Ich mag essen und Iserlohn!

Well last week I got back from a fantastic and very busy tour in Germany with Taste. Lots of exciting things happened in just a week Let’s see if I can recall the details and enlighten you on our adventures

We traveled to Germany on Monday morning after leading worship at Naomi’s home church the night before in Chatham and arrived in the evening. We checked into our hotel and had some spare time to relax and freshen up before being met by Jonathan and Mo to take us to Checkpoint Cafe, where we spent much of our time during the week On the first night at the café we played some crazy games and got to know the Germans who we were going to be with for much of the week. This was followed by a good old BBQ. They sure knew how to look after us We discovered that they had a guitar and a cajon (a percussion instrument) at the café so we led a time of worship and prayed about the week in smaller groups. After a great evening it was time to head back to our hotel to get some rest for an early start the next day.

On the Tuesday we arrived at a local school planning to hold a concert and run some English lessons. There was a slight miscommunication. We arrived at the school and the English teacher was very helpful and showed us where to set up so we started unloading and setting up, but when the head teacher came and saw all of our equipment and what we were doing he said he didn’t know anything about it and asked for the whole thing to stop and for us to leave. We prayed into the situation and one of the German girls went to attempt to talk to the head teacher but he wasn’t having any of it. After some waiting we did arrange with the secretary to continue with some lessons. As we didn’t have the time to set up our full equipment at this stage we had to think on our feet and set up a stripped back acoustic stage. We heard that we could go to one of the English classes and take a lesson so Andy, Sarah, Naomi and myself went along to that with an acoustic guitar and an egg shaker whilst Joy and Dave continued setting up in the music room for our lessons afterwards. It was really great to go and share our songs with them and talk a bit about where we live in England and they understood us really well

We ran two double lessons so had plenty of time to fill! But it was much needed with all the speaking slowly and time for translation. We played some games, sang some songs and explained the meaning behind them. Andy interviewed us all asking about where we come from. It was all a huge answer to prayer as we weren’t sure what we would be doing, if anything at all earlier on!

It was then time for some lunch and time to head back to the Checkpoint Café for a youth club in the evening called Checkpoint Jesus. For half of the evening the young people went off in their small groups to do some bible study and afterwards we led a time of worship. There were some of the local young people that hang around the area at the café sitting in the corner and this was a great encouragement to the leaders at the café as there are usually either just Christian young people there or non-Christian and so it was great that both groups were able to come and be involved

We went to another school on Wednesday to hold a break time concert and a couple of double lessons, again with similar themes and structures from the day before but with our full set up which draws young people in more. We were in a relatively small room but it had very large windows which we were able to open at break time for people to gather outside to watch us too We had a great time at this school and it seemed to be well received and made an impact.

Checkpoint Café was then open from 4-7 pm for the local young people to come and hang out and play and we were there with our instruments for people to have a go and for us to teach them. It was a very long and hectic afternoon but it was great getting to know the young people and we had the opportunity to play some of our music at the end, which went down well

 

 

 

 

On Thursday we ran music workshops at Checkpoint Café from 1-6 pm. It was well attended with many talented young musicians and some of the children from the schools we had visited. There was a lot of time to fill so we were worried that we would struggle to fill the time but it worked out well in the end. We began with introducing the individual instruments and gave some short demos. We then split the group into singers, drummers, bassists and guitarists. One guy even brought his bagpipes! So people had a go on that but I was unfortunately too preoccupied with the drums to have a go. The young drummers had brought a couple more cajons so I was able to teach them some rhythms to start with and teach them the rhythm for the song that we were going to learn, Twist and shout There were 3 in my group so we rotated it round who was playing the drums and the cajons. They did so well and it was great fun. When all the groups were happy we joined together to practice the song as a whole and the young people really enjoyed it and gained a lot from the experience and were encouraged. There was plenty of time to spare at the end of the afternoon so there was time for people to have a go on more of the instruments and for us to play some songs

Friday night was concert time at Christus Church Another German BBQ was put on before the concert for people to come to chill and chat. The German crowds are always full of energy and excitement so the concert was buzzing and many had a great time. It also included Dave talking a bit about his life and sharing what God has done in his life. He made it clear and easy for people to understand and Mo also translated for him. Andy shared a gospel message which was really well received and the pastor from the church spoke to us afterwards and was so thankful and knew that there were a lot of people there listening with big ears

On Saturday evening we led worship at an event called IMBA. In the afternoon we invited some of the individuals from the workshops to come and practice the worship song ‘Blessed be your name’ in preparation to play at the event in the evening. The singers and musicians separated to learn parts and came back together. It was a great day and the event was fantastic, with a young man called Johannes delivering an inspiring talk, which led to a response time where we led a few quieter worship songs.

Sunday was our last day in Germany It was sad that we had to leave after getting to know so many great young people but it was an amazing end to the tour. We were back at Christus Church to lead worship in the morning service. Much of the service was in German but we had a few bits of rough translation and it was great to be there and be a blessing. The church was celebrating it’s 75^th anniversary so the service was followed by another BBQ and party in the garden it was such a lovely day and great to be with some of the young people we had been with during the week before saying our farewells.

It was a fantastic week, a great blessing to us as a team and all those we met. We were overwhelmed with help and support.  Unloading gear and setting up all the time can be a tiring and long job and we lost count how many times we had to do it, but with so many hands on board it was made much lighter! Was a great experience and amazing people to work with

Taste go to Great Yarrrrrmouth High school

Hey everyone thanks for catching up with my recent adventures and for all the people who think and pray for me it makes me smile when I hear  that people remember me and the work we do in their prayers

We had a fantastic week last week in Great Yarmouth High School and it was sad times having to leave, but lots of great things coming up are in store for us There was a real positive vibe from the week and  we had lots of great feedback from the pupils and teachers. They’ve already booked Taste in the diary for next year! It’s always amazing to know that we’ve made a positive impact in a school and we hope and pray that we have left a lasting impact and that the children that have met us and been in our lessons will continue to think about all that we’ve said and find ways to keep searching for answers to further questions that we may have sparked this week.

Maybe you are aware of what I am doing this year and have been catching up with my blogs on a regular basis, or maybe you might be checking it out for the first time. So basically I’m with a Christian band called Taste and we tour all over the country and sometimes beyond mainly going into schools to lead assemblies and lessons. Last week we ran assemblies first thing every day at 8.45 to different year groups each day. This was always fun and was a great way to introduce ourselves to different year groups and explain who we are and that we were there to show that being a Christian isn’t a dull and boring thing but is exciting and life changing. We had to arrive at the school at 6am on the Monday to set up, but it was all worth it We also sang a couple of songs in the assemblies and played a slogans game. The message we drew from the slogans game and a haribo advert afterwards was that adverts try to make us feel like we’re missing something and need to go out and buy their product, but as we sang in our song ‘Something Missing’, we believe as Christians that God is what we truly need to fill in the gap in our lives and that he can make us complete, when we sometimes look to other things to satisfy and fulfil us. At the end of the assembly we showed a video clip called the black hole which was about temptation and then sang a song called ‘Free Runner’ which talks about how God sets us free and helps us to overcome the tough things in life.

Other lessons that we ran throughout the week included a forgiveness themed lesson, a values lesson talking about how we’re are all uniquely created and priceless, a friends lesson talking about what makes a friend and questioning whether people would still want to be our friend if they knew everything that we’ve ever thought or done and how God still wants to know us and be our friend even though he knows all these things, and life lesson asking what the most important things to us in life are and that we believe that there is more to life than what we see around us and that there is a God who wants to be involved in every aspect of our lives

During the week we had also been given the opportunity to run music lessons, sometimes to whole classes and sometimes to a select few that had been especially selected for drums, guitar and singing lessons. In these we demonstrated our instruments and gave the students an opportunity to have a go and for us to teach them a bit and encourage them. We even managed to inspire a few guys to start a band

On the the Thursday night we held a concert at the school in the hall we had been in all week. It was great that we could perform to the children in a much more relaxed and fun setting and also include more gospel content. Quite a few teachers came too, including the deputy head and head teacher, who was dancing up the front when we were playing twist and shout Each band member takes it in turns to introduce the songs and explain the message behind them. Naomi, one of the singers shared her testimony and audience really listened attentively and also to Andy’s gospel message at the end, which was great to see.

So it was a really great week and we met lots of amazing people who we hope to have challenged and inspired. Usually we leave schools knowing that there will be a followup ministry or plan but this time there wasn’t but we can still pray for all those that we met and for the school and teachers.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and for your support

Taste go to Sizewell and Bonnie Scotland once again!

What a great week we’ve just had in scotland! Well What a great couple of weeks it’s been actually! A couple of weeks ago Taste were on a team retreat at Sizewell hall in Suffolk. This was the second time we’ve been there as a team this year, the first time was the second week we had all met so back then we hardly knew other but the banter did flow this time round and we had an awesome time team building and spending time with God and reading lots of his word and thinking about it. It’s right by a lovely beach and on the nicer days when we could go down there for our personal time outs it was so quite a peaceful, maybe with the odd dog walker every now and then As we’re on  the road so much and we’re working non-stop it was so nice just to take some time out to refresh and work on our relationships with God and each other. It was also great to prepare us for the following week…

For our 3rd (Not including going to Sarah’s right up north for new year) Taste adventure to Scotland this year we were in Berwickshire high school in Duns last week. As part of a large team of people from local churches and youth workers that go into local schools week by week we helped to run a christian focus week. The Theme for the week was Justice and Mercy, big topics in these times that open up lots of questions. We held assemblies on the Monday morning and then ran a load of music lessons all week so got to work closely with the music classes, which were full of many talented musicians During the lessons we have an interview with either Andy, Dave or myself about our instrument, what made us want to join the band and go round schools sharing our faith. The lessons also included us performing our songs, and our lastest songs Reach Out and There is a love were perfect for the theme of the week. We were delighted to be able to share our music with the special needs department who really enjoyed seeing us and getting involved. We used the time to perform a couple of our songs, tell them a bit about our instruments and let them have a go and they seemed to really enjoy the experience.

The work that the local schools workers do is fantastic and looks like a lot of hard work. Sarah’s youth leader from home was down for the week too so it was great to see him and be inspired and encouraged by him as well as the rest of the team.

We held a concert at the school on the Thursday night. At the start of the week we were unsure if this was going to be able to go ahead as we had been struggling to staff the event. But from much prayer by us and people from local churches the necessary people stepped forward to help so we could go ahead Ali, one of the team memebers who was running PE lessons throughout the week shared a powerful and moving message which hopefully spoke to many of the kids there on the night. Unfortunately as soon as the concert finished at 9 the kids had to head straight off so we didn’t get to chat to any of them at the end but we were there for the last Friday morning so had a few chats with people and at lunch.

On the last morning we had one lesson in the morning and then a free period so packed up all our gear ready to load it back into the van and the last lesson was a music lesson, and as it was a class we had seen many times during the week we went to their music class and worked on a song with them and performed it. Fun had by all So a really encouraging week and a really privilege to be a part of Oh and great food during the week as ever, and lots of pizza and chips before the concert on thursday

 

Thanks for checking this out please let me know what you think and what you’ve been up to

What a weekend!

Well we’ve had a great week away. Last week was a training week in Norwich with Oak Grove Chapel, which included having some teaching from Ian Savory about spiritual gifts and considering what ours are, helping out at the church charity shop, going into Catton Grove primary school for a day and celebrating Sarah’s birthday We also had the privilege of meeting Joy’s mum and some of her family who made us amazing food

 

 

 

 

We just got back this morning from an exciting and very encouraging weekend at a youth weekend away  at a youth centre in the Lake District. Now where to start…

Most of the young people at this weekend know each other and are from Bolton, so there was a great atmosphere and it was great to see everyone get along so well. We also had much opportunity to get involved and get alongside the young people. Taste arrived at the venue around 1 in the afternoon on Friday to set up. The young people then arrived about half 7 and the first session kicked off at half 8. Altogether there were about 40 of us crammed into a very small hall!

The theme of the weekend was taken from Matthew 3, looking at the story of the baptism of Jesus and the teachings of John the Baptist. Andy spoke in the first session on Friday night about Jesus and John the baptist and repentance, which was really cool and inspiring. We played one of our songs and then led a time of worship. Everyone got really involved and passionate with the worship and it was an incredible start to the weekend!

The larger group of young people divided themselves up into smaller groups. Each member of Taste chose a small group to lead along with the other youth leaders. In a few of the sessions there were small group activities so that was really fun and a great way to get to know them and get alongside them.

After a spot of supper there was time to chill and hang out. Johnny English reborn was being shown in the main hall, some people sat and chatted, some played guitar outside the dorms. But it was all about the extreme uno which ended up having about 15 players! Dave had gone to bed straight after the evening session and the girls had pretty soon after supper, but i had got far too into uno, and even with the thought of having to get up at 7 the next day we still ended up playing until 1 in the morning!

Rich, one of the leader type people who is currently at uni shared a word with us all on Saturday morning which was so challenging and I was personally challenged by it too. He spoke about making straight paths for the Lord and how we need to be willing to serve each other and the church.

On Saturday afternoon there was an option of a few activities to participate in. We had the privilege of running the music workshop. The participants of the session had all had some experience of playing the instruments so had some idea of what they were doing. I was working with a young lad on the drums who was in my small group. It was his second time playing the drums and in the space of the hour or so I spent helping him and teaching him some rhythms it was clear how much he was progressing and really great to be able to encourage him sometimes it’s really clear when someone has a talent and gift for something and this was really evident, so I was able to encourage him to keep up the practice We had split into groups of singers and musicians as usual and we taught the music and words/harmonies for the classic Twist and Shout This worked really well and you could see how much the young people enjoyed the session and had developed.

On Saturday night Dave, one of the other youth Leaders spoke about the Holy spirit. It was a very inspiring and challenging talk and he particularly emphasized that we have to wait for the holy spirit to come and that God will send his spirit in his time. He also made clear how much the Holy spirit changes us and makes it clear when he’s here.  After he spoke he allowed time to wait for the Holy spirit and for people to pray with each other. At first he invited the band to come back up to lead a time of worship but after a while I was able to go and pray for somebody and also have people pray for me, so it was very encouraging and there was a clear presence of God working.

Joy spoke about baptism on the last morning and we had some group discussion about what people thought the meaning of baptism is and what it represents. Each of us in Taste have been baptised and we shared our baptism stories, what led us to getting baptised and how we felt at the time.

In the last session before everyone had to head back home we had a time of communion and everyone shared their highlights of the weekend. With so many people I thought there would be a struggle for people to think of things but every single person said something great and it was clear that they had been moved and heard from God over the weekend. I just loved meeting everyone there and how God used us. It was an altogether encouraging and challenging weekend

Encouraging and challenging times in Norwich :)

Well at the moment we are spending a week in Norwich We arrived on Friday afternoon and headed straight to  the Salvation Army church in Dereham to set up for the next day. It was quite a chilled set up and we then moved on to Joy’s mums’ for a delightful dinner and evening before heading to our host homes

It was a reasonably early start on Saturday. We held a worship training day for young people, which was an altogether fantastic day. A reasonable number of people turned up to the event, with a variety of  talents and abilities. Andy led the event and did some teaching on worship and what it means and we held some workshops throughout the day also. For one session there was a choice of a singing workshop with the girls or the instrument workshop with us guys. Both groups had lots of interest and proved to be very benificial for all. When doing drum workshops in schools I’m used to teaching kids with little or no experience of playing and teaching them a basic rhythm as best as I can. The drummer that took part in this workshop had been playing for 7 years and works in a drum shop, so was considerable better than me! It was great to chat with him and encourage him though and he seemed to have a great time. There were many guitarists who came too so I was able to help them, especially a couple of younger boys who were quite new to learning the guitar. We had a little blues jam and then learnt light of the world At the end of the session the girls came back into the main hall and we combined the music with the singing and it all came together very nicely

 

After a spot of lunch we held a songwriting workshop. This was my personal highlight of the day as it was so encouraging to hear what came out of the session. Andy demonstrated some common aspects of worship songs and different approaches to writing worship songs and then we split up into 3 groups consisting of a mix of different instruments that people were gifted in. Everyone then had a couple of hours to write a song and have it ready to perform to everyone. Taste were divided among the groups. The group I was in started with a theme of the armour of God, which was inspired by a verse in John. We then continued to build upon this idea and think of more phrases around the theme and what the Armour of God is and how it strengthens and protects us. As more ideas started to develop I went to the side with a couple of the guys in my group that play guitar, one of them had an idea of a guitar riff so I worked out the chords it was made of and hey presto- the song was beginning to take shape. By this time the girls had thought of the lyrics for the chorus and we played around with the chords and lyrics so the girls could think of a melody and blend it all together. With Andy’s help and an agreement from the whole group we decided that the idea we had was for a verse and that it felt like it was building into something bigger. So then we came up with some chords for the chorus, lyrics and a tune and we were well underway. So it was a very fun and creative session and  all 3 of the groups produced incredible songs. God was clearly at work and guiding us through the day

 

We were back at Ang’s for dinner and then back in the evening for a celebration event. Joy delivered a challenging talk about worship which really spoke to me, and I’m sure to everyone else who was at the event. Taste led the worship, which included many wild celebratory songs.

Yesterday was also an encouraging and yet again challenging day, being at Oak Grove chapel in the morning, an amazing lunch at Joy’s mums and heading back to Oak Grove Chapel to watch a DVD about tough calling.

It has been nice to have a day off today, chilling at our host home and exploring the town centre. The rest of the week is gonna be packed out with team training sessions as well as helping run lessons in a school on Thursday, before what sounds like a very busy weekend

Thanks for stopping by, stay classy

Brrrrilliant times in Blackbourne middle school!

Well hey there and thanks for taking the time to read about what I’ve been up to recently with Taste

 

Last week we were in Blackbourne middle school, so we were with years 5 to 8. There was such a great atmosphere in the school that I’ve never experienced from just seeing secondary schools before. We were there to provide lessons and share about our faith and show how exciting it is to be a christian. The kids were very excitable and warmed to us very quickly and we made lots of friends We felt very welcome there from the start, being greeted by the head teacher in the staff room at 7.30 am making the coffees And we were allowed to just sit and mingle with the kids in the dinner hall at lunchtimes which was a great opportunity to chat to them and get to know them more.

As it had snowed the night before we were due to arrive at the school we were slightly concerned that the school might have been closed, but all was well and school continued as normal After an early arrival at the school, we ran our first lesson at 11 am and another one after that. These were music lessons, the first lesson being with all the year 5′s and the second with all the year 6′s. Our music lessons are a combination of a few songs, a music quiz and an interview with either Andy on the guitar, Dave on the Bass, or myself on the drums. In these the interviewer asks us questions like how long we’ve been playing for, whether we could give a quick lesson to a keen volunteer and why we chose to be part of Taste. This is a great opportunity for us to encourage those young people who are interested in learning an instrument, for us to share why we’re so passionate about what we do and why we are so passionate about God and sharing our faith with others. The first lesson was an interview with Andy and the second was with Dave and I had a couple also throughout the week. I really enjoy encouraging young people with learning an instrument and also had plenty of opportunities at lunch times to teach some people some basic rhythms on the drums.

Everyone was allowed out in the snow at lunchtime on the first day for a snowman competition and we joined them to ‘help’ and have snow fights Although it ended in me and Dave being chased with snowballs round the field it was so nice to be able to hang out with the kids and form friendships.

The rest of the week was full of lessons with individual classes with themes of friendship, and values.  As a team we’ve been building up a lot more confidence delivering lessons and chatting to kids about what we believe in and what they believe. It was very encouraging that many of the kids had questions to ask us about God and life this week. Tony, a local church worker who had been going into the school doing assemblies much before, is going to be running a lunchtime club every Wednesday called Rock Solid, which will be for fun and games and crafts as well as a chance for people to find out more about God and ask any questions they have about Christianity. We have been bigging it up all week so pray that many will go along and find out more.

At lunchtimes, as well as being available to chat and offer instrument lessons we provided some musical entertainment, which was another great opportunity to share what we believe and encourage people to question life and God. As the field was out of bounds at lunchtimes this was the perfect solution to the problem and went down a treat

 

To finish off the week we held a concert in the school gym. We had been in the drama studio all week so this involved moving all our gear, but it was only next door and we applied some good team work The kids were very excited about the concert and it was very well attended, loud and full of energy. As well as being very loud and excitable the kids were keen to listen to what we had to say when introducing songs, Naomi delivered an inspiring testimony as an intro to the song ‘identity’ which is all about not being afraid to be who you are and what you believe in. Andy also spoke a powerful and energetic gospel message, which generated a good response.

So another great and encouraging schools week We didn’t want to leave but we pray that what we’ve done and said has made an impact and will cause all the young people we’ve met to continue to ask more questions about all the topics we’ve been talking about relating to life and God

Thanks for stopping by, many more exciting events coming up

Amazing times in Auchmuty high school!

Well Taste just got back this weekend from a rather fantastic week in  Auchmuty High School in Glenrothes, Scotland. It was such a great week and what was a smashing about it is that we had the privilege of being with one year group, the year 7′s all week, what a stroke of brilliance The people that had arranged it had organised for the year group to have a suspended timetable for the week and for their lessons to be run by our team. So it was a great opportunity to get to know people a lot better from spending more time with them, whereas usually when we’re in a school we spend less time with individual classes of varying year groups. The whole week had been planned and prayed about a lot for over a year and there was a large team of people involved from different churches and Scripture Union to come and help and run lessons. We were also joined by Fool Proof, the drama team that we worked with last time we were in Scotland, so it was fabulous to see them again and they got involved running drama lessons and performing sketches in assemblies and at the concert. Delightful

 

So for people who may not know what I’m doing this year, I’m part of a christian band called Taste and we tour round the country, mainly in schools, and share what we believe about God and our life experiences with the use of our songs, which all have christian messages in them. Rather than going round bashing our bibles round peoples’ heads and singing coom bye ya we show people that being a christian isn’t just something boring but is exciting and life changing. Here are some of the things we got up to last week:

Assemblies

We took a big part in being involved with the assemblies throughout the week. There was usually one at the start and end of each day. These would involve us performing a couple of songs and Bruce and other people that were involved talking and doing some interactive things. On the first day there were various artworks of Jesus showing different ways that artists portray Jesus and when we got the whole year group together at the end of the day there were some group activities for them to do, including choosing one of the pictures that they liked and sharing with the group why they liked it, what they thought the artist was saying about Jesus and whether they agreed with it. Then  they moved on to draw a picture of how they portrayed themselves. So these activities created some good thought provocation.

Lessons

This is what we were mainly doing throughout the week. We ran lessons with the themes of Does God exist, Life choices and values. These included 2 or 3 songs with each band member introducing a song and sharing some of their experiences. I demonstrated some real life free running for our song Freerunner by jumping off the stage We also ran quizzes and games with links related to the themes, including a message. We showed videos clips related to what we were talking about, and one of the days even attempted to make a person with the basic elements that a human is apparently made of! It didn’t work but was a nice fun demonstration to show how we are all unique and individually designed by God. Each band member had the opportunity to share some of our individual life experiences, why we believe in God and why we chose to join Taste. In one of the introductions to the lesson that I did I asked if people remembered our names and they did quite well until they got round to Dave the bassist, who they had renamed Michael Jackson! So I went along with it and said he is also known as Dave, so as we walked round the school throughout the week you could hear ‘hey Michael Jackson!’ :) This had Dave rather bewildered. The lessons seemed to be very well received and the kids listened to what we said intently. We also had positive feedback from some of the teachers too

 

Lunchtime concerts (mmm lunch )

At lunchtimes we invited the kids to come to the hall we were based in to hang out with us and be entertained with more of our music. This was another great way of getting to know individuals, sometimes people came just to get a photo or autograph but we felt that we also made a positive impact in the school and it was great just to sit and listen to the kids and encourage them. At break times we also allowed  a few people at a time to come on stage, have a go on the instruments and get some one on one lessons with the band members.  A couple of them were better than me on the drums so I just stood back and watched and offered my encouragement On thursday we ran a bingo game where people had to get a signature of one of the members of Taste or Fool Proof alongside things like ‘is wearing black socks’, ‘can speak french’ or ‘owns a Disney DVD’, an example of the things i didn’t sign so this was a fun activity for the kids to get to know us

 

Thursday night concert

As part of a week we do in a school we usually include a concert at the end of the week. This is always great fun and further opportunity to share the gospel message with the young people. We turned up the volume, added extra lights and revealed the scanners. We asked a couple of Scottish stander- bys to help us with the lights and weren’t sure how many helpers we’d need, but they replied ‘Och! it’s no that dark!’   Sarah also had the opportunity to let loose her pigeon dance The atmosphere at the concert was incredible,  with a good turn out of enthusiastic and excitable year 7′s!As usual Andy didn’t get the memo so me and Dave were on our own with our shirt and tie gig outfits

So it was a massively fun, encouraging and positive week and a big impact was made, hopefully causing the young people to ask questions about life, who they are and their views of God and seek a relationship with him. We sure won’t forget this week and the people that we met! Guid cheerio the nou!

 

Tasty times in Wallingford

Well we’ve been back to the usual Taste busyness this week in Wallingford. We had a well-deserved week off last week and a couple of the members of the band decided to go home for the week. I’m living at home anyway this year, and for Sarah it was more difficult and expensive to travel home to Scotland just for the week. On the Friday we all met up in London for a day trip and then went back to Naomi’s home in Chatham for a quiz night at her church and to meet her family the next day. It felt like Christmas day with how many family members where there So that was great that we could all stay there, and they were very pleased to meet us.

So Wallingford Baptist church had organised for us to be involved at Wallingford high school this week. We were very busy running lessons all week to a variety of year groups. The lessons were all been RE lessons this time around. Each lesson consisted of 3 or 4 of our songs, which all have Christian values and meanings behind them, games, quizzes and video clips. We’ve been in the band for 2 months now and the time has come to up the game a bit, so each member of the band has been a lot more involved with the lessons. Each evening before dinner we’ve either been going to a coffee house or someone’s house to evaluate the day and plan the next day. This is where we decide who is going to introduce what songs or run which games. Then of course eating plenty of food, playing games or watching a DVD, and then getting a reasonably early night ready for an early start in the morning!

The week was great and we heard lots of positive feedback from teachers, students and Paul and Matt, who were our Wallingford Baptist church representatives They had been in the school the week before running assemblies and explaining that we would be in their school this week. We didn’t meet the head and deputy head teachers until the last day but they came and saw us and were very thankful and positive about our visit. We had the chance to sit and chat with some of the teachers at lunch times in the dinner hall, which was another great opportunity. My favourite school dinner was the curry on Wednesday

As there was a staff strike day on the Wednesday we ran an event at the church called ‘The Mix’, which was a fun event full of games, quizzes, the ‘Mix factor’ and our songs with an acoustic vibe. We ran it from 11am to 3pm and had been advertising the event all week. We didn’t get a large group of people turning up, but it was great for those that did come and gave us further opportunity to get to know them more and have some fun. Games that went down particularly well were 9 lovely 9(a category is read out and the first team to think of 9 things is the winner), 2 second celebrities (the microphone went down the line and you have to think of a celebrity every 2 seconds along to the music) and bucket ball, where I had to change teams 3 times to keep the teams even!

We held a concert at Wallingford Baptist on the Saturday. We thought at first that it would be difficult to get school kids along to a gig at a church, but after a lot of handing out flyers and advertising it, along with lots of prayer, the concert was well attended. The great thing about having the concert at the church was that we could talk about the gospel much more freely. The concert included a testimony from Naomi, which was brilliant and I’m sure really spoke to people, and a gospel talk from Andy at the end, which was really clear and powerful. He gave people the opportunity to become Christians and accept God into their lives by saying a simple prayer. A few people indicated that they had responded, but you never know how much of an impact you have made, and we hope and pray that what we have been teaching people this week has given them lots to think about and that they will have further questions to seek answers to. After the halfway interval we had asked Liam, the winner of the Mix factor to play his drum solo to the audience. He had brought his parents and a friend along to the concert to see him play and they were all really appreciative that we had involved him and it was great to get to know him.

The concert finished at 9.30, we had some time to chat with some of the kids and do the usual photos and autographs and then it was time to pack down! With an abundance of help, including our Mix factor winner, we were packed down and out of there in record time Again we had lots of positive feedback from the people at the church and we were equally grateful for their support and hospitality. Now it’s back to the studio for some intensive rehearsing, song writing, recording and getting ready for a busy weekend!

Thank you for all your support, encouragement and prayers x

Himmel ah ja!

Back to Germany again and this time Taste were at an event called Himmel- ah ja in Herne. I thought at first it was just a play on the word Himalaya  but the English translation is Heaven- o yeh! Pretty cool ja. The event was held in a school over the weekend from Friday to Sunday, although we did keep forgetting that it was a school seeing how big it was, the coolness of the indoor pool and the trees in the entrance. It was a christian run event and the majority of the young people seemed to be christians there, although there may have been some people that weren’t but it was a great event for them to come to and hear God’s message in a cool way. DJ La Roche and Andy Keel, our  viz- a-viz technical manager were with us on the trip, both who did an amazing job.

There were a couple of other bands there performing and leading worship on Friday night and in the day on Saturday, so after we had arrived, set everything up and sound checked on Friday morning there wasn’t much for us to do until Saturday evening, but we were on hand to offer assistance where needed and also checked out everything else that was going on. They ran workshops on Saturday and had a football competition so it was great to take a look round these and show our interest.

We set up and sound checked for our concert on Saturday evening after the band ‘Rocking Cross’ had finished at 6 pm. Then it was off to the dinner hall for the left overs of the BBQ as we were a bit late after getting ready. At 8 pm we took the stage for our worship set. We were greeted by a very excitable and energetic crowd! After a couple of late nights and long days I wasn’t feeling full of energy but I got through it and it went down really well. We were interviewed by the presenters of the event after playing the worship songs and they just asked us questions like how long have you been a part of Taste, how did you come to being a part of the band and what have you been doing so far in the band.

It was then about 10 minutes for us to go off stage and come back on for the concert, so a quick change and freshen up was in order. When I got changed I suddenly felt a burst of energy and excitement as I usually do just before a concert. La Roche was onstage with Henrich the presenter doing a spot of beat boxing and rapping and getting the crowd going.

The already excited German crowd stepped it up a gear when we came back on stage for our concert, which was amazing for a bunch of people that have never seen or heard us before! A few friendly mini mosh pits were even started and the crowd were quick to join in with our songs. The most important part of the songs we perform is the message behind them, themes of friendship, identity questions, questioning if there’s more to life and freedom. We have got to the stage quite early on in the year where each member of the band introduces a song, apart from Andy who does many more and has a great way of explaining the songs. The song I introduce is ‘Side by side’ which is about the importance of friendship and how we should forgive our friends when they let us down. I also explain that we have the best Friend, Jesus who loves us so much and will never let us down. Then I stay up the front of the stage with the rest of the band as we demonstrate the actions in the song

As we did the last time we were in Germany, we performed the song ‘Shackles’ with guest appearance from La Roche which was followed by his incredible and inspiring testimony. This was then followed by our beloved acoustic set, a combination of a few recent pop songs which always goes down well and gets the crowd involved.

The gig ended with a short gospel message from Andy and a few lively worship songs. At the end of the set we were thanked for being there and then played one more song, ‘Celebrate’ featuring Andy’s “worship whistle” which is the signal for the conga and craziness halfway through and at the end of the song

The concert ended at midnight and as hard as we thought we had worked it was then time to pack everything away again! We were kindly assisted by some German helpers which sped things up greatly. By popular demand we went straight off to Mcdonalds which very conveniently was right next to the B&B we were staying in and they did buy one big mac get one free, a great end to the evening

 

On Sunday morning, after about 5 hours sleep, we were back to the school ready to set up for an acoustic set. It was more of a cool church service in a sports hall. We were leading worship songs and there was a talk and other things happening which were beyond us, but we did have a couple of people translating parts to us. Halfway through there was a large shootout with goals that had 2 holes in them and for every goal scored a business were going to donate money towards a charity. A lot of the details were lost in translation to us but a lot of money was raised! Medals and footballs were presented to the teams that took part in the football competition on the Saturday.

 

After packing down the gear from the acoustic set and loading everything into the van  we headed off to a Kebab restaurant with Hans, our main contact when we’ve been doing work in Germany. The afternoon was spent resting back at the B&B and playing uno in McDonald’s and getting coffee from the in house Mc Cafe The fisherman’s office, the organisation Hans works with Kindly treated us to a meal at a lovely pub in the evening and Hans, his other half Vicky, and helpers at the event Marcel, Julian and Marco joined us. A great end to the day and weekend

 

So we then left Germany at 10 am the next day, traveled back to Calais to catch the ferry and headed home. Another great weekend and a privilege to be used for God’s work and see great things happen now for a slightly less full-on week and time to re-energize for the upcoming events

Team building, Tranent and Taste being very busy!

Well we just arrived home yesterday at 4 am after a busy and exciting tour of Scotland and Radcliffe! It has been really brilliant and clear that we have made an impact in so many ways This was our second tour on the road after Konfi camp in Germany a couple of weeks ago. We’re all getting on great as a band and it feels like we’ve known each other for much longer than 6 weeks! Even after a full on 12-day tour it’s all hunky dory with the Taste crew.

So it all started by the long 9 or something hours road trip up to Scotland to stay with our first hosts Gordon and Jane Roy, such a lovely couple and house (and Tully the dog!). We were there for a few days whilst preparing for the schools week, which was the main purpose of our trip. During our time with Gordon he took us to a place called Lendrick Muir for some terrifying team building. We weren’t entirely sure what we were in for, but I had some idea as I’ve done similar things before, and that was the high ropes course! Now, I have no fear of heights whatsoever and was eager to get straight up there but for a few members of the team the idea was slightly scary! We took part in 2 activities, the first was climbing up a 30 ft pole to stand on a pizza box sized platform and then jump off, and the second was to climb up to an even greater height to stand on a smaller platform, jump forward and grab on to a trapeze. And we survived! Incase you haven’t done this before or guessed we were safely attached to ropes and in the good hands of our other team members who we could fully trust! For me it was about pushing and challenging myself and although I was confident enough the activity still gave me a huge adrenaline buzz! For others in the team just the idea of climbing to such a height was a huge thing and with lots of encouragement they did really well and boosted their confidence levels.

We then went back to Gordon’s for coffee and a bible study and Gordon asked us to share a phrase that we had used during the day that best summed up how we felt about it all and how we could use that to help us throughout this next year. Mine was ‘keep going, keep pushing further’ and I shared that I want to really challenge and push myself this year and step out further in confidence. Something which I’m going to end up doing a lot of this year is standing up on stage talking to large amounts of people about my story and although I’m confident being on stage with an instrument I have quite a large fear of just standing on stage and talking, but I want to acknowledge that God Is with me and just keep pushing out and setting new boundaries.

We travelled up to Tranent on Friday where we would be doing a ‘Freedom Focus week’ in a local school. We got to the school first to get everything set up and sound checked and to meet and pray for the week with the music teachers, who are also Christians. On the Friday night we attended a youth event at a local church and we had the opportunity to introduce ourselves and share parts of our testimonies, which encouraged many people.

Naomi, Sarah, Dave and myself were staying with a lovely couple called Anne and Jeremy in a lovely big old house. They had moved forward with the times in some ways as they had wireless telephones and Internet but unfortunately no showers! So we didn’t smell our greatest for the week. We did wash and had baths a couple of the evenings you’d be pleased to know. Anne and Jeremy’s substitute for showers were baby wipes and they did the job nicely

On the Saturday we had a chilled out morning and then took a trip to Edinburgh for a spot of shopping and a planning meeting in Starbucks.

We went to our hosts’ church on Sunday morning at the unfamiliar Sunday time of 9.30 and were invited to introduce ourselves and explain what we were doing in Tranent. Sunday lunch was spent with a lovely family with very entertaining and energetic children. After lunch we practiced a few songs that we were going to do in our acoustic worship set in the evening at another church. One of the girls joined us for this and we helped her get underway with writing a song

The evening service went very well. It was a service aiming to launch the schools week we were about to embark on in Ross High School, so we led some worship and Hazel who organised the week explained what we were doing and a few people prayed for the week. We had a hot chocolate back at Jezza and Anne’s and got a to bed reasonably early ready for a very early start the next day.

As it was the first day at the school and we still had a few things to check and sound check we arrived at 7 am, so this meant getting up around half 5/6 to get up, washed dressed and have breakfast. The first morning was very full on with 6 introductory assemblies one after the other. These were about 20 minutes long and we played 3 or 4 songs in each assembly and a video was played sparking the thought that what we often think brings us freedom can trap us and that it’s God who gives us true freedom. Andy did all the talking and explaining the meaning of the songs as he has many years experience of working in schools and does a great job of it, getting down to the young peoples’ level and communicating the gospel in a confident and non-threatening way. The rest of us have been listening carefully and remembering how he does the intros to the songs so we can start getting involved with that side of things more.

There were many other people at the school for the ‘Freedom Focus week’, including people that had been to the school many times before and they ran RE, maths, business and food technology classes. We took care of the music side of things. In the afternoon and for most of the week we ran music lessons in the main hall where we were based. These usually consisted of a few songs, a fun music intros quiz and Andy interviewing either Dave or myself about our instruments. When Andy interviewed me he asked me some questions and then I did a tour of the drum kit, firstly asking the classes if they knew what each part was called and explaining more about it. We also invited volunteers to come up on stage to learn a rhythm. All the volunteers that came up in each lesson did really well, some much more than others that could almost teach me a thing or 2!

 

Music workshops also took place throughout the week where the pupils had the opportunity to spend more time with the band and have some one-on-one instrument and singing lessons. In these we taught the 60’s classic ‘Twist and shout’. We had done these workshops at our previous event in Germany, but at Ross high we actually managed to find a class where I could step off the drums for the first time and leave the rhythm in the capable hands of a well able young man who did a great job. This particular class consisted of many very talented musicians, so we had a pupil on each instrument that was able to play through the song.

One of the older year groups had the privilege of Taste coming to their music composition and performance classes to offer encouragement and share our ideas with them. This was a great way to connect with them and really show encouragement, which they really seemed to appreciate.

On the Wednesday we were given the opportunity to go and share our music with the additional support needs department. Although this department is attached to the school it is still quite separate from everything else that goes on so it was nice to be able to go and play our music to them and see them interact with us. I found it quite challenging just being in the room at first with everything that was going on but they really did seem to enjoy us being there and joined in so it was very encouraging and the teachers were very grateful that we had come to visit them.

We held a Taste concert on Thursday night at the school. As part of the week a drama group called Foolproof were in the school performing sketches and running drama classes. They also performed during the concert and had been helping us to advertise the concert all week. There was clear anticipation and excitement for the concert during the week and it was well attended with 120 young people. The concert gave us a real good opportunity to share the gospel in more depth through the messages behind the songs and Andy’s talk towards the end. We had the chance to hang out with the kids halfway through the concert and at the end, chatting to them and being overloaded with signing and photo shoots!

So the week at Ross High School went down a treat, everything seemed to go mostly smoothly and we had lots of positive feedback from the teachers and the event organisers of how much of an impact we had made in the school It was then time for a speedy pack down as the concert finished at 9 and we had to be out of the premises by half 10, but with so many willing helpers we were completely packed down in record time! It was then back home and straight to bed ready to head off early the next morning.

We left Scotland at about half 8 on the Friday and travelled straight to Radcliffe where we were later joined by some fellow Viz-a-Viz workers; Jon Stannard, Ed Jones, Laura Bayliss, Rich Powney and Andy Keel to run an event called ‘Unlock the power of the church’ at Bridge Methodist church who have been friends with Viz-a-Viz for years. Taste were leading the worship at the event on the Friday night, Saturday morning and evening. During the day on Saturday there were workshops run for 4 strands; Children, youth, street work and adults. I helped out with the Street work, led by Jon Stannard and in the afternoon we went out on the streets of Radcliffe with our creative and fun ideas that we had prayerfully thought about in the morning.

On the Sunday we led the service at the Bridge in the morning, I went back for lunch at the ladies club (that’s another story!) and then got back up the church to lead the evening service. Taste also play at a summer youth camp called Livit and so we held a Livit camp reunion at the church which was a great end to the weekend and fab to meet loads of people that will be coming to the camp next year and are really excited about it.

So it’s been a great couple of weeks and we’ve seen so much happen. It’s been a lot to include in one blog so if you want to see some of what we got up to in more detail please see Joy’s blog as she was writing a blog everyday!

Next stop- Germany on Thursday!