NSY (English Youth Ministry)
NSY (North Side Youth) is our youth group for high school students and high school-aged youth that meets on Friday nights during the school term. Over the last twelve months, NSY has been able to meet in person and we thank God for the opportunity to have a camp despite having COVID-19 still around. Since the end of 2020, we have had a few changes within the leadership team where Kevin Shum and Lydia Chung have stepped down from leading, while Adrian Ng and Dorothy Kwong have joined the team of NSY leaders. Both new leaders have been involved in helping out in Bible study groups by leading the younger youth in year 7-8. We thank God for continuing to grow and provide for the leaders serving in this ministry.
Over the past four terms, we have focused on encouraging the youth to know, grow, show and sow Christ in their daily lives. Our series for term 4 2021 looked at “The Bible and Us” which looked at what the Bible says about certain topics and how we should respond. In term 1 this year, we did an old testament overview called “Full of Promise” which aimed to encourage the youth to recognise God’s faithfulness and people’s unfaithfulness throughout time. In terms 2 & 3, we did a two part series on the book of Mark on the topic of “The Servant Who Rules” which looked at Mark 1-8, and then “The Ruler who Serves” which was on Mark 9-16. This series aims to look into Jesus’ ministry and teachings as well as encouraging the youth on how to apply the ideas of mission into their lives.
During the April school holidays, a group of NSY youth and leaders went to Katoomba to attend the KYCK youth conference held by KCC. The theme was “Joy”, which looked at the book of Philippians and how we can find joy in all situations of our lives. We were able to attend six talk sessions with time in between for bonding and relationship building. The group stayed an additional two days where the youth had opportunities to reflect on what they had learnt from the conference as well as building better relationships with the other youth. The weekend away was well enjoyed by the youth and leaders and we look forward to another year at KYCK.
During Term 2, we were able to attend two special events. ONWARD was a one-night conference to help youth to make sense of the culture and world around them with a gospel lens. This event took place at Chatswood Concourse and tackled hard to answer questions that the youth may be asked by their non-Christian friends. At the end of term 2, we had a combined youth night with Pennant Hills Baptist Church and Eastwood Community Baptist Church. This event allowed youth to meet other youth in the area where they were able to build friendships with people they might not have met and took place in a new environment. The night consisted of a lot of fun activities, singing songs and chatting over supper.
Throughout this year, we have continually seen God’s work and love in this ministry. There have been challenges along the way, such as the transition back to meeting online and planning for leadership development and the future of NSY. But, we thank and praise God, who has been carrying us through each step and growing the ministry, the youth, and their relationships with one another.
Isaac Cheng (on behalf of the NSY Leaders)