It’s hard to believe it’s been a month since our 18-30s weekend away! Life gets so busy and seems to fly by – a nice weekend break in Darsham was just what we all needed. It was such a great opportunity to spend some time together and get to know one another – and God – a little bit better.
We had a great turnout – around 40 people attended! However, the Darsham Community Centre only sleeps 24, so several of our brave men pitched their tents in the garden. The Community Centre also happens to be a converted station house, so the tents were quite close to the rail lines – not the best night’s sleep for our campers but they survived!
We were blessed to have Al and Debs McDonald as our first speakers on Saturday morning. As there was no pulpit they improvised with an ironing board, which certainly helped it stick in our minds!
“'The Sermon from the Ironing Board' is what I remember most from Darsham,” said Jeremy Brown. “From behind this unusual pulpit, Al and Debs encouraged us to discard our former selves and 'do more of what makes us holy'.”
After lunch, we headed off to Dunwich for an afternoon by the sea. One group found a field where they could play some games, while the rest of us took a walk around Dunwich Heath, followed by tea and cakes. It was a lovely afternoon and a great chance to connect with each other and just hang out.
That evening we had a great talk from Tom Scrivens, who reminded us how big and amazing God is, focusing on verses from Isaiah 40. It was a great way to get us in the right mindset for worship, led by Abi Beaton.
Following this we had a really powerful time of worship and prayer – the Holy Spirit was definitely there, working on our hearts! A lot of people were prayed for, and several people brought words for others in the group. We also spent some time praying for what God is doing in the church and the town.
Sunday was more chilled out, with worship in the morning and some time to just hang out. The weekend definitely felt like it was over too soon!
“It was a great opportunity to fellowship with friends, get to know someone new and step away from the normal madness which is everyday life and just focus on God!” said Kamilah Bartley.
God really moved over the weekend and broke through in people’s lives. It was amazing to see His heart for the 18-30s at Hope. He’s definitely doing great things – among the 18-30s, in Hope Church, and in Ipswich as a whole!
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| Jade McFarland |
