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Training Youth - Souled Out
Souled Out Reunion: 6th-8th
January 2006
Since arriving in Coleg y Bala last September, I
had heard a great deal about the amazing
experiences shared by those who attended the
‘Souled Out’ youth training course in August
2005. It seemed that Jesus had been powerfully
at work during the week, and that many people
had come away feeling that their lives would
never be the same again. As a result of all that
I had heard, I was anticipating great things
from the Souled Out reunion 2006.
The reunion was held from Friday 6th-
Sunday 8th January; and we started
the New Year by looking together at the
Spiritual Gifts that God gives to Christians,
and how we identify our own gifts in order to
serve the Church. As a form of introduction to
this topic, Siôn and I led the first session
after supper. Entitled ‘Saved to Serve’, it was
focussed largely on God’s Gospel of Grace;
specifically, the fact that there is nothing we
can do to make God love us more. As such, we are
justified. However, we are also in the process
of being sanctified; or in other words, being
made more like Jesus. It is as a result of this
process that we should desire to use our
different gifts and personalities in order to
serve the Body of Jesus Christ (the Church).
The evening didn’t end once the first session
was over, and in fact people continued
‘catching-up’ with each other well into the
night! It was, therefore, a slow start to
Saturday morning, and breakfast at 8:30 was
definitely quiet! Everyone seemed more awake,
however, by the start of Meryl and Owain’s
session, which was helped by the amount of
interaction they incorporated. With Meryl having
led us through what the Bible has to say about
Spiritual Gifts and how we use them (1
Corinthians 12), Owain continued with a number
of exercises from ‘The Network Course’ booklet.
Starting with general questions about what the
gifts actually are, we went on to look at
identifying our own gifts (eg. mercy,
hospitality, encouragement etc.) by answering
133 questions. This was a helpful exercise for
encouraging people to think about areas in which
they should be serving, in accordance with their
own personalities.
During Saturday afternoon a trip to Betws y Coed
was organized. Some people enjoyed looking
around the multitude of climbing shops, whilst
others just relaxed in some of the local cafes.
There were even some who were brave enough to
buy ice cream, despite the fact that it started
to snow whilst we were there!
The last session of Saturday evening was
designed to focus our attention on our Godly
passions. Having had this idea introduced to us,
we then went on to spend time alone thinking
about our responses to questions concerning our
passions; with the last part encouraging us to
write a statement summarising our answers. After
thinking very deeply about many complicated
issues, it was good to have an opportunity to
watch a film together. Although there was some
(friendly) disagreement in the Spar over what to
watch, Madagascar was eventually agreed on. This
proved to be a good choice, and paved the way
for more late-night socializing: in particular,
many games of ‘spoons’ and Jaffa Cake eating!
Bryn led our final session on Sunday morning,
which was another insight into the Biblical view
on Spiritual Gifts. This was a challenging note
to finish on, and was followed by a time of
praise led by Nia, and a chance to share in the
Communion together. This provided us with time
to reflect, as we considered going back to our
homes and putting into practice what we had
learnt. It was obvious that God had been at work
over the weekend, and that many (if not all) of
us had been spoken to in some way. What is more,
it was helpful to hear how we should use our
own, unique personalities to serve God in our
own, unique ways.
During the weekend, I was particularly touched
by how much everybody was cared for. The Souled
Out courses and regional meetings have paved the
way for some amazing friendships, with everyone
really looking out for and loving one another.
Although we were comparatively low in number
over the weekend, those who were unable to make
it were certainly missed and remembered
throughout.
Rebecca Perry
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