How Counties Helped Shape My Journey

Let me introduce myself — I’m Phil, a proud Walsall resident, longsuffering Aston Villa fan, and part of the leadership team at Grace Foundation. We work with schools across the UK, helping young people develop character, build healthy relationships, and explore Christian perspectives in a way that’s relevant to modern school life. I’ve also worked in churches, youth organisations, and been on the leadership team of a secondary school — but if you traced all that back, you’d find Counties sitting quietly in the background.

The thing is you don’t always know the impact you’re having at the time. You crack on with what’s in front of you, and it’s often only years later that you realise the influence people or organisations had on you. That’s exactly how it was with Counties. It played a bigger part in shaping my journey than many people probably realise.

I grew up going to church and when I was seven, committed my life to Jesus whilst on a Christian caravanning holiday, due to the fantastic children’s work of Mr and Mrs Banana, Mr and Mrs Strawberry and their teams. I found out much later in life that those weren’t their real names. I responded to the idea of Jesus being my friend. I carried on going to church and Sunday School (where I especially enjoyed the action songs and quizzes).

However, as I grew older, some services didn’t exactly hold my attention as a teenager. But whenever someone from the Counties visited, we were less likely to muck about (and therefore less likely to get the look of doom from my mum at the front of the church playing her viola). We all looked forward to hearing from Bob Telford or Ivor Cooper, and loved it when John Hardwick turned up, juggling and all. Those visits brought energy, creativity, and a fresh way of exploring faith.

Our youth group always went to Oasis Camp, where Counties evangelists were regularly the speakers. I didn’t go initially, but the impact on my friends who did was huge. They came back a year later, when Martin Erwin was speaking, with a challenge that stuck with me: “Phil, you go to church every week, but are you living this out?”

That moment changed things and that’s where I asked more questions of my friends and my youth leaders.

I realised that although I’d made an early commitment to being Jesus’ friend, I needed to respond to the Gospel and what He did for me on the cross. So, I did just that. I then got baptised that year.

When I returned to Oasis in the following years, the Counties evangelists were there again — encouraging, down to earth, and helping me make sense of my faith as a teenager.

They made it accessible without watering it down, and I especially remember hearing stories about Christians such as the ex-cricketer and missionary C.T. Studd, which inspired me. I remember also optional afternoons where we could ask questions about faith, which was very helpful to me, as you could ask about anything you didn’t quite understand.

Even beyond those events, Counties kept popping up at key points. My brother attended Counties training courses and volunteered at the Royal Welsh Show for years. And just before I began a gap year with my church, I was having a bit of a wobble about whether I was the right person for it. That’s when a Counties evangelist, Phil Davies, came to preach at our church — the only time he ever did — and it just so happened that he was stepping away from a teaching role in the exact area I was about to go into. He encouraged me, and without realising it, helped me take that next step.

Over the following years, I’ve worked in my church as a Children’s and Youth leader, visited over 50 schools to deliver assemblies and lessons, helped lead the 8-11’s programme at Spring Harvest, and even been part of a Christian boy band called “Blessed Life” (yes, really!). I reflect that many of these activities (probably not the boy band one!) came from being inspired by the work of Counties and seeing how they conveyed faith in an accessible way, which I also wanted to do.

In more recent years, through my work with Grace Foundation, I’ve had the opportunity to utilise Counties’ resources, including GSUS Live, the Key to Life truck, and the Life Exhibition, which I’ve presented in schools I’ve worked with. They’re brilliant tools — creative, thoughtprovoking, and designed in a way that works in real-life classrooms. I’ve seen firsthand how they help students explore faith in a way that’s engaging, respectful, and often quite moving. When GSUS Live was recently introduced to the schools we support through Grace Foundation, the feedback from staff and students was overwhelmingly positive. One student told a member of staff: “I didn’t realise Jesus cared that much about people like me.” That kind of response says everything.

As someone who now invests in young people on a weekly basis, I’ve come to value that long-term approach even more. At Grace Foundation, we work with thousands of students every year — and while we measure what we can, there’s a lot we’ll never see. Some of the most critical outcomes might only come to light years down the line, in conversations we’re not part of. That’s why I’m so thankful for ministries like Counties that play the long game — encouraging, resourcing, and training people to walk alongside others with integrity.

The world’s changed a lot since those early youth camps, but the need hasn’t. The landscape around faith might look different, but people still ask the same questions at their core. Counties continue to meet those questions with compassion, creativity, and clarity — through resources like GSUS Live, the Life exhibition, and training programs like Connect, as well as the work of many serving across the country.

So yes… I think Counties is great. Not because of just one big moment or one big event, but because over time, Counties helped shape my journey, pointed me in the right direction, and continue to walk alongside the next generation. And I’m grateful they did.

Would you like to support Counties to help raise and encourage a future generation of school’s workers and evangelists, just like Phil? Visit our website today by clicking here.