Pirates, Parrots and Masks

From George:

This week I have been helping out at our holiday club; the theme is pirates. So I donned my mask and fake moustache and stuck a stuffed parrot on my shoulder for added authenticity - drew the line at cutting my leg off and replacing it with a wooden peg, though. Having worn the mask during the day, I reflected last night at Outside Light on how everyone, on occasion, wears a mask depending on who we are seeing and talking to.

There is a lad - under 16 - who we have been speaking to for a while, who has made a commitment to Christ and is starting his journey towards knowing him better. He poured some of his heart out last night, and it was interesting listening to what he described as his life with his mates and parents over the last months. He is someone who admits still to taking drugs, drinking alcohol, sleeping around and so on, but underneath all that is a young guy who is hurting, lonely, empty and feeling so very rejected.

It reminded me why I do this work. Underneath our masks we are all hurting in a way, failed relationships; promotion that didn't quite satisfy; the joy of losing that half a stone just faded - I could go on. Most of us 'put a brave face on it'. Some of us look for relief in the bottom of a bottle. But that doesn't remove the hurt; it simply anaesthetises it for the pain to return tenfold later on. Even more encouraging then when someone sees that Jesus came to set us free from our slavery to these things. This lad knows that truth, but he still hides behind the mask when he's with his mates - peeking out just occasionally when he's with us.

I know from experience though, that that's often the way. Many find Jesus, reject his ways (it's just too hard sometimes to accept them totally), then something happens and you snap back with a crack and commit your life to Him. Thing is, His hand is always there to grab you back just as you're sinking - and He will save you! Just as he saved Peter when he stepped out of the boat, walked on water, lost his faith and was then in need of rescue. Our part in this is to be there and suggest that you reach your hand up to His.

Another (older) lad is running away from his problems, living by candlelight, alone, spending his money on bags of grass instead of food and electricity, and so the story goes on. This chap and others like him desperately need to fill the gap in their lives (mind the gap), the problem is they are going in all the wrong places in our opinion. The problem is that he's written himself off. He feels no hope - and he probably never will enjoy that experience, unless one day he listens.

So many of these young people KNOW that life should be better than this but they lack any motivation in a world that says you get value from what you do, not from who you are. They simply crash out of the pressure and turn to other things. Both of the lads we spoke to recognise that when they're doing the bad stuff it's not helping them. And afterwards they feel much worse than when they started, but still they do it again and again. Doh!!!

Most, though, appear to be just genuine youngsters who are having fun hanging outside and passing the time. But I wonder, if we looked under the masks of some of the others, who we would see?

As we build our relationships, we are occasionally privileged to hear their stories and wonder whether, perhaps, there is a degree of pain in most of them.

Mary and John this week spoke to a young girl who is an achiever in a lad's world. She's athletic, bright and determined, but she struggles to overcome the rejection and bullying she receives from her male team members (there are no other girls in he team) - no doubt because she's actually more accomplished than them in many tasks. She gets relief, therefore, from being away from her team and fooling around with her mates - she admitted that she behaves much as they do in order to fit in to the group, even though she actually has a faith (not a practising one currently) and is from a church background.

So in this case we actually have someone who is wearing a mask for the opposite reasons to both of the boys. This is someone who needs to fit in somewhere and find her equilibrium, some kind of balance in her life so she hides her accomplishments rather than her failures.

She's like a diamond in the rough. We've seen how, in the past, she's been the sensible one putting the brakes on some potentially foolish group activity. What would the group be like without her? Sometimes God's design is just visible if you look for it.

Be encouraged reading this that the first young lad wants off of the treadmill of drugs, drink, sex, anger and we will keep you posted on how God changes him.... Meanwhile please pray for the other lad to open his eyes, ears and heart and for the young girl to grow in strength.

Much love

George