Last night I had the pleasure of attending the commissioning of the new team at Oxygen in New Malden.

The great thing about this job is that I get to see some exciting things – and at this event the enthusiasm, the potential and the sheer excitement over what God has done and is going to do what just excellent to see. Richard, the director, is wonderfully creative and his belief in people coupled with his eye for potential and a desire to see others succeed rather than grab the limelight for himself has meant that this centre has developed organically and really scratches where the community is itching.

Last night I saw people that had given up jobs, taken gap years, moved from Korea, Ireland, Romania and other places in the UK to allow God to use them on the Oxygen team in Kingston. More than this – I saw a whole diverse team of people, diverse in nationality, culture, age, understanding all united under one banner, and all united under one cause – to see Jesus presented relevantly in a variety of contexts.

This was not just a commissioning – this was a time where I believe God was looking in and pointing to each individual person and saying ‘Hey … that’s my girl, that’s my boy … do you seem them? Of them I am well proud!’

You can find more about Oxygen here as well.

We had a great night this evening at Hoo St Werburgh parish church as the people of the Hoo Peninsula gathered to commission Gemma who is the first employed youth worker of Peninsula YFC.

This has been a great process to walk along with these people. In the second or third week of my Local Ministry role with YFC some 3 years ago I met with a small group of church leaders to hear their dream of employing a youth evangelist to work amongst the young people of the area.

3 years down the line Peninsula YFC is up and running, they have Gemma their first worker who is based in a school which has 1500 students.

Sometimes the journey has been hard, sometimes frustrating … but tonight I think everyone saw that all the effort was worth it. This is a very exciting time for this group of people and its been a privilege to be a small part of this.

If you are reading this and thinking ‘I wish something similar could happen here’ – why not get in touch like these people did 3 years ago.

It was great today to be in Haverhill and chat about the mission of the centre.
Beckie has a great vision for reaching young people and I think there’s exciting times ahead for this little town. and I look forward with excitement to what will be happening.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting up with Gemma, the new, and first, worker for Peninsula YFC.

I got involved in the support of a group of people who had a vision for Peninsula YFC about 6 days after I started this new role and it has been exciting to see these people go to great efforts to get where they are today – an established charity and now a worker!

It was great talking to Gemma who we are convinced from the interview is God’s person for the job. I love meeting new people and look forward to meeting up more and hearing stories of God changing lives.

Please pray for Gemma as it is always hard to start a job from scratch. It’s not always easy hearing what God is leading you to do in a new role so please hold her in your prayers for wisdom, for meeting the right people, for making friends, for finding a church and for hearing God.

If you have a connection to the Weald of Kent and want to invest in some exciting and innovative mission please read this and consider Den at Weald YFC.