Sharing the Gospel in local schools
Engaging children in new ways
We are always looking for new ways to introduce Jesus Christ to primary and secondary age children and young people, and to nurture them in their Christian journey. Within this newsletter you can read about some of the many exciting ways we are engaging with school students of all ages.
One of our latest initiatives is a lunchtime prayer club at Horsell Junior School, initially trialled by our Director of Schools Work, Shelley Blunden.
The club has been taken over by Bronwen Hall, a Schools Worker with Engage for two years. Bronwen has been doing fantastic work in sharing the message of Jesus in many ways, using her experience of being a children’s and family’s worker at a local church.
Bronwen is being supported in the prayer club by volunteers from St Mary’s Church in Horsell and Trinity Methodist in Brewery Road. The children attend with enthusiasm each week and fully engage themselves in the activities.
Recent themed activities have included the Good Samaritan (healing prayers), turning over a new leaf (what can we do differently?), prayers for the planet (Noah’s Ark), “under my umbrella” (who do we look out for and who looks out for us?), using the “wrong” hand (what challenges us?) and “Just a minute” (discussing what we could do in just one minute).
This Term’s Highlights
Easter assembly for primary schools
Our Easter assembly was thoroughly enjoyed by children and teachers when we presented it at many schools in Woking and beyond.
It was also recorded as a video so other schools can access and show it via our YouTube Channel: @engagewoking.
This year we told the Easter story through a conversation between Thomas, Mathias, and Simeon.
Kingdom Explorers Club
We are delighted with responses from children at the Kingdom Explorers Club that we run at two primary schools in partnership with their local church. It takes place at Bisley C of E Primary School as an after-school club, and at Holy Trinity C of E Primary School at lunchtimes.
So far this year we have delivered sessions working through Scripture Union’s Diary of a Disciple resources, which the children have enjoyed.
They have engaged with us in many conversations, through which it has been great to see and hear how their faith is growing. Some of the topics covered are:
- Disciples – The Fishermen – how can we develop our discipleship?
- Prayer –The Lord’s Prayer –different ways we pray/talk to God.
- God’s love is for everyone – we are all uniquely made and God loves our differences.
- Healing – The Roman Soldier and his poorly servant – a miracle of healing and strength of faith
- Miracles – The loaves and fishes: miracles are not just healing. Do they still happen today?
For Lent/Easter we are exploring “why did Jesus die for me?”
News in brief
There is so much exciting news to share with you so here are some highlights.
Encounter – Our event was attended by 64 young people from different churches and schools, not only from Woking but also Guildford and Farnborough. The feedback generally said it had been a great time to worship together with others their age and “just be”, as well as “an opportunity to connect with God outside of Church”.
There have been many requests to run another event, so watch this space! We thank all who supported us in getting the event running, especially the Youth Workers and volunteers who made the event possible.
Christian Unions at secondary schools and Woking College are well attended and continue to be a ground for some great discussions. At Woking College we studied “What does it mean to be a Christian in college” using the book of Philippians.
Mentoring – In the last academic year we delivered over 300 mentoring sessions.
Our recently launched group mentoring sessions have been a success, enabling us to see more young people in groups, and building peer self-supporting groups
Prayer Prompts
Please pray:
And give thanks for the Encounter event held in March and pray for the preparations for the next event on the 28th September 2024.
For all our wonderful volunteers and for more to come forward.
For a new chair of Trustees and give thanks for all our current Trustees.
For the staff team and Trustees as we look to expand our work and recruit new Trustees.
For all Engage activities: that all the young people involved will catch the joy and hope of the Gospel message.
