So the year has finally come to a close and my primary feeling is relief and gladness! It’s been a really tough year and in all honesty I haven’t enjoyed it personally that much. HOWEVER. I’ve seen God move in amazing ways and learnt so much about Him and living the way He wants me to, and I’ve come so far as a person, that I couldn’t possibly deny that this has been an incredible year and has benefited me (and hopefully others) in ways I could never have imagined.

I’m at home for a few weeks now, sorting out all my odds & ends  and getting ready to move out (for good) in October! I’ll be moving up to Peterborough to work with a church up there (Bretton Baptist Church if you know it/want to google it!) and to study for a year to get a National Certificate in Youthwork…it’ll be a completely different challenge but I’m really looking forward to it and excited about all that God will do and the doors that it will open for the future! Please continue to pray for me, and if you feel able, to support me in any other way you see fit, whether financially or through the occasional phone call or even through looking after my family (who are obviously devastated that I’m leaving…haha). My new address as of October will be 27 Westhawe, Bretton, Peterborough PE3 8BA.

To all of you who have faithfully followed this blog, thank you for your support and your prayers. I won’t be writing on here any more but feel free to check out my other blog, vienettarooftops.wordpress.com for more updates (some factual, some contemplative, all infrequently updated!) on what’s coming next!

Much love and sooo much gratitude,

Becca

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Leading Edge is an event I’ve been going to since I was about 12, it’s a place where I learnt a lot about God and living His lifestyle that I’m still only just getting to grips with and it’s a place where I’ve made lasting friendships and had spiritual input that I’ll never forget. It’s also the place where I first saw Taste and, as a star-struck pre teen, decided that I had to be in the band when I was old enough! This year was the last ever Leading Edge and so it seemed extra special, if a little sad. We were doing our usual thing of playing our music and leading some worship, as well as speaking and leading seminars/workshops throughout the week. The programme was for 11-15 year olds and involved lots of fun games and some very messy ones, as well as the intimidating ‘Unicycle Challenge’ (which it seems I was particularly good at!). Throughout the week we were looking at the theme of ‘Walking the Wire: living Jesus’ way in a confusing world.’ and focusing particularly on the beatitudes (see Matthew 5). This is a pretty tough topic to speak on, especially when you’re trying to make it relevant to 11 year olds just finished primary school, and 15 year olds going into their last year of school! We all learnt loads ourselves and I think we did ok…although only God can be the judge of that! It was a really good week socially too, with lots of old friends there and my family as well, and although it was camping we all seemed to get enough sleep (just about!). We had about 160 kids in our venue and they all seemed to really enjoy it and benefit from the programme, which is awesome J. We also had our last ever gig and towards the end were joined by many many ex-Tasties: Sammy J, Luke Capon, Simon Bower (so we had FOUR BASS PLAYERS!), Jo H, Claire, Joy (and FOUR TASTY GIRLS hehe), Matt Hollidge and the original Taste volunteer (who we all saluted as he came on stage), Andy B. It was a bit of a squeeze but lots of fun, and Jack finally achieved his year-long ambition of climbing up onto the bass amp during a gig.

We bravely ventured up North for this annual camp, hosted by John Rothwell and Judith Hainsworth for youth groups and clubs to go for a week of fun, food and teaching! ( http://www.livit.org.uk/ )

We were camping (wahey for some of us, not so wahey for others…) which meant cold nights and early mornings, with leader’s showers at 6.20 and the day kicking off with breakfast at 8, going right through to Livit Up Late finishing around 11.30 - we spent almost every minute with the young people there which was awesome and meant we could really get to know them and build up relationships, but meant we were absolutely exhausted by the end of the week  having barely had a moment’s respite! The morning and evening sessions were jam packed with sung worship, games, teaching and the all important Mix Dance, and in between were acadamies (music, drama, sport and craft) and a variety of Q&A sessions and one-to-one chatting. It was a truly amazing week and God moved so powerfully, not just in the kids’ lives  but in some of ours as well. Ben spoke one night about what we base our self-worth on and it really spoke to me about the way I’ve felt for most of this year and how the important thing isn’t what I am, or who I’m not, but rather who I am – that’s who God loves me for, He made me like that – and ‘He loved us first’. We saw kids give their lives to Jesus and commit to following Him – I spoke to one girl who was so excited about the plan God had for her she just wanted to get out there and do it, even though she didn’t know what it was yet!

Tuesday saw us take a trip to local ‘theme park’, Lightwater Valley. Now for someone who hates rides, this didn’t look set to be a good day, but at the influence of my two boys (Jack &  Ben) I ventured onto some ‘proper’ rides and actually enjoyed myself, until they took me on ‘Black Widow’s Web’ – a fast, spinning wheel which, for me, is my idea of hell. I didn’t actually throw up, but 2 hours later I still felt sick. It was great to have a bit of a break from work but still hang out with the young people and enjoy ourselves .

By Thursday (home-time day!) we were all absolutely exhausted and desperate to get home to our beds and baths, but also sad at having to leave behind the wonderful young people we’d got to know over the week. It was such an incredible event and I wish I could go back next year!

Thank you for all your prayers, please pray for these young people that the work God started at Livit won’t die out or go to waste.

Much love

xxxx

Solid – http://www.solidnet.org.uk/ - a youth festival in Upminster, Essex, the tagline of which is ‘physical output, spiritual input’. It’s a chance for churches to bring their youth groups and unchurched young people to an activities centre for some crazy outdoor activities, skate ramps, live music, sport and worship. Our role at this festival was to lead late night worship (11.30-12.30 at night) and to do a ‘gig’ in The Fridge – an entertainment venue. In the main sessions over 100 young people became Christians and another 100 or so decided they wanted to surrender everything they  had to Jesus and let Him be the ‘driver’ of their lives. It was pretty cool . We were joined by the lovely Gemma Ceaser who looked after the artistic worship area in the Big Top (basically organising paint and stuff) and we had lots of fun spending the weekend together and hanging out with Jack & Ben – not really doing a lot during the day basically! Nobody really had much sleep and the roasting sun made everything a bit difficult, but it was a pretty good weekend really. I shared my testimony at late night worship and have since spoken to a girl who is going through similar things – and it’s so great that my experiences, however negative, have taught me things that I can pass on and help somebody else who’s going through the same stuff.

Only two things left now and less than 4 weeks!!! Keep praying people

Much love xxxx

Just over a week ago we headed down t0 Torquay  for our  last EVER schools week! We were spending four days in St Cuthbert Mayne, and one day in Stoodley Knowle, a Catholic school for girls run by nuns. Unfortunately this week did not include a gig but we had plenty of opportunities to chat with the kids at break & lunch times as well as seeing the whole of years 7-9 in lessons. We had a really great reception and everyone seemed to be really excited about what we were doing, with some great questions like “do you deeply believe in God?” and “do you believe in Adam and Eve?” as well as the usual “why are you a Christian?” and “how did you make the band?”. The staff and dinner ladies in Cuthbert Mayne were especially lovely, inviting us to choose ‘custom made’ baguettes for our lunch! At Stoodley we were treated to the sisters’ macaroni cheese and ginger ice-cream, as well as some ‘sister cakes’ and plenty of biscuits. Needless to say we were well looked after!

For the week we were working with an organisation called Linx (http://www.linxyouth.net/), headed up by a guy called Nigel who hosted Andy & Joy and let us take over his house on my birthday for a celebratory barbecue. (He also let us watch the England-Germany match there when we arrived, but lets not talk about that). Ben, Jack and I had the privelige of going to a lunchtime club run by two Linx workers in Cuthbert Mayne, where we played a game and had a bit of a discussion about why the Bible is important – it was great to chat with kids who were challenging the things that are important to us (the Bible, prayer etc) and to see their point of view, as well as to challenge them and encourage them to not take things at face value.

Laura and I were staying with a lovely family (the Bartons) who had an incredible house with a pool, trampoline and 8 animals. Yes, that’s right, 8 – 4 dogs and 4 cats (although one of the dogs was only a temporary resident and left halfway through the week). We felt really at home there and the fact that our meal times were spent there rather than at a church with the rest of the team made it all feel slightly like a holiday!

So we’ve done our last schools week and it really is starting to wind towards the end of the year, with just over a month to go and only three more events. It’s very exciting that in very little time I will be moving on to other things and learning more about myself and God, and it’s even more exciting to look back and see all the ways that He has used me and taught me through the schools work we’ve done this year.

Coming up: Solid, Livit and Leading Edge!

Much love xxxx

Last weekend we headed up the road to Clacton-on-Sea to spend the weekend with the Girls & Boys Brigade there doing a variation on our Abi lesson, some workshops, a gig, and being part of the parade service on Sunday. It was quite an unusual weekend with relatively low numbers, some of them being under 10 years old, so much younger than we usually work with, but it was a good chance to show the young people that the God they’d heard about indirectly could, and does, relate to their lives. It was a lot of fun and we were very warmly received by the church and our hosts within it! We were also able to have a little foray into Clacton and visit the pier (where it rained) and some traditional British seaside attractions (where it rained) and a few shops (where it rained). In spite of the rain we did have a really good time and enjoyed working with the GB and BB there.

Coming up we have our last schools week (in Torquay), which will involve spending 4 days in one school and 1 day in another, with no gig but a lunchtime concert and a barbecue on Wednesday 30th June…my birthday! Yay

After that I’ll be heading home for the weekend for some birthday fun with my family, and then we’re into the last stretch with three summer Christian events – Solid, Livit, and Leading Edge, so please keep praying because we’ve got an exciting and busy time ahead of us before we finish!!

I also still have around £500 to raise for this year…so if you feel able at all to support me in that way that would be brilliant, just drop me an email and I will give you some more details. Here are some fun ideas for supporting me:

-buy a day (around £9) – there are about 52 left!

-be one of 50 people to give £10, or 100 people to give £5

-give £1 (or more!) for each week left – there are 7 to go!

-sponsor a song – donate a certain amount each time we sing your favourite Taste song!

Thank you for your continued support, in every aspect. Love you all!

xxxx

Life always seems a little less eventful when we’re not on the road, and in many ways it is, but there’s still stuff going on and things to prepare for. We had a really good two weeks off which was a brilliant chance to rest and recuperate from our epic 2 month tour, and came back about a week ago. Since then we’ve had a staff retreat day (a good opportunity to catch up with the rest of the Viz team and share what God’s been doing) and a few days of preparation for events coming up in the summer. We’ve also had training on communication which was really helpful in terms of giving talks etc, and we’ve started recording (unfortunately not a full album, more like an EP).

For those of you who read this and support me in prayer, there a few things that your prayers would be appreciated for:

• the events we have coming up: a weekend in Claction this weekend; a schools week in Torquay from June 27th-July 2nd; Solid festival July 9th-11th; Livit in mid July; and Leading Edge August 9th-15th.
• the recording process, that it will all get done and done to the best of our ability. We’re also half-writing something new which may or may not end up on the EP!
• everybody’s thoughts and preparations for next year. Some of us know what we’ll be doing, others are completely in the dark!
• health and enthusiasm for the last chunk of this year – we have 2 months left and we want these two months to be the best they can be!

Another thing which is a big pressure on many of our shoulders is money – a few have only a little way to go to pay off the rest of this year (which cost a total of £3750) but others of us still have £1000 or more to pay. Please pray that God will provide the rest that is needed and that we will trust Him and not worry about it. If you feel in any way capable or willing to support me financially that would be amazing. You can do this by sending a cheque to Viz-a-Viz Ministries, Phoenix Court, Christopher Martin Road, Basildon, Essex, SS14 3EZ, with a note to say who it is to support.

Thank you so much for all your support through this year, financially, prayerfully and friendlily!

Much love

xxxx

So we come to the final section of our epic epic tour. We’ve been on the road for almost 2 months non-stop and frankly, it’s been exhausting. Some of these tours have been really difficult, others have been a breeze, and we’ve all experienced both extremities! In many ways we’ve been looking towards this tour for the whole year – to spend two weeks in a foreign country (especially for someone who has never really been abroad) is a very exciting and daunting concept, and the event we were being involved in has been in planning for around 4 years! We were working with a lovely group of people at “The Fishermen’s Office”, in Herne, not far from Dortmund and about an hour’s drive from Cologne. Check out their website here: http://www.fishermens-office.de/

The two main guys we were working with were Hans and Friedhelm. Nothing was impossible for these two! CD decks for La Roche? On it. Extra lights and staging? On it. Acoustic gig and disco in a car park? No problem. They headed up a team of around 20 or 30 wonderful people, some our age and some a little older, who were all part of running “LIGHTHOUSE WEEK”. This was an open event for the youth of the area to come in, have some fun, hear some music (courtesy of Taste) and find out a bit more about what it means to follow Jesus and let Him transform their lives. It was such an incredible opportunity and we were very excited to be part of it! During the week there were around 150 kids on average every night, sometimes more, and all of them were really engaging with what Hans & Friedhelm’s team were doing. Speaking every night was a youth evangelist called Gofi, and he provided some really challenging and thoughtful insights into the Christian lifestyle. In spite of the language barrier we had some wonderful translators, one being Hans, another a girl called Regina and also a girl called Judith (pronounced ‘yoodit’), who is about my age. We got on really well and it was great to have her translation and her friendship!

Each night we were performing a handful of our songs, and occasionally joining the resident “Check It Out Band” leading worship. On the Friday night, however, we had moved a large amount of gear (and H&F had hired in a lot of tech stuff!) into the multi-storey carpark next door. The program would run almost as usual, with the addition of workshops, an acoustic set from us and finally an hour of La Roche’s dj skills – ALL IN THE CAR PARK! It was crazy and a lot of fun! Saturday night was a full length gig from us, in a very hot room with a lot of lights and a lot of crazily enthusiastic Germans jumping around – it was absolutely mental but so much fun (and very tiring!). Surprisingly La Roche did not win the “who can sweat the most in our gig” competition…and I have a suspicious feeling that I was one of the main contenders for the title…yum. Finally, the Sunday was more of a church service type thing with more worship and a chance for the kids to respond. I was priveliged enough to be asked if I would be part of the response team, praying with kids who wanted prayer and specifically blessing them in God’s name. I had the chance to pray and chat with a girl I’d been chatting to throughout the week (sometimes without the aid of a translator!), as well as to see other kids we’d been building relationships with come up, eager to find out more about God and how He can change their lives.

You can watch a short film of clips from the week here: http://www.lighthouse-week.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71&Itemid=76

So now we have a well deserved two week holiday! The sun is out and I’m going home in approximately 3 and a half hours, wahey! After the holiday we’re into the studio to get recording on our album! Exciting stuff.

Please keep praying for all of us as a team, that we would be united and that the last 3 months of this year would be the best yet!

Thank you for your wonderful support so far!

Much love xxxx

I think the last time I was at the Baptist Assembly I was about 11…and it was in Plymouth! Or at least, that’s the last one I remember. At that time, I had been locked in a train toilet for about half an hour on the journey, so was fairly relieved to be travelling by van and not train! We piled in on the 28th and headed for the Astor Hotel (which, interestingly, was on the same road as the b&b we stayed in when I was smaller!) which was where we’d be staying, along with the rest of our team, three lovely people from BMS and our very own Heather & Ollie.

We had a fun and leisurely set up on Friday which involved me climbing to dizzying heights and standing on very thin, narrow boards all in the name of Jammin’ and by the evening we were ready for the 30 kids that came trickling in – most of them old-timers who have been in the Innovation venue for a few years, but a few who were a little more unsure! The evening was packed with fun and everybody seemed to enjoy themselves…they came back on Saturday (along with about 20 more) so obviously it can’t have been too awful!

I had the privilege of singing with another Tasty sister this weekend, the lovely Heather Clarkson, and we were also joined on keys by John (one of the BMS guys) who also turned out to be a top-notch story teller, as we heard about his adventures in Uganda with the others – Elaine, Sarah and Tim. It was great to lead worship with these two.

Now by far the most important feature of an Innovation venue (besides Jammin’) is the infamous Mix Dance. Up until this weekend we had been performing the Mix Dance of last year, choreographed by Tasty Boys Sammy J, Matt, La Roche & Keel – but now it was our turn! La Roche had created the track and on Friday (amongst the set up) he, Jack, Ben and myself got cracking on some awesome moves which Laura & Keel then polished, producing the final result – a wonderful Mix Dance to definitely rival last year’s!! It was a massive hit with the kids (and we’re now doing it in Germany as well!) and you can watch it here: http://www.facebook.com/martin.ceaser?v=wall&story_fbid=119515581404161&ref=mf

The weekend was a great opportunity to encourage and challenge the young people we were ministering to, on the same theme as The Mix (an event we did in Norwich in April) – being “Fit For Life”. We were all able to talk and share the things God had put on our hearts, and it was just brilliant to see the kids learning (or re-learning) things about our amazing God.

I also ran a singing workshop that spanned two sessions, preparing and performing a couple of songs in the Sunday service we attended – my mini choir were amazing and created some beautiful sounds, and I was very proud! As well as this I ran my “Surviving as a Church Leader’s Kid” seminar, another opportunity for me to share my experience of God’s amazing love and let these kids share the things they think they’re struggling with on their own. Again it was good to see them supporting each other and identifying with each other in their struggles, and agreeing to pray for each other.

I was also able to catch up briefly with my aunt & cousin, who I haven’t seen since Christmas, which was really lovely, and it was great to be with family and share the things God is doing in my life with them – people who know me!

On Monday we rounded off the programme with two morning sessions and a mini praise party, then packdown and a long drive to Ashford, ready to head off to Germany on the Tuesday!

Thank you for your continued prayer and support, it really does mean the world.

Much love xxxx

Having finished The Mix we jumped back into the van and headed for Suffolk, to a small town called Stanton where we were visiting Blackbourne Middle School for a week on the invitation of Tony, from High Street Chapel, Hopton. We had briefly met Tony at Spring Harvest and were looking forward to working with him this week. We arrived on Monday (a teacher training day) and set up in the drama studio (the most square room I have ever been in) ready to start at 8.30 on Tuesday with a full day of lessons and assemblies. We were seeing the whole school over the next four days and had full days of 5 lessons plus assemblies, so busy busy busy! The studio was very warm with very little ventilation and due to its square proportions the lights were right on top of us, so it was a very very hot week (the sun of course being out in all its glory, although we didn’t get to experience a great deal of it due to being in school so long!). It was very different to be working with younger children - usually our age range is 11-16s and the youngest of these were 9, with the oldest being 13 – but also very positive as they were all very excited about our visit and enthusiastically joined in with most of the songs! We had some brilliant questions as well, such as “Do you believe in Adam and Eve?” and “Why did you want to start a Christian band?” – as well as some less significant queries like “What is your favourite animal?”. 

The lunchtime concert on Wednesday saw most of the school squeezing into the square studio for a few songs , a positive indication of numbers for Friday’s main gig – and we weren’t disappointed! Come Friday we had moved all the gear into the school gym and were ready to let them in…around 100-150 pupils arrived (some with parents) and were jumping around excitedly from the very beginning. For the first time this year we did an encore of Freerunner (at the kids’ request) and Hey Now (at my request!) with them singing along enthusiatically. Some of them had expressed a real interest in the content of our songs and our motivation and it was great to be able to share a bit more with them about how important God is to us.

On the Wednesday we had popped in to the High Street Chapel to take part in/run High Street Kids, a youth club for years 4-8. It was a lot of fun with lots of crazy games from our repertoire, and Jack shared his story of how he realised for himself that God loved him, and the kids really listened as he told them that each of them was loved and valued by God “).

The week was great as we had a bit of time to explore the local town (Bury St Edmunds) and enjoy the sunshine, and the younger age of the pupils made them a lot easier to work with than older ones sometimes!

Next stop is the Baptist Assembly in Plymouth, where we’re running a similar programme to the one we did at The Mix about being “Fit For Life” – and then we’re straight off to Germany for almost two weeks!!! Please pray for travel and minimal stress, as well as a brilliant time during this coming tour. After Germany, we get a well-deserved two week holiday. Hooray!!

Much love xxxx