Our youth initiative – VerseFirst – has just launched Little Book of Chaos; a new resource that looks at issues surrounding stress and anxiety, self-worth, and mental health from a biblical perspective.

From 27th – 28th May, we joined the Big Church Day Out festival in West Sussex to launch the resource. The event welcomed more than 20,000 visitors, campers and exhibitors, plus an incredible line-up of artists and musicians. Over the weekend, parents, teachers, youth workers, teenagers and young adults were among those who took Little Book of Chaos away with them. VerseFirst shared almost 1,000 copies of the booklet as well as a beautifully designed range of postcards and our earlier titles in the ‘Little Book’ series – Little Book of Faith and Little Book of Help.

“Mental health is a complex subject, and sometimes it just takes one thing to help kick-start the conversation”, says Emma Braund, VerseFirst project lead. “Little Book of Chaos is a starting point to help get young people talking. If we can recognise our own experiences reflected in the Bible, it gives us permission to feel what we feel. Life sucks sometimes and it’s okay to say so! That’s the real experience of young people and where the resource begins”.

What people said about VerseFirst and Little Book of Chaos at Big Church Day Out:

“These look brilliant. There’s a young girl in my group and she’s so close to committing to God but she’s struggling. Her phone is constantly in her hand and she stresses over social media. I really think this will help her and I’m going to get all my young people onto VerseFirst.”

-          Youth worker Matt Craig referring to Little Book of Chaos.

“They’re so beautiful and strong. I just can’t believe how meaningful and well-designed they are. Plus they’re free! As soon as I looked at them, my heart was at peace.”

-          17-year-old Surton Kunda describing the VerseFirst postcards.

 “Our Christian Union at school is completely run by students, and because we don't have much guidance to running it, we often struggle. But since following VerseFirst on Instagram it has been so useful to us. Not only does it give a short verse – which can be great if you want to memorise it – but also it gives us added perspective by exploring what it meant for the people in the Bible and what it means for us now. We also love VerseFirst at Christian Union because of the on-topic, on-trend and controversial posts, which often relate to events happening in the world. It’s easy to get caught up in everyday life sometimes and forget to see things through God's eyes, so VerseFirst has been a major tool for all of us.”

-          17-year-old Jez Parker, talking about VerseFirst.

What people have said since using the resources:

“Words can’t express how this has come at a much needed time. Thank you for creating a beautiful book that speaks to me in a way that therapy is not doing at the moment”.

-          15-year-old Mariah referring to Little Book of Chaos.

“I had already planned to travel up to Manchester the morning after Big Church Day Out, because of the attacks there. With my 20+ years’ experience with the British Red Cross and my commitment to Jesus, I felt urged to go.  As soon as I saw your stall with Little Book of Chaos, Little Book of Help and Little Book of Faith, they struck me immediately. I shared so many copies in Manchester during the day and at a night vigil they held in St Ann’s Square. The loss and emotion was very tangible but in the midst of it all, they were so grateful – grateful for unity, grateful for solidarity and grateful for people like me who had journeyed to their city with love, hope and restoration.”

-          Former British Red Cross frontline response worker, Derek Alder. Read Derek's story here.

“I seriously love postcards and I do this thing called postcrossing. Some people think I’m weird, but you send postcards around the world to random people who are part of the postcard exchange project and random people send their postcards to you. It’s amazing because you’re sending someone you don’t know a message and you’re receiving awesome messages back. You get to discover loads of diverse cultures, experiences and stories. I always wondered how I could show that I’m a Christian on the postcards without being too much, because I really want that person – whoever they are – to take it in. I was always lost on how to go about it but since I’ve been using your postcards, it’s been fantastic. I feel so much at ease now and I know that God is doing the rest.”

-          Laura discussing postcrossing with VerseFirst postcards.

Get in touch!

Do you also have a story to share? Please email us and let us know. If you would like to join in with VerseFirst, you can follow them on Facebook, on Instagram @versefirst, or join in the conversation on the VerseFirst blog. For a Little Book of Chaos sample copy, please visit their website and for orders of three packs or more please click here.

Some fab donors gave money via Indiegogo to help print these first copies of Little Book of Chaos. If you would like to help give away more booklets, or give regularly to the daily costs of running VerseFirst (which is free for young people to access), please consider making a gift today. Thank you!