Who are you, and which church are you from?
I’m Iain Black, and I’m from Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow. I go to Kirkintilloch Baptist Church and Lenzie Christian Fellowship.

How many years have you done Step Out, and how many mission weeks have you been on?
I first did Step Out 6 years ago, and have done at least one mission every year since! In total, I’ve been on 13 teams. I just can’t get enough!

Why did you apply to go on a Step Out team?
I applied because I really enjoy working with other Christians, spreading God’s word around Scotland. It’s also a great way to make friends and grow in faith.

How has Step Out helped you to grow as a Christian?
When I started doing Step-Out I was lacking in confidence and was really shy. Now if you met me, you’d see it’s obvious that that’s all changed! I’m much more comfortable with sharing my faith now.

What’s been your favourite moment on a Step Out team?
I’ve been on so many teams now that I can’t choose! I think my favourite part of being on a team is seeing the positive impact a Step Out week has on churches, kids, and young people, not to mention the team members themselves. Seeing people now doing Step Out who were once at the youth club events has been really great too. It’s a real encouragement to see others grow in their Christian lives.

I’m Toni and I’m from Lossiemouth Baptist Church. I applied to go on a Step Out team because I became a Christian while a team were in Lossie in 2008, and that inspired me to go out and about and tell other kids and teenagers about Jesus. I’d been given a lot of encouragement from other youth in my church who had done step out to go for it too. :)

Step Out helped me grow as a Christian by teaching me so many more things about the Bible, and introducing me to loads of awesome new friends who I can turn to with problems; whether they be Christian ones or other ones.

It’s too difficult to pick out a favourite moment from Step Out, there were too many to choose from! I’m looking forward to being on more teams in 2011, and to introducing friends from my church to Step Out missions too. I’m also looking forward to seeing friends I made last year that live far away so I can’t see them that often.

I’m excited to see more children learn about Jesus, because I know how awesome he is :D

Doing Step Out for the first time was really scary, because I didn’t know what to expect. I was in a place I’d never even heard of before in an old creaky church, but fortunately I knew everyone on the team already:) The team were really supportive and easy to get along with, and so my first year of Step Out was really enjoyable and worthwhile.

Still thinking about whether Step Out is for you or not? Well, we have another short profile for you to help you get a flavour of what a Step Out mission is like. We started in the east, and now we go a little further north…

Who are you, and which church are you from?
My name is Ruth Glennie and I am from Elgin Baptist Church.

Why did you apply to join a Step Out team?
I applied because I wanted to  spread the word about God to other people. I also thought it would be a great opportunity to meet other Christians and I wanted to grow in my faith.

Where did you go on mission with Step Out?
I was sent to Inverkeithing (Fife) and Montrose.

What was your favourite moment on a Step Out team?
I have so many favourite moments but my favourite moment was seeing the children so enthusiastic at the kids’ club and wanting to learn about Jesus.

How did Step Out help you to grow as a Christian?
I felt so much more closer to God and it gave me more confidence as a Christian.

Step Out
To find out more about Step Out, please visit the Step Out page, or contact us at the BUSY offices.

If you’ve not been on a Step Out mission before, you might not be sure what to expect. Well, we’re hoping to put your mind at rest as we give you a little flavour of what Step Out is all about and why you might want to sign up for a week (or more!) of mission – by asking people who’ve done it before! We start off with someone from the far east…well, of Scotland anyway.

Who are you, and which church are you from?
My name is Andrew Dickie and I go to Granton Baptist Church in the north of Edinburgh.

Why did you apply to join a Step Out team?
The main reason I applied for Step Out was that I felt it was about time that I did something productive with my summer. I really enjoyed children’s work and was enthusiastic to put my talents into something worthwhile for God in Scotland.

Where did you go on mission with Step Out?
Leven and Peterhead.

What was your favourite moment on a Step Out team?
I enjoyed the whole Step Out experience and had many great moments so I can’t really pick one – sorry. But I will say that as much as I enjoyed all the food and kind presents of food that the churches gave us, I didn’t enjoy the constant bloated feeling… [we think that's just Andrew!]

How did Step Out help you to grow as a Christian?
Like it says in the name, Step Out gave me a chance to get a little out of my comfort zone and do things that I didn’t have the confidence to do before. It opened my eyes to the satisfaction of doing something solely for God, not expecting anything in return except for seeing the children and youth enjoy themselves and be excited in learning about God.

Ultimately, through putting more trust in God and seeing the amazing things being achieved in other people’s lives and other churches, I feel that I grew as a Christian; in the knowledge that with God anything is possible, so long as you take a step of faith.

You may still just be thinking about Christmas and New Year, but we’ve already been thinking about Step Out 2011 for a long time! Have you thought about what you’re doing next summer? Do you have a week or more free to spend on one of our Step Out teams? If so, download a copy of the Step Out 2011 Application application form, fill it in and return it to us.

Not sure if Step Out is for you? We’ll be adding more information about Step Out on the website over the coming weeks – keep a look-out. You can also find more information on our Step Out page.

So, Step Out 2010 has finally started! Our young people are in two places in the central belt this week. There is one team at Allander Evangelical Church in Milngavie, who are running a children’s club using our “Heaven’s Kitchen” material last year. There is also a team in Coatbridge who are running a children’s club using our new “Tractor Tales” material. Please pray for our teams. Here are a few prayer points:

• Pray for unity amongst the teams, that they would work well together
• Pray for Claire Small and Gordon Stewart as they lead the Coatbridge team
• Pray for strength for the teams, especially for the people on the Step Out+ team, who have many more weeks of mission after this one
• Pray for the churches, that church members would be able to get alongside the children so they can follow up the work after the missions.

We will update you on how things are going as the week progresses, but in Coatbridge on Monday morning, there were forty-six children! Give praise to God for that, and pray they would have open hearts and minds, taking in the things they have been taught – and that they would come back for more!

This weekend marks the start of this summer’s Step Out missions. Over the summer, we will be posting up information about each mission, the teams and prayer points for each week. Make sure you check back regularly as we post prayer points for each mission, news about how each mission is going and maybe post the odd picture! Take a look at the Step Out 2010 page for all the information in one place.

Many people have already returned their forms for this summer’s Step Out missions, but there are still spaces left on teams and we would love to have you involved, whether you have never been on Step Out before, are a regular member of Step Out teams, or have been on a Step Out mission before but haven’t been involved for a while.

If you are aged 14 or over, have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, want to share your faith with others, be part of a team doing that with a local Baptist church and grow in your own faith in the process, this is for you! Interested? Download the 2010 Step Out Application Form today!

Anyone who has been on a Step Out mission in the last couple of years should have already received a Step Out application form for this year either through the post or via email. We are currently accepting applications from young people to join our mission teams over the summer.

If you are aged 14 or over, have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, want to share your faith with others, be part of a team doing that with a local Baptist church and grow in your own faith in the process, this is for you! Interested? Download the 2010 Step Out Application Form today! Forms should be returned by 19th March 2010.