bless.

year2bless is a gap year    opportunity built on the    missional needs of mainland   Europe. With the bless    network, you can choose    to spend your time as part    of a team in France,      Germany, Spain or Croatia.

You will work with  a local church in a pioneering mission setting, helping in key areas such as worship, youth and children’s ministry or community engagement. The programme is ideal for language students but also for all those wanting to use a gap-year placement to make a real difference in the contemporary European context. You can immerse yourself in the culture, multiply your language skills and engage in prayer and action for real and measurable change. A founding philosophy of

the bless network is the commitment to ‘take something with you – bring something back’ and the aim of year2bless is to see transformation for you, for the church you serve and ultimately for the community in which they are set.

You will receive pastoral support locally in your placement and visits from the bless team, and language students are given flexible built-in study time for any college work. year2bless has previously been undertaken successfully by 3rd Year Students from Universities such as Cambridge, Birmingham and Cardiff.

year2bless placements are designed to foster a deeper understanding of the mission of God in our world and an ongoing commitment to participation in it. The continent of Europe has experienced decades of intense secularisation, yet churches are growing, and where the mission of God meets the needs of a local community, real transformation is possible. the bless network gives you opportunities to serve in a local church and also includes support for Alpha courses, 24/7 prayer and other cross-denominational activities. Our teams are particularly involved in helping young but growing churches to engage fully with the community in which they serve. Servanthood is a major part of being on a year2bless placement. This often involves giving up comforts and personal agendas, sometimes in unexpected areas. Those ready to step into unfamiliar surroundings will find opportunities to stretch their individual creativity and develop their gifts. An e-mail based study programme enables each year2bless participant to follow a weekly pattern of learning, supported by an on-line tutor.

Important elements of the year2bless programme include:

PRAYER – engaging fully as individuals and as a group in dynamic, active prayer for the needs of the placement location.
STUDY – with a curriculum built on key texts, including ‘Celebration of Discipline’ by Richard Foster and Gerard Kelly’s ‘Six Habits of Highly Connected People’.
SERVING – grounding the theory in action; projects and tasks to support and bless the church. Current placements include a number of dynamic churches in Northern and Southern France. In Croatia, we have exciting placements with a Baptist Church in Slavonski Brod. This newly planted church is fuelled by a passion to make a real difference to the local community affected by the traumas of war. We now also have a placement at Bethanie, a new and developing community in Germany, which has prayer and equiping young people at it’s core. Whatever the placement, year2bless can make the connection between your gifts and personal skills and the needs of a local church and community.

We want the year2bless mission experience to bring out the best in each person, building on their strengths and helping in their weaknesses. The relationship starts with conversation, continues with a meeting of minds and results, we hope, in lifelong friendships. We offer a flexible period abroad tailored to your needs with 3, 6 and 9 month placements available.

Click for more information on the bless network, or to get an application form.