Quo Vadis?

Dear Friends

I have just returned from a great week in Rome where I was helping to lead the training & development of emerging European leaders.  (You may remember that last September I was with these people in Ethiopia.)  

I was struck afresh by the wonderful quality of people on this course not the least shown by the love they have for Jesus, one another and the people of Europe who don't yet know Jesus and their commitment to taking Jesus to these people whatever it takes. It was humbling to be in the city of Rome where countless Christians in history have devoted their lives, both in life & death, to making Jesus known.  

Our time together was finished in a very old little chapel just outside the city walls where allegedly St Peter, who was fleeing the city for his life, met Jesus going the other way.  Peter asked Jesus 'Domine, Quo Vadis?' - 'Lord, Where are you going?' and Jesus replied that he was going to Rome because Peter was leaving.  Peter responded by immediately returning to Rome where he was to eventually give his life as a martyr.  

As we sat in the chapel and considered Peter's alleged encounter with Jesus we were profoundly struck by this question for ourselves.  Quo Vadis?  Where are we going?  Will we go back to the cities of Europe we have come from with the commitment to making Jesus known even though it is hard and fruit is often scarce? We each responded, many through tears.  

So, now I find myself back in Birmingham & I ask myself 'How will I make Jesus known today?'

With love & appreciation for you all

Lesley

P.S. Forgive my Latin grammar if it's not accurate!

The Old Man of Youth Work

25 Years. I just worked it out, so I thought I'd tell you. I sort of started youth work when I was 16 running a Friday night "coffee bar" (with no coffee, but netting on the ceiling, scary coloured lighting and music that was "too loud" apparently) so that makes it 25 years I've been involved in youth work. It seems weird now that I was only a full-time youth worker for 6 or 7 of those years, as it still feels so much who I am.

The thing is, I still love it. I keep wondering if I'm just too old for this now. Shouldn't I be kicking around with grown-ups a bit more? The truth is (and my apologies to anyone reading who considers them self a grown up) most grown ups are just too........ 'grown up', I suppose. I like most of them in moderation, but teenagers are just fun. They're rude about my lack of hair, they eat all my biscuits, they won't go home when I tell them, they ask difficult or just plain inappropriate questions (and all those things just this past week) but I love it.

I've never really been one for the wacky games and stuff (The youth team at Olton know I hate organising the games nights!) but the chance to sit and chat and work through issues and see folk grow in their spiritual understanding and walk with God is just the best fun I have.

Last week i was sorting through some pre-historic paperwork in our study and, in the process, spent far too long looking at old newsletters we'd written. It was so good to look back, remember names and faces of teenagers from the past; folk who'd wandered into our lives for a little while then wandered onto adulthood. It's such a joy and privilege to have been involved in so many lives in this way. A number of them are kind enough to get in touch along the way and reflect back fondly on "those days". Some even articulate the ways that we helped in walking that part of the journey with them (often quite unbeknown to us). A couple of weeks back I had a stack of folk that we worked with when we were in schools work track us down on Facebook. It was so good to hear what they've been up to, what and who they've become and in a few cases where they are at on the spiritual journey we spent hours talking about all those years ago. Youthwork is often a thankless and bitter-sweet experience, but it gets addictive!

For those of you that pray, please do pray for the current batch we are involved with. "Youth @ Olton Baptist" (YOBs) meet on a Sunday eve and "xlr8" is a smaller group of them that meet at ours on a Thursday eve to get into the nitty gritty of their faith. Thanks folks.

Obituary

Paul: One of the teams we have in the UK works alongside members of the business community in Birmingham to help them develop personally and grow in their understanding of their spiritual journey. I've been involved (when I'm in the country) for a few years now and am currently involved in a course called "Habits of the Heart". It is designed for those of faith or not "to help you rediscover a sense of balance, purpose, integrity and spiritual energy in the midst of a busy working life" and it's great fun!. I'm coaching a guy named Alex who owns and runs a Chinese restaurant. Alex isn't a Christian, but is very open to talking about issues of faith and the things that draw him towards God and those that push him away.

One of the exercises we both undertook last week was to write our obituaries. It's a really helpful exercise in getting you to reflect on how you want your life to be remembered and therefore how this should be reflected in your priorities right now. Having rather unwisely put my 'Facebook' status as "Paul is finalising his obituary" last week, (and got appropriate "what??!!!!" responses back) I agreed to post my obituary here for you to read. It still feels a little unfinished, but I'm not planning on using it for a while! All comments or thoughts gratefully received! You may want to have a go yourself......

Here goes:

"Although as a boy he never showed much aspiration, through his late teenage years, Paul had a growing passion and desire to make an impact on the world he lived in. Birthed in the frustrations of his time in the insurance world and growing during his years as a youth worker, this passion found an unexpected home for a while in the world of Human Resources.

Paul’s impact was multifaceted. It was professional, striving towards excellence in all that was done particularly in staff care and development in the charity sector. It was personal, being convinced that care and development happens one life at a time, person to person; and it was spiritual, knowing that true and full transformation can only happen with God’s power.

His recurring prayer ‘to be a blessing to those he came into contact with’ expressed itself in his smile, his (often inappropriately timed) laugh, his inquisitiveness about the lives of friends and strangers and his desire to see all of them continue on their spiritual journey and come to know God in ever-deeper ways.

After God, Paul’s delight and priority were Lesley, Charis and Joel whom he loved more than life. He was their coach, their advocate and friend and his greatest pleasure was seeing them grow into the people God called them to be. The ‘bride of his youth delighted him all his days’ as increasingly day by day he realised exactly the amazing woman she was and the blessing she was to him.

The pains and struggles that are common to man may have knocked him along the way, but never knocked him from the arms of his Saviour and Friend."

Thanks for reading!