News Update from Mark Watson working with Cambridge Youth for Christ

Open House Wellbeing is our project which aims to create safe spaces in Cambridge and the surrounding area promoting positive wellbeing, building healthy relationships and sharing the love of Jesus.

One of our team members moved on in January this year and another had her first baby in August and so is on maternity leave at current. However, we are so encouraged that God has answered our prayers and we have been able to recruit a new senior youth worker and someone to take on maternity cover. Both these new team members started in September and have been a brilliant addition to the team.

Mentoring - After October half term we launched our mentoring programme into a secondary school which is only a 5-minute walk from our drop-in centre. We have spent the last few years praying and seeking opportunities to connect with the school and we are now seeing a breakthrough. We have led the first two mentoring sessions with six young people identified by the school as being able to benefit from some extra support whether that be because of anxiety, behaviour or other needs. As a charity we aim to serve and equip the local church and so we want to do as much as possible in partnership. Excitingly, our mentoring team in this new school includes two volunteers from the Vineyard church that meets in the school on a Sunday.

Drop Ins - September was our first time opening drop-ins back up after a long summer break and we weren’t sure what to expect. However, the numbers of young people at drop in continue to grow and we have not had a single evening where no young people turned up. Having spent a number of evenings last year feeling discouraged or questioning if we were pursuing the right ministries we are now beginning to see fruit. We recently had a young girl come in on a quiet evening who struggled with some social anxiety and friendships but loved the space. A few weeks later she came through the door to a room full of other young people. As she turned to leave because there were too many people one of our team was able to welcome her by name, provide some toast and squash and play a game with her in a quieter corner of the room. She stayed for the whole evening and over the weeks is beginning to come out of her shell and engage with other young people as well.

Workshops – We are currently halfway through a baking workshop which is running after our Thursday drop in with 6 young people. They are learning new skills, building deeper friendships and having opportunities to discuss wellbeing and faith. The young people have had homemade Dorito’s, sausage rolls or jammy dodgers to take home at the end of each evening. We’re exploring what workshops to run in the next couple of terms that can build life skills, develop confidence in young people.

Faith Exploration – In January we will be launching our first faith exploration opportunity off the back of our drop-ins. This will be a 30 minute session after Thursdays drop in where young people are invited to stay to discuss and question the Christian faith. This

model has been working with some of our partners in St Neots so we are keen to experiment and see how it works. Please do pray for curiosity in young people and a willingness to stay and engage in discussion. Ultimately please pray that young people find faith in Jesus for themselves.

Staff Vacancy - Another of our senior youth workers, who was managing our drop in space and our gap year volunteers and youth work degree students, left our team in October. He was a great asset to the team and hugely significant in the launch and establishment of the Open House project over the last year. In our first round of advertising for his role we did not have any suitable applications for this role, but we are about to re-advertise. We would hugely value prayer to find the right person for this vital role in the ministry.

Thank you so much for the ongoing support and prayers of all at St John’s. It is hugely valued. Please do be praying for:

- A positive outcome from our next recruit round for a senior youth worker and training manager.

- Continued impact through our schools mentoring programme and good relationships with the staff.

- Curiosity and openness in young people to our upcoming faith exploration opportunities.

- Continuing to build good relationships through our drop in and that this safe space would have a meaningful impact on young people’s lives.