Soul Survivor Pictures 2009

Soul Survivor 2009

We're back!

We arrived back yesterday afternoon very tired but very inspired and ready for the year ahead at school, university, work and church.

The journey was quick and straight forward after we found our coaches that is! Soul Survivor has decided not to let coaches drive around the site so we had to carry all our luggage and equipment half way across the site to the coaches which would be bad even if we knew where to find our coaches (which we didn't). A re-think may be in order for next year!

However, as you can see from the picture, we found then in the end and got back to Ashtead on time to meet all the parents who were waiting at church.

The day could have got off to a better start however. Once I had broken out of our awning which had been cable tied shut by some of the "up all night" crew I was greeted by "Happy 50th Birthday" (thanks Matt) banners and balloons and then immediately followed up by a cream pie to the face!

A crazy 10 minutes errupted which was like something out of Bugsy Malone. I think in the end anyone who gave some, got some which is the best time to call a halt and start clearing up! Just time for a quick photo.

This will probably be the last post for this year so Emma and I would just love to say that the past week has been awesome and the young people and leaders have been the best we could have ever hoped for!

Bring on LIFE on September 6th!

Last word from Soul Survivor 09

We're just about to head off together to the evening meeting in which we've all expecting to see God at work once more in many amazing ways. As we come to the end of the week it awesome to think back at all the great things that have been happening. Beating Soul Survivor Watford at Ultimate Frisbee! That ranks pretty highly as one of the greats. Seeing 7 lads marching over the hill onto our site each holding a village sign post. Another good memory. But seeing every person here from LIFE going deeper with God has to be the best. Bye for now and we'll see you all when we get back.

I heard it was Ashtead!

Yesterday took a slightly different turn in the afternoon when a few of the lads decided it would be fun to collect a few signs to decorate our village area with! As we are on the part of the site known as Red 4 they set out to get a full house and collect all the coloured 4's from around the site. They have done a great job of relocating them showing considerable initiative and team work along the way! Of course, I was unable to condone such behaviour (lol) but we managed to get a few pictures so you could see what they've been up to! Then to top it all off I was summoned by Emma into the marquee around 12 midnight with the terrifying words of "you've GOT to see what they've done now!" I had visions of finding Mike Pilavachi bound and gagged on the marquee floor. Fortunately it was not all that bad! The photo's speak for themselves but needless to say a fairly complex commando style operation was put into effect in order to relocate "Mr. Boogies" to our marquee. I think we may have to return it to the original venue later today as we won't be able to fit in all the hundreds of young people who may turn up at Mr. Boogies tonight! On a more serious note, we have been enjoying fantastic fellowship across the wide age range of young people that we have here this year and a huge amount of God at work in the meeting times has been a great encouragement to everyone. Please pray that during the final main meeting this evening we would see even more that we have seen so far or expected this week. Also please keep us in your prayers as we travel back to Ashtead tomorrow morning after what will no doubt be a very late (and fun) evening!

Saturday 15th August

With eggy bread and bacon on the go, breakfast times can get a bit smoky! But it's worth it! Mmmmmmm Bacon. Also if anyone is interested in getting a taste for Soul Survivor, we are on God TV tonight (and last night) so tune in to watch sometime around 7pm ish if you fancy.

Friday 14th August

The meetings last night and this morning have been fantastic times for our group with so many of us receiving the Holy Spirit afresh or even discovering His presence for the first time! As we have been praying for meaningful encounters with the living God we're also praying that these times spent in His presence would not just be "experiences" for today but would be forming our characters for tomorrow. Andy Croft was speaking this morning on the amazing "worth of Jesus". He's worth all we can give and more - like a great treasure that we would spend all our money on just to own! I think everyone here is discovering the treasure that is in knowing Jesus and following Him with everything. We're also squeezing in a bit of time for fun and games (see Jamie in bins).

It's Sunny!

For the first time in the past three years of Soul Survivor we are enjoying a hot sunny afternoon with no sign of rain in the sky! It's such a blessing as it feels so much more like a holiday when the sun is out! We're all off to seminars, workshops or football this afternoon and looking forward to another fantastic meal tonight and a great evening together at the big top and in the evening venues afterwards. Please keep praying for more of God visibly at work in the main meetings and more open and honest responses from us!

Thursday morning

Each year the sight of over 10,000 young people gathered to worship God together is an amazing thing to witness and be part of and this year is no different. We've had a great time this evening with one of our group making a commitment to Jesus for the first time (along with about 250 others) and all of us having an awesome time of worship and teaching together. Mike P was speaking on Zephaniah 3 v 17 - "The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." Having already seen the mighty saving God in action tonight we're excited about what the rest of the week has to offer (besides rain of course). Tomorrow should we Ashtead A's and Ashtead 1st football squad playing so please pray for our triumph in the football (only kidding (well, maybe pray a little)). Please comment if you'd like to send a message back to us and I'll pass it on to the group. Bye for now!

We made it!

Wednesday 12th August   After a good journey down on two coaches all 60 of us are now set up at Soul Survivor! The Marquee is all up and we're currently eating the awesome burgers you can see being cooked in the pictures! The first main meeting starts at 7pm so please pray for everyone to be ready to hear and respond to what is said tonight! It's going to be a great week!

Getting packed up and ready to go!

It's amazing how much stuff you need to take with you for a week of luxury camping in Shepton Mallet!

Marquee, check, pots and pans, check, gas, check, bbq's, check, ground sheets, wellies, buckets, all check! Now where is the youth team hot tub?

Looks like we're good to go. Now all we need are the 60 young people and leaders and the list is all checked!

Please pray for us as we head off tomorrow (12th) morning at around 10am and keep checking back here on the blog for news and updates about how we're getting on during the week!

LIFE @ Soul Survivor 2009

If you want to find out what LIFE is getting up to at Soul Survivor this summer then keep checking in with this blog each day.

For now why not have a look at the Soul Survivor website for details of the programme for the week!