Spring Harvest is an annual Christian Conference that takes place at two Butlins Holiday camps over the Easter period each year.
I think my first visit was when it was held on the chilly North Wales coast in the 1980s when I was a student and I have been more times than I can count over the years, as a young married before children, and then with our children at various stages of thier development, both physically and spiritually.
There have been memorable moments for me; being prayed for to receieve the Holy Spirit in a new way by Christine Noble, repsonding to a message from Tony Campolo in 1989, which led to us moving to a new church plant in south london, where we were living and in recent years seeing how our children have also repsonded to what thye have experienced there.
So that brings me to Spring Harvest Minehad week 2 2010. We were there this year with a group of over 70 from our church (Redhill Baptist.)This must be the largest contingent we have ever had and one of the blessings was just having time with people, over coffee, between seminars, watching the football competitions (which both juniors and senior teams were runners up in!), and late night gatherings in chalets for drinks and more chat.
The SH format hasn't changed much over the years, a morning Bible reading by a well known speaker (this year Jeff Lucas both entertained and provoked us), a choice of main seminar options dependant on your learning style. These explored the main theme of 'Different Eyes' looking at ethics and how we repsond to the challenges presented in the world we now live in. I chose to go to the 'Pragmatists' option presented by brother and sister team Russell Rook and Lyndall Bywater. Lyndall has been blind since birth and gave refreshing insights that she has gained through her life.
During the afternoons there were optional seminars, a range of leisure and sporting activities , time to browse the exhibition and book store and time just to be with family and friends. We had a lovely afternoon walk on the edge of Exmoor, behind Dunster castle and this year were blessed by the warmest sping weather I can remember.
In the evenings there was a nightly worship celebration meeting in the 'Big Top', and a number of alternative celebrations as well. Big top worship was led wonderfully by Vicky Beeching this year, and we loved learning some of her new songs. The talks, by a range of different speakers were again challenging, none more so that that by Malcolm Duncan, challenging us to stand up and fight for the things God has put on our hearts.
After hours there were a range of interviews, concerts, drama and dance productions to choose from and a highlight for me was the interview with Jackie Pullinger who has worked with drug addicts in Hong Kong for 44 years. She seemed quite uncomfortable in a western affluent setting and challenged us to see that getting alongside the poor and needy and broken of the world was what God wanted of all of us.
So was SH 2010 different from previous years? I believe it was; as a family we have had a recent challenging time and God seemed to provide this place and space for us at just the right time, as a church it was great to have so many of us there and feel that we can make a difference in our community, and as an individual, God met me in a new way, moved me on, helped me let go of some things which had been tying me down and has given me some new challenges for the future.
Thank you to the spring harvest team for all they put on and for God who used it to His glory.
