Fantastic (said with more than a tad sarcasm!), I have just seen on the Ekklesia website that the Christian protest seems to have had the exact opposite effect on people.

Not only did it boost the ratings of the show on BBC2 to 1.8 million (gaint the expected 1 million) but the west end bookings for the opera have soared too. You can read more here.

I had a great day yesterday. I achieved lots, met with the curate of my church, had lunch with Sarah as Beth was home ill and then in the evening went off to play volleyball.

I asked Sarah to record the program on BBC2 about Auschwitz. When I returned home I watched it and was struck at the sheer brutality and belief of the guards, even today, that Jews were the enemy, were to be hated, and deserved to die.

It was a depressing program and at the end I feared that something similar could happen again as the convictions, fears and beliefs that caused this atrocity are out there. Of course, it has happened again in Bosnia and Rwanda just to name a few.

I turned the tape off and caught the end of a program which followed a chief in his village in Kenya who was visiting families with sick children. The children were ill with Malaria. A young boy of 6 was interviewed and then we were told 6 hours later he died. The funeral and the anguish and pain of the parents was raw and difficult to watch.

Are these 2 programs connected? I think in a way they are. They both moved me to tears. They both left the question “why?” They both engineered a sense of anger and injustice within me. They both caused a ‘we must not let this happen again’ mentality within me.

In a sense we cannot do anything about the past, apart from learn, but surely we can change the future. We can be history makers. WE can take the opportunities this year that there will be to campaign, to write, to fundraise so that we can start to eliminate poverty.

What is happening with this world? What is happening with our church? Children are dying because their parents can’t afford drugs which cost the price of a pint why we get our pants in a twist over Jerry Springer.

Evil happens when good people stand by and do nothing.

God does not need us to stand up and defend Him, but the poor, the sick, the needy, those without a voice … they do!

… and you find loads of people have written good stuff on their blogs but have to ignore most as you know you will just never have the time to read it all.

There is a good outline of each day of IASYMconference from Jonny. I m sure many of us will smile knowingly as we read redemptionitus

Steve made me laugh with this post. I wonder what percentage of us test our wifi from the same room in the house … or is it just a man thing!

I didn’t take the opportunity to watch this as I fell asleep!

Maggi and Gary from MOOT did watch it and make informed comments.

I particularly like the reference to CS Lewis’ ‘We don’t need to defend the lion’.

Me personally … well no surprises that I am exasperated that again we can object over something like this while the majority of the church remain silent over 30 000 people who die each day from poverty.

I’ve been looking for something to try and follow for a little while.

There are a couple here which could be useful … and 10 days in there is still time to start!

You may have noticed from the bar on the right that I now have an online album set up at Flickr.

I will be posting pics here now and again. Currently pics are there from the Peace Child event we held at Christmas and the Landmark Christmas Prom which I have posted for Sarah’s youth group.

I have just seen from Jonny’s Blog that Andy Harrington who now works for Canada YFC is now in Sri Lanka to offer help.

While there he is writing a blog which you may like to check out.

Do you ever get that feeling when you return from a conference and everything seems quiet and you wish the conference was just a little longer? If you do, you may be able to relate to where I am coming from. It’s great to be home, but it was also great being away with so many wonderful YFC people.

The conference was excellent, and maybe even the best YFC staff conference I have been to, and this was my 8th (I think!. I have tried to think why, and maybe its due to the freedom of having no team this year which enabled me to be more available to others.



Ajith Fernando was due to be our main speaker for the conference. He is the national director of Sri Lanka YFC and quite rightly felt that he should not leave his country at this current time. Karl Martin actually did our Bible studies and he was excellent, mainly because he shared his struggles and was honest about the pain of ministry and where he is at the moment.

There were other excellent speakers and events during the week:

Bishop James Jones spoke on our last night and provided some great insights into Jesus and the earth based on a 3 month sabbatical where he seemed to do little else then re-read the gospels.

We experienced the Rob Lacey tour one night which runs through the Bible from beginning to end. Very funny and very good to see.

There were also good talks from Roy Crowne and other YFC staff with a good mix of valuable seminars as well.

All of the above were excellent but they were not the highlights of my week. The highlights of my week were:

1.At a collection for Sri Lanka YFC on the second night we raised £8000 – amazing to think that a lot of the 350 people, which is amazing in itself but even more so when we know that many people there were unwaged and volunteers.

2. Having a meal with the Solent YFC team, who have become good friends, and experiencing kiwi juice for the first time while discussing the merits of living in Essex … or not!

3. Sharing with other directors who are struggling but trust me enough to share their pain as well as allow me the privilege of praying with them.

4. Having a prayer meeting with the London cluster of directors rather than go immediately to the bar after the evening session.

5. Seeing my old team relating well together under the leadership of Malcolm.

6. Having breakfast with my great friends Den and Sha.

7. Being prayed for by those that care enough to pray with me.

8. Discussing into the early morning with Rich, Hugh and Pauline how we can transform the city of London for God, as well as drinking Caffreys and red wine.

9. Sharing the pains and joys of relational youth work with Helen Gatenby from Urban Action Manchester.

10. Being asked to watch a video produced by Jemima and Andrea from Newmarket YFC which they used in a school.

11. The sheer privilege of interviewing other centres from around the country and hearing the exciting things they are getting up to.

All of this was topped/enhanced/whatever by being part of, and worshipping with, a 350 strong and diverse family who’s only common factor and desire is their passion to see Jesus shared with the young people of this nation.

It’s great to be back, and I am touched once again that things like this only happen due to the financial giving of others – those of you who give to YFC so that I can do this role. Thanks loads for your generosity – you are top people.

In the morning I am off to the YFC staff conference which is being held in Bodelwyddan Castle in North Wales.

We were there last year and it is an excellent place to refresh, learn more from God and catch up with the rest of the ‘family of YFC’. Being a hotel, the atmosphere is very relaxed and there are loads of places to chat and have a laugh – the bar and sauna being favourites of last year. Last year there was no internet access, so if that’s the same I will have an enforced break from blogging.

Have a good week – I am sure I will!

I have been struck as we all have by the tsunami tragedy in Asia. The latest devastating figures for the number of deaths are around the 150 000 mark. This is a terrible disaster beyond the understanding and comprehension of most of us.

I saw on the news today that this disaster has produced a record charitable response from people in the UK with over £60 million already pledged in this county through various helplines. It is not often I am proud to be British, but this is one of them.

On Saturday morning I was struck by an article in the Church Times, which was later strangely but powerfully reinforced in the comedy show Vicar of Dibley. Both made a chilling point which I was not aware of and which sickens me:

Every day 30 000 people die because of poverty.

Since the tsunami stuck a week ago and killed 120 000 people, 210 000 people have died from the effects of poverty. Nearly twice as many as the disaster in Asia. It sickens me more to think that this is not an isolated incident. This is a daily occurrence. Every day in our 21st century world 30 000 people die due to poverty.

This year the UK will host the G8 summit of world leaders and Christian Agencies are uniting under the banner of Make Poverty History. Please visit the site and see what you can do to help. If nothing else spend just £1 and wear a white wristband or armband and wear it as a visible sign that you want this injustice to end. You can even add a small or large one to your website as I have above in the top right hnd corner!

I used to think individuals were pretty powerless in these circumstances but we can make a difference. Recent events in the Ukraine show this to be true. When individuals see an injustice and unite, politicians will listen and act accordingly. In the Ukraine individuals showing their desire for justice lead to a re-election (as an aside … makes me wonder what would have happened 4 years ago in the US if people objected and demanded a re-election …)

Make Poverty History states:

This year offers a truly exceptional set of opportunities for the UK to take a lead internationally and say that enough is enough.

With the UK hosting the G7 Finance Ministers meeting in February and the G8 gathering of powerful world leaders as well as holding the presidency of the European Union (EU), our Government and particularly Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, will be influential players on the world stage – we must make sure they play their part.

Please visit the site and act. Spend a quid on a white band. Be rash, spend a tenner and give 9 away and tell them why! Write to your MP. If you like, from the Save the Children website you can email your MP askingthem to act. Get your church leader to stand up and speak up about this injustice (rather than a book, play or waxwork nativity scene that offends!).

In history the world was transformed by individual Christians who got together to make a difference to slavery, poverty, health care and child labour. We are in a time when we can and need to act again. Wouldn’t it be great to see world poverty start to radically decline due to action in 2005!