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.