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A new resource has been launched to help young people share their faith story and provide an opportunity to spread some Good News across the cyber world and beyond.

Tales of the Unexpected is an initiative to mobilise young people beyond the "big event" mission mentality and into a lifestyle that embraces an open and authentic approach to friends and neighbours about their relationship with Christ.

The idea is really simple: we have approached several individuals to share their experiences through short video clips and invite others to submit their own stories — written, filmed or texted in to the site. It's wonderfully encouraging to hear of how God is at work within our communities and personal lives. We have all got a story to tell and modern media can be a really powerful way of engaging with a very wide audience.

The plan is to grow organically. Over the next weeks and months we will be adding new videos from around the Province and further afield and linking to still others. But we most especially wish to see everyone join in. The real point is to inspire young people & everyone to stand up and be counted, to reflect on their own faith journey, to gain a better grasp of what the Gospel is all about and to have the confidence to share that in appropriate ways and especially across the all pervasive world wide web.

The point is - to inspire you into action. We want to hear from YOU. Others will be encouraged and challenged when they hear your story. Ultimately we want see more people drawn into their own encounter with God. As the site develops we hope that it can be a hub for faith-uplifting tales of God unexpected grace.

And we would like to be open to questions. We all have doubts and issues from time to time and often need to address other people's questions as well. So we also intend to have section that will discuss blocks to faith or matters that some may find difficult to deal with. So let this be the first step. The next time you're online visit talesoftheunexpected.org and connect with some of the stories there and then reflect on your own journey. You might even surprise yourself when you open up to what God is doing in your life. One of the central aims of TOTU is to encourage young people to better understand their own journey of faith and the Gospel message — and consequently to equip them to be able to share their story in various contexts. A good place to start is with the "share your TOTU" option here on the site!

When submitting videos for publishing, your role as the youth leader is vital! Whilst we intend to air as many, if not all, of the videos submitted we want to be careful not to upload content that might compromise any individuals mentioned, or that would be counter-intuitive to the essence of the gospel. So, we very much appreciate your part in the process by reviewing any such videos or perhaps even email/text stories before members of your group send them onto us.

Some of your videos may involve stories from people who are under the age of 18. Sharing a story in this way might be a brave step for some young people - in taking a stand as a Christian and sharing personal experiences of faith. There can be relative anonymity in providing a "written" account of someone's encounters as we would ask for no more than a first name, age and county. However the video material is a little bit more direct and you may wish to advise parents of the under 18s about the TOTU exercise and ensure that they are happy that the video material does go onto the website. In any case we hope that you will see this as a great first step in opening up the whole idea of evangelism and empowering young people to be part of the Great Commission.

Contact: info@talesoftheunexpected.org
Last Updated: 19 April 2010