BY ANDREW DUBOCK

As a Viva staff team, we don’t get out of the office very much together. But when we do it’s usually memorable.

A few weeks ago, we returned again to the Big Church Day Out to set up a stand in the Bazaar and share with passers-by stories of how Viva changes children’s lives through the power of churches working together and influencing the whole city.

Big Church Day Out is a two-day music festival that plays host to a diverse range of Christian artists, and also includes space for prayer and reflection, children’s activities, late night comedy, a bookstore and a ‘marketplace’ for Christian charities and traders. It celebrated its tenth birthday this year.

First-off, Vicki, Liz, Steve, Cian and Tom headed south to Wiston House, West Sussex – along with a bucket of sand and some colourful Duplo bricks.

The task for people coming by the stand was to discover the bricks amongst the sand, marked with the words: ‘protected children’, ‘stronger families’, ‘trained churches’, ‘safe cities’ – the building blocks that Viva and its partner networks put in place worldwide to change the lives of children.

Next, Hannah, Ams, Andrew and Vicki (again!) travelled north to Capesthorne Hall, Cheshire. This time we took, two maps, plenty of pins and some sparkly fairy lights.

Whilst there, we showcased the way in which Viva is able to bring light in dark circumstances for children by connecting and training churches across cities in 26 countries around the world.

We had an unforgettable time at Big Church Day Out again this year.

We’ll remember the fantastic conversations with people about our work with vulnerable children – the understanding of the great needs there are and the willingness to hear from us again in the future.

We’ll remember those with whom we spoke expressing a desire and passion for greater unity from the Church to improve the lives of children and families – many are involved in this in their own communities across the UK.

We’ll remember the sandy Duplo bricks and the lit-up city map.

We’ll remember seeing the precious time families spent together; camping, eating, laughing, playing.

We’ll remember the awesome, diverse music – and how thousands of people responded in heartfelt worship.

We’ll remember the amazing charities around our stand, all glorifying God and reaching out to people in need in different ways in his name.

We’ll remember (less fondly) the four hours spent at Macclesfield A&E whilst Hannah was given intravenous antibiotics for an infected insect bite.

And, we’ll be out of the office and back on the road again at Big Church Day Out again in 2019 with lots more inspirational stories to share – perhaps we’ll see you there?

We’re looking for volunteers to join the team on the Viva stand in late May/early June next year – and you’ll get a free ticket for the event! Email us if you’re interested.