Prayer for Burma

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It’s amazing and unusual to see the plight of Burma displayed in the British Media. I think the fact that the British media are currently taking interest shows the magnitude of what is currently happening in this country.

You can see the reports from the BBC here.

For the last four weeks Monks have been protesting and recently members of the public have started to join them. Today in 25 cities people marched in protest and the turnout has been estimated at between 50 000 and 100 000 people. Last week they dared to march past Aung San Suu Kyi‘s house, and she dared to greet and wave to them from behind her barricaded garden.

This is revolutionary stuff. This does not happen in Burma. People are terrified of repurcussions, poverty is massive, corruption is rife. The military control is violent and predatory. For people to do what they are currently doing takes a massive amount of courage andis an indication of how desperate the Burmese people currently are.

There is real concern here that needs our prayers. The military generals have said they are ready to take action. The last time Burma saw riots like this the ‘action’ taken by the generals left 3000 unarmed citizens dead.

Plese pray.
Please write.

Another new beginning

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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.

Male Actor Needed Urgently

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Inside Out is part of Reflex, a YFC ministry that does some excellent work in young offender institutes. Below is a great opportunity:

Male Actor Needed Urgently

YFC’s theatre company InsdideOut is looking for a male actor to work in prisons as part of their HMP Hope Tour, visiting every Young Offenders Institute in England.

So if you can act and want to take the gospel to some of the most marginalised young people in the country then contact us now for more information.

Tel: Jo Pinchin 07974173729

e-mail: insideout@yfc.co.uk

new dreams new beginnings

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Yesterday I met up with two people who have left friends and a known way of working to take up a new challenge.

In the morning it was great to catch up with Luella whom YFC and the Warham Trust have appointed to develop a Basingstoke YFC. (If you live in the area and want to help – why not get in touch with Luella). Luella has a dream for the centre and I believe this will develop pretty quickly.

In the evening I attended the induction of Jim Findlay as priest in charge of St. Mark’s Salisbury. This was a great occasion and a case of another, very different person, who has a dream and another person who will see his dream fulfilled.

While driving home from Salisbury last night I reflected upon my day and realised that Luella and Jim are very different – a young female YFC worker and an ageing married Anglican priest. And yet … they are united in that they realise the call to mission and minsisty involves sacrifice.

Yes, mission is exciting, a privilege, a great buzz – but there is a cost, there is a burden to bear which we do not talk about enough. In our society where people are out to get what they can as quickly as they can, the language of sacrifice is unpopular. The pain of leaving friends, of isolation, of being misunderstood, of responding to peoples hidden and sometimes subconscious agendas all take their toll and cause anguish, heartache and questioning.

Two people, leaving loved ones, places they have called home, to walk into the unknown, where they have to start again, prove themselves and cry out to God for guidance. They are not alone, as there are many others in Christian ministry both past and present who have or are walking the road they are walking.

Is this what Jesus meant when he spoke of taking up our cross to follow him? I think it may be part of the answer!

Sacred Day

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Today has been a packed, but wonderful day.

I started in Tooting United Reformed Church to meet with some people to chat about the centre. We had a good conversation around the topics of urban and multi-cultural ministry.

After a brief stop for lunch at my favourite food stop in Westminster (favourite due to the size of portions and friendly family that run it) I managed to catch up with Ian who acts as my consultant for this last year of my training. We had a great chat around leadership in emerging church, my view of sacramental theology, how I saw myself as a priest and what this means in new forms of church. I really appreciate this time and it has given me a mass of thinking to go through.

Following this I met god friend Nichola at The British Library and we visited the

Sacred

exhibition. There are a few days of this left so if you get a chance go visit as its both amazing and free! Seeing the beauty of texts hundreds (and in some cases 1000!) years old is amazing. The sheer care and time in producing them is an act of worship itself.

From the British Library we headed to the Mudlark for the customary drink and food before lectures at Southwark cathedral. Tonight we looked at ethics around marriage and singleness and how eschatology and pneumatology have a bearing on them. (confused … want to know what that means? … get in the queue!)

An entertaining journey home with 2 lecturers put a good end to the day.

As I reflect on the day itsef, I can recognise God in the ordinary, the everyday as well as in the special and extrardinary. In a very real way today I have experienced God transcending the barrier which we have created called secular / sacred as today I clearly experienced God in both.

Love

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Last night my lovely daughter went to the youth service at church which was looking at how we know God’s love.
When I got home from Gemma’s commissioning I saw thos little package that Beth had made for Sarah and myself.
WE are not allowed to open it as it contains a bit of her love for us and if we open it the love will get out!

Burma monks protest

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These protests have been going on for sometime but usually fail to hit the press. It’s frustrating – and I do wonder if Burma was rich in oil supplies or some other commodity the western world needed that more would speak out against the injustices in this country.

Please join me in praying for the people of Burma, and especially that this uprise of protest will not result in more bloodshed and pain.

The BBC report the story here.

Commissioning Gemma

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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.

God in the Simple …(again!)

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Today I led my last assessed service at St Mark’s. I’ve had to do 2 assessed preaches and 2 assessed service leadings each year for training. The worst thing about these is finding 4 people to complete the A4 form. I have always felt the need to be very apologetic as I ask people to complete a form for me as people are coming to church to worship and did not expect to come to fill in a form and assess me. I have managed, in the main, to use different people each time which people have appreciated.

Today I led the morning service and tried some different things such as use this Captives loop from Work of the People as I read an adapted poem which led us into a time of confession. This followed an excellent talk from Graham around the subject of ‘Looking after Number 1’

But I have been amazed at the feedback for one very simple thing that we did in the service. A young woman called Claire is going on mission to New Zealand for a few months. Rather than pray for her upfront as we would normally do, I had planned to walk with her to the centre of the congregation and ask people to stand and pray for Claire from where they were.

It seems that this simple activity was profound for so many people. People afterwards spoke of a sense of Spirit, a real sense of family and community blessing Claire, one person on the assessment form refereed to it as ‘awesome’ which I was obviously both pleased with and humbled by!

This resonates with my thoughts throughout the year around my tendency to make good use of technology whenever I can, whereas I am often surprised by how powerfully people connect with God in the simple parts of the service. I had expected people to be inspired by the video and poem, and some were; but the point at which God really broke through in a tangible way for many people this morning was when we
turned to the centre of our worship space,
looked at each other,
concentrated on one of our family,
and entrusted her to God.

God in the simple!
Maybe I just try to make things too complicated sometimes!

people and meetings

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The last 2 days have been great days for meeting with people.
I have met with chair people of YFC trustee bodies.
I have drunk coffee with directors if YFC centres.
I have chatted ideas with diocesan staff.

The great thing about all these conversations is that, although essentially they are based around work, they also double up as conversations about the Kingdom with friends.

After each meeting I have come away inspired, or challenged, or saddened, or confused – all emotions that upset my normal equilbrium in some way or another. Although that is not always easy – I welcome that upset as through it we are able to grow, progress, move on and achieve different things.

Life is about growth – and without upsetting the norm, growth does not really happen!