entrepreneurs.

Over the last 33 years, he’s built one of Britain’s biggest transport companies from scratch, and today employs over 35,000 people in the UK and abroad.

He’s also a committed Christian and a leading philanthropist through the Souter Charitable Trust.

At an MBN event last year, Sir Brian shared some of the reasons why he supports The Message: ‘One of the things I love about Andy is he’s a Christian entrepreneur. He takes risks and starts new things from vision and ideas. That’s a really special gift.

‘My Christianity has been a big motivating factor for me… my experience of Jesus Christ has been a transforming experience. The presence of Jesus Christ is

so powerful in our lives that it can overcome the bad stuff, it can help us to rise up. It makes you look at other people differently, it makes you think differently about how you live your life.

‘Why do I support The Message Trust?

Because it’s based on this. It’s based on the power of Christ to transform people’s lives and I believe it’s the greatest power in the universe, and the only thing that can reach people in the depths of despair in the world in which we live.’

Find out more To register to join the MBN, or to find out more, contact Rachel Maher in our Fundraising Team. Email her at rachel.maher@message.org.uk

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27

TEACHING

There’s power in praise, says Andy Hawthorne

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od’s Word encourages us to spend a lot of time in praise. You might think, what’s that all about? Why would God want so much praise?

Why does it matter to him?

I'll tell you why: because it is what we’re made for; and it is what makes sense of life. We are wired to be worshippers. It is the way we are made, the way we succeed in life, the way we enjoy life. The only way we can be truly fulfilled is to get our eyes off ourselves and focus on our awesome, wonderful, powerful, holy God. Try anything else. Try chasing anything else and you will never truly be satisfied. But try cultivating a life of praise where through it all – through all the garbage that comes your way – you focus your attention on praising and worshiping, and suddenly life is different, because there is power in praise.

Isaiah chapter 12 contains two amazing songs of praise: one, an individual song, and one that’s more of a corporate song. We need to cultivate both kinds. We must praise God on our own or else we'll never break through all the challenges that life throws at us. And we must praise and worship when we gather together or else we're not the people we're meant to be.

At the heart of these two songs is salvation.

In the first song, Isaiah writes, ‘The Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation’. It’s true: the knowledge of our salvation is what keep us going through all the challenges, all the hardships. When you don’t feel like you’ve got much strength, when you don’t feel like you’ve got much of a song in you, remember your salvation.

But Isaiah also writes, ‘With joy you will draw from the wells of salvation’, and the ‘you’ here is plural – it’s talking to us as a whole people. And of course he’s talking to us, The Message. We're a salvation movement, a salvation people. It's actually

the only thing we've got; the only thing that makes us different. Other people can do prisons work. Other people can go and live on tough estates. Other people can go into schools and teach kids. What's different about us? I'll tell you: we're a salvation people.

‘What's different about us? I'll tell you: we're a salvation people’ At our Vision Night last year, we got to hear again from Mo Timbo. He was one of our first Urban Heroes, a man who found Jesus in prison through our Reflex team and was radically transformed.

He’d been a gangster and a drug dealer but after coming out, he got a job, worked hard and joined a good church.

God's hand was on his life. He got married to his wife who he'd been living with and started to bring up his child in the Lord. Before long his church spotted leadership in him, and he grew a cell group in his home. Now he’s preparing to plant a church.

When salvation breaks out, everything can change!

And this is what it comes down to: it's not good ideas, clever strategies or nice facilities that makes The Message work – it's salvation. We're a salvation people, and if we lose that, we lose everything. As a ministry, let’s constantly draw with joy from the wells of salvation.

What a beautiful, precious thing. And surely it must make us want to praise our glorious Jesus, our Strength, our Song, and our Salvation!

Catch the whole of this message on the Message Podcast and lots more great content all for free. Download via iTunes (search ‘Message Podcast’) or listen at: www.message.org.uk/media

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FUNDRAISING

The power of your regular gifts, by STUART CHELL s a ministry we have a very special calling: to step into the storms of people’s lives and bring the calm of Jesus Christ.

The storms we walk into can be extremely varied.

For some of our teams it is entering prison and meeting men and women who have hit absolute rock bottom, often having destroyed everything they held dear in their life. For these people we show them that through the cross they can have a clean slate and there is nothing that our God cannot restore.

Our Eden teams encounter many young people from dysfunctional families who are chasing love and affection in the wrong places. We invite young people into the church family where they can meet positive role models who truly believe in them and will help them to thrive in a safe environment. During schools weeks, we are faced with an unsettling range of issues from self-harm to anger, self-image issues to drug abuse… the list goes on and on. But there is no storm that Jesus can’t calm, and week after week we see teenagers completely transformed, learning to walk in the peace that only comes from knowing our God is for us and with us.

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‘If we are to be a safe place for young people overwhelmed by the chaos surrounding them, we need to be built on a foundation of rock’

Finally we work with individuals like Laura (pages 12-13) who after the storm had started to pass was left facing the devastation it had caused.

But thank God, our Enterprise Centre could provide a firm foundation for her with a job, training, and a supportive community so that she could start rebuilding her life again.

Month after month, for 22 years, we have praised God for his incredible provision and for the hundreds of thousands of young lives we have been able to touch because of it. But we recognise that if we are to continue being that safe place for young people who are overwhelmed by the chaos surrounding them, we need our house to be built on a foundation of rock.

Today you could be part of that rock foundation for us by setting up a regular gift to support young people in desperate situations. The amount really doesn’t matter, but having a bank of people who month after month will faithfully stand with us no matter what, is what makes the difference.

Around 15,000 people receive Flow in the post and we are so blessed that so many of you pray consistently for us and the young people we encounter and give whenever they can. However, most of these gifts are single donations – we only have around 2,000 regular monthly donors. While we celebrate and are truly grateful for every cheque that comes through the door, without monthly donors we struggle to plan for the future.

So this is a special appeal to say, if your heart breaks for the young people of this nation and you want to see more of the transformation we’re bringing, please consider setting up a Direct Debit today, even if only for a couple of pounds a month.

I promise you that every penny makes a massive difference to the young people we work with.

Use the giving form overleaf to become a regular giver to The Message today, and play your part in changing the lives of young people.

Finally, thank you for everything that you do for us. Without your prayers, giving, and encouragement there is no way we could keep doing what we do.

On our own we are nothing, but together we can change this nation. THANK YOU

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preseNts

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9 ri

F

th 10 t VENUE: a - S THE Message campus,

SHARSTON, Manchester, M22 4RG

FOR TICKETS: www.message.org.uk/shop

enquiries: hello@eden-network.org

£45 two-day earlybird £55 two-day Standard £27.50 Student £29 Day tickets

SATURDAY JUNE 7 11AM - 3PM

Message HQ, Sharston

A free signed Copy of the

new book from

tim tucker Just email info@message.org.uk with 'The Pace Setter Competition' in the subject box, to be entered into the drawer (literally!).

All responses will be put into Andy’s top drawer and a winner will be selected at random.

Terms & Conditions No purchase/financial gift is necessary to be entered into the draw. To enter by phone call 0161 946 2300 and we’ll take your details. You may only enter the competition once per person. Entries must be received by May 30th 2014. The winner will be notified by email. Winner’s name will be made available upon request.