Loud in Derry

15 June 2007

Last weekend, Church Army evangelist Neville Barnes based in Northern Ireland, brought a new kind of event to the city of Londonderry when over 300 young adults turned up to have a fun-filled weekend packed with music, lots of it and plenty of worship too.

The event dubbed Loud in Derry is the first of its kind inthe city and the idea according to Neville was to, "draw young Christians into the city to help us (with the use of music) reach other young adults."

The heavy rain that poured did not discourage the 300 or so young people who were determined to have a good time at the Forum, East Wall Londonderry, for the sake of the gospel. The one day event had a range of Christian music artists, presenters and guest speakers including Youth For Christ (Northern Ireland)'s new director Stephen McCready who spoke to the youths about both being transformed and being transformers.

Two young people James and Claire also shared their faith with their peers; giving attendees an insight into being a young Christian in today's world. James believes that it was important that Loud in Derry happened. "It's relevant" he says, "We need to connect with young people of this city in a relevant way. I want them to see that God is not about religion especially here in Derry with the whole Catholic Protestant thing. I want them to see what its like to have a relationship with God. I remembering hearing someone say Jesus Christ didn't die for religion he died for people". Carolyn who attended the event with her brother Luke added, "Events like this bring God into this city in a way that is real and new. People can see God in a way that relates to their lives today and can see how his love can completely transform their lives from the inside out."

Loud in Derry is just one of many events and activities organised by Neville Barnes in the run up to Summer Madness. Summer Madness which has been going for 21 years is now Ireland's largest Christian festival and one of the largest in Europe with over 5000 people coming together for 5-10 days for a mixture of worship, teaching, music and sports.

Neville has also recruited and trained 140 leaders to lead StreetReach, another initiative he works on. Streetreach hopes to take 1300 young people into the toughest parts of the city to work alongside local community groups and churches.

For more information, see www.summermadness.co.uk