Joy

I am so lucky to have what I have. Through the generosity of others and the grace of God I live in a heated house with my own bedroom, I sleep in a comfortable bed and eat three meals a day, I have my own phone and laptop and even a car.

And yet, sometimes all I want is to sleep on a thin foam mattress on a concrete floor under a net. I want to walk to the bore hole to fetch some water so that I can bathe outside and wash my clothes in a bucket. I want to spend hours picking stones and dirt out of beans and rice and then cook them over charcoal. I want to sit on the floor in the evenings reading the bible by candlelight with friends and singing worship to our incredible God.

Evening devotions in Kuffu 2013

I’m so grateful for the incredible generosity that people have shown to me, but I believe that joy has very little to do with the things that we have. The reason that I love life in the village so much is not because I enjoy carrying jerry cans full of water and sweating over a charcoal stove, but because these things remind me of a truly joyful time; a time when I discovered that joy is so much deeper and so much simpler than the things that we think we need. I was living and working with people I loved, doing what we all knew that God had called us to. We had no flushing toilets or running water, let alone electricity or internet, so we spent our free time talking, singing, reading and praying. We invested our time in our relationships with each other and with God rather than in our Facebook profiles and the shows we might watch on TV.

Kuffu bore hole 2013

When we strip away all the "stuff" we have, we might think that life would be difficult. For some people; those who really do have less than they need, life actually is difficult and that is a total injustice. But that's a whole different issue (and don't get me started!)... When we know that the necessities are taken care of, we give ourselves a chance to come back to a much a simpler way of a life and to realize that all the luxuries have very little effect on how happy we really are.

In the UK, society is constantly telling us that we need more things and more comfort… but perhaps sometimes we need to stop listening to that, and to realise where our joy really comes from. My most joyful moments are not those when I watch a film or check Facebook; they're times when I'm with friends and family and doing the things I know that God has called me to. I feel the most blessed not when I eat a good meal or curl up in a warm bed, but when I get to see God at work and to know that he's let me play a small part in that. 

Whether I'm in a rural village in the middle of Uganda, or a little town in the middle of the Isle of Wight, I believe that the things I have or don't have will have very little effect on my true joy. That is something that comes through relationships - with those people that God places in our lives and above all; with God himself. In these, I know that I'm truly blessed wherever I am in the world!

If you want to find out about my life as a student youth worker on the Isle of Wight, have a read of my other blog at http://gunvillemethodistyouthwork.blogspot.co.uk/

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"Though I walk through the wilderness"

God's presence is definitely the best place to be.

I wasn't sure whether to share this story, but my friend told me that I should, and I hope that somehow God will speak through it.

On Thursday I had a message from a friend in Uganda telling me that one of our friends had been robbed in the night and that he was 'not okay'. I had no more information than that and no way of getting in contact because his phone had been stolen in the robbery.

I was totally helpless and it was horrible... This is one of my best friends and someone I love so much and I had no idea what kind of state he was in. I did the one thing that I could do - I prayed, I gave the situation to God and I decided to trust him with it.

I finally managed to speak to my friend on Friday evening. He told me that someone had come into his house whilst he was sleeping, drugged him so that he would stay asleep, and taken pretty much everything that he owns. I just thank God that they didn't hurt him because the situation could have been so much worse. Because of the drugs he had been given, he was feeling dizzy and had passed out earlier in the day, but he couldn't see a doctor because all of his money had been taken.

Again, I felt totally helpless and so worried for my friend. To hear one of the most joyful people I know, sounding so down and telling me that he's afraid to go to his own house was horrible, but I knew the only things that I could do were to listen and chat to him, and to pray for him... so that's what I did. I was at a youth event that we were running and it was about to start, so I gave the situation to God, and decided to just let go and worship him... because he is always worthy of our praise.

The following morning I received a message saying that my friend and some others had spent 5 hours in the presence of God until 3am, and that he was now feeling much better than he had been.

God's presence is a miracle in itself and is so clearly the best place we can ever seek to be.

I don't know why this has happened, but I do know that God is working in and through it, and I know that he'll be glorified from it.

The situation is still pretty bad and the police will only do their jobs if my friend can fund their transport and meals. Understandably he's feeling really down, scared and upset. He's lost everything and doesn't know what the future will look like. As I try to figure out how to support my friend in such a rubbish situation, I ask you to join me in prayer for him... I know that God has a plan, and I'm looking forward to the day when I can tell this story in it's fullness with the glorious ending I trust it will have.

If you want to hear about what I get up to in the week, have a read of my youth work blog at http://gunvillemethodistyouthwork.blogspot.co.uk/

If you could not fail

I have a pack of cards that I use in youth work - each card has a question on it, designed to get young people thinking and talking. One of the questions I read recently really got me thinking...

"What great thing would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?"

Ashamedly, my first thought was selfish - I would try to achieve something for myself, like climbing a mountain or swimming a great distance, but I quickly gave up on that idea when I realized that 'inability to fail' doesn't equal 'ease'.

Taking on a great challenge is inevitably challenging (the clue is in the word!) It requires patience and strength and sacrifice, but there are some things that we're willing to make sacrifices for.
I know that with Christ behind me this question takes on a lot more weight, for "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13). Of course, this verse doesn't grant us super powers to do as we please, but it does promise that when we're acting according to God's will, we don't even need to have words like 'impossible' in our vocabulary.

When I thought about this, the answer to the question was a lot more obvious to me... 
And with my answer, I also found a challenge - something to do and act on, something in which I should expect to make sacrifices, but something in which I can also expect to see God's hand every step of the way.

I won't tell you what my answer was... because each of us will have our own answer - our own calling and our own challenge that God will ask us to attempt; knowing that for as long as we stay with him, we cannot fail.


Check out my youth work blog at http://gunvillemethodistyouthwork.blogspot.co.uk/ to find out what I've been up to in my work.

Adventures

Its that time of year when everyone is going off to Uni. Whether they're going back after the summer or starting for the first time. The island is beginning to get quieter; after first losing the summer tourists and now another year group of school leavers are venturing out to live on 'The Mainland' for the first time, as they start this new adventure which university offers. It must be a pretty scary prospect to move to a city when you've grown up in a place like the Isle of Wight. I know though, that these years will be life changing for these young people.

I can speak from experience in saying that being away from home is an adventure, but also that it doesn't come without pain and discomfort:

I left home for the first time in 2012 in a pretty dramatic way - I got on a plane to Uganda knowing that I wouldn't be coming home for Christmas... or in fact for a good few months after that either. Uganda was my adventure... sometimes it was uncomfortable, but it was one of the biggest and best adventures of my life so far and pretty quickly it became my new comfort zone... 

Then in summer 2013 I left and I moved on to a new adventure on the island. Again, its been tough and uncomfortable and I've often had times when I've wanted to return home to the comfort of Basingstoke or Kampala... but here on the island I've grown in ways I never thought I could or would. 

I feel very blessed to be living my life, but I honestly can think of few things worse than my life staying the same forever.

I believe that the pain and discomfort that comes hand in hand with stepping into something new and unknown is often necessary for growth. We grow most in ourselves and in our faith when we are challenged and when we push ourselves to leave our 'comfort zone'. As the phrase suggests, leaving your comfort zone is uncomfortable... but if we never did it, we'd miss out on so many adventures, opportunities and lessons.

'Oceans' by Hillsong has a brilliant bridge...

"Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders, let me walk upon the waters wherever You would call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander and my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my Saviour"

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I spent the last week at Moorlands, starting the second year of my degree with a 'block week' of lectures. Tomorrow we have another 3 day block called 'Personal Development Exercise' - designed (I think) to push us out of our comfort zone... I have very little idea about what it will include because we've deliberately not been told, but I'm really looking forward to it and to seeing what God will do in this next week.

Adventure and growth comes with discomfort... so bring it on!

So here's a challenge... why not do something this week that's a bit uncomfortable, and see what God will do through it. Have a chat with a stranger, pay for the bus ticket of the person behind you in the queue, offer to volunteer for a couple of hours somewhere instead of sitting in front of the TV. 

Take a risk and expect an adventure...

... I dare you!

Stuart

Just over a year ago, I met a child called Stuart. Stuart was once a healthy little boy, but on the day that I met him, Stuart's mother had been asked to pay double the usual fare to bring her son on public transport because the driver had thought that he was a corpse. Stuart was suffering terribly from Cerebral Palsy that he had developed after contracting malaria, which spread to his brain when his family couldn't afford to treat it.
Children with cerebral palsy need regular physiotherapy to stretch out their tight muscles, but nobody had known that this was what Stuart needed, and so his condition had worsened until his body was so tense that people actually thought that he was dead.

I'll never forget the day that I met Stuart. He was indeed alive that day, but there was no life in his eyes. It was one of the most haunting and devastating things I'd ever seen. This was what I wrote in my diary that day:

"Stuart was really, really thin. It reminded me of photos I've seen from the holocaust. He looked at me with wide eyes but there was just nothing there. Moses started his physiotherapy and he cried with such a horrific look in his eyes, but there was just no life behind them; it was horrible."

Last week I was told the sad news that Stuart passed away this summer. I never knew Stuart when he was healthy, but I hope that someday I'll meet him in a place where he is more alive than ever.

The truth is that Stuart died because he lived in poverty. If he had had access to proper malaria prevention and treatment, Stuart would still be a healthy little boy running and playing in his village in Uganda today.

Stuart and his Mum

The truth is also that many people will read this blog, and feel sad for a moment, but then close the window and continue with their day. I often do the same because its easier and less painful to distance ourselves from the injustice in the world and its much more comfortable to make no effort to do anything about it.
So while we enjoy coffees out with friends, nice new smartphones, an endless supply of clean water and all the other things that we take for granted, somebody's child is dying. 

If a member of your family was in the same situation, few of us would even have to think at all before we did something to help them. But for those of us who are Christians, these people really are our brothers and sisters. If we actually acted that way, the world might be a very different place.

I can't tell you specifically what to do about this... God calls each of us to act differently and who am I to know how to combat poverty anyway!? But what I do know is that if we don't do anything, then nothing is going to change, So please... before you click on the little 'X' in the corner of your screen... take a moment to decide what you are going to do about the injustice in this world, and then actually do it.

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Kisaakye Rehabilitation Centre is a locally run charity that works with disabled children in villages in the Kayunga District of Uganda where I met Stuart. They gave me permission to share Stuart's story, and they continue to work with many other children in similar situations. Tragically, this week another child that they work with died. Her name was Amazing Grace. Kisaakye desperately need support to continue the work that they do and to prevent this story from repeating for more children. They have a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/kisaakye.rehabilitation

Perseverance

Sometimes, God uses one situation in our lives to teach us something about another one. When I was about to give up on something this week because I felt like I’d hit one hurdle too many in the youth work I'm involved in, God used a few phone calls to remind me why I shouldn't.

Here’s the story – I receive a message from a friend in Uganda that makes me worried, so I dial his number to check that everything is okay… after a few rings I hear the phrase I've become way too familiar with; “sorry, we could not connect the call to the number you dialed.”

I hang up and try again… 

no less than 24 phone calls later I finally get through to my friend.

24 phone calls!

It’s hard to describe how it feels when you have to hang up for the 23rd time, still having not heard the voice you've been waiting for on the end of the phone.

Persistence can be painful, especially when you feel like everything you try is failing. It turned out that my friend was fine, but the ridiculous effort I had to put in to find that out, taught me something.

Sticking at something when it feels like its taking more time and effort that it should, is really hard ...but what motivates us to do it anyway are the people we love.

The great thing is that God doesn't ask us to love the task, he asks us to love the people.

That means that I don’t have to love dialing the number; I have to love my friend. So I dial the number because I love my friend.

It also means that when I feel like I've hit a dead end in setting up a youth group or organizing an event, I have to remember the people that I'm trying to love in this task; I don't have to love making the risk assessment or going through the process of trying to find new leaders. I have to love the people that I'm reaching through these things and persevere because of them.

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This week we held our first Rock Solid of the new school year. When we first launched Rock Solid in November 2013, only 3 girls turned up, and for the first 3 months that was it and no one else came. We persevered for a while for the sake of the girls that came, and started to watch each of them grow.

Trying to think of enough games that you can play with only 3 people is harder than you might first imagine, but as we persisted, we gradually started to see Rock Solid growing too; slowly, we began to welcome a few more girls to the group and then started to watch each of them growing as individuals too...

Well this week when we added the 19th name to the register and I had to add a waiting list to our folder!

With that inspiration behind me, I now face a new challenge of growing our youth work and discipleship further. I might be hoping that it will be smooth and easy, but I'm not expecting that to be the case. I'm expecting a challenge... I know that as I seek to stretch and grow the young people I work with, God will stretch and grow me - and I know from experience that it’s unlikely to be comfortable. But I will continue to get up each morning and do what I do because I know that God has asked me to do it, and by his grace has given me love for the young people that we work with... and I have faith that this time next year, I'll have another story to tell about what God can do when we persevere.

'Back to School'

So the new school term has started. For me that means that I'm back on the island and getting back into the routine of running youth groups, planning events, attending meetings and just trying my best to make a difference in the lives of the young people I work with.

For some of my friends this time of year means a new year at uni, complete with a new house and a fresh set of essay deadlines. For others it means that their kids are moving up into a new year group or starting a new school, and my Facebook news feed is littered with photos of children in school uniform. But for some people I know, the new school term means another bill to pay, because if they don't pay the school fees, then their kids will be sent home from school.

Unfortunately, for so many people around the world, education is not something that they can take for granted like we do. One of my best friends took his eldest daughter to school this week for the first time. Like many parents, he's had the experience this week of coming back for the first time to a quiet house and missing his daughter; hoping that she's getting on okay at school... but as well as that, and just like so many other parents around the world, he also is embarking on the beginning of a long season of bills and payments just to keep his little girl in school.

I know that it wont be easy for my friend, but I also believe that he'll be okay... I've seen God provide for him time and time again just at the right moment and often from the most unexpected of places. But for many others, the story isn't quite the same. According to UIS, in 2012 there were one hundred and twenty one million children of school age around the world who were not in school.

One hundred and twenty one million.

But God does provide. And often he gives us the privilege of being a part of the way that he does that. Child sponsorship gives thousands of kids around the world an opportunity that they wouldn't otherwise have - to go to school and receive an education that will empower them to have a better future.

My friend was one of the lucky few - he was able to go to school because he was sponsored through compassion as a child and now he's in a position to be able to send his own daughter to school. I asked him whether I could share his story in this blog, and this is what he had to add...

"It takes love and faith to make a difference in this world. Its not always about how rich you are or the surplus on your budget that you can give. Its a heart to help and share and love just as Christ did for us. You know it only takes you as an individual to make this world a better place for one person. It begins with you and the little you can put in - even if its only prayers; start with that and you can make a change."

So as you drive past the kids at the bus stop, or you wave your little ones off to school, or you sit and write your first essay of the new term, just take a moment to think about those who don't have the same privilege of education that we have in the UK...

And maybe take a moment to consider doing something about it?
https://my.compassionuk.org/app/sponsor/campaign/
http://www.smileinternational.org/sponsor-a-child.aspx