I got back from Wareham in the early hours of the morning, deciding that traveling along the M3 and M25 at 11/12 at night was going to be better and give me the whole day to work rather than just half a day. I also decided to drive as I had a load of energy after the meeting and new it would take m hours to get to sleep.

The enthusiasm shown by the 20 or so people last night was mindblowing. Many of them were old, most had no clue about reaching young people, most were scared at the thought of approaching young people in the park/streets/school, all told me their churches would not be suitable for young people when they became Christians; but all, every single one of them had an obvious passion for the young people of their town.

They understood they did not have the skills, the knowhow, or probably even the energy; but they know as well that God is telling them they have to do something for the teenage generation of their town. The level of faith, the expectation and the desire to follow God’s will was outstanding. It reminded me that my personal ‘myth’of ‘all the exciting stuff happens in the urban centres’is so badly wrong!

The leader of one of the churches was a guy called Paul Shepherd and the name rang a bell. He used to live in Gillingham when he worked for Medway YFC and also did some work in Gilingham Baptist Church. An amazingly small world; it always surprises me how God brings people together who share both passions and interests.

I’m fairly sure that I will me traveling to Wareham again in the not too distant future as things move forward. If you know people in churches in this little town, or have other connections, get in touch as these people are going to see some exciting transformation happen in their town.