Hawkwell Activities Week Day 6

FRIDAY

Well!!!  What can I say, a brilliant finale to an amazing week. Our last day was spent working out stage positions and focusing on final rehearsals. Everyone was totally engaged with the job in hand, working really hard to make their performance as professional as possible.

Herd Wot came in with all parts scripted ready to film their rehearsals and then watch and critique it before performing to their parents in the evening. Connect began to learn some moves for the song, and Kieren, George and Mike spent some time practicing their guitars while Ben worked on the rhythm to enhance their performance. We had one shaky moment when one of our ‘stars’ suddenly lost his nerve and decided that there was no way he could get on that stage in front of everyone but in the end, after much cajoling and encouragement he couldn’t help himself!!! The occasion took over and he couldn’t resist this amazing opportunity.

Dan’s light show, as usual was truly a sight to behold, with scanners, lasers and moving heads the final production was phenomenal all we needed now was someone to perform to!!! The Hawkwell public didn’t disappoint. At 7.15 the doors opened and friends and family ‘flooded’ in, the Church was packed out with an enthusiastic and excited audience, ready to party and have a good time.

It was a fantastic end. The guys all performed perfectly, receiving rapturous applause and even had to do an encore. Towards the end of the concert there was an opportunity to share the gospel and our Check It Out tract was offered to anyone who wanted to find out more about Jesus. Many were taken and we pray that those who responded will discover what it really means to know God. Ian and the folk at Hawkwell do an amazing work among the young people and we pray that they continue to be a shining light in the community.

We’ll remember this week for a long time to come…

Hawkwell Activities Week Day 5

THURSDAY

The song mixed and the final recordings done, today was the first real opportunity to rehearse ready for performing. All solo lines have now been decided and parts been alloctaed for the final script. A couple of warm up games and the mix dance set the day off to a great start and then Connect (the band) then had the chance to hear the final mix of the song and do a photo shoot while Herd Wot had a final meeting to decide on stage plotting.

Then it was time to swap venues with Herd Wot working out positions around the drum kit and Dex, and Connect in the back room with the computers to create an inlay for their own CD. It was all very exciting with the guys coming up with some really funky designs. It was so inspiring.

The afternoon started with an impromptu birthday party for LaRoche, complete with king prawns and a sweet chilli sauce, then a bit of a DJ workshop for some, while Dan set to work on converting the church sanctuary into a concert venue, LIGHTS EVERYWHERE!!!

It’s going to be so great we just hope that friends and relatives come along to support thier young people for the event tomorrow night. We pray that they all remember their lines and that it is something they can all be really proud of. We also hope that some of the things that they learned this week will stay with them forever.

They were all sent home for an early night, to learn their lines and prepare for the exciting day ahead.

Hawkwell Activities week Day 4

WEDNESDAY

And yet another great day. Andy eventually finished putting all the backing together in the studio at 11.30 last night. Mitch, one of the young people really encouraged him yesterday saying how impresssed he was at the way Andy had taken various words and melodies from all the different young people and created one amazing song out of all their ideas, he was so complementary! I think it helped as Andy slaved away over the keyboards last night:-)

So after a great start this morning the two groups split off into their two ‘studios’ to work on their projects, Herd Wot putting together the script for a video item which will appear in the final sketch and Connect to learn and record the vocals for their song. All of the young people are completely engaged and excited about their work. They are loving it!

The team are doing brilliantly too. For Jack, Becca and Ben this is their first activities week and at certain points they are really thrown in the deep end but all are doing incredibly well and the young people just love the attention they are being given. Becca has been giving singing lessons, Ben’s been  helping with ideas for script-writing and character development and Jack’s dazzling everyone with his amazing bassplaying. They all fit together so well and are such good role models for these young people.

LaRoche, Laura and Keel are a real blessing too!!! They are such an encouragement and really stepping up to the mark, using their initiative, leading and mentoring the younger team members as well as the youth. Their confidence and maturity inspires us everyday and we feel so privileged to have them in our team for a second year.

We are also very excited that Dan our techie has been able to join us for the week bringing his expertise in sound and video recording, so he is the one person on team who gets to dip into both groups, bringing his creativity and inspiration right across the programme. He also has some great ideas for lighting the event on Friday…(that reminds me; you are all very welcome to come!!!) For further details please see ‘YOU ARE INVITED TO…HAWKWELL’

Please pray with us for protection on the team, the way we gel, learn and grow together that people will know that we are His by the love we have for one another. Please pray too for the health of the team. It seems that a lot of people in the area are coming down with swine flu, and we have a big tour coming up next month, we really value your prayers, thank you so much for taking time to read this.

Hawkwell Activities Week…Day 3

TUESDAY

We all turned up early this am in preparation for the young people’s arrival! LaRoche was particularly happy, anticipating an arrival of his own…a brand new set of decks!! This had been a real answer to prayer and Dan picked them up from the office this morning. It was all very exciting, they really are beautiful and LaRoche sounds better than ever. However, our enthusiasm was short lived when suddenly a comotion at the back of the hall drew our attention away from the new ‘toy’.

We quickly realised that something was badly wrong and that one of the young people had been run over on his way to the church. Youth worker, Ian, was thankfully one of the first on the scene and was able to call the ambulance and the boy’s dad. As a firstaider himself he realised that the accident was not as critical as it had at first appeared and, as the team gathered together to pray, we were able to thank God that his injuries were not more severe.

We waited for more news and were eventually assured that he was bruised and shaken but that he wouldn’t be kept in hospital. By 12 midday he was back with us and contributing to the song!!! Praise the Lord, He had this young man safe in His arms the whole time!

The rest of the day went incredibly well. These young people are very gifted with drummers, vocalists and guitarists all contributing to the song and budding writers putting together a script to entertain and educate. Connect and KFC (Kids for Christ!!) were in a nailbiting tiebreaker as the band tried to decide on a name, but in a vote off, with all the tension and excitement of X-Factor…’Connect’ won the hearts of the people and became the brand new band name!

With pens flying back and forth in both music & drama a script and song were born. Both groups, taking the theme of relationships one step further, looked at the emptiness of social networking and the unreality of this kind of friendship.

Andy is now locked away in the studio with some ideas for the backing, from the young people and he now has the ‘simple’ task of putting together the backing for the song, Face To Face, ready to record in the morning!!!

To Be Continued…

Hawkwell Activities Week…Day 2

MONDAY

Well after last night’s service we had a sudden influx of extras on the week with a grand total of 24 now, 4 more came to check it out this afternoon so we have yet to see how many actually turn up for the whole week.

It has been a brilliant day, getting to know all the young people. We are missing Jayne Menlove who was due to be doing dance with some of the youngsters but has sadly come down with swine flu!!!!!!!!!! All the dancers have now chosen either drama or music and we spent the day really getting to know them, finding out their names and favourite foods, a very chilled and relaxing day really, a bit of guitar hero, pool and PS2 to keep everyone entertained this afternoon.

The musicians spent some time looking at the drum kit and have already written the rhythm for the song, They’ll be bringing instruments in tomorrow to work on the backing and then think about the theme and lyrics.

The actors have been working with Ben and Laura. An all girl group, one of them, a dancer decided to choose drama over her personal choice of music, so that her unchurched friend would come along for the week! The group came up with a name…’Herd Wot?’ which is an anagram of ‘the word’, the name of their youth group. The strap line will be; ‘the word in disguise’.

So a great day and a few more to come. Tomorrow is the key day for creating the song and putting a story line together for the drama so please pray that inspiration comes and we have opportunity to share our faith with these young people.

We continue to miss the lovely Claire and some of the youth have been asking where she is as they have really enjoyed her heading up the band at events like Solid and Leading Edge. Please continue to pray for her recovery.

Hawkwell Activities Week…Day 1

SUNDAY

Arrived 2pm this afternoon to set up in the church for our very first activities week with the new team. Plied with tea, coffee and maltesers we set to work to transform the church into a venue which would be hosting 11 young musicians and 7 young actors for a week of activities during their half term holiday.

To kick off the week we had been asked to lead the celebration service this evening. Everyone was invited to come and worship in preparation for the week ahead and then pray for the success of the activities. The idea was to encourage people to think about the opportunities that we will have as we work with youngsters from the church as well as those who are not currently connected to the church at all.

We will be spending 6 hours a day with these young people, encouraging them in their creativity, developing their talents and gifting and gradually introducing them to Jesus. It is an amazing opportunity and even though the emphasis is on writing and producing material that can be recorded and possibly performed at the end of the week there will also be many opportunities to get alongside individuals and answer their questions and share what we know about the Jesus who has changed and transformed our lives.

It was a brilliant service with many more people attending than we had expected. It was an opportunity to share our heart and vision with the people that were there. Taste lead worship with Laura portraying Psalm 139 so powerfully. LaRoche and Ben were interviewed and then the congregation were asked to pray in groups about the week. It was a very special night and we look forward to a really great week as we prepare for the young people we are about to meet.

Watch this space…