Day 1 - Arrival : Wednesday
I got a lift to Jon and Becca's house for 0900 and then we packed the car and left for Cheltenham. Jon is the pastor of Ammanford Evangelical Church and Becca (His wife) is the leader of the youth "expedition". Becca remembered halfway there that her Bible was in one of the many many other bags in the house. It wasn't a problem as all the rest of us had Bibles, of course, we mocked her for the whole time.
We got to Cheltenham and managed to find out where we were and what room we were using, I did a lot of running that day as I found out where various things were and went to get stuff. It looked like we'd have around 80 children (we had a capacity of 120). Our accommodation was called "Hunters Lodge", Jon, Sam, Rhodri, Tim, Tom and Myself had entered the room and seen 35 beds, all bar one being bunk beds. I claimed the single bed for my own very quickly and we looked at the loo. We discovered 2 cubicles a latrine, 2 sinks and 1 shower. We looked back in the main dorm room and yes, there were 35 beds, oh, this was not going to be nice. As the providence of the Lord would have it (I don't believe in Luck) there was nobody other than us in that room so we were all okay.
Evening 1 - Food : Monday
I saw Becca from CU and went to the local area for some food, it was very tasty and the company was good (though they completely failed to understand the Potato theory). My group planned to have a meeting at 2100 but due to locked gates I was the only one that made it (I seemed to have a natural ability not only to run everywhere but also to find doors that were not locked, I also tried climbing them and wriggling under them). We eventually managed to have a very short meeting but we cut it short because it was so late.
Day 2 - Eugh! : Thursday
Becca, Ceri, Charlotte, Jen and Laura were the female members of our team and they joined us for an early breakfast in the Panorama Restaurant. Suffice to say, the food was not up to the standard I'd expect myself to cook (and that's pretty low). In retrospect, eating very little for breakfast might have been a good thing as you will soon see.
Our theme was called "Big Bother" and based a little around Big Brother. I was one of the 4 Youth Leaders that were "in the house". Day 1's challenge involved food, nasty food but that's okay, we were blindfolded. I managed to spit the Anchovy into the audience (about 80 children) and not throw up at the smell of the muscles (though it was a close call). I didn't even bother doing more than licking the Chillies or Ginger. The Baby Food however was actually rather nice (tasted of marmalade). The message for the day was about inward and outward appearance and how it doesn't matter what the World thinks of us, it's what God says that is important.
I had a nice greasy burger for lunch (it was really nice) and met some of the group from Portsmouth, I also saw Becca from the CU but she's mentioned later today. The afternoon involved a Bible Study on the theme of the day. The Children gave very good answers, the sort of answers I'd expect from a much older group. I had another burger for dinner (along with a selection of doughnuts I'd charmed from the staff of the Arkle bar), it was very nice and I enjoyed it.
Evening 2 - I need a Man! : Thursday
I went to the Ceilidh (pronounced "Kay Lee"). I turned up late because I'd attended a talk on Bible Handling skills. I saw only one group of people I knew there, Becca and her friends. After the song that was in progress Becca ran up to me and said "Will you be my Man?". Here are some facts that'll help you to put the situation into context.
I am single
Becca is not single
So, we can instantly see that clearly there is something wrong. And that is that I've not explained the 3rd point (which you probably guessed anyway) is that it was for the duration of a few dances, that Luke was not there and that it was not in an intimate setting or manner. I of course danced (making many a joke such as saying "Wow, I'm holding hands with a lady!") fast and vibrantly. I got back to my room and had expended so much energy that I had to take a cold shower to be able to think straight. The Woodpecker Band were really good and my favourite entertainment group of the whole festival. If you want to listen to some of their music, they have 3 samples here.
Day 3 - Jaws : Friday
I got up and realised that after wearing my red volunteer t-shirt to the Ceilidh last night, wearing it now would probably not earn me any friends. Thus, while the rest of my team went straight to the Burger van, I took a slightly longer route in hunt of a new t-shirt. I got to the Burger van and was separated from my group by another group of volunteers. I got chatting to them and they invited me back to their table. In a bid to make new friends I accompanied Tom, Leanne and Anna back to their table (bringing with me my burger of course). I got chatting to them and their friend Hannah. My co-leaders completed their meal and then left, barely nodding at me as they walked past. I thought nothing of it.
During the rest of the day they started calling me Jaws. Apparently I was "sharking" or "going for the ladies". This wasn't my intention but they seemed convinced it was. Today the "housemates" had to put on some makeup. However, we were not doing it ourselves, we had the "aid" of some of the children. Specifically blindfolded Children behind us. To the right is a picture of me with said "improvements" performed. Several of the children dared me to keep it on for the whole day. I decided not to (it was not very comfortable in the heat).
Today the theme was about Peer Pressure and weighing up what your friends say and what God says. Originally only Jon, Tom, Rhodri and Tim were calling me Jaws. However, by the afternoon Becca had joined in (she tried to get me to go to the church mission for the sole reason of meeting young, single, christian ladies), sadly other than point out a continuing lack of Lady Friend there was naught I could do to silence them.
Phatfish are a Christian band and were playing on the Friday, I went to see them. Jon and Becky from Portsmouth had sat right at the front, they had a space next to them and were quite happy for me to sit there next to them so I did. It was really nice to sit there with them and also very amusing to see a completely new side to Jon. Normally Jon acts in a manner that you would attribute to a "wise" man, he acts in a thoughtful manner that suggests he has contemplated what he's actually doing. However, while at the concert he acted in a much less restrained manner, it was nice to see this side of him.
Day 4 - Water Bombs : Saturday
Yesterday I spent a lot of time filling up Water Bombs, today I continued to for our morning event. We got all the children onto the grass (today there were around 60) and played some rather messy games and then we brought out the Water Bombs. All of it was completely planned by the leaders, we planned for me to be the one that was pelted (I came up with the idea) and I got completely and utterly drenched.
Becca, Jo, Rosemary, Pete, Kathryn and Jacky very kindly invited me to their BBQ for lunch and it was really nice (and very yummy). The evening session was good, I got to lead my first Bible Study and all the children were really really well behaved (maybe because of the way that I gave out Cola Bottles in a very stingy manner). It was around this time my name changed from "Jaws" to "Jaws with Dentures" because apparently I was still after a Lady but was rubbish at it.
Evening 4 - Concert : Saturday
I have negative musical talent, I cannot clap in time to a song and sing it at the same time. Worse yet, when I do clap out of time, I'm a varying amount out of time. Suffice to say I am unable to play any musical instrument and have apparently got a terrible singing voice. As such I like to listen to music for it's rhythm and sound rather than lyrics and clever melodies. So, perhaps that is why I didn't enjoy the Stuart Townend Concert as much as I thought I would (I once again got front row seats). The picture is taken from Steve Haskew's mobile phone.
After the concert I went back to my room with Jon and read the book of Ruth, Jon then went through it with me and explained not only what the book was about but how to realise that's what it was about which will help me next time I try to figure something out.
Day 5 - Hectic : Sunday
We got up late as we had an 1100 start. Some extra volunteers turned up and we did lots of games but because we'd not realised we had to run today too we didn't plan as much so had to improvise somewhat more than normal. We had a quiz, one question in particular was quite amusing.
Becca: What Month was Teifion Married in?
*I stand up so everybody can get a good look at me*
Becca: The answer? It's a trick question! He's not married, note the lack of ring
Jon: He's single, so if you've got any older sisters about his age, send them over
Nobody took him seriously but we all had a good laugh about it and you can too. Then began the fun task of clearing up, I was tasked with deflating two inflatables about the size of a 5 year old child. There are several ways of deflating things. Firstly there's the age old method of sitting down holding open the valve and hoping someone kind helps you (only works if you're lucky/attractive enough for help to arrive), the second method (my normal one) is that you hold the valve open and sit on the inflatable. However, today I figured out a better method, get a pointy object, the lid of a biro works well, and poke it into the valve. In doing this you open it up far more and it can deflate several times faster than my normal method.
Where next?
Several people have commented that I am gifted with youth so I've decided to start volunteering for more things. A group from my CU is almost certainly going to Word Alive and I'll be looking into volunteering there. Jon of Wales reckons that I'd be better with the age group just below what we had at Cheltenham (we had 11-14 year olds). And according to Amanda from Portsmouth, some of the Children were talking about me while in their tents at the campsite. It's quite rewarding to know I've made an impact on them (I am going to assume it's a good one).
So, what's the next big adventure going to be?
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