Largest group of residents head to Christian men’s festival

Over the past few years, YMCA Exeter staff members Tim and Pete have been taking a small group of residents to The Gathering, a Christian festival for men.

This year, the minibus was packed, with 10 residents and three staff members – the largest group we’ve ever taken.  

Tim shares some of the highlights:

“But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

These words of Jesus in John 4:14 was the hope I had for the group as we planned to head off to the Gathering this year. That they could seek out and get a taste of the living water Jesus offers us all. I shared this verse with the lads before we left, and it seemed to resonate with a few of them.

One lad, who isn’t a Christian but has started praying and sensing that God may be real, told me that in one of the worship music sessions, he felt goosebumps and also felt someone tapping him on his shoulder. He said that he knew it wasn’t me or the other person standing next to him, he said he felt it was God and that God was saying to him, ‘I’m here for you’.

Another lad kept injuring himself – an injured leg and a twisted wrist. He missed some of the activities because of a trip to A&E and was a bit down on himself and his situation. However, out of the blue on the Saturday evening, he initiated a little prayer time – he asked a couple of us to pray and then he prayed himself – he prayed for God’s forgiveness and that God would help him find the light. So unexpected and so amazing!

Pete and I were also really blessed to have Max with us. Max was previously a resident, but is now a staff member and became a Christian a few years ago. We were very encouraged by how the Lord was using him to minister to us all throughout the trip. A couple of the residents who came were also Christians already (giving their lives to Jesus earlier in their time living at YMCA Exeter) and they were really encouraged by the weekend. They were praying for others and one said he had never worshipped so hard. The other said that he felt “much more connected now to God and Jesus and that he hoped others got just as much out of it as he did”. These two lads were great to have as part of the group and with God working in and through them, I’m sure they made a big difference to the group.  

Please continue to pray for this group as they continue to explore faith through Alpha at local churches in Exeter and Faith Space weekly at YMCA Exeter.