Welcome!

Welcome to the site of UUPC’s Youth Group, Rising River Youth!

Here you can check out our outdoor activities, discussions, renovations in our garage and more, as we update regularly!

Feel free to leave comments on our activities or posts! God Bless!

What Went Down–8 November 2009

Today was what was called a “de-stressed version of youth” by Alex! RRY also welcomes 2 new members to the youth, namely Chris Fuller and his sister Jessica, the kids of our new minister Rev. Nigel Fuller, who are going to be joining us regularly. Hope you guys will enjoy what we’ve got to offer at RRY!

Surprisingly enough we went to the river, where we unfolded blankets and relaxed, talking about preparation for exams. Francois has already started them, whilst the rest of us have yet to do so. We looked at some good verses from the Bible regarding how we shouldn’t worry about tomorrow, as that will have worries of its own. That being said we shouldn’t just sit back at have a “God will provide for me, so why work” attitude, simply prepare as much as possible but don’t worry. We also read the verse from Matthew 6:26:

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

We reflected on this with regards to worries and came up on a strong point that God really does care for you, and if you’ve got the Creator of the universe on your side, why worry?

We’ll have a copy of the verses up for you to check out soon!

What Went Down–1 November 2009

Another back post..

Although it was quite a long time coming, we always planned to have a breakfast “fry-up,” and this was the day for it! Even better, we were told it was at Shaun’s farm! (Just to fill you in here, Shaun has a REALLY cool farm, hence the excitement…)

Jenna, Juan, Marc, myself, Alex and Shaun trooped into a cool checkered-Hyundai i10 and Bantam respectively (Marc being the proud owner of the i10) and soon arrived at “Karrighen Estate.” After unpacking all the stuff we’d brought along , including eggs, sausages, drinks, eggs (yes, plenty of eggs) bacon, tomatoes, and more scrumptious edibles, we trooped onto Shaun’s front patio overlooking his garden—uhm sorry I meant manicured field, and were soon frying away (also getting Shaun’s dog, Sheila, to “go swim!”) and otherwise cooking up quite a storm! Meal ready, we all sat down and indulged in our handiwork, as each one of us did something in the entire “cooking” thing. We discussed lots of different topics including the proposed Christmas event and SNAC services, as well as what Jenna and Marc were planning. (see “what went down, 25 October 09”)

After breakfast we took a walk around Shaun’s smallholding, checking out his cows, and of course horses and their jumps and facilities. Finally we quizzed over a small self-catering cottage planned to be finished “soon” (Shaun reckons he’s not really sure of when “soon” is!) and offering visitors a nice view over the dam. That pretty much rounded off our great morning, and sent us all home with a full stomach

Photos will be up soon!

What Went Down–25 October 2009

This is still a back post…

Being a contemporary service, we enjoyed a jovial “bash” in the main church, with one sad note to it though: two of our matric RRY members, Marc and Jenna, have decided they are leaving us(and their families)  at the end of the year to go on an adventure for the Lord; they have thought about it and want to commit their next year to training themselves for Scripture Union, and thus travel with a group of evangelists travelling all over the country preaching the good news and living a God-filled life for those around them. All though it’s a sad time for RRY to lose 2 members (Jenna was a maestro on the piano and Marc was always a good influence on the youth) we know that they have made a great decision and we’re sure the Lord will smile on them for the work they’re doing for Him.

What Went Down–18 October 2009

Sorry about the late post!

Today was another day where everyone was uncertain about proceedings, as 4^th term and November/December is always a hectic time for everyone at RRY, what with many preparing for exams and the like, so we filed into the church for a good service.

We’re baaack!

And yes, welcome to term 4 everyone! My apologies though, for adding that the fry-up was today because it, uhm, well, wasn’t…No matter though because it was the contemporary service, so we had fantastic praise & worship and a sermon that really made us think more about how we live our lives for Jesus.

Alex will likely fill me in soon on when that fry-up will be happening, so, once again keep your eyes peeled for updates (using the “Posts RSS feed” will make it easier for you to keep updated

Short and sweet it may be, but is belies the fantastic service we had t0day! We’ll see everyone again the 18th!

Pics ahoy!

As always, we love to let you all know about latest developments on the site, so if you haven’t already seen the “Latest Snippets” widget, I’ll just get you up to date:

I eventually uploaded the photos for the following pages, which you can search for, check the archives, or click the “Outdoor Activities” tab and select a page:

• The Umgeni Valley Abseiling
• The Umgeni Valley Walk

Hope you enjoy them

RRY Term Wrap Up

Yes, yes, I know you’re probably going to ask me what happened to the term, and that’s something I’m also wondering myself: it just was over so unbelievably quickly. Of course this means that RRY will take a rain check on the meetings these holidays (ie. We’re not meeting for a bit) and take some time off. Don’t despair though, because next term kicks off with our first meeting on October 11, and to get it going on a high note we’re having another fry-up at the garage on the Sunday morning (Don’t forget to bring some bacon, eggs etc along with ya! (More details on that one closer to the time.)

Well, that ends the first RRY term with an organised planner (Three cheers for Alex, Pete and Shaun!) which went down fantastically! We’ve also progressed in the garage, since the start of the term and its now very much habitable; and the trips to Umgeni, the Berg and Howick surrounds have made it a term to stick in the scrapbook. (If not then just one to remember!!)

That of course calls for a big thumbs-up and thanks to the youth, and especially the leaders for making it something to look forward to on Sundays; your effort, enthusiasm, and of course insight into getting us to know more about our Father and Saviour has been highly appreciated

Thanks for all your effort everyone, and we’ll seeya next term!

Page Added: Umgeni Hike

Notification…ahoy! We’ve just added a page with our Umgeni Valley hike. Click here or click the “Outdoor Activities” tab, then “Umgeni Walk” to check it out!

NOTE: Pictures for the page aren’t uploaded yet…we’re working on it!!

What Went Down–13 September 2009

Again . . . my bad for the late post!

Yes, I know the term planner says “Contemporary Service” but Alex was away today, so Shaun and I settled behind his laptop to watch a DVD. It was by a guy called Pastor Prince, and the first half an hour proved to be a relatively interesting watch: he emphasized that we should strive to achieve a more personal with our Father, that we need just pray or call out to Him because He is present in our lives. He said that we shouldn’t consider God just to be some “being” all “up in the sky” but rather as a personal Saviour who loves us. We only managed to watch 30 minutes of the DVD though, so I can’t tell you any more than that.  A relatively engaging session nonetheless!

What Went Down–6 September 2009

My apologies for the late post!

Today was the second of the jam sessions for the term!

We gathered in the hall around the piano and drums and Alex (on cue) pulls out a gigantic file filled to near capacity with sheet music! “Right, lets get started,” he goes. I just goggle a bit, but he then (thankfully) assures me we’ll just start by picking out a few for me to learn. 15 minutes later we are sending out some really good tunes, with Alex trying his (apparently unskilled) hands at the drum, keeping quite a good beat!

Eventually Alex photocopied these songs for us to work on at home:

• “As the Deer”
• “Come, Now is the Time To Worship”
• “Abba, Father”
• “My Life Is In You Lord”
• “Jesus, Name Above All Names”
• “Make Me A Channel Of Your Peace”
• “For I’m Building A People Of Power”

We will likely have another jam session in the near future, to practise those songs, keep tuned here for updates!

Discussing the songs

Oh yeah!!!!!