Outside Light - Update 2009

It’s interesting that the Gloster Road Group, Outside Light’s forerunner, started four years ago but it’s only really in the last nine or so months that the wider world has cottoned on to the fact that UK society has a problem. The Princes’ Trust, London’s Mayor, New Economics Foundation and UNICEF have all now recognised that young people (the non-joiners) feel alienated and are unhappy. The consequences of this are all too obvious. Young people hang around on street corners ‘making a nuisance’ of themselves; some cause damage to property and a few cause damage to people. Our concern is that left to their own devices, with little adult input or interest, young people are in danger of falling into the wrong company and starting down a long and slippery slope.

How might Outside Light help?
There’s an obvious need for young people to feel more valued than they do at present. Ideally they would enjoy better relationship with parents/teachers and other adults who are close to them. However, for whatever reason, this doesn’t seem to happen. Outside Light therefore has several objectives, amongst which are the following:

• To engage with young people, the non-joiners – to chat with them, not to judge them
  
• To show them that adults, with whom they’re safe, value them
  
• To help them wherever possible – some need help with reading etc
  
• To kick a ball around with them and take food and drinks out to them
  
• To ensure their viewpoint is understood and considered by the authorities and others
• To provide choice in spiritual matters – most are unaware of the availability of this dimension in their lives. IS this the reason that some lack a moral compass?
  

So far this year the weather has been against us in the sense that we’ve gone out on several evenings but have met only a small number of young people – except on one recent occasion when we met 15 or so, kerb to kerb across the road as we left my home one evening. :o)

On another occasion, George, Michelle and I met just the one lad. We had a flask full of hot chocolate, enough for 20 or so cups, and it was so cold that the majority of kids must have been tucked up watching tv somewhere. Anyway, this one lad was probably 20, and a karate teacher – he’d been out all day door-to-door selling, promoting his karate lessons. We struck up conversation with him at a bus stop and he was happy to chat. George shared the Gospel with him and this lad ended up giving George a big hug - his initiative, not George's - and accepting prayer. Without any exaggeration, he was genuinely pleased that we’d stopped and given him our time.

There are perceptions about young people that are easy to understand but nevertheless, in my experience, incorrect. The first of these is that young people aren’t interested in having a spiritual dimension to their lives. The above evidence says otherwise. I’ve also video of George chatting to 15 or so younger people, all sat around him on the grass listening and debating. I believe that it's not that they're not interested in spiritual stuff - more that they just don't know that they have a spritual option.

Secondly, there’s a perception that young people in groups are to be feared. Maybe some are, but to date we’ve only met those who have charm, wit and are happy to engage with us. They’re genuinely happy to see us. Apart from the police, we think that we might be the only adults other than their parents and teachers who acknowledge them on a regular basis. Often, as I’ve said above, they have poor relationship with parents and teachers. The police aren’t always able to say anything positive to them – circumstances usually dictate the opposite. Outside Light might, therefore, be the only adult contact they have that positively affirms them.

Funding
I’ve a suspicion that most of us are fearful of mentioning Jesus for the reason that the secular world will think us ‘mad’. From the early days, however, we decided that we would be completely lacking in integrity and trust and faith if we tried to hide our beliefs and our motive for our going out to young people. We realised that our stance might affect our funding – the work we do requires money - and in a world where some authorities find the Nativity 'risky', there's a reasonable chance that we'll be seen by some as threatening and without worth. However we prayed that the value of our work would be seen for what it is and that those holding the purse strings would be able to understand that the Christian ethic is a potential benefit to young lives. Christianity promotes selflessness, love for others and other strong moral values; the precise opposite, in fact, of many behaviours that are now widely accepted as a fact of life in the secular world. Underage drinking, teenage pregnancy and illegal drugs are, sadly, everyday events that take place around the lives of many of our young people. The more exposure young people have to these, the more ‘normal’ they seem to them. All we want is to redress that balance and encourage young people to think for themselves. We're NOT in the conversion game - although naturally we're delighted when someone is able to work out for themselves the benefits of Christianity. We have applications for funding being considered at the moment. We do hope that our openness will not go against us.

Volunteers
Our numbers have reduced over the winter period – but then so has the number of occasions on which we have been able to go out. God provides according to our needs. These coming weeks, however, we shall be hoping for our numbers to increase. Ideally we should like to go through an induction period with new volunteers so that child protection training etc might be delivered before they go out. If you’re interested in joining us please give me a ring – 01483 474737 - any time soon would be wonderful.

Other Updates
The Gloster Road team has been further developing relationships with the family of the young lad who has been in prison. The lad came out of prison, things seemed to be going well but then he was arrested again last week. I’ve yet to receive an update. However the great news is that the mother’s Christian commitment appears to be growing, to the extent that she has talked about starting a cell church for travellers in the Woking area. At the moment she attends a ‘Travellers’ Church’ in Slough, which is apparently the nearest church to us that caters for the Travellers’ community.

Company Formation
Thanks to our solicitor, Mike Tinling of Barlow Robbins, Outside Light was registered as a company at the beginning of December. A recent meeting of Trustees decided to close down the Gloster Road group and transfer assets to the new Outside Light bank account. Also, the decision has now been taken to operate under our own Public Liability Insurance providing £5M cover, thus we shall no longer operate under the umbrella of the New Life Church insurance. However the church will kindly continue to provide financial support as before.

Getting Young People Indoors
Eileen Martin, Knaphill Residents Association's very own mover and shaker, has negotiated a ten-week trial use of The Vyne, the village community centre, specifically for those young people who tend to hang about on the streets. We have committed to providing one volunteer from Outside Light to assist inside the facility each week, whilst others of us will continue to go out and try to spread the word that the facility is open. If the young people take to the idea of the facility, and if it works to the satisfaction of The Vyne's managers, then there is hope that the arrangement will be allowed to continue. Naturally, our team will all work inside the facility if and when the young people all start to use it.

Before The Vyne opens as a youth facility though, The King's House Coffee Shop has kindly opened its doors to Outside Light on Monday evenings, allowing us to use that as a base, and to take young people back there for a drink if they want. Our thanks to the Trustees for their trust in us. Eric Pepper is facilitating our use of the premises until the insurers have confirmed in writing that they are happy with the arrangement - Eric, thanks again.

I wonder what will happen this year?
Will we see the acceptance of the secular world that there might be a role for an openly Christian group to engage with young people? I do hope so. We're trying to promote selflessness and a love for others. Surely that's a more positive path than they're likely to follow if they're left alone.

Will we see more volunteers joining us?

Will we see more churches joining us? Churches of different denominations?

Our most immediate need is for a new Treasurer. Our many thanks to Helen, who holds down a job that takes her from Blackpool down to the south coast, and who, despite living many miles from here in Aldershot, for four years has not only looked after the books but she's managed to go out with the Gloster Road Group on most Tuesday evenings throughout that time. Will another person come forward? We do pray so.

We have asked Woking Council to look at helping to provide a drop-in facility in Old Woking. There are potential premises that are empty and that are not unlike those that they have just provided for youngsters on the Barnsbury Estate. Please pray about this and I'll keep you updated with progress.

Your prayers would be appreciated for the above.