A number of families and young people from FBC attended Spring Harvest this year and had a fantastic time of worship, prayer and relaxation. The theme of SH2014 was Unbelievable, and the teaching was based around the opening words of the Apostle’s Creed.

Ella hadn’t ever been to Spring Harvest before. For Bethan, it was the first time she had attended as a volunteer. Here are some of their thoughts about their experiences.

Ella

I must admit that in the build up to Spring Harvest I wasn’t nearly as excited as the others who had been before, maybe because of exams or because I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. However once I got there and went to my first iscape group I completely understood why they all love it so much.

The passion in the leaders was something I have never seen before and they really managed to get even the most awkward of teens to be open in their worship. This also resulted in overrunning several times because no one wanted to stop singing and dancing.

For me, and I’m sure for most of us who went from FBC the best night was what is now referred to as the ‘holy spirit night’ where we all sat in someone’s room and prayed for each other for an hour. We could really feel the holy spirit in the room with us on that night, and it has inspired us to come together as a group on a regular basis to pray for one another. I think that that is what is so brilliant coming out of my 5 day spring harvest experience, being so much closer to my friends in our faith in God.

Bethan

I have always loved looking after children, so volunteering to look after the Under 5s at Spring Harvest was a great opportunity, especially because I got to work with other Christians who feel as passionate about children and God as I do.

I was really nervous about a lot of things before I got to Spring Harvest: travelling on my own; would I like the people in my group and would they like me; would my room-mate be nice; would I have the confidence to talk to people I didn’t know. I didn’t need to worry about any of those things: the travelling went really fast even though it took over 5 and a half hours; all of the volunteers were really friendly, even the ones who weren’t in my group; my room-mate was lovely and I talked to her like I had known her for ages. Confidence is one thing that I used to really struggle with but I felt very confident as soon as I entered Butlins. I started conversations with people I didn’t know, I prayed with other volunteers and made new friends within days of meeting them.

I loved volunteering for the Under 5s. On the first day we were given the age that we would be working with. I got to work in the 4 months to 1 year age group. As many of you know, I love looking after babies so this was the perfect age for me. At 8.15 every morning we had group worship where we would sing a couple of songs, listen to our group leader preach and pray together. We then went into our age groups and prayed as a team. There was an opportunity for us to go to the ‘Big Start’ for half an hour. This took place in the ‘big top’ where the atmosphere was incredible. It is so nice seeing people of all ages worshipping God together. After the ‘Big Start’ we would go back to our group and wait for the babies to arrive. It was great to be able to play and sing songs with them. The parents were so grateful that we looked after their children and said so after every session which was lovely to hear.

All of the volunteers in my group were so nice. We sat together at meal times, which was a great opportunity to talk to each other. I didn’t feel shy at any point which is a huge thing for me.
We only looked after the children for 3 sessions which meant that I had some of the day free. This gave me a chance to meet up with people from our church. In the evenings I went to a group called ‘iscape’ with the older young people from FBC. We sung some amazing songs, played some silly but fun games, prayed and welcomed the holy spirit.

Volunteering for Spring Harvest has helped my faith and confidence to grow. I can’t wait to see what God has planned for me. ‘He carries out his decree against me, and many such plans he still has in store.’ Job 23:14