On Saturday 6th July 2024, the Connect team hosted their annual Connect Celebration, a time to gather with all of our supporters to share what God has been doing through out the year and to pray for the year ahead.
The afternoon started with a lovely buffet prepared by the team from Madworthy Methodist Church, which was enjoyed by all. Seraph, a youth band from Crediton, entertained us will some lovely background music whilst we ate. With tummies full and cups of tea ready, we gathered around tables to hear about the year.
Kyra welcomed us, and introduced the afternoon. Kyra was then joined by Stephen to give us an update on their year in Okehampton. Their year started with organising trips for year 7 to visit a local church. Their Christian Union has thrived and they’ve now started a separate group to explore faith, which has seen one person want to become a Christian. Kyra has been working closely with the Trust youth worker to provide extra support for year 11; and they continued work in lessons and mentoring support. They also shared some of their challenges including staffing changes. Then Kevin came to the front to lead the congregation through prayers for Okehampton.
They handed over to Dave and Immanuel, who gave us the Crediton update. They have a good relationship with the college and have also been running lunch clubs and supporting lessons. They work with Lewis, who is a curate in the area. Lewis is moving on to a new role in September. At the beginning of the year, their relationship with the school has meant that they have been invited in to support when the school faced a bereavement at the beginning of the year. Wendy came and led us through prayers for Crediton.
We then had a reflection activity led by Stephen and time to refresh our cups of tea ready to hear from the other two areas.
Ruth gave her update from Holsworthy sharing about her work within lessons in RE and Science, her Christmas and Easter assemblies and her mentoring. She also shared about her developments in the games club and the exciting news that she was approached to set up a Christian Union by two students which has developed into a Bible Journaling group. She also shared about her hopes for September. After her update, Sue led the congregation through prayers for Holsworthy.
We had our final update from Samina covering Chumleigh. Samina highlighted the challenges there had been with the team in Chumleigh this year. Sherrin moved on from Connect following her adoption of a child, to be nearer family. This left a gap in the schools work, which God has now filled with Mim and Chris. Whilst this has been a disruptive time, we thank God for the foundations that we laid by previous workers and for the plans being made for the continued work in Chumleigh.
Sadly, Kyra and Immanuel have come to the end of their time with Connect, and there was a time of thanking them for all that they have done and praying for them as they move on to new adventures.
We closed with a short reflection from Wes who also prayed for the whole of Connect. Thank you to all of you who came to support us and hear about what we’ve been up to. A massive thank you to all who made this event possible, for Madworthy Methodist Church who hosted the event and prepared the buffet, for the worship band from Crediton, and for Kyra who put a lot of effort in to the planning and preparation of the Celebration.
All photos copyright Connect Mid Devon. Please do not reproduce without permission.
