On the evening of Thursday 15th April, a group of around 200 pupils from a number of local schools came together in the Humphrey’s Hall for the first ever North Coast "Unite" joint SU/CU event.

Our host for the evening was Rick Hill from Scripture Union, while Chapter 7 led us in praise throughout the night. The theme for the night was ‘transformation’, and CAI’s very own Mr. Dickie spoke about the amazing way in which coming to know Jesus has transformed his life. He challenged those of us who were Christians not to be ashamed of our faith, while encouraging anyone who hadn’t already taken the step of putting their faith in Jesus that, having experienced life with and without Him, that living for Jesus is by far the more fulfilling way to live.

The main speaker was David Shepherd, Principal of Belfast Bible College, who spoke from the Bible about the incredible transformation that happened in Simon’s life when he left his job as a fisherman and gave up everything that he had to follow Jesus. After David spoke, a number of the pupils from each of the schools involved gave their ‘cardboard testimonies,’ which involved flipping over a piece of card with a brief explanation of what their life was like before coming a Christian on one side of the card, and the difference that trusting in God has made to their life on the other side. Some examples from the night included ‘not perfect – just forgiven’, ‘life’s good – eternal life is better’, and ‘insecure – confident in God’s plan.’

We rounded the night off with another short time of praise, before giving anyone who wanted the chance to respond to anything that had been said on the night to have someone pray for them. On the way out, everyone was given an envelope containing a seed to remind us of the message of transformation.

Thanks go to everyone who made Unite such a success, including Jenny Atkinson, Rick Hill and everyone from SU, Chapter 7 for leading us in praise, Mr. Dickie and the other teachers who attended, and everyone from each of the schools who came along and embraced everything that was done on the night. We hope and pray that Unite North Coast 2010 will be the first of many, and that God will use all that was said and done this year to impact the lives of everyone who came along.

"Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone: a new life has begun!"

2 Corinthians 5:17