EMASS

Sorry the blog has been quiet for the last few weeks. This is all down to EMASS! First, I was busy running things there, and then I had a week off to recover! But EMASS was an amazing week and a fantastic experience. There is so much to write about, I’d be here all week if I were to tell you everything that happened, but I will draw out a few highlights from each day!

Sunday – Arrival day! We had beautiful weather as the students arrived, ready for the busy week ahead! The school was filled with talk of parents saying goodbye to their children, meeting up with old friends and making new ones, and music flowing around as auditions got underway.

The evening worship focused on ‘Boundless Hope’, looking at our hopes and expectations for the week. As the theme of the week was ‘Boundless’, each day focused on a different aspect of that theme.

Monday – The theme of ‘Boundless Hope’ continued, looking at hope in times of persecution or adversity. We looked at how we all face difficult times in our lives, but we need to remember that God is there with us. He continually gives us hope when we ask for it, and our eternal hope is found in Jesus. He brought us hope when he died on the cross. As a response, we each wrote down the persecutions or adversities we were currently facing as a way of asking God to come into those moments. Once we had done this, we created a cross from the sheets of paper as a sign we were giving them over to God, as can be seen in the

 picture.

In the evening, we had team activities! This consisted of the small groups completing a scavenger hunt and four tasks to try and achieve the most points; including a paper aeroplane competition, tower building, penny tossing, and pea moving. Everyone could get involved and enjoyed themselves.

Tuesday – Up for a laugh anyone? We had two workshops during the day; very different in style and content. One workshop was about ALOVE’s Cut It Out Campaign – a campaign designed to enable young people to bring an end to human trafficking to meet the demands of the sex industry. The students all got involved in making posters and film clips to help spread the message.

The other workshop was about comedy! Tony Vino, a comedian, ran this workshop, teaching about public speaking, improvisation, and getting the students (and staff!) to have a go! Tony and a couple of the other comedians from his company put a comedy roadshow event for us in the evening, making Tuesday a day filled with laughter and smiles.

The theme of the day was ‘Boundless Outpouring’, focusing on the Holy Spirit and how he works in our lives. Students were encouraged to ask for prayer so they could be filled with the Holy Spirit and know more of him in their lives.

Wednesday – Mini Olympics! The whole school walked up to the sports centre ready to take part in the mini Olympics! Five teams competed in a number of events to see who would be EMASS Champions 2012. Games included javelin throwing, three-legged and wheel barrow races, and an egg (or tennis ball) and spoon relay. The most competitive race was, of course, the staff race. Once all the scores were tallied up, the winning team received ‘gold’ chocolate medals, presented by our own resident games maker! Unfortunately, a thunder storm set in just as we were heading back, so everyone got drenched!

The teaching focused on ‘Boundless Salvation’; salvation is for anyone and no one is beyond the redeeming love of God and the saving blood of Christ.

Thursday – The Big Lie In! It may not sound like a big deal, but this lie in is definitely needed; helping both staff and students get a bit more sleep and restoring energy levels ready for the final few days.

The theme was ‘Boundless Adventures’; with Jesus, we start the greatest adventure of eternity. He gives us life, and life to the full, and he will never leave us; journeying with us every step of the way.

The evening ended with a superb talent night. Students and staff revealed their talents, from animal noises to dance, juggling to puppets; ‘Smelly Cat’ to vocal performances of band pieces, EMASS had it all!

Friday – ‘Boundless Communities’ encouraged the young people to think about all they had learned during the week and start making decisions about how they could take it back into their communities.  It was amazing to hear all the ideas and passion the young people had developed during their time at EMASS.

Friday also featured the Big Night In. Everyone got dressed up into their glad rags and sat down to a curry before the partying began. About 45 minutes into the disco, the music went down to allow the awards to be given out. Winners received a ‘gold medal’, again from our games maker, and a rose. The photo booth was also a great hit, with lots of pictures snapped to help everyone remember the evening.

Saturday – Time for goodbyes, but not before the last teaching and final celebration. The theme was ‘Boundless Action’, and, after the teaching, the students and staff shared words of encouragement and testimony with one another. This was a great way to end the week, many young people sharing something for the first time in their lives, and being encouraged by all.

And finally, the celebration. It was amazing to see all the young people work so hard to make the evening such a success. Every option shared what they had done during the week, and the guys from art produced a fabulous item, live!

That’s about it from me about EMASS. If you went, what were your highlights? Did I miss them out? Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments!