Firing Up The Furnace

I here am at New Wine Cymru, running The Furnace, the young adults stream of the Welsh New Wine conference.

New Wine is a charismatic gathering, originally Anglican with strong Vineyard links for those of you for whom that means a lot, and we spend the best part of a week worshipping, teaching the Bible, experiencing God and trying to encourage folk in their faith. Last year was the first time The Furnace existed - check back for details - and now we are here again. Matt Collins is leading worship in our main venue, and last night we had just shy of seventy people there - which was about a third up on the first night last year.

Later on we had a cafe, with a chat show where David Parker was our main guest, and Tim Bannister sang three songs. David is a Vineyard pastor & an astoundingly inspiring man. Wonderful.

We have had a great time: the sense of the presence of God is tangible. There is a real peace in our venue, and I pray this will grow through the week. Nigel James, our first speaker, quoted Max Lucado, who said that given 5 minutes with young people he would tell them to "Let God love them". David Parker added, "Don't let fear stop you - don't be afraid!"

The team is fantastic - Kirsty and Esther and Mark from St Catherine's, plus Ben, Ed, Matthew, Jess and Elen (who arrives tomorrow). Tim & his tech guys are amazing. Diana and Anita complete the squad with prayer ministry responsibility and cafe duties.

We will work hard: 11am to midnight every day. But it is glorious. Now - an hour off before I do my next seminar...