For the past year or so God has been stirring the passion of a few within the Baptist Union of Wales to see how we can better provide for the young people of our churches…
As a small crew within the BUW family have sought God’s face with open hearts and hands, we are excited to begin to share with you the results of much prayer and work.
Introducing: ‘Esgyn’ (English: Ascend): the BUW’s new youth focused initiative designed for young people!
‘Esgyn’ has come about after a year or so of discussion, prayer, and dialogue with a variety of individuals within the BUW who have a heart for young people and want to see more provision for young people across Wales.
Tim Moody, one of our current presidents and former youth worker describes the vision:
‘Esgyn is all about creating an opportunity for young people to come together and build relationships with one another, whilst also discovering more about God.
At the heart of ‘Esgyn’ is the realisation that for many of our churches they only have 1 or 2 young people so, with that in mind, ‘Esgyn’ is looking to create an opportunity for each one of them to become part of something much bigger, drawing the ones and twos together for encouragement, fellowship, teaching and fun!
We passionately believe that God is not finished with His church and therefore we need to deliberately invest in this future generation whilst they are still engaged in church life. The hope is ‘Esgyn’ will help build peer to peer connections and encourage each young person in their own walk with God.
The first ‘Esgyn’ event will be a Youth Weekend at the Rock Summit Centre in Treharris, South Wales, on Friday 9th February – Sunday 11th February 2024.
The weekend will kick off on the Friday evening and run through ‘till Sunday afternoon, with a chance for young people to enjoy the amazing activities available at the Rock UK Summit Centre, which include archery, caving and climbing.
There will also be plenty of time to eat together, do team building activities and engage in times of worship and devotion.’
The weekend will run bilingually, with provision in Welsh and English.
We would love you to consider how you can come along with us on this journey…
- Consider coming along if you are a young person (we would love to have you!) or invite other young people you know in your church or community to join us! You can find out more about the weekend here.
- Spread the word about the ‘Esgyn’ weekend in February – we don’t want anyone to miss out!
- Pray for us and for young people in Wales! We believe we can only start a meaningful initiative for young people if we have the filling and equipping of God, and that He works powerfully among young people. Contact Sioned sioned@ubc.cymru.if you would like to hear more about how you can be involved in prayer.
- Consider if you can financially support a young person to come along, or invest in future years of ‘Esgyn’’s work.
We would also love to hear from you!
If you have any questions about Esgyn or would like to hear more, please don’t hesitate to contact Tim tmoody083@gmail.com or Sioned sioned@ubc.cymru.
Keep hearing about Esgyn over the coming months on the Esgyn webpage or on Esgyn’s Instagram.