Today was an excellent day. Today was a day of chatting with friends. YFC is one great bunch of friends united under the task of youth mission.

YFC staff from London and around the south east got together to listen to each other, catch up and pray together. We heard news, looked at new resources and trialled a new resource called Overcoming to help teach about HIV in schools. This is a great resource developed by YFC and Samaritans Purse and I think it will work great in schools.

It was a pleasure to meet up with so many people that I have not had the chance to speak with for a while. The day started with a brief examen as we looked at what energised and what didn’t. I remembered that meeting with people energised me, and traveling drained me – hence my feelings of excitement now!

After the YFC day I was able to meet up with 2 of my very generous supporters. I had a coffee with Barry who has been supporting me for a year or so despite not knowing me! It was good to meet him and learn a little more.

After leaving Barry I caught up with Leesa in a local curry house. It’s always cool catching up with Leesa and today it was great to hear of Leesa’s wonderfully innovative course that she has written around the subject of pampering to help local church connect with women outside the church. This sounds a cool resource which I am really looking forward to being able to see.

A great day just chatting!
But it’s amazing what happens when people with similar outlooks and desires chat!
It’s not idle chat. It’s not just friendly chat.
It becomes creative chat. It becomes a chat of accountability and a chat of challenge.

Today it’s easy to stay behind computer screens and not really engage with people.
If we do that too much though, I think we start to take ourselves too seriously.
We forget how to laugh at ourselves.
More importantly we forget how to listen to the thoughts of others.
If we do that we start to think we are always right!

Today has been a great day for listening to the thoughts of others and in doing so becoming excited by hearing of how God is blessing friends in many different ways.

Big thanks to all I have chatted with today – you are all individually great and special people.