[Prince Rodgers Nelson]

Regular blogging should be back soon. There's a lot to tell :D

 Wait... That doesn't seem like that much. It needs to be unravelled before hyou can realise the enormity of what happened; especially during Bodybuilders andf Black Belts Extra. I don't quite have t5he time to tell you all about it right now; but believe me when I say that God was present, big time. We've taken to rethinking how we do everything, Talk of new cell groups, mentoring and other things have been getting people excited. The prospect of a new wave of passionate young Chrisitians being a part of what we're doing even more so.

God is very definitely large and in charge. More details to follow :)

p.s. just keep praying for us!

Phillip was talking to an Ethiopian Eunuch for probably no more than 15 minutes.

Makes you think how well you use your tme.

We want the week of Bodybuilders to be like this. That should be our whole lives, but a couple of weeks in the summer is a start

**A load of our guys are in the middle of GCSE/AS/A-Level/University exams. Prayer for them would be fantastic =)

**Speaking of prayer, we hope to re-launch our prayer email again soon - more on that in the next few weeks

**mmm, that's about it

Epic! 

Crusaders on the Wednesday was great, despite severe complications with a data projector.

During the day, we sent two teams out, able-y led by Fay and Naomi. We had a couple of cleaning projects, which were very smelly at times, but fantastic nonetheless. Like previoius years, we spent a lot of time down in the local estate, Areema. Even though we're only down there once or twice a year (ashamedly), all the kids remembered us, running down the street to greet us each time we arrived. Please pray that we can build upon some fantastic relationships in that area.

We had resound three nights in a row, which was great. Highlights included an ice cream parlour, nail bar, mental pea fair (w/ V.I.Pea Room. spiders maze, random verses, card-games, leader auction and sock licking), quiz and lots of other things to boot. We finished each night with some worship, which was amazing when a few of the guys, including some unexpectecd ones, stayed behind to sing with us.

The general consensus however, was that the highlight of the week was the great example set by some of the girls who were helping out. With their boundless enthusiasm, energy and happiness, it was evident that God was at work in them.

The whole week was planned by Scarf, Teresa and Noel, with meetings and shopping done before. However major kudos have to go to Scarf who was the main driving force behind it all. He did a great job and it was pretty obvious he put it completely in God's hand. Without him and Him, it wouldnt have happened.

If you get a free couple of minutes, why not have a wee chat with the Big Guy. If you could ask if he could send His Spirit down to us, it would be much appreciated. We want to move forward as much as possible from the great things that happened over Easter. We all know it won't be possible unless we're moving forward with God.

Cheers =)

I'm not too sure on what to write. Name any word and I could make pages of notes in relation to it but when I don't have a word it's a problem....

I will talk about Resound in a sec. Give you an honest load down of what it is, what we do and why. I do try to remain pretty level headed when summarizing Resound and all its doings but I must admit despite my best efforts I am biased but I'll try my best.

Firstly: It is a laid back Christian run youth organisation, placed in Dunmurry.
I underline Christian because that is what we teach.
I say run because the leadership team are Christians and a lot of the people we reach out to are not.

Our goal will vary on whom you talk to out of the team.
Some would say our aim is simply to do everything we can to promote Jesus; others would say to show people the right direction and to help them down that ‘path'. And so on... there's no right answer. I reckon they're all pretty accurate. Feel free to leave a comment and correct me if I'm wrong but most churches have a similar goal, I mean Christianity does in general. So all churches should have a similar aim, right?

Personally, I think Resound tries to cover everything it's meant to and more. We try to:
Make connections within Dunmurry. Share the word of God. Get alongside the youth/teens. Relate to them. Build Relationships. Create a foundation within the community. Enhance relationships with God. Accept everyone. Grow and expand. Teach the children, spend time with them. And most importantly learn from experience and build our relationships with God and each other.

Secondly: We are all young (Even Tee).
We have an unbelievable amount of support a lot of it I think we take for granted but in saying that we are thankful for the help we get.

We are independent.

We are young.

The Leadership team ranges in age. Between the youngest and oldest, saying that Naomi is the youngest and Teresa is the eldest. That's 8 years I think. Which isn't much.

AND

Our overall leader Noel is only twenty. So I mean, we are pretty young and although can be seen in a negative light I'm asking you, whoever you are, to believe me, it's a positive thing. There are many, many times we struggle to handle things but not because of age and as I said earlier we have help from many older, wiser people so IF we ever need them they are there.

Thirdly: We have enthusiasm.

We are no different from other young adults. We are laid back, sometimes arrogant, cocky and no doubt the odd time bit of a smart ass BUT we have the drive.

We have the enthusiasm.

The inspiration.
And God.

Which leads me on smoothly to what we do. Read slowly, there is a lot to take in, I'll simplify it.

6 Outlets (I call them that. Again different people have different terms).
For any info; like times or places, email us (at the bottom) or just leave a comment.

Resound - Saturday night. Also the name of the over all thing. McCarthy (Also known as Conor) and *Noel (mentioned earlier), Run it. For ages first year on. It's just the best youth club in the world don't believe me come along yourself.

Restoration - Sunday night. Teresa and Merd (Sisters), Run it. Time of worship, prayer and talk, occasional social. For anyone.

Resonance - No specific timing. Happens randomly. Is the main reason **Big Mad Easter thing exists or at least falls under this category. Shauna runs it. We devote our spare time to making Dunmurry a cleaner place and just talk to locals.

Respond - Friday - Sarah and Fiona. Basically an alpha groups. Were girls from resound can go and take their relationship with God that extra step.

Crusaders - Wednesday Night. Lead by Tanya. For ages p1 - p7. Kids club. Fun, games, juice, biscuits, bible stuff with more fun.

Tuesday morning bible study - Led by Sarah and Me. Before school, 8 in the morning. We choose a book and tackle it for half an hour weekly breaking it down to understand it more. Mainly for leaders.

*Noel - Also leads Bodybuilders alongside Tanya.

**The Big Mad Easter Thing

One week.
Dunmurry.
Easter.
Roughly 20 teenagers,
Go wild
AND
Clean the streets =)

Bodybuilders

Two weeks.
Dunmurry.
Summer.
80 leaders.
400 kids - ranging from P1 to late teens.
Madness.
Games.
God.
Be there OR if you feel it isn't your scene (which is no excuse) send your child.
OR support us - just pray.
Any info talk to Noel or Tanya. Or just leave a comment.

Two weeks of bodybuilders isn't enough soooooo

Carrick Circus
One week

Carrickfergus.
Summer.
Approx 30 to 50 leaders.
More than 100 kids.
More Madness.
More Games.
And as always, God.
And again I challenge you to be there. If not look above.

**********

On Microsoft Word I have written two pages alone, size 10 and if you are still reading, I'm impressed and to reward you for your effort, I'll conclude.
Resound isn't perfect. Nor are the people within in it (although some would argue that). We also have our high points and low points and often it seems we are stuck in the negative,
BUT
That is what makes us different. We are a family. We make mistakes, admit them and move on in God or at least try.

We are teenagers with a raw passion, a goal, an aim and purpose. Even if you don't believe in ‘Christianity Crap' again I challenge you come by some night to Resound or Restoration. Judge us for yourself, as I said I'm biased, so come and prove me wrong =)

Times and dates are on the website (calendar).

God Bless and see you soon,
Fay =)

And just a wee thought; [which I kind of stole from David],

Sing to the Lord, you saints of his;
       praise his holy name.

 For his anger lasts only a moment,
       but his favor lasts a lifetime;
       weeping may remain for a night,
       but rejoicing comes in the morning.

 Amen to that