There’s a great quote that says, “All good things in our lives, start around the dinner table”.
This idea sums up perfectly the group we want to focus on this week, as its inception came about because a couple of friends had a vision to see their friends changed by the Good News of Jesus – and so they gathered at a table.
Let us introduce you to the Alpha Youth group.
“We all met earlier this year as part of BBC’s Alpha Course when a few of us decided we wanted to explore our faith more deeply. After some discussion with the Alpha Team we decided to see if we could round up a few friends and go on a journey of discovery together. Sophie and Orli provided the initial enthusiasm for this group getting underway and then Oula joined the mix and he really wanted Seth to come along. Funnily enough, these two were praying for a friend Harry who they thought would get heaps out of the course as well. God was clearly up to something as their prayers were answered when Harry said yes.
The Alpha Course was an amazing experience for our circle of friends for a number of reasons. Firstly the desserts were yummy! But we also loved being able to hang out together and getting to know each other a little more as we connected as a group. As the weeks progressed we found ourselves feeling really comfortable with each other and not being afraid to ask hard questions about life & faith. The content of Alpha was spot on and has helped us go from strength to strength as well as creating so many great conversations for us as a group, which has been really cool. One big highlight for us all was the Alpha Weekend in Rotorua – it was awesome! We had a real sense that the Spirit was moving throughout the weekend and every one of us was able to have a personal encounter with God.
We decided that we would keep meeting as a group even when Alpha finished and we have continued to press into who we are as Gods people. Our friendship together has grown into ‘community’ and we really valued hearing from each other – even the random ‘beans’ from Harry! There’s a lot of encouragement and kindness in our group. We love to pray and we have had so much fun boldly taking up opportunities to pray for others and seeing God use us – these have been real faith-building moments and we are learning so much about the power of prayer.
We are all growing in our understanding of what it means to display the fruits of the Spirit and let God grow his gifts in our lives. There is a real call to leadership in our group and we are excited for the future as we look for ways to serve God.
We make a point to get along to church together (morning & evening services) and take up any opportunity to serve and have a laugh while we are working – it’s cool! We know God is at work and we are all trusting our futures to Him. We’d love prayer for our studies, exams and internals coming up and that we’d find the time to hang out and keep growing together”.
