At the beginning of January Youth Connector Charlotte Butcher-Barnard and four young people (Ella and Amelia Bishop from Chipping Campden and Isaac Davies and Daniel Ward from Tewkesbury) traveled to Rättvik in Sweden to join together with other people from across the globe for the Diocese of Västerås‘ annual Epiphany conference, this year named ‘Hope and Glory’.
During the conference the group learnt about communities and churches in Tanzania, South Africa and The Holy Lands. Each day was about a different country, with panel-style interviews with people working/volunteering there, followed by discussion times in groups. Charlotte explained, “We got to chat with people from the different countries in attendance, share stories and knowledge of the country we’d been learning about and also pray for those places. In the afternoons we had music sessions from the cultures with lots of dancing and singing. That was a huge highlight for all of us from the Diocese of Gloucester.”
Each day ended with a dedicated Youth Camp, where the young people were able to hang out with others from Ireland, Sweden, Germany, and other countries enjoying crafts, playing games and just getting to know each other.
Charlotte continues “As part of the youth camp we also got to ice skate on a frozen lake – in temperatures of -30c – which was a highlight for all of us, as well as torch walk into the town with real fire torches.”
Overall, it was an amazing opportunity for the young people who were able to spend time with Christians from such a variety of cultures and make brilliant memories.
“It was so good to build on the relationship with our partner Diocese in Sweden,” reflects Charlotte. “We hope to be able to take more young people next year and, maybe stay for longer!”
Watch below as Charlotte, Isaac, Ella, and Amelia share their memories of Sweden:
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