Welcome!

Hello and welcome to the sparkling new official site for Amidst Ministries!

Writing a blog was always part of the plan for this venture, and I am glad that with this new website, it has given me the opportunity to do so. So welcome to the Amidst Ministries Blog! I will be writing about all things youth work, resources, faith and random anecdotes! I hope you find even a snippet of encouragement here - from me to you!

Yours Sincerely,

Izzy :)

So, the main question I get asked is why Amidst Ministries? Where did the idea come from, the name, the passion? Why now?

I am going to keep the whole story brief as it is quite long! In 2021, I started my studies at Bible college, and had joined the ‘Youth Track’ specifically, which included lectures on youth work, and meant I needed placement hours in youth work specifically. I found my love for youth work during this time. I took part in mentoring, leading youth groups, leading church services, residentials, schools work - and much more. I adored it. I found I felt I belonged there, it wasn’t ‘work’, it was family.

I particularly enjoyed speaking with the young people about faith, and what their barriers were. I loved helping them navigate life as young Christians, and teaching them about God.

In my second year, one of my young people came out to me as gay, and asked if I could speak to them about what the Bible says about it, and what the Church thinks. They were confused, understandably. They had heard from school that Christians thought ‘x y and z’, and from other sources that they thought the opposite. The Church had remained silent, adding to their confusion.

I remember feeling scared and apprehensive. What if I told them and they left the Church? What if they thought I hated them and told everyone I was a bad youth worker? What if, what if, what if. It is important to note at the time I had a ‘supervisor’, and had termly reports on my performance - and so the pressure was high to get this right.

I took my time planning this session, an extensive amount of research and prayer was put into it. I scrolled the internet looking for appropriate resources to help me, and found little.

When it came to the session, I knew what I had to say, God had put it on my heart to tell the truth, the Biblical truth. To show this young person how loved they are, not only by the Church, but even more importantly, by God. I rushed through the session, waiting for the inevitable screaming, and running away. But it never came.

They looked at me and smiled, and I saw in that moment, they understood.

We played a game, and moved on. My fear faded away, and I knew in that moment, this is what I was called to. To speak the unspoken, to teach on difficult topics. I knew that was exactly what these young people needed. After this session, they became more and more curious, we looked further into the Bible and they found a faith. In my final year, they got baptised - and said in their testimony that through my mentoring, I had helped them build a personal faith.

I don’t think they would be in that place had I not tackled that tough topic with them. The world would have taught them what the Bible says, and that is often not what is actually said.

I continued looking at these hard topics, and even approached jobs that would be me solely speaking about them.

However, skip forward to early 2024, and my body said enough was enough. I became too unwell to work or study, it was the hardest time of my life - and I felt lost in what God was planning for me.

In August I became so unwell I ended up mostly bedbound and completely housebound for the majority of the summer.

I felt forgotten, God had called me to something I had no way of doing. I waited, and waited…and waited. To get better, to find a glimmer of hope. To find a miracle cure.

In November 2024, I realised I wasn’t getting any better - and decided it was time to stop waiting. I prayed as fervently as I could, asking God to make a way.

Then late one night, I had the idea of using my knowledge to help other youth workers. If I wasn’t well enough to teach young people hard topics, then I could help others do so.

I wrote resources, edited them, deleted them. Wrote them again, played around with fonts, photos, anything you could think of. I knew what I needed to do, but I didn’t know how.

In January 2025, in the quietness of the night, God spoke to me, and put the word ‘Amidst’ on my heart.

Young people need us to be there. They need us to listen, to guide, and most importantly to invite them to be a part of the conversation.

Light amidst shadows, hope amidst darkness, faith amidst chaos.

Let us be the lantern of hope for them amidst their problems.

Let us show them what Biblical truths look like amidst the world’s truth.

Let us teach them what God’s love looks like amidst the ups and downs of childhood and adolescence.

Let us show them what a chain-breaking God does.

And so I launched Amidst Ministries, it’s been a labour of love - and there is still a long way to go, but God-willing, we will help you speak the unspoken.

Our mission is for you to feel equipped to take on these topics, and for young people to feel grounded in Biblical truths, and feel so informed by us, that they feel no need to be taught by the world.

Thank you for all your support thus far, and I look forward to all that is to come!

All my best, now and always…

Izzy (founder of AM)

“Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair.” Proverbs 1:3