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Kingsnympton Project Coming together

The Oxygen Kingsnympton Summer Project is taking shape. Taking place on every week of the summer holidays, several times a week the Summer Scheme will seek to meet, engage and work with the young people from the area in a action packed scheme of creative, interactive and positive activities. At the end of the summer we aim to build towards encouraging the young people we have worked with to be involved in putting on their very own community event where they can bless their area.

Please pray for helpers to be involved in the Summer Scheme. We need

A new Youth Venue for Kingston

You are invited to tell us what does Kingston really need, what are the challenges of working with young people in the town centre and what can the churches do to respond to this, engage with the young people and see them come to a full life of faith in Jesus.

These are the questions that we are hoping you can held up address at a special time of prayer and consultation for Kingston Town to be held at John Bunyan Baptist Church next Monday evening. This gathering will also provide chance to explore preliminary ideas and implications for a new after school youth café and venue that could be established in central Kingston in the forthcoming year.

Our suggestions are that a new youth venue would comprise of a drop in 'starbucks' style youth venue, with space for young musicians and artists to perform and places for young people artists to exhibit. We also hope to be able to develop mentoring and youth support services from this centre that will help young people overcome barriers they face, give them the opportunity to consider the big topics in life and point them towards Jesus. From this good foundation of a creative, supportive youth centre the possibilities for future growth and development are vast

Would you consider joining us to share, but also pray for Kingston’s young people. Our meeting is to be held between both between 8 and 9pm on Monday 14th July in the basement at
John Bunyan Baptist Church, on the corner of Hardman and Cromwell Road. See location here

Together with the prayers, ideas, support and direction gathered we then hope to be able to create a new kind of youth venue that will provide positive and creative activities for the hundreds of young people who frequent Kingston Town Centre and see many young people come to find faith and new life.

Kingston’s Roadshows 08

Over the course of the last 2 weeks Oxygen has joined in with the council and met over 1,200 people from across over the Borough. By being involved in the now annual Kingston Extended School Roadshows we have had a (free) chance to meet, engage and involve young people and their families in our after school club as well as the forthcoming Sacred Space Art Competition.

These roadshows provide an ideal opportunity to encounter people from many different walks of life and to share a little but of what we are doing in giving young people the opportunity to discover and follow Jesus. Next year I would really encourage all people running local project with children, families and young peoepl to be involved.

4 People, 1 Story, 1 Heart

Who are the four characters in the Prodigal Son story, who do they represent and what do they mean to us? This was the journey that I undertook when I preached at St Paul’s, Kingston Hill on Sunday 29th June. Inspired by God’s heart for the outsider, I took time to try and convey what I felt was God’s heart for those on our boundaries.

You can hear this sermon by clicking the link below, or by downloading it here

Oxygen monday prayer mailings 23 06 08

Pray for the appointment of 2 paid workers

In last weeks prayer email I mentioned the excitement we have as we look forward to the future developments of Oxygen. Central to the initial stages of that future are the appointment of two (part time) paid workers. Both are exciting posts that build on years of hard work by the Oxygen team in the last few years. Although they are based with other agencies (YMCA and St Peters Norbiton) they are both to be undertaken in close conjunction with Oxygen and its team of Gap year workers and contacted young people. Both are part time (for around 20 – 25hrs per week initially), but previous experience tells us that there is the possibility for further work in future if desired. The first post we are looking to fill is the post of Project Leader of the Extended Schools club Rm1. Based at Hollyfield School in Surbiton and employed by the local YMCA you would be in charge of overseeing and running an after school club for 11-14 year olds 4- 5 evenings per week. The aim of Rm1 is to give young people, particularly those aged 11-14 a place to study, chill and play. Many of the young people who come along to Rm1 do so as they have been referred by the school or social services because they face complex personal and family issues and would benefit from extra support. The deadline for application for this post is July 11th. The second post is working with St Peters Norbiton, this role works at the other end of our work, seeking to take those young people that we have worked with further in discovering and following Jesus. Your role, employed by the church would be to work with the church and oxygen staff and volunteers to establish a new community of (previously unchurched) young people alongside the other congregations of the church. We are really excited by both these posts, the first works on the margins with those young people who need the greatest supports, the second works with the church to grapple with the question of how the church should disciple unchurched young people. Would you therefore pray for these two significant appointments, pray that the right people apply, that we are able to make the right appointments and that we are able to sort out the details needed. Richard --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oxygen on Premier Radio: Listen to the interview between Oxygen’s Director Richard James, Youthwork Editor Martin Saunders on last weeks Premier breakfast show http://wantachurch.typepad.com/oxygennews/2008/06/oxygen-on-premi.html --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Oxygen fund raising quiz night took place at St Peters on Sat 21st June. Seven different teams battled it out to be known as the top quiz team of 2008. http://wantachurch.typepad.com/oxygennews/2008/06/oxygen-fundrais.html --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Street Pastors in the newsSee the story in this weeks Kingston Informer about Street Pastor's 2nd Anniversary http://wantachurch.typepad.com/oxygennews/2008/06/street-pastors.html

Street Pastors in the Informer

Street Pastors in the Informer on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Boroughthon 2008

Embedded Video

It started at 10.30 and finished just before 6pm, it lasted around 20 miles and involved many sore feet and sweaty people.

It was the the Oxygen 2008 Boroughthon involved the Oxygen team, volunteers and young people spanning the entire length, breadth and width of the Borough to visit the site of each of the Oxygen projects in Kingston Borough. This video gives you snapshots of some of our walk, without any shots of developing blisters

Rock Solid Weekend Away

Rock Solid Weekend Away Photos

St Peters' Rock Solid Club headed away this weekend to Blacklands farm in Sussex for a weekend of climbing, camping and bungee trampolining!

It was a great weekend comprising sunshine, camp fires, toasted marshmallows and deep and meaningful conversations.

The photos give a glimpse of what we got up to, but fail to convey the great sense of fun we all had, which for some of the young people was the first time they had not only camped, but had spent more than a brief period in the countryside.

It was great to see the young people attempt various activities that they hadn't tried out before. Seeing them attempt and succeed in climbing and exploring we were able to chat to them about stepping out in faith in other areas in life.

Two years ago when we went away with the Rock Solid group we returned with an ungrateful group of teenagers, this time however we saw how much this group had moved on as we came back laughing, chatting and wishing the trip was longer.

The next challenge is to recruit a new (paid) worker for St Peters, they will then be charged with developing the work and the going deeper plans of work.

OXYGEN: MIND THE GAP

A gap year with Oxygen is a journey of discovery, it is one when people enter into a period in their lives when they are given a chance to discover Jesus for themselves whilst also seeking to reveal Jesus to others. Each year, Oxygen takes on up to 10 people, usually aged 18 – 25, to come together in this MIND THE GAP adventure. They come together in times of sharing, teaching and exploration, learning to rely on God before heading out into streets, clubs and churches seeking to serve and relate to young people they meet. We believe in Jesus’ own instruction when he called for people to go out and be involved in mission and discipleship. As he showed us, it is as we respond to this call so we are transformed by the people we meet, just as we hope and pray that they are transformed by meeting us.

This is why Oxygen’s MIND THE GAP is not a GAP year but rather a chance to respond to Jesus instruction to be involved in the work of the Kingdom. MIND THE GAP is not about people coming to serve us, but more about us going on a journey together to discover what God’s will is for ourselves and the young people that we meet. Our hope is that Oxygen is a place where both young people and workers draw closer to God and closer to each other. If you are wanting to find out God’s plan and pattern for your life, if you love God and love young people and are willing to be challenged, trained and supported through something that will affect you not only for a year but for the rest of your life, then why not apply, or come and visit us and maybe we will see you at Oxygen in the near future!