What Is Community?

We had a barbecue last night – paid for by a contribution from Alpha Hospital, our grateful thanks to them. This occasion was of benefit to the 35 or so young people, plus volunteers, both of The Vyne and Outside Light. We had hoped that it would also have been an opportunity for building bridges within the community, between residents around the park and the young people who use it - but sadly the residents didn't take up our invitation. We were also joined by Gabby (Council Officer), Councillor Whitehand, Nick the Vicar and two of our local bobbies all of whom saw a well-behaved, engaging group of young people just having a good time.

I’m really not sure why some, at least, of the 150+ invited households didn’t join us – the barbecue was free :o). Their reluctance might have arisen from uncertainty about our stated aims, or maybe because society is increasingly insular, passive and inward-looking. We get home from work, change our clothes, eat our dinner, make a cup of something or open a bottle and settle down in front of the telly. Of course, those with young children have a different routine. I’m talking now of the majority of those who don’t.

But imagine instead a society that’s dynamic, active and outward-looking. What kind of picture does this create in your mind? Is it a positive one? Would the world - our community - be a better place if we were prepared to miss an episode of Coronation Street and – dare I say it – speak to people outside of our normal domain? Isn’t ‘relationship’ the cement that binds a society together – and aren't the virtual relationships you see on our TV soaps just a poor facsimile for real life, a voyeuristic opportunity to cast judgement on someone's virtual actions whilst forgetting that, actually, they're just the product of some writer's imagination?

Is it, perhaps the case, that some of us would rather exist outside of Society within some kind of people-free wasteland where real-life engagement only takes place on our own terms, if we want and with whom we want? I remember a time when that was certainly the case for me. Was I selfish or shy, or was it simply that bad habits had developed and it was hard to give them up? To this day, if I'm honest, I can't be sure. I really hope it was either of the latter. And I really, really hope that it's one of those two reasons that the residents didn't turn up last night - because then we'd still have hope that one day attitudes might more easily change and a real commumity might develop right here in Knaphill.

Although I’m a creationist, (in other words I can’t accept that the Universe, our Sun, our world, its diversity of animals, plants and people, my eyes, my thoughts are all the result of an accident; that somehow supreme order has arisen from explosive chaos [I’m carefully watching my garage to see whether a micro-community forms from any 'new life' developing out of the chaos there]), I also see evolution all around me. Behaviour patterns are evolving all the time and what I once saw in my own behaviour and am seeing deepen in others right now fills me with utter disquiet. My perspective has changed (like a smoker’s might when they stop) and what I now see is a disengaged society, one where its populace take little interest in whatever doesn’t directly affect them - and then complains bitterly when whatever that was turns in their direction and bites them on their behind. I see a Society that would, on the whole, rather stay in and watch TV than engage with a neighbour, let alone a stranger.

Of course, there are exceptions. Football, for instance, encourages community of sorts. Church does the same. But in both cases there is often reluctance to regard the opposing team's supporter or alternative denomination or religion with high favour. Many of us exist within our own dark little world rather than the huge, bright and wonderful world that God created for us.

But this isn’t what God wanted for us. It’s certainly not what he wanted for his church. Jesus wants His Father’s Kingdom here on Earth – one in which God’s rules apply, not ours. He wants a world in which we care for one-another, not one where we would walk by on the other side of the road. He wants a church with no walls and its people living IN the community. But how do we begin to address that if we’re not even prepared to leave our TV sets and speak to someone we don’t yet know? Or if we stay within our own limited and limiting circle of friends – perhaps as a church that spends its life contemplating its navel rather than looking out at and embracing the glorious creation that's all around us?

And yet, increasingly, I’m seeing people who are stepping out; Eileen and her volunteers at The Vyne, Drop-In; Outside Light’s volunteers; the Councillor and Council Officer who turned up with the Police last night; the new Outside Light/Vyne volunteers, John and Barnaby - we’re all beginning to see what happens when we switch off the telly and step outside of our front doors to engage with other people whether they're young or old.

What, folks, do we have to do to be able to share the positive feeling that we’re doing something good when we’re out IN the community, so that others will want to be there too and so that we can become more accepting of one another? If a free barby won't get people out, what will? :o)

I know that Gordon Brown isn’t currently very popular, despite his extremely adept handling of several major crises when he first became Prime Minister. Whatever has happened since, I believe he has basically sound motives. And perhaps it was because of those that in a recent interview he was able to come up with this quote. “Community is basically, not buildings but thousands of acts of friendship and generosity and support for people” Gordon Brown August 2009.

Maybe there's a clue - not just for the wider community but for churches too. And it's a definition that I feel Jesus would have endorsed whole-heartedly.

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

More Ketchup and Thoughts

Hi

I send the link to this blog to quite a lot of people who haven't yet found their faith. It's possible that some of them might feel, sometimes, that the language used here, together with the ideas premised upon our hope in Jesus, sounds bizarre and slightly crazy. I thank them for not expressing those thoughts to me, but in all honesty not too long ago I'd have been thinking the same thing if I'd read what my brothers and sisters and I are writing these days.

I struggled with this for a while. My life changed last year in April when I had a God-experience. Nevertheless there were remnants of worry about 'what would people think' if I chose to express myself in a way that some might call delusional. Believe me when I tell you, for years I obsessed about what people thought of me. As an estate agent, my whole life was centered on doing and saying the right thing because I lived under a microscope where I was 'expected' by many to display weaknesses such as greed, dishonesty and so on. So for me, integrity became everything - but the cost of integrity is that once you slip and make a mistake, even if someone thinks you've slipped and you've not, then your reputation will be stuck half way up the Basingstoke Canal without a paddle.

Yes, I worried - but now I don't. How much better it is to live life in a way that acknowledges that we ALL do wrong - you don't have to be an estate agent, you just have to be human; but through the grace of God, we know we are forgiven so long as we repent and seek to get back onto the narrow path. Once you have that thought firmly in mind, think then how blessed we are that we live in a part of the world where prayer and the open expression of our love for God is not an offence as it is in some other parts.

Above was meant to be a short preamble for my suggesting that take a look at this article by Pete Greig.

Read this and you might be surprised that prayer is so despised by some even in the 'free world', that an organisation would waste hundreds of thousands of dollars to discourage it. Interesting, isn't it, that their way of making the world better is to plaster it with advertising billboards!

Last Monday the Outside Light Trustees had a meeting. We do so every couple of months and try to discern how Outside Light is unfolding. All this was very fine but it left Mary, John H and Malcolm R alone to meet with the young people at The Vyne. This is Mary's brief report:

"John H., Malcolm R. and I tried our hand at circus skills. Eileen had organised an event evening for the young people and included in this was someone who taught juggling etc. Have to say we were shown up by some young individuals who were good at juggling sticks and balls and throwing the Diablo. This distraction was great - someone noted that while their hands were busy juggling etc, they weren't smoking!

Although only a few from Outside Light, We knocked a ball around into the night - had good conversations, including a long one about one lad's aspirations. In the MUGA tennis was played, and the evening had a really positive feel about it."

The best result from Monday came this afternoon, though. John H is a recent volunteer with Outside Light. This is what he wrote: "Just to add , thankyou to Malcolm and Mary that prayed for my younger sister Katie who is currently suffering from depression and struggling with a few areas in her life. She is starting to feel a bit better and is facing the world again. Your prayers are working so thankyou so much." I asked John if he'd mind me sharing that on the blog, partly because of the link above that speaks of prayer in different tones. My reponse to them is to pray for them. If you're reading this and you have faith, will you please joing me, and also pray for Kate?

Much love

John

God Loves Travellers

The weather didn't look too good and half the team couldn't make it.

It looked like not a lot was going to happen outside this Tuesday in Outside Light. Nancy was keen to get out anyway despite the frequent thunder storms so off we went. Myself (Phil), John, Nancy, Rob and Jo.

When we arrived at St Peter's Rec there was nobody there, but within minutes there were four or five lads and girls who came out to meet us. They must have radar.

We chatted for a bit but the weather made it difficult to do much more so I asked Rob and Jo if they fancied a bit of family visiting down Gloster Rd. John and Nancy continued to chat with the youngsters on the rec.

We really didn't know what encouragements awaited us. The family we were visiting are well known to us and have had their fair share of difficulties and from a 'travellers'' background.

They have always been very hospitable towards us at Outside Light and we have been welcomed into their home rain or shine.

When we got there the mum of the house was ill and laying on the sofa, we briefly spoke and then prayed for her for healing and prayed blessing on the house. The daughter and grand- daughter were also present. We also know the Dad pretty well and he then arrived.

Both the mum and the dad were interested in where Rob came from and soon Rob was talking to them about how coming to know Jesus had rescued him from various problems that he'd had in his life.

Some very positive interesting conversation followed but this was interrupted when a lad (we'll call him Joe), came to visit from another 'traveller' family. Joe wants to know if anyone in the house had a 'pressure washer' for a job he's doing. Joe has just recently got out of prison.

He heard us talking about Jesus and stated that on coming out of prison he'd started going to a 'traveller' church and was amazed that the 'travellers' in the church didn't swear, drink or smoke. He also said that he can't stop going, there's something about it that keeps pulling him in every week, and he showed a great interest in Jesus and his death.

We started talking about the possibility of starting up a small group for local 'travellers' to meet and pray together (the nearest 'traveller' church is Leatherhead). We spoke as well about some representatives of Outside Light going to the Leatherhead church to meet the pastor.

Coming away we were blown away by how active God is behind the scenes. We don't have to push God's Kingdom forward we just have to jump in the slipstream.

A lot of people criticise 'travellers', or gypsies, (although they don't like to be called gypsies) and maybe in some cases there is reason for that; but we have seen more good in this family than bad and if God is at work in them then we need to do our best for them.

Jesus loves 'travellers'. What a privilege to join Him in what He is doing with this close knit community.

'Before they call, I will answer.' (Isaiah 65:24)

This beautiful story was written by a doctor who worked in Central Africa

One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all we could do, she died, leaving us with a tiny, premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter. We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive; as we had no incubator (we had no electricity to run an incubator). We also had no special feeding facilities..

Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts. One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in. Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst (rubber perishes easily in tropical climates)..


'And it is our last hot water bottle!' she exclaimed. As in the West, it is no good crying over spilled milk, so in Central Africa it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles. They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways.

'All right,' I said, 'put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts. Your job is to keep the baby warm.'


The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle, and that the baby could so easily die if it got chills. I also told them of the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died.


During prayer time, one ten-year-old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children. 'Please, God' she prayed, 'Send us a hot water bottle today. It'll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon.'

While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added, 'And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?'


As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say 'Amen'? I just did not believe that God could do this. Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything; the Bible says so. But there are limits, aren't there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from the homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever, received a parcel from home.
Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!

Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door.. By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there on the porch was a large 22-pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children. Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly... Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box.



From the top, I lifted out brightly-colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored. Then came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas - that would make a batch of buns for the weekend.

Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the..... could it really be?

I grasped it and pulled it out. Yes, a brand new, rubber hot water bottle. I cried. I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could.

Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, 'If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too!

'Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully- dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted! Looking up at me, she asked, 'Can I go over with you and give this dolly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves her?'

'Of course,' I replied!

That parcel had been on the way for five whole months, packed up by my former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child - five months before, in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it 'that afternoon'.

'Before they call, I will answer.' (Isaiah 65:24)

Let's all party - there should be one going on in heaven right now!

This from George...

"Sometimes we are asked what is Outside Light all about, what are its aims, what are we trying to do? I am hoping that today's blog will give a flavour of the impact we think God makes in people's lives and our aims as a group.

I work for an organisation called Avanti Ministries and one of my friends there has written a book about his life and his journey to finding God and the dramatic way in which that changed his life. I gave a copy of this book to a young lad we have been speaking to on Monday nights. Imagine my surprise when this morning I received an email from the author of the book who didn't know I knew this lad, read on....

"dear tony my name is xxxxx. I am 15 and your book was giving to me by a man called george prehaps in the hope of changing me. Although im young god has been playing a key part of my life even if untill now i have not noticed or believed in him i have proberly abused the greatest gift from god the gift of life.Beer Vodka smoking and drugs had been a key part of my life i had allways looked for love from girls and never found any i thought by replacing them with these killers i would be satisfied untill i was told maybe the love i needed was from jesus. I have liead cheated sworn used the lords name in vane i have never seeked god for guidence and have only blamed him when ive had difficult times.

Thanks to your book i now know how mistaken i have been i understand jesus christ diead for me and am very! greatfull. i thank you agian for writing your book as your book told me about your youth i can understand the anger and rage and i can relate alot to that my younger life was full of anger rage and evil. i also have grown on a sport like you have but i truly belieave god has blessed me with talent as he blessed my idol ricardo kaka threw listening to how gratefull ricardo is and of how in a matter of 2 days that i read all your book i now allways feel that there is a presance with me and that i am now i different person that god has touched me i have not felt the need to somke drink or smoke canibis since and for that tony i am truly thankfull and greatfull ......"

I am not sure where you stand on whether you believe there is a God, I know for me I turned away from that notion for many years, I also can now testify to God being very real and dramatically changing my life but more than that to saving me. Our prayer is that God would change many more lives so that his name may be praised. We really need to reach more people and for that we need more people, will you join us?

Thanks John

George"

I hope you read George's previous blog first, because you'll detect from that, perhaps, that George had been feeling a slight disappointment that the fish keep moving away from the bait. I was a very poor fisherman when I was a kid and I remember watching my float bobble around, and constantly pulling it out of the water with nothing on the hook. This led me to my new strategy of ignoring the float bobbling because I didn't believe it - I just enjoyed the sunshine and my egg and tomato sandwiches. And when I was ready to go home pulling out a half-dead tiddler that had probably hung there for hours. Fishing for fish isn't easy, there's real skill in it. But fishing for men is a different ball-game. All we have to do as Christians is put the ground bait out there, it's for Him to reel in the catch - we don't have to do any arm-twisting/beating people over the head. We just need to tell.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I shed a tear this morning when George read the email to me - George admitted to doing as much too. I know you'll join my in praying for this lad that what he's discovered will continue to grow in him and that what he's feeling right now will become a positive force in the rest of his life. But please add to that a reinforcing prayer that if/when he starts to fall by the wayside again, the Holy Spirit will catch him and pull him back up.

Much love to you all

John

Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." - Matthew 4:19

My apologies for our brief absence. I'm afraid work has taken over recently, and although George wrote the following passage a week ago I've not been very faithful in putting it up. All that said, I had a call from George just now about an email he's just received this morning, and it's not sunny today so I'm not out working - I take photos of really nice houses for a living, most of this work has to happen when it's sunny. I really do make hay while the sun shines - but it's a limitation that I have as a human being. Thank God, then, that He has no such limitations. He makes hay 24/7 and hopefully in the next posting you'll get a sense of exactly what I mean by that. Before you read the next blog though, this from George - should have been added last week - sorry. It's particularly poignant because - with the next blog - it shows how, when we think the hay isn't being harvested, there's more happening than immediately meets the eye!

"I don't know if you have ever been fishing, I actually quite like it and I go about once every half decade and get really annoyed trying to untangle the line that I get caught in the trees. I can never balance the float and generally make a hash of everything and catch very little. 

It feels a bit like that going out on a Monday night sometimes. 

I remember fishing before in a river and I could see a huge fish sunbathing. So I thought, "Right I'll put my bait right there in front of him and surely he will bite." But, nothing! 

It can feel like that sometimes when we're out talking to young people, too! There were young people everywhere last night, some playing football, some sitting down, some wandering. We tried to get amongst some of them and it was a bit like being spotted by a group of fish as they move out from the splash you've just created. 

I decided in the end to try and be a fish, I kicked a ball around, missed about 10 goals and never got passed the ball again. It was encouraging to look around, though, and see a couple of others with their lines in the water; Helen seemed to be in a boat moving around over the lake, big John was getting a few bites over by the goal; Mary was straight in with a big group. 

When all is said and done, when we looked back on the night there were some healthy bites out there, meeting up with a chap on Friday to talk some more, couple of lads have taken some books and will let me know what they think; explained the amazing news of Jesus to one lad; Helen got some good links with a few others; John challenged another lad to follow through on some commitment. 

Those of you that are Christians and not with us might be thinking, "I don't like fishing". You might not have the patience, most likely as with ALL the Outside Light team you won't have a clue how to do it. But, all Jesus asks is that you follow him, he will make you fishers, just follow him. I wonder is he calling you? It's a big lake and we need some more rods out there..."

for his glory

George