Exciting news! We now have another member of the YoYo team! Andy Barthow, who did a gap year with us back in 2007 - 2008, has been through the toils of university and is now back on team. He is job sharing with Malc and will be focusing on working with the secondary department, particularly the music ministry side of YoYo’s work.

From the 10th - 21st October the primary team will be visiting 24 primary schools in York to present their Harvest assembly.

The assembly theme is 'treasures in heaven' from Matthew 6. This tricky subject will be unpacked through videos, games, drama and a song - presenting the message that it is better to store up treasure in heaven than on earth.

These verses we chosen as Harvest is a time when we should be thankful for what we have, and be thinking about how we can be generous with what we have through loving and serving others.

The first week's assemblies have gone extremely well with one Y6 commenting "I'm going to start thinking of others before myself".

Next week we will be going into 11 more primary schools. Please pray that our message will be clear and challenging, and that the team will have good health and energy for the final week of the half term!

 

You can now follow YoYo team on Twitter! You can find us at: @YoYo_primary, @YoYo_secondary and the new band @This_Resistance. We'll update you on what we're up to and which schools we're in so you can pray for us.

Thank you for all your support!

Every summer, YoYo joins the YCYH team (link to website) to help run their XPLoRE (11-16s) and XCiTE (7-11s) summer camps at Whithaugh Park in the Scottish Borders. Over 200 children and young people attend these camps to take part in fun and challenging outdoor activities, great sports, crafts, games, and engaging Bible exploration.

XPLoRE camp

Malc spent his week at camp as a lodge leader for the oldest group of boys at XPLoRE and coordinating the worship bands for evening meetings, so he had a varied, exciting and exhausting week!

The teaching at XPLoRE started with the foundations of Christianity, looking at questions like “Who was Jesus” and “Why did Jesus die?” Then we went onto explore different parts of Christian life and communication with God, including reading the Bible, prayer, church, the Holy Spirit and telling other people about our faith.

XCiTE camp

What an amazing time Jenny and Anna had on XCiTE camp at the start of the summer with 30 excitable children, and 12 even more excitable leaders! We had loads of fun playing games, singing, eating tasty food, getting very wet, or muddy, or floury, and learning about Jesus. This was the first year in which there were two XCiTE camps, and week two was just as much fun, if a little bit wetter!

The theme of both weeks was ‘Transformers’, and we discovered the ways in which different people had been transformed by their encounters with Jesus. We started out with Anna and Simeon, who were waiting with excitement for Jesus to come, and had their expectations transformed when he arrived. Then we met Zacchaeus, discovering that Jesus can transform anyone; the ten lepers, one of whom was given an attitude of gratitude; and the woman caught in adultery, whose life was transformed by Jesus’ forgiveness. Finally, we met Thomas, and saw how his doubt was transformed into faith when he saw Jesus had come back to life.

Now we just can’t wait for next year!

Taskforce

Fiona had a great time with the 16-19 year olds on Taskforce. The hard-working and dedicated young people who come to camp as Taskforcers spend their week cleaning lodges, washing dishes, making sandwiches and setting up equipment so that leaders and campers can spend more time together. In our time off, we also have our own teaching programme so during time off from chores we spent time together studying the book of James and, of course, discussing controversial questions from the Question Teapot! We’re very excited about the new year-round plans for Taskforce – it’s amazing to watch young people grow as adults and move on to be leaders!

We are pleased to announce that Tony Bower is the new Executive Officer of YoYo. He has 18 years experience in primary and secondary schools in Lancashire, Craven and South Cumbria where has led a team linked to NISCU in Lancaster and supported other teams in the area. He particularly likes to use poetry, drama and storytelling skills both in schools and as an author of resources for Christians working with children and young people in schools and churches.

He says, “'I love to engage both hearts and minds in sharing these ancient stories, through poetry and drama, helping children and young people climb inside the story and see the world through the eyes of the Bible characters and to realise the relevance of these powerful stories which resonate with universal and eternal truths. I am thrilled and feel very privileged to be taking up this leadership post in such a dynamic ministry as YoYo. Let the term begin!”

“I look forward to seeing what fresh ideas Tony brings to YoYo” says Heather Wraight, the Chair of Trustees. “I believe his creativity and previous experience will open up new possibilities which we can offer to York’s schools.”

Hello YoYo supporters,

I would like to let you all know that I will be moving on from YoYo this term. I was recently appointed as the ‘Young Leaders Award Coordinator’ for the Archbishop of York’s Youth Trust, and I’m excited by this new opportunity. If you would like to read more about this post you can click here.

I have loved my time with YoYo and it’s been amazing for me to see all that God has enabled us to do over the past 7 years. I’m so grateful for all the prayer and support you continue to give to YoYo, and as I move on, I will join you all as a prayerful supporter who will continue to encourage people to get behind this fantastic charity and pray for the team and volunteers as they press on with such a great vision.

The trustees have issued the following statement about my departure and ask for your continued prayers:

While the Trustees are really sorry to see Dan leave YoYo, we are delighted at the opportunities this job will give him. We look forward to discovering who God has planned to lead YoYo next, and are excited to see what new things God will do for us in the months ahead. We believe that this is the right move for Dan and therefore also right for YoYo, so we are trusting that God will be honoured as we press ahead with Him as our ultimate leader. Please pray for the Trustees through the process of appointing a new Executive Officer and for the Team in this uncertain time.

I’ve no doubt that I will still see many of you as I’ll be based in York, and I look forward to being able to share with you exciting stories from my new post as well as continuing to hear of the great things YoYo are doing.

Thanks again for all your support and my prayer is that God will lead YoYo in His ways and continue to bring His blessing and favour to the team and volunteers as they work across York’s schools.

Every blessing,

Dan Finn

Executive Officer

It's just over halfway through his work experience fortnight, so Charles Merritt from Huntington School has written an article about his time working with us...

After scrolling through the options on the computer I was no more interested in work experience than before but things changed after a friend’s mum said that YoYo would be the perfect job for me. I couldn’t agree more, after two weeks of this job I would recommend it to anyone!

As soon as I walked through the door there was a sense of family and team spirit and it took no time to get to know everyone; especially Malc, who had just been to South Africa, and shouted out as soon as we got into the car to go to an assembly, “WHO WANTS TO HEAR A REALLY COOL STORY?!”.

When I am older I want to be an actor and people reading this might think how can YoYo help you on that journey? Well I can safely say I have never been dressed up as a king outside the main entrance of the Minster before. Until now… It’s really built up my confidence as an actor and has been a real high point of working with YoYo especially when loads of tourists all wanted photos!

Apart from being a king I also did some admin (sticking address labels on envelopes and also stuffing them with letters), which was fun…

I went to some Rock Solids and CUs which were great and it was really interesting to see how different the same clubs I go to and lead can be in other schools!

I have really enjoyed myself these two weeks and would like to thank all the staff who have made this week so special for me.

Okay that just about sums it up - back to Fiona...

We have all enjoyed having Charles with us, he's done a great job and has fitted into the team brilliantly! Well done Charles!