The Prayer Room and Other Stories

Well, camp ended a few weeks ago but it's taken me some time to gather my thoughts on the week. I was extremely ill the week after camp and it took a while to recover. I had a great but stressful week. I thought I was only getting four campers in my group but arrived to find that I had eight. However, to balance out this little surprise I also found that I was in a leaders dorm with my best friend Emma and my trainee Sarah - what a blessing! God is good. Lynn and I went through two days early to begin working on the prayer room. The plan was to get the four gazebos up to begin with and then start all the walls and decorations. However, it took us over two hours to get two gazebos up and we were both almost in tears after the third one simply refused to fit together. We went home closer to midnight than we had intended feeling somewhat defeated. Many a desperate prayer was uttered before we headed up to try again the next night. God gave Lynn a brainwave for measuring the gazebo poles and lo and behold - the last two were up in a matter of minutes! We were so relieved. Several hours and lots of material later the room was up and ready. I have to say it looked fab and I was so excited to see what God was going to do there. If you want to know more about what was in the prayer room just let me know and I'll explain it!





Over the week the kids went in to the prayer room alone or with friends and spend time exploring, looking, watching, thinking, reflecting, praying, creating, wailing, crying, learning and praying. Each day there were new things up on the walls - all honest outpouring of what was going on in their heads, hearts and lives. A couple of days I went in to spend some time with God and it was so fulfilling. With all the worship to organise I got a bit stressed out and it was so good to have a little corner of quiet where I could rest with God and seek His council. The room had that feeling that one cannot readily describe but the room felt covered in prayer and filled with the spirit. It was a place for healing, for listening, for learning. Several times I was brought to tears just looking at the evidence of prayer and praise that had been happening throughout the week. All our effort was truly worth it and more.





Apart from the prayer room many good times were had at camp. The campers were responsive to the worship and praise party on the Friday night just blew my mind. Leading the whole thing was truly exhausting and I had to keep it together and hold in a lot of emotion. I could see lives changing, God working and the spirit moving. The kids worshipped with true abandon and the commitments made were a testimony of God's grace and love sweeping through their lives. These times always serve to remind me of what a privilege it is to be involved in the work of SU because I get a glimpse of God at work and am reminded every time of the way in which Christ loves us. It was hard work - but oh so worth it. I want to say a huge thankyou to all those on the team who made it such a special week for me. You know who you are. =)

A day in the life...

I've run out of time and steam for the blog at the moment. Life's business is taking over but I thought I'd post a general update until I have any form of intelligible thoughts to share.

I have several projects going on at the moment which are taking up most of my time. First and foremost I've been helping to put together a youth programme for the volunteers who are going out a Stepout Mission with the Baptist Union this year. This is the first year there has been material provided for the youth events as normally it's just given for the children's work. It's been a long and difficult process trying to think of things that would connect with young people from across the spectrum - all ages and stages, churched and unchurched, urban, suburban and country kids! The pack is almost finished and I'm not as pleased with my work as I could have been but hopefully it will serve to inspire the teams to put it to creative use. At the training weekend on Friday I led a couple of activities from the pack as exemplars. I had anticipated there would be about 25 people there but I think there was around 45! Still, it seemed to go well.

As well as the Stepout stuff I'm preparing for camp at LM - my favourite week of the year! This year we're incorporating a prayer room - inspired by the one we had at church recently. It's been a bit of extra work and I'm having to go up a couple of days early but I'm so glad it'll be available. It's been a good chance to let out some of my creativity and share good times with close friends. I've also been asked to co-ordinate the worship for the week so I'm trying to ensure that those who volunteered all get a chance to play, that those doing the talks get to make the arrangements they need and that rehearsal times co-ordinate with all the other rotas. It's a work in progress! Still - I'm very much looking forward to camp and I anticipate that I'll see great things happen. It's always a privilege to be involved and I've never been at a camp where God didn't show up in both subtle and obvious ways. It will be most interesting to see what the prayer room will add to the week. Watch this space!

Frenzy 08

This year has been a good year so far. I've been to lots of exciting places and events. On Saturday I attended Frenzy for the first time with some friends from church. I decided to go this year since David Crowder*Band were playing and they've been a favourite of mine for a few years. I didn't know what to expect but I can tell you that the whole day was brilliant!

We arrived early - about 10:40am - and didn't have to wait in much of a que to get our wristbands and programmes. The sun was shining and straight away I began meeting people I know from various different places. I love these big Christian events because you're guaranteed to meet at least ten other people you already know. At a rough count I think I met at least 20.

We spent most of the early afternoon outside having some food and wandering for the initial sets. After the first band came on there were some general promo videos which I didn't take much interest in until lo and behold the SU promotional video was played! There I was on the big screen at Frenzy. Bit of a shock but pretty cool.

Most of the bands I had never heard of and didn't take a particular interest in until Leeland came on. A fabulous band. These guys were just so humble and Earnest - there was no attitude from these guys. I really loved their music but the moment that won it for me was when they sang "Come Lord - Come to Scotland." I think that right there and then they won the patriotic hearts of every Scottish person in the hall.

DC*B wasn't on till later but I went in early to make sure I got a good view. Did I get a good view or what - right up at the barricades in front of the stage - nobody in front of me and 7000 people behind me. It doesn't get better than that! All the gigs I've been to I've been in the middle or at the back without a great view but this made up for them all. The crowd was clearly anticipating their arrival and got really hyped up a good 15 minutes before they appeared. When they finally did the place erupted. They did a great set and got everyone really excited and it was clear that they were enjoying themselves too. I just loved it.

Following DC*B was Chris Tomlin. I kept my spot at the front for that and I wasn't disappointed. Again there was a real humility from him and the band as they played. They did most of my favourites and somehow even the songs I'm usually sick of seemed so much better - fresher even. At one point the audience overtook the band with chanting and the band just stood back and watched. There's no crowd like a Scottish crowd!

Words can't really describe how immense the day was but it was just amazing and definitely a memory to treasure. I can say I've been there, done that and I even got the tshirt.

Jesus

Jesus was...

A challenge to the hypocrits

A healer to the sick

A comfort to the broken hearts

A friend to the sinner

The one who chose the weakest and somehow made them strong.

A man who gave the outcasts somewhere to belong.

Jesus is...

The teacher with faith in his pupils

The shepherd who watches his flock

The father who loves his children

The creator who delights in his creation

The light in the darkness

The hope that chases out fear

The salvation of the lost

The lamb who chose the slaughter

The gift of life

Jesus will....

Work undeniably

Move unexpectedly

Love relentelessly

Forgive endlessly

Heal miraculously

Care tenderly

Accept graciously

Reveal intentionally

Appear triumphantly

Last night in my prayer time I was directed to read Ezekiel Chapter 2. I'm not sure why but I feel like I have a challenge ahead and this is God's warning or direction. I'm not sure what it's about right now but I'm anticipating that God will work undeniably, unexpectedly and unimaginably.

Heroes

Last weekend I was back at LM for the SU Bearsden/Milngavie schools weekend away. It was a fairly relaxed weekend and I enjoyed it. I had a group of S2 girls so I got to sit in on the senior teaching times which is a nice change since I'm usually in the primary section. Over the weekend we looked at four biblical 'heroes' and what we can learn from the journey they each made with God. More specifically, we looked at the lives of Joseph, Moses, Simon-Peter and Paul. Although the teaching was short I really loved looking at an overview of their lives and the way God used them to change the course of human history. Joseph saved the lives of almost an entire nation, as did Moses. Peter and Paul spread the gospel and helped the beginning of the Christian church as we know it. With each person we looked not only at what God had to say to them in their lives but what we can learn from them to apply to our own lives. So what did I learn?

First of all, each of the four 'heroes' was a complete and utter sinner. Murder. Lies. Denial. Doubts. Despite these faults God forgave each of them and was willing to use them despite their inherently sinful nature. My group picked up on the concept of forgiveness pretty quickly and asked questions like, "Does God really forgive you even if you murder someone? Did God really forgive Saul even though he'd killed loads of Christians?" Even as I explained it to them I began to see more clearly the sheer depth of God's grace that such things are forgivable. I always imagine the Old Testament heroes like Moses and Abraham to be the mighty leaders who never stumbled, never doubted, never strayed. Just looking at these guys I realise how human they were and that there was nothing perfect about them. God used weak and sinful men in mighty and wondrous ways. So it is for us, that despite our failings, our weakness and our sins that God forgives us. Not only does he forgive us but He is willing to use us for His divine purposes. Jesus didn't pick disciples who were perfect either. Each individual had some really obvious flaws: Simon was a zealot, Thomas doubted, Peter denied, Judas betrayed. As Rob Bell points out in his Nooma DVD 'Dust', not only were guys imperfect but they were unqualified for the job. These were the guys who didn't make the cut for any other Rabbi. They weren't good enough and yet Jesus called them. He called them and used them in incredible ways. So we see that we don't need to be perfect either. Jesus will call us to follow Him and if we have even a little faith we'll go. We don't need to perfect, we don't need to be great: we just need to follow.

Another thing I noticed is that these guys didn't always have it easy. Joseph lived a real roller-coaster life. Just when things were good they took a turn for the worst. Just when things were bad he got a 'Get out of jail free' card. He lived an extremely unpredictable life. Moses... well he didn't have it easy by a long shot. He gave up a life of royalty and security because he killed a man, then lead an entire nation out of slavery against the will of the very man he called his father. Paul started out by killing Christians. Peter who declared his undeniable love for Jesus denied Him to save his own skin. It's so easy for us to read the bible now and say, "Well yes but you can clearly see that God had a plan and these bad times were a necessary part of it!" Hindsight is a wonderful thing but neither Moses or Joseph knew what lay ahead. Given their circumstances it would have been easy to give it all up and walk away. How often in our own times of trouble do we keep absolute faith that God has a greater purpose and that this is all part of his plan. We like to quote Jeremiah 29:11 at people but do we believe it ourselves? Very often when we take the time to look back over the journey that we've made so far we will see that God has been in both the bad times and the good and that we are indeed part of His great plans.

I learned a whole lot more besides this but that would make for an incredibly long post! Still, I feel I've been challenged a little and given plenty to think about. Times like this give me a real desire to spend more time in the Old Testament looking at individuals and the way God used their lives. There are so many lessons to be learned.

Resolutions

New years resolutions. It's a bit late I know but I didn't want to make them at the time. So, my resolutions for 2008 are:

> Go new places

> Meet new people

> Take more opportunities

Last year was pretty restricted because of teaching placements and other things but this year is much more flexible now that Jordanhill is behind me (resits permitting!). Therefor I want to make the most of my time by going to new places and meeting new people. On Saturday night I went to a random 21st and met a few new people which was good. I have also met a few great new people at camp. I'll be the first to admit I suck at keeping in touch with folk so part of my new resolution is to properly keep in touch with people after camps and parties etc. In particular I have a great set of friends from uni who I really want to keep up with. Meeting new people specifically includes those of the non-christian variety. It's easy to meet new Christians because the Christian networking in Scotland is immense but I need to spend more time out-with Christian circles. Take more opportunities: By this I mean take up those opportunities for random weekends away or going to gigs that might not come around again or whatever it may be. Last year I spent too much time thinking about things and never got round to doing them. So far I had a nice weekend away in Dundee, I've booked my tickets to Frenzy and a weekend in London. Hopefully this year will continue to open up opportunities that I can really make the most of.

Did you make any resolutions? How are you doing so far?

Happy Campers

I am now back from what was a completely exhausting but thoroughly enjoyable week away at Lendrick Muir. As always, God moved in unexpected, undeniable ways and I had a fabulous time. The team as a whole got on so well - no personality clashes or internal issues. The kids were mostly well behaved and responsive during the worship. I love it. LM is like my spiritual home (however un-PC that might be, I can't really explain it.) It's the place where I've been challenged, I've learned, I've grown and where I've been loved and supported by those who, over the years, have become close friends and family to me. Countless lives have been changed by God in there and those who go are eternally grateful for the goodness of God in providing such a place for his ministry.

So what have I learned this week? Not to judge kids before I know them. Sounds obvious but I realised that very quickly I took a dislike to a couple of the younger boys who I found arrogant and irritating. However, after actually spending some quality time playing pool or on the ropes course with them I discovered that they were little gems and was ashamed of my snap judgements the previous day. I also learned that these weeks are not all about 'converting' the campers and making sure they leave as Christians. These weeks are about giving the kids the best week of their lives through loving them, caring for them, getting to know them, sharing experiences with them and sharing a little about Jesus with them too. Some kids are not ready to hear about God or make any kind of life-changing decisions. All we can do is sow the seeds and let God take care of the harvest. I also lead the worship which I'm not used to doing and found it a bit scary but God by His grace used His strength in my weakness and we saw some great responses to the work of the Spirit during the worship sessions. All in all I had a fabulous week with lots of great people and I feel all the more blessed for being there. A special thanks to SU for the incredible work they do. Thanks be to God for his providence and care.