Our longest running, well renowned, memorable and exciting schools work project finally returned after two years of being cancelled or provided as an online alternative. Mission Impossible was back in full force with a bigger team than ever before, new & improved interactive elements, and raving reviews from pupils, staff and volunteers alike.
“Tabz, do you remember that secret agent thing you did when I was in primary school?” asked a Year 10 student at a lunchtime Safe Space recently “You know, the one about Easter where we got to go around that cool place?”
“Mission Impossible? Why yes I do! I was there this morning in fact!”
“Really?! That’s so cool you still do that. I still remember it!”
That’s right. We finally got up and running with our Mission Impossible project again! With the exception of the last two years, we’ve been running MI since the very early days of SASW Trust 23 years ago. With a team of volunteers acting as secret agents, we welcome hundreds of Year 5 & 6 (and sometimes Year 4 at a push) pupils into a heavily transformed church building, kitted out inside as a secret agent training headquarters. Why? Because as they visit us, school by school, they get to investigate the biblical events of Easter and its world-changing meaning in the most interactive, engaging and memorable way I’ve ever been shown.
After both myself, Hettie and several others juggled isolating with COVID, we are very blessed to have rescheduled all of the schools that needed to be postponed and got everything off to a great start. This year we redesigned and modernised two of the investigation zones, using some of the new technology that Scarisbrick New Road Baptist Church have installed. Both of which went down a treat and captivated the children’s attention as they watched a hologram of Mary Magdalene above their heads giving her moving first hand account of the crucifixion, along with a chance to play our courtroom game on the interactive screen as they explored the injustice of Jesus’ trial.
Schools have been giving some brilliant feedback and the children really have engaged wonderfully as ever. In the years since we last ran the project in-person, it seems Twitter has become the favourite social media platform of schools and teachers for all their networking, PR, and resource sharing needs. Contrary to popular belief, I’m not a heavy user of social media, so when I finally logged on you can imagine how excited I got when I discovered most of the schools we had visit us had filled our feed with pictures of Mission Impossible, sharing their experience for all to see! (Including one school who visited the project for the first time this year!)
We had a whole range of new volunteers who we loved working with, helping hundreds of children assume the roles of secret agents as they investigate the events of Easter for themselves. We had a real battle with COVID cases (like everywhere over the last few weeks), but really felt God’s provision and protection over each session as we JUST managed to keep enough volunteers well enough to pull off all the bookings! We are so grateful to have such an amazingly generous, diverse and willing bunch of volunteers prepared to play their part (covid-permitting!) to introduce 550 primary pupils to the most crucial events of the Gospel in the most creative and engaging way we know how – as secret agents, grappling with the ancient records, investigating what we believe and coming to their own verdict on the resurrection. A huge thanks to all who prayed and contributed in any way!
