A place called Moria

Some experiences leave a permanent mark.  This is certainly true of my recent trip to serve in a refugee camp on the Greek Island of Lesvos, with Global Aid Network (GAiN), Agapé's Humanitarian Aid partner.  The island has become well known through the news footage, showing thousands of people attempting the treacherous crossing from Turkey in overcrowded and inadequate rubber boats, to seek refuge in Europe.  I, naively, thought the crisis was diminishing as our news outlets are no longer showing us images and telling us the stories but what I found was quite the opposite.  People from around the world are still fleeing war, terror and life threatening situations to seek refuge in places of safety.  Indeed, these past months have seen a surge of people arriving at the Refugee Camp called Moria and it’s bursting at the seams. 

A week spent in Moria changes what you feel and think about the refugee crisis.  This place, which was originally built as a military base for up to 800 personnel is now ‘home’ to 6000 men, women and children, including unaccompanied minors.  During my time many more arrived.  I was tasked to register people who had just arrived off the over-sized life rafts and give them their initial supplies which are provided by the UNHCR (The UN refugee agency) – a sleeping bag, a roll mat, a small backpack with basic sanitary supplies and one change of clothes.  Supplies were low and I was unable to provide a number of the men with any clothes.  It was humbling to be put in the position of helping these people who are so vulnerable.  Many of the enduring images in my mind are of the individual people whose blood shot eyes I looked into, with their haunted, bewildered and exhausted expressions, some full of hope and some wondering at this desperate place they’d arrived in.  I found it so hard to take everything in; the faces, the smells, the sounds and the bleakness of it all.

-->

The need was overwhelming.  The crowding was terrible.  Some of the conditions, particularly in the new arrivals area where people would stay until a space in a tent could be found, were frankly inhumane.  On one of my shifts I was assigned to the “clean team” for the new arrivals toilets and showers.  Cleaning up the rubbish and excrement for people, powerless to help themselves, was hard but somehow this was one of the beautiful moments of the week.  As we were cleaning up, a man, whose family were sleeping on the floor within a few feet of the mess we were cleaning, jumped up and insisting we hand over our cleaning supplies so that he could continue to clean up the excrement which was all around the outside of the toilet block.  In this moment, I realised these people are just like me.  They have come from homes where they cleaned regularly, they had beds to sleep in and jobs to go to and now circumstances have brought them to this place where they are powerless to help themselves.  It was hard but I realised in that moment that it wasn’t just about how we were showing them love and kindness, they also had love and kindness to show.  They needed their dignity.  The next day, Abdullah* requested tools so that he could fix the broken tap in the bathroom.  I will never forget that man.

One family touched my heart in particular.  One of the days we did some activities with the women and I met two sisters.  They told me their story of how they had fled from Syria with their mother, father and siblings.  Their English was very good as their father was an English teacher.  The younger sister, Zahara told me their father was now blind.  I asked her about her dreams and her eyes filled with tears as she expressed her desire to one day become an eye doctor.  On my last day I went to meet the rest of Zahara’s family and spent a wonderful time talking with them particularly with their Father Salam.  He told me more of their story and of the horrors they had left behind.  How they were living on grass and leaves as their only food and also how his whole family were forced by ISIS to witness mass executions.  I looked at his beautiful, joyful daughters and wondered how they would ever be able to process with these traumas.   The day we left, they received the news that their papers had come through for them to leave Moria and move to Athens – not a final destination, but at least the next step on their journey toward a long-term place of safety and of refuge.   To a new place to call home.

Agapé plans to continue to partner with local charities in Lesvos who bring help and hope in these places and we will send back teams in the coming months.  Please pray for the people in this camp who are now enduring the cold of winter and pray for the fantastic volunteers who are there right now helping to serve the needs of these people.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“you know, the smallest thing can change your life in the blink of an eye something happens by chance, set you on a course you never planned, into a future you never imagined.  Where will it take you?  Isn’t that the journey of our lives, our search for the light?  But sometimes finding the light means you must pass through the deepest darkness”

Graffitti written on a wall in Moira refugee camp

“The Word gave life to everything that was created and his life brought light to everyone.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”

John 1 v 4&5

*names have been changed throughout this post

Baptism

Joel announced a couple of months ago that he had decided to be baptised.  He (as always) came to the decision on his own one day, but had decided not to do anything about it until he’d chatted to his best friend at Church to see whether he wanted to be baptised at the same time.    So it was with a lot of joy that Joel was baptised at the end of November.  It turned into quite a family affair with Charis reading a Bible passage and Lesley praying for him (with Paul looking on with a hugely proud grin on his face).

I thought you might want to read his 'testimony' that he'd written out:

"When I was 5 my sister and I sat on my bed and she showed me a presentation called knowing God Personally that was all about how to become a Christian and after she went through this I wrote a prayer to ask Jesus into my life but it wasn't till I was older that I realised that there might be more to being a Christian than that for me.

 

I was brought up in a Christian home so naturally my parents wanted me to become a Christian and it's fair to say that it was a rocky road to where I am today. In fact, if you put it on a graph it would look something like this (at this point, Joel showed a powerpoint graph of static growth in his Christian life until he was 13!)- I don't think my faith really grew for quite a number of years between being 5 and 13.  But a couple of years ago while I was at a Christian conference in Estonia I decided to really follow Jesus. (at this point, Joel showed a picture of him standing on one hand, street-dancing in Estonia!)  This all came about one night when my sister and a close friend of ours decided that they would go to the prayer room and I decided to hang out with some friends. When I came back to the place we were all staying I walked past the prayer room and I wasn't intending on going in but I felt something telling me to go in anyway and when I came back out of the prayer room after praying I felt something which must have been the Holy Spirit .I had to choose to follow him and no one else could make that choice for me.

 

Even then, although I chose to follow him I didn't really show it as much as I should have. And getting baptised is publicly saying that I believe in the father the son and the Holy Spirit and that I intend to follow Jesus for the rest of my life so that's why I'm getting baptised."

 

 

 

 

Needless to say, it was such a fantastic event.  There were a total of 5 people baptised and balanced with the spiritual delight of the day, cake always makes a significant physical addition to the occasion.

 

 

 

 

Bringing Yourself to Work

It's 8.30 on a Wednesday morning and I'm with three others at the front of a conference room, ludicrously high up in the all-glass KPMG building in Birmingham city centre.  It's KPMG's "Inclusion week" and I've been asked to be part of a panel that addresses what "bringing yourself to work" looks like, from a Christian perspective.  The other three sitting with me are a friend from church, Jon, and two KPMG employees who represented other elements of diversity within the company.

The event was one of a week-long series of events addressing various diversity issues within KPMG.  The idea of "bringing yourself to work" was discussing how we can be true to who we are as we come to work - a rather interesting topic for a large company that understandably wants a corporate image and culture amongst its employees.

The room was filled with quite a cross-section of managers and the discussion was good and robust and flowed between issues of race, sexuality and gender as it related to recruitment and development.  I must admit I was impressed at their commitment to move from the current employee stereotype ("male, pale and stale" as someone quipped) to a wider representation. 

One of the problems with HR's "best practice" relating to diversity in recent years has been to focus on the "business case" for diversity in employment.  It's good to be able to prove that having a diverse work force is good for the bottom line of a company but, unfortunately, if an organisation's sole rationale is built on the business case then as soon as someone can come along showing why its better for business to employ just middle aged white men or attractive 20-somethings women, then you lose that battle.

One of the subjects I was able to bring into the discussion was the need for an ethical basis for our decision making in this area and John Maxwell's idea that you cannot separate out personal and business ethics - acting ethically is about who you are not just what you do.  Resisting the urge to jump up, slam a Bible down on the table and start preaching (OK, not much of an urge really) I did get an opportunity to talk about the link between their own values and my favourite verse:  Micah 6v8 and the need for all of us to act justly and love mercy in all our interactions with people as well as trying to figure out what walking humbly with our God might involve.

It was an amazing opportunity to have.  A local organisation called Chaplaincy Plus had made the connection to have me invited.  My part was just to hopefully kick-start some of the conversation, but KPMG are keen to have Chaplaincy Plus increasingly involved within their company as a city-centre chaplaincy to the business community.  I'm very excited to see what might emerge from this.  

The Iranian Experience

Did you miss me?  I know I've been gone a while.  Anyway; down to the chat:  The Iranian Experience.

A week or so ago, Lesley and I hosted an event at Cranleigh Baptist Church for folk to hear about the Work of our "First Acts" team.  A team of mainly Iranians who work here in the UK amongst Farsi-speakers from Iran and thereabouts. 

Sometimes I just have to pinch myself that I get to work alongside such phenomenal people.  The evening was quite a mix:  a bit of background chat from Lesley, me doing my "MC" thing and a video that explained the work of the team, but for me, there were three elements that you just had to be there to really fully appreciate.  By definition, therefore, I am about to do them an injustice:

Farsi worship.  It is a common-known fact (certainly amongst Iranian Christians) that the language spoken in heaven is Farsi.  Even catching a whisper of it here on earth, sung enthusiastically by Iranian believers is just awesome.  A few of us tried to join in with the words phonetically written out, but just standing and enjoying and being caught up in their praise was the best part of it.

Iranian food.  They don't claim their food is what's eaten in heaven, but you never know.  From an organisational point of view, I should have learned to translate what an Iranian means when they say "we'll just provide a few snacks".  Platefuls.  And in a scene reminiscent of the feeding of the 5000, I think there were at least 12 basket-fulls left over.  It was gooood.

Persian stories.  They are all very humble and matter-of-fact about it all, but the truth is, the more you hear the stories, the more you just get amazed at how God shows up in incredible circumstances.  From the very practical aspects of the stories of how most of these folk ended up in the UK, through to the incredible tales of how they unexpectedly tripped over the love of God and came into a relationship with him, I was gripped (and I've heard a few of these tales now).  It makes me thankful to God for the ease in which I came into a relationship with him and thankful for the way he reached out and grabbed these folk in unexpected ways.

If you are involved in a church and would like a touch of the Iranian Experience for yourselves, do get in touch.  We might just be able to help with that!

 

home

"So.... what is it you do here?"  I'd been waiting for the line.  After 3 or 4 people said it in the first few days, I'd started looking out for it.  Agapé UK have moved, which is quite exciting in itself, but the opportunities it's providing are REALLY exciting.  We've gone from having an "office" that a few of our operations and other folk worked from, to a Head Quarters that is a centre hub for ministry to be based from and serve our ministry nationally and beyond.  Within days of moving in, we had groups of Iranians exploring faith and studying the Bible on the top floor, we had staff from other projects around Birmingham that we are partnering with 'borrow' a desk for a while and numerous staff meeting up with folk in our "coffee lounge", talking business and talking about Jesus.  It's building such a new sense of collaboration and moving forward together.

But my favourite part of the new building is the front door.  It's not particularly special, but for the first time in our history, we have a front door.  And that means people walk through it.  I was manning the building for the couple of weeks before we moved in and there was so many folk coming in and trying to work out why this office building had a coffee lounge that i just learned to wait for them to ask "so; what do you do here?"  I had some great conversations with folk:  a delivery man who had dabbled with faith many years ago and was now considering it again, a blind man (no; not that sort - a man measuring up for our window blinds) who's a muslim but very keen for us to pray for his mother who was ill, and 2 traffic wardens who were more interested in our parking spaces than our mission (OK; I cheated a bit on that one and actually invited them in).  A front door means we have a far greater access to and potential impact on the community we are now working within.  we are all praying that God will show us what our role will be in reaching out to that community.  You could join us in that prayer if you'd like.  We'd certainly appreciate it.

 It all started a good few months ago when (after a few years of searching) God provided just the right place at just the right price.  It was, I admit, a bit of a state...


 

and there is just no justifying the red walls on the top floor, but it had such great potential.

The whole project took just 8 weeks from start to finish.  We had some great contractors to work with, who were driven by excellence.  Pete, one of our Operations leaders (yellow jacket in the centre) did an incredible job project managing the whole process and miraculously bringing the project in on time and on budget.  Amazing.  A good friend of ours (thanks Mark!) was our designer and pushed our thinking to ensure we not just had a great place to work, but somewhere that really served our mission and what we are trying to do through it, not just in it.  again; amazing.

So; moving day happened. Just a few crates, then!  I'm still not sure how our accounts folk figured out where all the files were heading back to (which is probably why I'm not an accountant).  They're a smart bunch.  

We now have a dedicated area for field staff, miscellaneous folk and friends of ours to work from - it's normally a LOT busier than this

But some of the most exciting things are the new spaces that we have now.  This new conference room (the old red one) can easily fit 40 or 50 people for training events and over-sized small group Bible studies.

We've talked for ages about having a dedicated prayer area, but have never had the space to create it.  We're going to make this a bit of a project to REALLY create a space to pray.  Let us know if you want to book it to have a day retreat sometime. (seriously!)

 It's certainly already proving useful for team working and brainstorming ideas, but a wall that you can write on?  Surely its just asking for trouble.

...and my favourite; the coffee lounge.  Even after only a few weeks in the building, I have a hunch that this space is going to have a significant impact for eternity.  From the casual interactions amongst our staff that build us up, to the intentional one-to-ones, to the surprising run of visitors from the community around us starting to see something different in "whatever it is they do there".  

 If you are a pray-er, do pray that we steward this new space of ours well and that eternity is impacted as a result.  Thanks.

shoes and sean

I'm always looking for the thing that will start an unexpected conversation and wait to see where God will take that conversation.  Today (as often happens when I wear them) it was my shoes.  I know; they're a little unconventional and yes; I do have another pair just like them.

I had escaped from the conference I'm at in Orlando, to a coffee shop for a hour and was just just getting a refill when Sean (who worked there) noticed my shoes and found them (again, as often happens) rather amusing.  We got chatting about my accent and the Jubilee ("Me? yes; of course I know the Queen!") and Sean's longing to visit the UK. When I asked him if he was from Orlando, the conversation started to take its course.

Sean was brought up in Brooklyn, back when you didn't want to be brought up in Brooklyn and then moved to what sounded like an equally interesting part of San Francisco. He drifted through teenage life and into the inevitable path of drinking and drugs and the lifestyle that that often leads to.

Then he described (in a way that brought the parable of the Prodigal Son to my mind) how one day, when things couldn't get much worse he "came to his senses".  Coincidentally (!!); that was the day he happened to meet a community worker from a local church who told him about Jesus.  We sometimes use the word "saved" in a purely spiritual sense, but Sean articulated how Jesus saved him from the path that he was on in this life as well as the next.

He didn't know why.

Helping folk figure out the purposes that God has for them is something I'm always keen to get involved with.  The verse that came to mind was from Matthew 5:

14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Sean is a lovely, smiling, helpful guy.  His light was shining in a way that he didn't even recognise.  It certainly couldn't be hidden in that little coffee shop in Orlando.  We talked about how his light had already had an impact on me this afternoon and undoubtedly on others.  We couldn't talk for long, but starting to explore how people might "give glory to your Father who is in heaven" as a result of seeing Sean's good works was exciting for both of us.

How about you?  How's your light doing?  Who's getting the glory?

If you're the praying sort, do pray for Sean.  Thanks.

the delayed gratification of youth work

 It's often said that youth work is a thankless task.  I don't agree.   It just seems like it some days.   And then there are other days when you get a Facebook message like this and all the "why do I bother" questions fall into place:

Hi Paul.
Hope you and your family are well!
Do you still reside in the UK or are you now jet setting around the globe?
If you are still here in Birmingham, would you be free at some point for a catch up/chat?
I have had quite a few problems recently (mostly sorted now) that seem to have subsided since i started thinking about faith and what you taught me all those years ago.
Sorry to contact you out of the blue!
Again, i hope you and yours are well.

Thanks, Bob

I'm going to try and get together with Bob (no; of course that's not his real name!) before Christmas.

3 gatherings

The first part of this term has been rather monopolised (certainly in brain power) by 3 gatherings around the world. Previously, this would have involved a lot of aeroplanes, but in this new era of life and ministry that Lesley and I are in, I only showed up to one of these three. 

 The first (and the one I actually went to) was a gathering of all the leadership development and human resources leaders from each of our 13 areas (groups of countries) around the world to plan together and train in some of our key strategies that will move us forward as a global organisation, seeing "spiritual movements everywhere so that everyone knows someone who truly follows Jesus". I count it as such a privilege to help lead and learn alongside these leaders.  If you are into prayer, please do pick one of these folk and pray for them: Leeboy, Ben, Angela, Jose, Joyce, Edouard, Austin, Barb, Doug, Ruth, Dave, Steve, Marc.  (If you email me, I can probably let you know where they are serving as well!)  The ministry of developing leaders and caring for staff is always a tricky one and has such wildly different challenges: physical hardship in Africa, persecution in Asia, legal complexities in the west - the challenges are different, but the unity in commitment to God and the gospel is wonderfully similar. 

The second gathering was round 2 of the "Centre of Excellence" training that was first held in Singapore last year.  I rather view this as "my baby", so it was the hardest thing not to be there with my team this year.  However; the philosophy behind the "C of E" was always to leverage the strengths of a national Human Resources department (Singapore, in this case) in order for them (rather than me and my team) to share their experience with the world.  It was over-subscribed again, but the Singapore team did a fantastic job in helping to equip leaders, mainly from the Asian patch, with a few Europeans and others thrown in for good measure.  The feedback from the participants was really encouraging: 

• “You did a great job! You all put a lot of heart and passion into this training. Thank you!”
• “I enjoyed the exposure to many great resources and wisdom from Singapore and around the world.”
• “Very inspiring”
• “This was the most excellent program that I have been involved in.” 

My thanks not just to my team but to Chee Yee, Wilson, Martha, Tjoh Dju, and the rest of the Singapore team that made it happen. 

The third and final gathering was arranged by Eduard (one of the 13 above), the Area leader for Francophone Africa.  It was the first training in staff care and development that the area had ever had and Edouard had just appointed leaders in each of their larger countries to carry the work forward.  They were new and eager to learn.  I worked with Edouard and John (on my team in the USA) to plan out the training and then John and a good (French speaking) friend of mine, Maggie, went and delivered the training.  This training has only just finished, so I’m still waiting to hear all the stories, but our prayer for them and for French-speaking Africa, as well as the rest of the world, though the other 2 gatherings is the same:  That more people will hear about Jesus for themselves, as a result of better trained and well cared for staff in their countries.

Kalevi

The first European director of Agape died earlier in the summer.  In our first years with Agapé (and for Lesley, even before), Kalevi Lehtinen taught us more about God's grace than anyone before or since.  He was a legend in his home country of Finland, but his impact for God's kingdom was global.  He often described his job description as an "Authorised Distributor of Joy"; a role he excelled in.

If you want to find out more, spend 4 minutes watching how he described his place on planet earth, ahead of the eternity he has now reached.  The clip is on youtube.

Lesley had the privilege of speaking at his memorial service in Finland.  As it was televised, you can see the service on TV7's site and in case you don't want to wade through it all, skip to 1:04 into it.

commissioned

August 20th saw the official commissioning of Agapé UK's 4th National Director.  Pictured here (in order from right to left) are John Arkell, David Wilson, Andy Atkins and now the latest addition to this rather awesome (and sightly intimidating) line-up is Lesley who has just officially been appointed to lead the UK ministry.

Lesley was commissioned at a celebration event themed "Reckless Love for a Reckless Nation".  It was the mission and vision for Agapé in this next stage of ministry, but taking place only days after the UK had experienced a wave of riots, the theme took on a new sense of urgency.

Lesley spoke about God's desire to heal our nation and bring people back to him and the of the role Agapé has to play in this.

As part of the celebration, our whole family were prayed for by our leaders and other folk that are very dear to us (and yes; Joel will grow into that shirt!)

As well as having so many good friends form around the UK, we were privileged to be joined by friends and collegues from around the world that have been part of this journey and encouraged Lesley greatly as she took on this role.  Pictured here (left to right) are Andrea (Paul's boss and Vice President for Leadership Development and HR), Judy (our Global President's wife) and Deb, Lesley's good friend and mentor.

It was a great event.  thanks so much to al those that showed up, sent greetings and were praying for us on the day and since then.  We feel very honoured to be surrounded by such love and concern.  Thanks.

The Roller-Coaster

OK; This is a bit of a cheat. I've just read this update from a friend of mine whose wife died about 8 months ago. As someone who experiences the emotional spectrum myself, it struck me in such a way that I just needed to tell someone, and you came straight to mind. Take from it what you will, but I'm hoping it might be helpful.

I know you may not be a follower of Jesus yourself, but have a read and a ponder anyway. You never know...

"I rode the "Manta" roller coaster at Seaworld recently. It went up, down, around, twisting us upside down and backwards multiple times. Emotionally that's how life has been the past 2 weeks (I've pretty well experienced the whole gamut of emotions while feeling I was being turned upside down and all around). This morning has been down, but earlier in the week I was up.

It occurred to me that how I feel and reality do not always correspond exactly. My emotions reflect aspects of my reality but don't necessarily reflect all of it. It's important for me to identify what I'm feeling, locate it's source and own it. They are after all my feelings. Nobody gave me a happy pill or a sad pill (I know that doctors can do that but let's not go there).

Ephesians 4:17 talks about how the unbelievers walk in the futility of their minds. That word futile jumped out at me and I looked it up: "Futile: incapable of producing any useful result." That really caught my attention because I started thinking about the downward, negative spiral my thinking and emotions sometimes goes on. How do you get off that roller coaster? I'm learning that self-pity, self-focus, self-indulgence are not the path to the exit! Rather my mind needs major renovation. Open up the windows of my mind and let in the light. Let Jesus shine in the darkness, gaze at Him and what he has done and what He says is true (Philippians 4:8-9) and right perspective returns. I think that is what Ephesians 4:20-24 is saying. Put off the twisting, upside down thinking and put on a new way of thinking by anchoring your line of sight on the one who created you and redeemed you. Thinking on these things, reflecting on what Jesus is saying through Paul here has already begun lifting me to higher ground. Lord, thank you for your presence, comfort, light and guiding hand.

I love riding roller coasters at theme parks, but I need to recognise the place to get off the emotional roller coasters of life and walk entrusting today to Him who loves and leads me faithfully forward. I wonder if you've been on any roller coasters in life lately? How did you get off?"

Unlike my friend, I have nothing to be self-pitying about, but still I choose to go there sometimes and allow myself to hang around in that futility. I'm praying that if this applies to you right now, you'll begin (or continue) to have your mind renewed and that you'll find a way through.

Tron's Legacy

I know it has quite a niche audience (so you may want to give up reading now) but my brother and I have been waiting for the sequel to "Tron" for quite a while (i know, we're both geeks). Tron is the 1980's movie of a computer programmer who finds himself inside his own computer game and having to fight for his way out. The "30-years-later" sequel is the tale of his son. I watched it (again) yesterday and ended up chatting about it to a guy called Mike, waiting in a never-ending security line at Orlando airport this morning.

Mike had seen the original and, after doing our comparisons, Mike mentioned the "spiritual" agenda in the movie. He'd dabbled with meditation and was interested to see the "Buddhist influence" in the movie. I'd not really noticed it until we started chatting, but I replied I was intrigued by the Christian analogy. The essence of the sequel is about the Creator's son entering into the created (virtual) world and becoming like one of the inhabitants - the programmes. Despite being known as the creator's son, he was mis-treated, hated and plans were made to kill him. All this because the ruler of that world had aspirations and wanted to be like the creator. Sounding familiar? It has a bit of a twist at the end (warning: spoiler coming if you haven't seen the movie and might want to!!) as the father sacrifices himself to save both his son and, in a way, his creation.

It wasn't quite as clear and complete as that when I was chatting to Mike and disappointingly just as I was getting to the "so where are you on this spiritual journey?" question, the good security folks got a surge of energy and we parted company. I miss my days in youth and schools work when it was part of my job description to spot this stuff and weave it into conversations in youth clubs but I do love it when the opportunity pops up anyway.

I have no idea where Mike is at or where he is heading but do pray he gets to his destination.

Forgive

I often talk to folk about my faith: what and why I believe, but I realised this week, it can often be in quite a detached way. I'm in my comfort zone when the territory is philosophical discussion or wrestling with theology, but how often does my faith-sharing get person? REALLY personal? I'm not just talking about telling my own story of faith, but being in a conversation that costs me something more than a just bit of my time? I was listening to Tom, our Philippines director tell some of his story this week and it challenged me more than I've felt in a while.

Tom's family in the Philippines had been caught in an increasingly violent battle with another family. It escalated to the point where the other family had hired someone to kill Tom's brother. Tragically, he succeeded. The "hired gun" managed to escape and it was thought he may not be caught until he was eventually arrested on unrelated charges and the truth was discovered. To me; that's where it feels like the story should end: murderer caught and arrested. Justice accomplished. But Tom didn't see it that way. He went to visit the man in jail. Here's where the story takes a twist. A twist that if I didn't know Tom or other people that can vouch for it, I don' think I'd believe.

Tom doesn't go to gloat or get angry. He doesn't even go as the "victim" to make the man see what he has done. He goes anonymously to talk to the man about sin and a Saviour. The guards (who all know who he is) let him in and (I imagine) stand back to watch the encounter. But Tom (with what I can only imagine are about as mixed-up emotions as you can get) goes and speaks gently to the man, asking him about why he is jail and what he has done. The man is utterly remorseful and repentant for all he has done, as he tells Tom about the man he murdered. Tom responds by telling him of a Man who can help with that and there in the jail introduces him to his best friend, Jesus.

I wish I could tell you exactly how the story ends, but I was so overwhelmed by this point that I wasn't listening too well. I know the guards told the man who Tom was in the end and not only did Tom have an opportunity to 'forgive on earth what was forgiven in heaven', but it paved the way for the families to be restored to one another also.

That is what it looks like for faith to be costly. To really love like Jesus did. To lay down rights for the sake of God's priorities. I've talked to people about all these things in the past and even liked to think I'd experienced them, but my perspective on reality just shifted. When I was doing Schools' work we often used to do assemblies with some rather pushy or trite analogy that finished off with "that's a bit like Jesus...". With Tom, you just have to say: "that's a LOT like Jesus".

Alex

I've mentioned Alex before. He was the reason (well; sort of) for my obituary I wrote a few months back. I also talked about him in our newsletter if you get that (You should; it's great when we get round to writing one). I have been coaching Alex on a course organised by Agapé's Workplace Initiative, looking at the "Habits of the Heart" - our deepest connections and convictions. It's a great course, but I'm not always a great coach.

My role was to walk Alex through some areas of growth and development that we'd identified, but all this dabbling around in the inner self tends to lead to talking about the spiritual dimension. This is the reason Alex and I ended up in Starbucks talking about prayer for three hours instead of our 'official' coaching appointment (writing a life map for one hour).

I really like Alex. He's a deep thinker and I was happily pummeled with questions I've never even considered asking before. I'd be delighted to tell you the tales of that conversation next time we see each other. We did, however, leave on the note that Alex was really interested in becoming a Christian....he just didn't quite believe in God, which, you have to admit is a bit of a hurdle in the whole "being a Christian" thing.

We chatted and texted a few times over the next few weeks, but didn't manage to actually arrange to see each other until we were due at the next 'Habits of the Heart' group session. The session was the final one of the course and each participant had to give a 5 minute presentation on a personal issue related to the course. It was because I had our last conversation in my mind that it completely blew my socks off to find out that Alex's chosen topic for his presentation was titled "My recent conversion to Christianity".

We met up a couple of days ago to talk through this spiritual leap he'd taken, which in his mind was no leap at all, but just a quiet recognition of what God had been doing in his life. Over quite a while, as it happens. It started when he was 11 yrs old with a friend's father chatting to him in McDonalds about who was in the 'driving seat' of his life and ended (or started for real?) with a drive down the M6 when it 'all seemed to come together'.

There are many things that bring joy in life, but seeing someone take this step into a full-on relationship with God is just the best thing in the world.

A Tale of Two Weekends

The last 2 weekends have been a reminiscing rollercoaster. One we’d been looking forward to for months, one you wish you never have to face.

The first was a reunion of our youth group we led in Whitley Bay 20 years ago. It was fantastic with most of our core crew showing up.

The afternoon was filled with tales of children and parents, houses and moves, successes and sadnesses and re-telling the tales of days gone by when we were slimmer and had more hair (to be fair, that was mainly me, actually). It was also that scary mix of tales that I’d happily forgotten over the years, coming back to haunt with photographic evidence (and in one notorious case of me starring in the production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dreamcoat, video evidence!)

This place was where Lesley and I ‘cut our teeth’ in ministry and youth work. We made our best mistakes with that group and (in the days before health and safety really kicked in) had some of our most reckless fun. For many that had allowed grown-up-hood to creep up on them it was a very warm reminder of the way life was and should be.

Spiritually, the end of our time in Whitley Bay had been a sadness that has lived with me for years, as we saw many of that group strong in faith, gradually drift away or dramatically run from God after we left. But 15 years sometimes makes a lot of difference in eternity, and hearing the tales of those that had found their way back again, warmed the heart more than anything else. There’s still more to go. Do pray for the prodigals.

The second weekend was the memorial service of a friend of ours, a peer from Lesley’s Church youth group, who was killed in a car crash last month. After many years of loosing touch, we had just reconnected with Stephen at his brother’s wedding in the summer, only to be tragically disconnected from him last month until we meet him again one day.

Although the circumstances and primary emotions were completely opposite, the experience was remarkably similar. Familiar, but older faces, stories and recollections being shared for the first time in years. It was a gathering of the scattered Clan coming back together to mourn and celebrate. It was highly significant to hold it on Remembrance Day. Stephen was a passionate history teacher with a special fondness for the war years, so coming together to remember him on this Remembrance Day was very special.

I am very thankful to God for these people he has put in our lives. Looking back on who we have become over the years has reminded me again how much God has used these people to shape that journey and shape me. I find myself unusually overwhelmed by God’s grace in the quality of people he has surrounded me with over the years. It’s a funny thing to forget how much you miss someone until you see them.