Andrew Burnham reports on the INSPIRE group weekend away in October 3013

We arrived at the Harby Center near Melton Mowbray over the course of Friday evening, all to be wowed by its facilities. For the food lovers among us, its warm country farm interior, with two well furbished kitchens was the best part of the venue, while for the more active types, the adventure playground and large, fully equipped, sports halls, was the highlight of the weekend.

Sarah Edwards was our guest speaker for the weekend, and as an ‘18-30’ herself, was already a good inspiration for how younger people can serve their church. Speaking on Saturday morning on the topic of “Why we Serve” proved fairly challenging for some us. Through a range of scenarios and group discussion, we looked at how motives such as a wrong perception of Jesus and the need to be liked by people, could lead to us volunteering for the wrong ministries and leave us burnt out.

On Saturday afternoon we had time to spend in fellowship together, some conquering the zip wire in the garden, some letting off some steam on the trampoline, while others just chatted and rested. Our Saturday evening session lead to some great group discussion and fired us up for whole group game of spoons that got increasingly more competitive as the contenders reached the final!

On Sunday morning we were able to share communion together and reflect. Worship had been a key part of our weekend and we were able to lift our praises to God for all he had been teaching us over the weekend and celebrate being able to come together with a large group of Christians our age, which for many of us in smaller churches, is a rare occurrence.

After praying for each other we shared our final meal and set off for home. I know I felt so much more relaxed and challenged to pray about how I serve my church. I pray that others felt as refreshed as I did and that this weekend away was able to help inspire everyone on it to love God with all their hearts and to serve him in many exiting ways. 

Andrew Burnham (If you want to join this group, search for “INSPIRE (EMBA)” on Facebook and request to be added to the group or contact : revandrew@suttonelms.co.uk.