YF London Banquet
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
It was the first Young Foundations event in England, and the 150 guests arrived dressed for the occasion. The banquet was located on the second floor of the Browns Brasserie building in the heart of London. The excited youth ranged in age from 15-27 and came from various surrounding cities. As each one entered the building and climbed the spiral stairwell, they were welcomed at the reception desk. There they were given an unexpected sheet of paper and led into the decorated banquet room.
The dimly-lit room offered a relaxed setting for the youth to become comfortable with one another. But before they got too comfortable, they were given the task of completing the crossword puzzle handed to them when they arrived. It was the “Old Testament Prophets” puzzle that was posted on the YF website a week prior to the banquet. All 150 young people took the quiz; only two would get the prize, but they would have to wait until the end of the evening to find out what it would be. The quiz turned out to be a positive way to start the evening thinking and talking about the Word.
Dinner was served shortly after, and everyone enjoyed a time of fellowship as they became better acquainted.
Once the group was finished eating, Brother Gerald began speaking about the upcoming YF camp to be held in Italy for the youth in Europe. He then gave some personal testimonies of his experiences as a young believer. A lot of questions were asked about Young Foundations and many were encouraged by the testimonies.
Coffee, tea, and dessert were served during the course of the evening, as the laughter and Christian bonding continued.
Surprisingly, 20 people successfully completed the crossword puzzle, so we had to resort to “Brother Branham’s Life Story” trivia questions to narrow down the winners. The winners turned out to be Brother David Mukanganwa and Sister Lisa Anne Mhandu, both of Sheffield, England. The prizes consisted of personally autographed “Message Journals,” by Brother Joseph, and Brother William Branham signature pens. When the prizes were announced, the winners were overwhelmed and blessed by the special gifts they received.
The fellowship continued on late into the night. It wasn’t until 11:30pm that the young believers made their way out the door, expressing what a wonderful time they had. Many didn’t know there was such a large number of young believers in their country and were happy to fellowship with them and make new friends. As each one left, they were handed YF Message book-markers as a small memento.
There were a lot of smiling faces the entire night of the banquet, and we were blessed with a wonderful atmosphere. It wasn’t hard to see that everyone really enjoyed themselves. Many said this was needed and a very good thing. They are looking forward to other future Young Foundations events. Some said they thought YF was only for those in the USA or for young kids alone. They were very surprised and excited that it was also for the youth in England and around the world. It was a blessed night for all.