The No More Knives tour was in Coventry last week and we had an incredible time. As OTC and NXT CHAPTR headed into schools with music and lessons to encourage and equip young people to make positive decisions and turn away from knife crime, they also got to share about the hope they find in Jesus and invite each young person to an end-of-week evangelistic gig.
In one school, a lad told team member Emma how thankful he was for the amazing session and how much he enjoyed hearing the testimonies from the team. Later, a teacher chatted with the team saying, ‘That lad has actually been in trouble with the police in the past because he’s got involved in the wrong crowd. But I think this No More Knives lesson will be the moment he needs to move on. I’m so happy to see how engaged he was in the lesson, and clearly impacted by what you’ve shared.’
Another teacher told us, ‘The combination of music, personal stories and facts in the lesson brought to life the topic which is more important than ever. Students gave it an 11 out of 10, and individual students that sometimes find it hard to listen to messages around safety were rapt with attention.’
It’s amazing to hear of the impact these lessons are having on young people. But we don’t want it to stop there, so after each tour, the young people are invited to an end-of-week evangelistic gig where they can hear more music from the bands and also get to hear the gospel. One of the teachers from a school that we’d visited that week also performed on stage and shared in front of the young people about his own faith saying, ‘Jesus has brought me from death to life!’ It was amazing to see how impacted this teacher’s students were from his own testimony.
At the event, we also got to chat to the young people in groups to have more in-depth conversations about Jesus, clearly explain the gospel and answer any questions the young people had. And over half of the young people who came along to the gig decided to accept Jesus into their lives, got a Bible and were immediately connected with local churches for follow-up discipleship.
Please do be praying that these young people would continue growing in their faith as they find out more about Jesus’ love for them.
Find out more about No More Knives at message.org.uk/nomoreknives
