What do an adopt-a-student project, a Knife Angel vigil and teen well-being groups have in common? They’re all part of Faye Harris’ work as a youth pastor in Corby. She told Direction her story.
“I could work as a secular youth worker but I have Jesus to share!” says Faye Harris (pictured above).
Faye is the youth pastor at Hope Church in Corby and has been working with the church’s young people since she helped plant the church 15 years ago.
She is telling Direction about the mix of prayer, worship, discipleship and fun through which Limitless Corby is helping build their faith.
“We meet during the Sunday service, but we also have midweek discipleship groups on Wednesdays where our main focus is discipleship, worship, prayer and teaching,” she says. “We have socials too and go to events like Limitless One and Limitless Festival.”
With one third of Hope Church being young people, the congregation is fully on board to support them in prayer.
“We do family really well and our intercessors pray for our young people.
“Every year I ask kids who are doing exams to fill in prayer requests, then I ask the adults to ‘adopt a student’ for the exam period and pray for them. We also pray for Year 6 students as they transition into Year 7.”
Faye is thrilled to see faith growing in her group as a hunger for God is clear to see.
“We’ve got some young people who really want more of him. I’ve had some asking if they can have a youth prayer and worship night so they can just worship.
“One Wednesday we were using YouTube to worship and some of the kids carried on singing and playing. I was literally saying, ‘The parents are here. They need to go home!’”
REACHING OUT
Faye is running leadership meetings on Zoom and says a gift of evangelism is growing among some of the boys.
“Two of the Year 10 boys invited a friend who came from a Christian family but wasn’t going to church. Those three are talking to another boy who isn’t a Christian. They were worried he was anti-faith and they wouldn’t be able to break through to him but I told them, ‘Just pray. With you three praying he has no chance!’”
The group also learned to get serious in prayer when one of their peers became very ill. The girl had been in hospital for two months and doctors were running out of options. But the youth group, alongside the church, prayed and the girl began to turn a corner.
“She’s out of intensive care and defying doctors who have had to come up with a new plan because she’s made such a good recovery in such a short time.
“We’d been studying Jesus’ miracles then this girl got poorly. We prayed, ‘Jesus, we actually need to see these miracles!’”
SCHOOLS WORK
Faye’s work isn’t just within Hope Church. Along with other local churches she does schools work, including assemblies, lessons, Christian Unions and small groups. One lunch group supports young people who are vulnerable to bullying and who need a safe place to talk. Faye will also be resuming her work with a local schools work charity in the autumn, to offer psychological well-being support to small groups of students.
Faye says these groups are essential given the mental health challenges many teenagers face.
“At school a lot of young people talk about dealing with social anxiety and the pressure from schoolwork. This has intensified since the Covid lockdowns.
“Gender and sexuality are massive too. I’ve been doing youthwork for 25 years and I’ve never known so many young people dealing with issues around their gender. Many are opening up to me and being honest about what’s going on in their lives.”
SMALL GROUPS
In school, the support groups and one-to-one conversations help support students struggling with their mental health. Small groups and an emphasis of supporting young people through relationships has aided discipleship within church.
“I’ve always tried to help young people have their own relationship with God that’s not dependent on their parents or their friends and is based on biblical truth. We leave space and opportunity for them to encounter Jesus for themselves and to learn to hear the voice of God.
“We’ll teach creatively from the Bible but always bring it back to what they’re facing now and teach into issues of anxiety, self-image, pressure, grief, sexuality, gender and technology use. We don’t shy away from these issues but teach in a safe space where young people feel loved and accepted.
“With youthwork, the important thing is not to be so concerned with events and activities but rather to love and care for young people and facilitate what God wants to do in their lives. We love to invite the young people to respond to God and join with us in living out their faith in their daily lives.
“We want to love them and make sure we’re discipling them because that’s what Jesus has called us to do.”
