Edward (Ed) Sowden's schoolbag will be a bit heavier than usual this month as he takes 1000 copies of the glossy new Mark's gospel to school. Ed, 17,  will make this gospel available to fellow students through the Christian group at his state high school.

Ed, who is a member of St Stephen's, Normanhurst, says the idea first came up when the group met to plan their mission for the year.

In his search for a resource that could "move people from not knowing Christ to knowing Christ", Ed came across Connect09's new Mark's gospel.

"I realised that it would meet the target audience much better " it's designed in a simple, easy-to-follow format, and just by looking at it you can see it's a bit more appealing for the younger generation."

Already, Ed has showed the gospel to some of his non-Christian school friends, who agreed it "was a really good format".

The group will publicise the gospel through posters and announcements and have the gospel at the lunchtime meetings, so that interested students can come along and pick up a copy.

"We're not forcing it on anyone, but allowing them to take advantage of the information," he says.

Ed raised the money for the 1000 copies he hopes to give to students by promoting the idea at all of St Stephen's congregations.

"People were so generous and supportive of what we were doing at the school that in the space of a week, we had all the money we needed," he smiles.

Ed's demeanour is gentle, but his enthusiasm for reaching his fellow students is obvious.

"I think schools are one of the best missionfields " people are making big decisions in life and connecting with so many different people… I want them to have the same hope that I have knowing Jesus."

Ed also wants to encourage other students in other schools to be willing to try new things to share the gospel with other students.

"Don't be afraid because there are so many people out there who are willing to support and encourage you and make it happen," he says.