Are you doing anything for Lent this year?

This is the question I posed to the Marlborough Explore group the Friday. We took a pause from the Youth Alpha course which we have been doing together since January to take some time to think about and explore Lent - to talk about its purpose, where it originated from Biblically and why Christians continue to mark it each year.

We then thought about what we might like to give up or take up for Lent. A couple of young people decided to give up sweets and chocolate. One of our young people who started coming to Explore just before Christmas with no faith and very clear in their atheist opinions decided that they were going to take up reading the Bible for Lent! It was an amazing moment when she put up her hand and said, “I’m not sure if this counts as one, but I might try and take up reading the Bible this Lent.” We reassured her that it definitely did count!

This week she shared that she had started and was about half way through Genesis after just two days! We’re looking forward to checking in with her next week to see how she’s getting on and have suggested maybe reading one of the Gospels after Genesis. 

At Step we are also creating weekly videos sharing a verse for the week along with a post with some different reflective activities young people can get involved with. If you know any young people who would enjoy doing this or if you’d like to partake yourself make sure you check out our Instagram page, Facebook page or our app to join in!

Helena :)