Occasionally I come across words that are meaningful to me, and I feel that maybe I should share them in case they mean something to you also.
"Jesus the Good Shepherd came to seek out lost sheep. Thank God that he came on the look-out for us, rather than sitting with his feet up in some cosy barn. Thank God that he didn’t wait for us to untangle ourselves. Thank God that he didn’t expect us to find our own way home."
Friday 30 May 2008
Thursday 29 May 2008
Networking
Dear Church family
Well, this past couple of weeks has been spent networking. Last week I met with Police and Gabbie at Woking Council offices, partly to talk about the specific issues on Horsell Common, and partly to gain support for one or two ideas that have come up; one of which is that perhaps, HCPS could dedicate non-sensitive space on the common for young people to 'do their thing'. This is early doors at the moment and the Trust has to be persuaded that it's a good plan, but I'm hoping this is what God wants and that if that's so then it'll happen.
Last night I went to In Tune, a police supported event in Knaphill and spoke to the local bobbies and one or two others, about anti-social behaviour in Knaphill. I confess I'm slightly confused, as the local community police are saying that Knaphill is relatively quiet, whilst someone in the Youth Seminar that took place, said that statistically there is more anti-social behaviour in Knaphill than on Goldsworth Park! It could be, of course, that neither suffers badly, and I'm sure that's the case when you compare leafy Surrey with inner-London. That said, let's pray that we never have to learn what it's like to live the inner-London way of life in Knaphill.
George has proposed that he and I and any others who want to join us should go out to the green in Victoria Road, opposite the Co-op. We'll be doing this on Monday evenings and we'll be taking a table, some drinks, and a ball etc and seeing who comes along. Please pray for this venture. If anybody is of a similar mind then please do let me know and we'll meet up for a pray beforehand.
One of the young people at last night's seminar said that the park in Sussex Road is a problem spot, she doesn't like to be there alone. Maybe if there's nobody in Victoria Road, we'll give that area a try as an alternative.
Someone also suggested that I should speak to Ypod, and I made contact there this morning. I've arranged to meet next week. Not sure which way this will go - perhaps an affiliation? They're hugely respected, so this might be an effective way forward.
Tuesday I went out again with the brilliant Old Woking team. All have day jobs; one, at least, travels miles to Old Woking (she lives in Aldershot, works in Southampton, which isn't exactly on the patch). I say they're 'brilliant', because of their unswerving obedience to The Lord. Not only do they turn up every Tuesday, they do so without complaint and feel bad about not turning up more frequently. They're inspirational, and I suspect The Lord's really pleased with them.
But they're being rewarded through the real relationships they're building with the area's young people. This week we met a young lad, the brother of one of the girls I've written of before. He was particularly excited about the prospect of 'taking out' Phil at a game of football and invited his mates down to the rec to see him do some damage. When it came to it, of course, he just played football. For all his bravado and language you wouldn't want your mother hearing, he played a good game. Boisterous, energetic, rough but nothing malicious.
It does seem that we're on the road to forming a charity. I'll be using the next two weeks to establish exactly how we do this, and praying that this is God's will. If it's all positive then we'll need trustees; I reckon around 6 or 7. If The Lord has laid this on your heart too, then please don't hesitate to step forward. You may think you're not up to it, but God has a habit of using the least likely people. It just takes obedience and His leading.
God bless and thanks for reading this. Plenty to pray for here. We're really needing you to do this, please.
John
Well, this past couple of weeks has been spent networking. Last week I met with Police and Gabbie at Woking Council offices, partly to talk about the specific issues on Horsell Common, and partly to gain support for one or two ideas that have come up; one of which is that perhaps, HCPS could dedicate non-sensitive space on the common for young people to 'do their thing'. This is early doors at the moment and the Trust has to be persuaded that it's a good plan, but I'm hoping this is what God wants and that if that's so then it'll happen.
Last night I went to In Tune, a police supported event in Knaphill and spoke to the local bobbies and one or two others, about anti-social behaviour in Knaphill. I confess I'm slightly confused, as the local community police are saying that Knaphill is relatively quiet, whilst someone in the Youth Seminar that took place, said that statistically there is more anti-social behaviour in Knaphill than on Goldsworth Park! It could be, of course, that neither suffers badly, and I'm sure that's the case when you compare leafy Surrey with inner-London. That said, let's pray that we never have to learn what it's like to live the inner-London way of life in Knaphill.
George has proposed that he and I and any others who want to join us should go out to the green in Victoria Road, opposite the Co-op. We'll be doing this on Monday evenings and we'll be taking a table, some drinks, and a ball etc and seeing who comes along. Please pray for this venture. If anybody is of a similar mind then please do let me know and we'll meet up for a pray beforehand.
One of the young people at last night's seminar said that the park in Sussex Road is a problem spot, she doesn't like to be there alone. Maybe if there's nobody in Victoria Road, we'll give that area a try as an alternative.
Someone also suggested that I should speak to Ypod, and I made contact there this morning. I've arranged to meet next week. Not sure which way this will go - perhaps an affiliation? They're hugely respected, so this might be an effective way forward.
Tuesday I went out again with the brilliant Old Woking team. All have day jobs; one, at least, travels miles to Old Woking (she lives in Aldershot, works in Southampton, which isn't exactly on the patch). I say they're 'brilliant', because of their unswerving obedience to The Lord. Not only do they turn up every Tuesday, they do so without complaint and feel bad about not turning up more frequently. They're inspirational, and I suspect The Lord's really pleased with them.
But they're being rewarded through the real relationships they're building with the area's young people. This week we met a young lad, the brother of one of the girls I've written of before. He was particularly excited about the prospect of 'taking out' Phil at a game of football and invited his mates down to the rec to see him do some damage. When it came to it, of course, he just played football. For all his bravado and language you wouldn't want your mother hearing, he played a good game. Boisterous, energetic, rough but nothing malicious.
It does seem that we're on the road to forming a charity. I'll be using the next two weeks to establish exactly how we do this, and praying that this is God's will. If it's all positive then we'll need trustees; I reckon around 6 or 7. If The Lord has laid this on your heart too, then please don't hesitate to step forward. You may think you're not up to it, but God has a habit of using the least likely people. It just takes obedience and His leading.
God bless and thanks for reading this. Plenty to pray for here. We're really needing you to do this, please.
John
Thursday 15 May 2008
More Adventure in Old Woking
Dear Family
I've just seen this video and want to share it with you http://www.newlifechurch.org.uk/downloads/Video/Gloster%20Road.wmv You've seen what I've said about Phil Hazelden and his team, now you can see a video - if you have broadband, (just click on the link. If you don't have broadband, please find someone who does - come to me if you like, but please do it). It's a snapshot of the work they've undertaken building up relationships in the community near to their church. For me, it's the interviews with the kids and parents that tell the story and I hope it's a story that you can buy into by supporting Phil and his team in prayer and by keeping on doing that, just as they're faithfully keeping up their work in that community.
On Tuesday I went out again with Phil and his team and first we all prayed to meet a lad who had expressed interest in learning about God but who hadn't been seen for a while. As we left the church, there he was on the other side of the road, going into the chippie. God's really good at answering prayer like that! Marcelle chatted with him for a while and the lad thanked him for 'the book' which he has started to read. Prayer needed there; he's started at the beginning so Marcelle is going to help him with bible notes next week.
Phil and I spoke about how best to support the work in Old Woking and to grow it further afield, and so we're now looking at forming a charity under the name, Outside Light. I'll be talking to friends and contacts about that this week. The idea would be to provide support and to try to oil the wheels, so to speak. For instance, they would like to be able to hold bbq's for their young people but lack the resources to cater for H&S and insurance. Our hope is that by formalising under a name and addressing the backroom stuff that Phil's group hasn't the resources to undertake, we won't just address those kinds of issues for them but will create a pattern for other groups to follow too.
Earlier in the week I also spoke to a really helpful officer at Woking Borough Council, Sarah Henderson, Youth Development Officer, and discovered that the Council is very proactive in supporting youth projects and is supporting Andrew Hargreaves who is a Community Development Worker with a project. On land in Goldsworth Park Andrew hopes to be able to place a redundant sea container, of the type you'll have seen on films, with doors, they're quite large metal boxes. In this they plan to run a motorcycle repair project, to attract young people and teach them something practical. In itself this isn't a Christian project, nevertheless it's a positive one and interesting to relate here.
Sarah also told me that Knaphill Residents' Association are actively looking at providing indoor facilities for the young of Knaphill. Interestingly, that's called Inside Y out H, which sort of dovetails with Outside Light and seems to suggest that the two groups could work together in some way. I've made an initial contact with them and plan to meet soon.
Phil's team had prayed a long time last week at their admin meeting (these tend to be more prayer than admin) and from this they had decided to meet on St Peter's Rec. When we got there, there were lots more young people than they'd seen before in one group, many of them they'd never seen before. It was almost as though the team had cast its nets on the other side of the boat and were reaping the benefits. Conversations were had, relationships were started, plans were made and Phil joined in the football. Meeting there is good.
The thought occurred that one of the sea containers could be a useful addition to a quiet corner of St Peter's Rec, where it might make a useful store, meeting place, drop-in. I hope that Sarah will be able to give us some encouragement about that.
On the way back we met one of the lads that we'd met on Waterer's Park - the chap who had lost his grandmother. It seemed that God was punctuating that evening with another small sign that we're on the right path - small signposts that tell us not so much where we're going but where we've just been. As George says, it's important to GO. Phil's group has acted in obedience these past couple of years and they've gone out into their community. There's no doubt in my mind that God is rewarding their faithfulness. It's not until you take action under the direction of The Holy Spirit that you see the result.
PLEASE, PLEASE, pray for:
I've just seen this video and want to share it with you http://www.newlifechurch.org.uk/downloads/Video/Gloster%20Road.wmv You've seen what I've said about Phil Hazelden and his team, now you can see a video - if you have broadband, (just click on the link. If you don't have broadband, please find someone who does - come to me if you like, but please do it). It's a snapshot of the work they've undertaken building up relationships in the community near to their church. For me, it's the interviews with the kids and parents that tell the story and I hope it's a story that you can buy into by supporting Phil and his team in prayer and by keeping on doing that, just as they're faithfully keeping up their work in that community.
On Tuesday I went out again with Phil and his team and first we all prayed to meet a lad who had expressed interest in learning about God but who hadn't been seen for a while. As we left the church, there he was on the other side of the road, going into the chippie. God's really good at answering prayer like that! Marcelle chatted with him for a while and the lad thanked him for 'the book' which he has started to read. Prayer needed there; he's started at the beginning so Marcelle is going to help him with bible notes next week.
Phil and I spoke about how best to support the work in Old Woking and to grow it further afield, and so we're now looking at forming a charity under the name, Outside Light. I'll be talking to friends and contacts about that this week. The idea would be to provide support and to try to oil the wheels, so to speak. For instance, they would like to be able to hold bbq's for their young people but lack the resources to cater for H&S and insurance. Our hope is that by formalising under a name and addressing the backroom stuff that Phil's group hasn't the resources to undertake, we won't just address those kinds of issues for them but will create a pattern for other groups to follow too.
Earlier in the week I also spoke to a really helpful officer at Woking Borough Council, Sarah Henderson, Youth Development Officer, and discovered that the Council is very proactive in supporting youth projects and is supporting Andrew Hargreaves who is a Community Development Worker with a project. On land in Goldsworth Park Andrew hopes to be able to place a redundant sea container, of the type you'll have seen on films, with doors, they're quite large metal boxes. In this they plan to run a motorcycle repair project, to attract young people and teach them something practical. In itself this isn't a Christian project, nevertheless it's a positive one and interesting to relate here.
Sarah also told me that Knaphill Residents' Association are actively looking at providing indoor facilities for the young of Knaphill. Interestingly, that's called Inside Y out H, which sort of dovetails with Outside Light and seems to suggest that the two groups could work together in some way. I've made an initial contact with them and plan to meet soon.
Phil's team had prayed a long time last week at their admin meeting (these tend to be more prayer than admin) and from this they had decided to meet on St Peter's Rec. When we got there, there were lots more young people than they'd seen before in one group, many of them they'd never seen before. It was almost as though the team had cast its nets on the other side of the boat and were reaping the benefits. Conversations were had, relationships were started, plans were made and Phil joined in the football. Meeting there is good.
The thought occurred that one of the sea containers could be a useful addition to a quiet corner of St Peter's Rec, where it might make a useful store, meeting place, drop-in. I hope that Sarah will be able to give us some encouragement about that.
On the way back we met one of the lads that we'd met on Waterer's Park - the chap who had lost his grandmother. It seemed that God was punctuating that evening with another small sign that we're on the right path - small signposts that tell us not so much where we're going but where we've just been. As George says, it's important to GO. Phil's group has acted in obedience these past couple of years and they've gone out into their community. There's no doubt in my mind that God is rewarding their faithfulness. It's not until you take action under the direction of The Holy Spirit that you see the result.
PLEASE, PLEASE, pray for:
- The lad who is now reading the Bible
- Phil's group and how they might best be helped
- Thank God for his signposts
- Outside Light and what is its future?
Much Love
John
Saturday 3 May 2008
Literacy
Hi All
Oops, almost forgot another important prayer request.
Phil has been trying to encourage some of his young people to learn to read and write. Several have great difficulty with these skills. It strikes me that this is a truly valuable and tangible way to express love for someone who is in that position... BUT I need to know whether this idea strikes a chord with others and whether this might be the beginning of a wider project? Jesus taught. Why can't we?
One obvious question is whether literacy is a problem in Knaphill/Horsell. Does anyone know?
All I'm asking for is prayer, and then feedback. Please don't be shy about leaving comments on this blog. There's a button for that purpose. I'm not looking for commitment from anyone - just confirmation at this stage.
For His Glory
John
Oops, almost forgot another important prayer request.
Phil has been trying to encourage some of his young people to learn to read and write. Several have great difficulty with these skills. It strikes me that this is a truly valuable and tangible way to express love for someone who is in that position... BUT I need to know whether this idea strikes a chord with others and whether this might be the beginning of a wider project? Jesus taught. Why can't we?
One obvious question is whether literacy is a problem in Knaphill/Horsell. Does anyone know?
All I'm asking for is prayer, and then feedback. Please don't be shy about leaving comments on this blog. There's a button for that purpose. I'm not looking for commitment from anyone - just confirmation at this stage.
For His Glory
John
Friday 2 May 2008
Walking with God
Departing from the title for a moment, have you ever driven your car with your foot hard on the accelerator and hands off the wheel? No! Neither have I. But that's exactly what I feel is happening at the moment.
My favourite film, Scent of a Woman, has Al Pacino (favourite actor) as a blind person driving a Ferrari - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJKktFsY1XY&feature=related (copy and paste into browser if it doesn't work). Of course, Pacino had a death wish in the film which doesn't really relate to where I am right at this moment :o) - but he wanted to live a little more first, hence hammering his foot to the peddle; the idea of driving without being totally in charge is a great analogy. At any time I can put my foot on the brake and bottle out, but I'm finding that keeping my foot gently on the accelerator without holding the steering wheel, is leading to strange and wonderful things happening.
Now to the Walk
Last night a small group of us went on a prayer walk around Knaphill. George, Phil, Chris and 'fast-walking' Rae, (George's friend). Following prayer, we split into two groups, with George and Chris going off in one direction and Rae, Phil and me off in the other. We roughly knew that we wanted to walk through the village and down to one of the roads where we thought we might see people we could chat to God about. In the event there was hardly anyone there - just a young girl who walked quickly past with her walkman playing quite loudly. We did pray outside a house that I knew had problems.
Next we dropped around to Waterer's Park - marvelled at the sky because of it's purples and red hues (a storm was coming), and I confess that my heart sort of sunk as we walked from the path onto the field. The picture there was one of suburban bliss - lads playing football on a well-kept open space - a great facility and in no way the sign of a deprived neighbourhood.
We stood and chatted for a moment, the same young walkman girl drifted past, we prayed for her because she looked sad. We remarked that this wasn't a bad place. It felt safe. I, at least, wondered what we were doing there. Where were the people we were meant to pray for? Where were they? God had laid something on all our hearts - we had turned out on a Thursday evening so this was a demonstration that we were prepared to gently press our feet on to the collective accelerator - but we had been steered to Utopia which wasn't where we thought our Satnav had been set to. Then, a voice called out, 'Hi Phil'. Phil responded, walked over to a small group of lads, two of whom had just finished playing football. Another, had been by the park bench with a girlfriend. Turns out that God had led us to meet three of his young friends from the road that his team has adopted in Old Woking!
Rae and I thanked our God for what we took as a sign from Him that we were in the right place, then we joined Phil and the group of young people. They were charming. One of the lads had just lost his gran, but made it clear he doesn't want to listen to Christian stuff - (there's a prayer in the making). Phil's easy manner was instructive and, it was clear to me, was possible only because he actually knows and loves these young people.
On the way back to the village we wondered what that was all about. Met up with Chris and George at The King's House Chill and Chat, played a couple of rounds of cards with some of the young people there, and Jengo?, cup of tea and then chatted.
For us, what started in expectation and seemed to drift into the doldrums, actually became really exciting. God had led us with Phil - who could have gone in the opposite direction - to Waterer's Park where we met his friends - their being there is a rare occasion, not a regular one. Not only that but they had just finished playing football. We had been directed to within 15 yards of where they were sitting, at the right time (which wouldn't have happened if we'd gone first to Waterer's Park and then the road), so that they would recognise Phil and say 'Hi Phil'. Not only that but the storm that was headed our way never made it to Waterer's Park. There was a huge clap of thunder but the sky above us remained blue. As we stood on Waterer's Park looking down to the bottom of the hill we could see the dark bands of rain, but they were elsewhere - echoes of Malc and me anointing the common.
The evening, I think, has certainly increased my conviction that it's good to be obedient, even though I'm not a holy man I can experience God at work by simply putting my foot on the gas peddle and letting God take hold of the wheel.
There was a growing sense last night that Phil's vision that he's prayed over these past couple of years, (that there might one one day be more teams like his working around Woking), could be the way to go. Knaphill (and Horsell Common come to that) might not have the same problems as Old Woking, but that doesn't mean that there aren't young people in those places with a need to know God - even though they might not realise that just yet.
Although it was exciting to meet the lads, we weren't sure what the meaning of that was, even though we knew it was not a coincidence. But to Phil, the most obvious meaning was that God had linked Old Woking with Knaphill.
I'm sure that we'd appreciate prayers for:
With much love and thanks to you all for your support in prayer
John
PS for anyone else not sure what to do on a prayer walk, I found this quite useful before going out last night http://www.dawneurope.net/documents/prayer%20walk%20manual.pdf - as I said, I'm the least of you (the smallest if you like) when it comes to knowledge, holiness, awareness - and I don't mind admitting it. If God can make things happen in my life, he can do that for you too.
My favourite film, Scent of a Woman, has Al Pacino (favourite actor) as a blind person driving a Ferrari - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJKktFsY1XY&feature=related (copy and paste into browser if it doesn't work). Of course, Pacino had a death wish in the film which doesn't really relate to where I am right at this moment :o) - but he wanted to live a little more first, hence hammering his foot to the peddle; the idea of driving without being totally in charge is a great analogy. At any time I can put my foot on the brake and bottle out, but I'm finding that keeping my foot gently on the accelerator without holding the steering wheel, is leading to strange and wonderful things happening.
Now to the Walk
Last night a small group of us went on a prayer walk around Knaphill. George, Phil, Chris and 'fast-walking' Rae, (George's friend). Following prayer, we split into two groups, with George and Chris going off in one direction and Rae, Phil and me off in the other. We roughly knew that we wanted to walk through the village and down to one of the roads where we thought we might see people we could chat to God about. In the event there was hardly anyone there - just a young girl who walked quickly past with her walkman playing quite loudly. We did pray outside a house that I knew had problems.
Next we dropped around to Waterer's Park - marvelled at the sky because of it's purples and red hues (a storm was coming), and I confess that my heart sort of sunk as we walked from the path onto the field. The picture there was one of suburban bliss - lads playing football on a well-kept open space - a great facility and in no way the sign of a deprived neighbourhood.
We stood and chatted for a moment, the same young walkman girl drifted past, we prayed for her because she looked sad. We remarked that this wasn't a bad place. It felt safe. I, at least, wondered what we were doing there. Where were the people we were meant to pray for? Where were they? God had laid something on all our hearts - we had turned out on a Thursday evening so this was a demonstration that we were prepared to gently press our feet on to the collective accelerator - but we had been steered to Utopia which wasn't where we thought our Satnav had been set to. Then, a voice called out, 'Hi Phil'. Phil responded, walked over to a small group of lads, two of whom had just finished playing football. Another, had been by the park bench with a girlfriend. Turns out that God had led us to meet three of his young friends from the road that his team has adopted in Old Woking!
Rae and I thanked our God for what we took as a sign from Him that we were in the right place, then we joined Phil and the group of young people. They were charming. One of the lads had just lost his gran, but made it clear he doesn't want to listen to Christian stuff - (there's a prayer in the making). Phil's easy manner was instructive and, it was clear to me, was possible only because he actually knows and loves these young people.
On the way back to the village we wondered what that was all about. Met up with Chris and George at The King's House Chill and Chat, played a couple of rounds of cards with some of the young people there, and Jengo?, cup of tea and then chatted.
For us, what started in expectation and seemed to drift into the doldrums, actually became really exciting. God had led us with Phil - who could have gone in the opposite direction - to Waterer's Park where we met his friends - their being there is a rare occasion, not a regular one. Not only that but they had just finished playing football. We had been directed to within 15 yards of where they were sitting, at the right time (which wouldn't have happened if we'd gone first to Waterer's Park and then the road), so that they would recognise Phil and say 'Hi Phil'. Not only that but the storm that was headed our way never made it to Waterer's Park. There was a huge clap of thunder but the sky above us remained blue. As we stood on Waterer's Park looking down to the bottom of the hill we could see the dark bands of rain, but they were elsewhere - echoes of Malc and me anointing the common.
The evening, I think, has certainly increased my conviction that it's good to be obedient, even though I'm not a holy man I can experience God at work by simply putting my foot on the gas peddle and letting God take hold of the wheel.
There was a growing sense last night that Phil's vision that he's prayed over these past couple of years, (that there might one one day be more teams like his working around Woking), could be the way to go. Knaphill (and Horsell Common come to that) might not have the same problems as Old Woking, but that doesn't mean that there aren't young people in those places with a need to know God - even though they might not realise that just yet.
Although it was exciting to meet the lads, we weren't sure what the meaning of that was, even though we knew it was not a coincidence. But to Phil, the most obvious meaning was that God had linked Old Woking with Knaphill.
I'm sure that we'd appreciate prayers for:
- The lad who had lost his gran
- Thanks for last night's experience
- What we do from here - we have some ideas of what might be being said to us but it would be fantastic to hear confirmation via other sources. Please, do therefore feedback to me if you feel that God is saying something to you about what happens next.
- Thanks for the good weather
With much love and thanks to you all for your support in prayer
John
PS for anyone else not sure what to do on a prayer walk, I found this quite useful before going out last night http://www.dawneurope.net/documents/prayer%20walk%20manual.pdf - as I said, I'm the least of you (the smallest if you like) when it comes to knowledge, holiness, awareness - and I don't mind admitting it. If God can make things happen in my life, he can do that for you too.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)