I wanted a take on what the local bobbies felt about drinking on the common so today I arranged to meet them at the Plough car park. I parked in the only available space, right next to a car that had just been broken into. The chap had been having his lunch and had had his satnav stolen. Don't know if this is significant to God's plans or not, but I've noted it here for future reference in case it'll become clear later why I turned up at that time.
The Police turned up, chatted to the chap then took me to a well-hidden spot where they occasionally meet drinkers. Apparently it had been a den, much like the ones that Ray Mears off the TV would construct; and when it had a roof, carpeting and solar lighting, it was apparently really hard to detect from the outside. Today it's just a hole in the ground with the remains of a fire and, of course, empty cans.
The Police seem unperturbed at the common being used as a place to drink. I think that from their point of view, this is a better place for young people to 'let off steam' than the village centre might be. In other words, the residents would probably give them grief were they to turf these kids off the common and back into residential areas.
Naturally I don't want there to be a heath fire, I don't want the common used for underage sex or drinking, but at the same time, the common is meant for recreation. The main issue for me is that those who use it for recreation, should do so in a responsible way [fire kills, so turning a complete blind eye isn't really a good idea, I think]. On another level though, so far I've met three lads who want to be accountants, one lad of 19 who lives in a large 5-bed house and isn't deprived financially, and another with a regular job as a window cleaner. NONE of these lads appeared to be running on empty. This was confusing because I really did have the sense that the greatest need is for someone to love the young people who are at the bottom of the heap. In other words, nobody I'd met so far fitted the profile. (Yep, I know this is a strange way of looking at it but it's the easiest way to explain my confusion).
At 6.30 I prayed to God to give me a hand. I reminded Him that I'm a total beginner and I confessed that I felt like a fraud - I stood at the front of the Church, twice, and shared my concerns - but I hadn't had our nation's future accountants in mind as my anticipated clients when I did that. (Interestingly David Gale on Sunday described perfectly how I felt when he said the he often felt like a fraud.) I asked God for the way forward. 7pm Phil Hazelden called and offered to come around, with his team, THIS EVENING! I, of course, was delighted.
Phil's group works in Old Woking with young people who are the types that get asked to leave youth groups, cause trouble, can be a pain. Their mission is to love them as Jesus does, and to help them find their way.
They've just left, and here's what they said: From their early days their vision and prayer has been that one day there might be other groups like theirs in Woking, who would support one another, meet, pray together and share ideas and resources. They also said that in their early days, they deliberately prayed more than taking action - in other words they spent 60% of their time in prayer and 40% taking action. I can see the logic in building up prayer defences and prayer offences. They were really good at providing pointers as to how to open up conversation with young people from a standing start. We prayed together and we asked for guidance for the future. For me (and indeed Phil's team), I think it's important to wait on The Lord. What seems like it might be a great opportunity to us at the moment might not be what He has in mind. SO - I really would appreciate your prayer about this in particular. Please ask God to confirm whether my focus should be on underage drinkers on Horsell Common or on those young people who are at the bottom of the pile in a more general local area. Please also pray for confirmation that Phil's group's prayer for a wider network of groups with similar aims is what God wants. And whether Knaphill/Horsell/Horsell Common might be the next one.
What I mustn't do is try to do anything in my own strength. It's essential for me that God lights the way forward. Phil said also that it's important that others who feel called to this work should feel strongly about it. He also said that he felt that God had wanted him to look at these young people and to ask himself how he'd feel if his own son had somehow been brought up in the environment and with the same disadvantages as some of them had. Would he love his own son as much as he does now? You know the answer to that question. My next action will be to pray - hard and long. If you can, I'd really appreciate you doing the same.
For His Glory
John
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