Why teenagers can be some of the most inspirational people you'll meet

I feel so blessed to work with the young people that God has put in my life... they're all incredible, beautiful, loving people and although sometimes they act like the young teenagers that everyone expects them to be, they so often they just blow me away with their maturity and wisdom when I give them my time and the opportunity to show it.

Being 13 is really hard; I wouldn't want to go back and battle my way through all the dramas of secondary school again, but looking back I know that I actually had it really easy compared to some of these girls that I work with. As if growing up in itself isn't hard enough, some kids can be so cruel to each other, some homes aren't the kind of places that you'd really want to spend much time, some families are broken in unimaginable ways and some young people have to deal with so much that most people don't even know about.

The girls that I work with are incredible. Behind all the giggles and teenage drama are a bunch of young girls who are navigating their way through life as they start to become young women. They think deeply and love passionately and hurt terribly and care strongly. 
They have hopes and dreams and they're desperate to grow into young women who will not only fulfill their dreams but to help others too.

Ultimately, they just want to love and to know that they are loved and all they're trying to do is figure out how to make sure that that is a reality. Love is such a powerful thing and I've seen massive transformation in some young people just by having people in their lives who choose to genuinely believe that they are amazing and to tell them that.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that my young people blow me away. Most of the time that I spend with them is filled with games, hot chocolate and giggles... but every now and then, one of them will come out with a little gem and tell me something, or ask a question, or do something that reminds me quite how deeply they think, care and love. I praise God that he would give me the privilege of watching him work in these beautiful, incredible young lives.

Ali and David

I believe that a huge part of discipleship happens when we serve God by serving others, and along the way we learn more about him and about how we can live for him.

Two of my friends on the island are planning a trip next year that I'm so excited about because I know how much God can and will do in others and in them through their trip. Two of the things that I'm most passionate about are discipleship and social justice... and I think this trip will incorporate both.

My friends are planning to go to a country in the South East of Africa called Mozambique. God is doing some amazing things in Mozambique, and he's doing a lot of it through Iris Ministries. Ali and David are planning to spend some time working at Iris with some beautiful, precious people who rely on Jesus for their most basic needs.

Both of them light up when they talk about Mozambique... its so clear to see that God is in this plan. They are two of the most inspirational people I know and I'm not even exaggerating - their love and passion for Jesus blows me away and their obedience to him is incredible.

I'm so excited for both of them as they follow Jesus into this adventure, and I fully expect that he will use them there, but also that he will turn their worlds upside down and inside out, he will show them a new perspective, he will challenge them about things they have never considered and he will just grow in them hearts that are more like his own.

I really want to support Ali and David in this trip. They are both amazing, Godly, inspirational people who are just running towards Jesus and obediently going where he is calling them. I would love to encourage anyone who can, to lift them both in prayer over the coming months as they prepare and fund-raise. My prayer is that they will fall even more in love with Jesus, that God will grow in them hearts that are broken for the things that break his, that they will experience the privilege of being a part of God's plans and simply become more and more like him as he uses them to do the same for others.

If you don't know Ali & David but would like to support them in more ways than prayer, give me a shout and I'll be really happy to pass anything on!

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Have a look at my youth work blog at http://gunvillemethodistyouthwork.blogspot.co.uk/

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More than just Christmas boxes

In church this morning we took a moment to bring the Christmas boxes to the front and to pray for them and those that will receive them. It's so great that so many people get so involved in packing a shoebox and sending it off to someone who is less fortunate. I've handed them out myself and seen firsthand the joy on so many precious faces when they receive their Christmas gifts.

Christmas 2012 in Nansana

So let's not limit this to Christmas. A shoe-box will put a smile on a little one's face for a few moments and they will enjoy playing with a new toy and maybe get a new toothbrush and sponge, but tragically, many of these kids might still go hungry the next day. Many of these kids are still not in school. Many of these kids share a space on a mat on the floor at night with their siblings and walk to fetch water from a dirty spring.

Please do go ahead and pack a shoe-box, pack it with toys and toiletries and lots of love and prayers. Pack it because it will put a smile on the face of a precious little one this Christmas.

But please, please, please - have a serious think about how we can make sure that these kids get more than just a Christmas present this year. Some of us will probably spend more on gifts this Christmas than it would cost to educate a child for a year.

https://my.compassionuk.org/app/sponsor/campaign/

http://www.smileinternational.org/sponsor-a-child.aspx

Learning to read at school in Kuffu

If you're interested in what I get up to as a youthworker on the Isle of Wight, I keep a youth work blog here!

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Being a Nomad

In the past 4 months I've slept in 11 different beds (and also on 3 different floors!) in 4 different countries and I haven't spent more than two weeks in one place since June! So although it's the end of October, today for me kind of feels a bit like the end of summer... according to my calendar I now have just over a month to try to get back into some sort of routine before I'm off again!

The whole summer has been quite an adventure, but even just the past two weeks have been absolutely incredible and I'm so grateful to God. Last week, in the 'chat time' at our youth group, I had planned to go through the rules and to do a short talk about the fact that God is everywhere... God had other ideas, and somehow I found myself explaining what it means to give your life to Jesus, and then leading a bunch of the young people in a prayer to do just that! (That'll make a great illustration one day, for a talk about God's plans being better than our own!) I just praise God so much that he would use someone like me to do something so amazing, I love getting to be a part of what he does and to get to see him at work in so many ways.

This past week I've been up in York staying with my best friend at uni. Its been such a perfect week and I'm so thankful to God for blessing me with such an amazing person to call my best friend. York and the people I met there were beautiful, and part of me is a bit gutted that I don't get to have that experience, or even just to get to live with Clare all the time! (walking around campus I couldn't believe the number of people our age that were in one place - I think I know about 3 other people on the island who are in the same school year as me!) 

with Clare

Despite that, I was actually really excited to get back to the island... there's nothing better than knowing that you're where God wants you to be, and after seeing what happened last Monday evening I'm super excited to see what God has planned for the next few weeks. This week we're just about to launch a kids club and a cluster group where we can have more time to explore what it means to follow Jesus with the young people.

Doing life God's way is just like one massive, never ending adventure and I love it so much! :)

My youth work blog is usually updated on Sundays - have a read about the work I do on the island at http://gunvillemethodistyouthwork.blogspot.co.uk/

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YFC Retreat

This week I've been in Wales with the rest of the Isle of Wight YFC core team for our annual retreat. It's been such a great week full of fun, laughter, prayer and a lot of good food! We spent the mornings chilling with God in all kinds of different ways and the afternoons spending time together as a team doing things like 'mountain' climbing (apparently 6km is a really long way?), cooking (and eating) some pretty incredible food, white water kayaking, playing silly games (as you might expect from a bunch of youth workers!), chatting a lot and inevitably complaining about the Welsh weather! Its been so good not only to spend time with each other but also to take out a whole load of time every day to spend with God.

We had a conversation one evening about how Isle of Wight Youth For Christ first started around 15 years ago. To see how much God has done since then is really exciting, especially as we look to the future with expectation. I feel so blessed to get to be a part of that and to work with such a great group of people. IOW YFC started because 2 young guys were obedient to God; out of their faith and obedience they launched an organisation which now reaches hundreds of young people all over the Isle of Wight. I doubt that any of us would be here if others hadn't taken risks to invest in us and empower us to do what we do.

I hope that I'll have the faith and obedience to invest in others in the same way that others have invested in me...

God will use us every day if we'll let him.

Have a read of my youth work blog if you're interested, at http://gunvillemethodistyouthwork.blogspot.co.uk/

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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/