We took 100 young people to Newday, the premier Christian youth event in the UK at the end of July. The largest number ever! They had an amazing time…

Altogether, there was something in the region of 9,500 young people gathered in one place camping and praising God. Here’s some amazing statistics from this year’s festival: there were 553 first time salvations recorded; 149 recommitments to God and 71 young people were baptised in the Holy Spirit. There were 534 experiences of healings, plus 303 other miscellaneous things God did that people wanted to celebrate. Our youth came back buzzing with stories, and there were delighted parents too, who had witnessed the changes that God had made in their young person’s life.

Here’s a few personal stories from NLC youth:

‘I spoke in tongues for the first time at Newday. When we did worship, it was like a really big concert, and really fun. One of my friends actually lost his voice through worshipping! Other than that, there were lots of fun activities. There was volleyball, table tennis, football, netball, tons of sports. The food was absolutely amazing too.’

‘It was an amazing experience for me. I encountered God in so many ways, one of which was through worship. One time, as we started worshipping I felt a cool breeze just as normal, but then I suddenly got really hot. I wasn’t sticky and tired, it was a different type of heat. And something inside of me was telling me that it was the presence of God and the fire of the Holy Spirit.’

‘This was my fifth Newday, and I really enjoyed it this year. There had been a lot of confusion in my mind coming into it about my relationship with God, and a lot of questions. The sermons really helped me understand some things and to step into Christ more. And I met a lot of people and built new relationships, and I brought two friends along.’

Our team at Newday came home excited at how God had impacted our youth over the week.

Sonya, Families Leader, was full of admiration:

‘We had an amazing bunch of young people, and an amazing team. One great story comes from Thursday night, healing night. One of our young guys came running back from the service while it was still finishing up, after he’d been prayed for. He ran back up to our marquee site, which must have been a mile away. He ran all the way back and straightaway asked for one of the other young people, who’d been feeling sick with flu symptoms so hadn’t gone to the meeting. He said, ‘I’ve been healed! God just healed my shoulder!’ And it turned out he and others had also prayed for the girl who was sick, so he’d rushed back to see how she was feeling. She turned out not to be in her tent, and someone else said that she’d felt better and had gone down to the meeting too. And he just went, “Wow!” The expectations of the young people were so high. We’d talked to them before we went and said, “Ask God what he wants to do for you, then go expecting him to do it.”’

Another team member, Luca, was full of praise for the young people:

‘I was really impressed by one young guy in his attitude to giving. When there was an opportunity to give to future projects relating to Newday, churches, mission work, and so on, he was so committed. I asked him what it was that motivated him. His answer was really inspiring. He said his mother had given him more money than he needed. He’d only spent a small percentage of it, so he wanted to give everything else to Newday. I really think that he is really mature in his relationship with God and has a great heart posture. It’s something I admire. I believe he’s going to be a future leader based on that glimpse of his character.’

Youth Leader, Russell, witnessed the results of a healing first-hand:

‘There was a certain flight of stairs at the showground, and I saw a girl came running towards it and start to climb the steps and then run down them again. And she was crying. All the while she was getting faster going up and down these steps. Someone asked her if she was okay, and she said, “Yes, I couldn't do this before! I couldn’t walk up steps because my leg wouldn’t move. I've been healed. There’s healing in the big tent!” At that she ran off to tell my friends what God had done.’

Jonathan came on team, and was impressed at seeing our youth released in worship:

‘The worship at Newday dealt with the young people’s awkwardness about worshipping in front of others. If you’re in a room with nearly 10,000 other people worshipping with all their hearts, you soon realise that it’s OK to put your hands up! So, it was a big change for many youth to experience that, compared to an average Sunday where some people in the group don’t believe in God or feel uncomfortable about worshipping overtly. It’s making us pray that this becomes the norm on Sunday, that the youth will continue to have this urge to praise God and not to be ashamed of the gospel, which was one of the themes at Newday, to be bold in faith and be the one to step out. We’re encouraging them to step out in worship, because as soon as one does it, it encourages others to go for it.’

A final word from Sonya: ‘I say you should go on team to Newday, or go for a day if you can’t go for the week. I know that if you go for a day you’ll want to go for the week! As I say to all my leaders, it’s an amazing privilege to see all these young people grow up and to know how much God has done in their lives. You get to say, “I’ve been part of that.” It’s so encouraging. So, please sign up and come on team to Newday. We want even more teenagers to come next year, so we need even more team!’