A Christmas Challenge

Christmas is fast approaching (only 6 days left); there are more lights going up on houses, shops are getting busier as people search for those final few presents, and there are only a few days left to post those Christmas cards, Christmas cards that are becoming less and less religious. In 2011, the Daily Mail conducted a survey and discovered that “of 6,576 cards in major supermarkets in seven locations in England and Wales … only 36 featured scenes such as Jesus in a manger or angels. Traditional nativity scenes appear on less than 0.5% of all cards available.”

And it is not just Christmas cards that show the increasing decline of Christ in Christmas. The following statistics are taken from http://www.eauk.org/culture/statistics/christmas-facts-and-quotes.cfm;

In a survey conducted by ComRes on behalf of Theos in December 2010 the following results were obtained:

·  51% agreed with the statement "The birth of Jesus is irrelevant to my Christmas" whilst 46% disagreed with the statement.

·  61% agreed "Christmas is mainly for children" whilst 38% disagreed.

·  36% said they would be attending a Christmas service. 62% said they would not be going to a service, 2% were unsure.

A survey commissioned by The Children's Society in 2010 found that only 10% of adults think that it's religious meaning is the most important thing about Christmas. Only 4% of 25-34 year olds thought the religious aspect was important whilst 20% of those over 60's years feel that it is the key aspect of Christmas. 67% of all adults said spending time with family was the most important thing about Christmas.

As well as these statistics, Norwich has also been dubbed the ‘most godless city’ in England and Wales after the census showed the city has the highest proportion of people reporting ‘no religion’.

A pretty bleak picture.

But this is the world we are called to. We are called to spread the word of God, and we have the perfect opportunity at this time of year. By explaining the true meaning of Christmas, we can share the gospel. Christmas grants us opportunities to share that are unique.

Have you spoken to anyone this year about what Christmas really means? I know I haven’t. I’ve shied away from it and not taken opportunities to share. But my challenge to you and to me is to share the meaning with at least one person who does not truly understand why we celebrate Christmas.

Maybe grab a coffee with a friend, chat through Christmas plans, and invite them to a service? There’s still time!

Or if you’re less confident, maybe post a link to a youtube video on your facebook, with explanation and something from yourself about why you celebrate Christmas? The one I plan to share with some friends is at the end of this post, and there are many more at www.thenativityfactor.com

Find what works for you. But please, spread the light of Christmas amongst those who walk in darkness. Please share any stories in the comments, on twitter (@AloveAnglia1) or on facebook (/alove.anglia1)

Wishing you all a blessed Christmas.

Becky

'Spending' Christmas

How much will you spend this Christmas?

When we see these figures and look at spending habits at Christmas, it cam be easy to dismiss this as not relating to us. We can feel that because ‘we know the meaning of Christmas’, all the excessive spending and bad habits ‘will not be down to us’.

But is this really the case? I know there have been times when amongst all the present buying and card writing and tree decorating, I sometimes forget to check my bank account, the budget I set, or even why I’m doing things. We too can be swept up in the tide of Christmas-hysteria that sweeps the land from early November. We buy presents throughout the year to ‘avoid the Christmas rush’; we stockpile Christmas cards, wrapping paper and decorations in the January sales so we’re ready for next year, and then can’t remember where we put them. We see preparing for Christmas as a chore, and not a joy; a time for worry and overspending, not a time for preparation.

Why do we buy gifts for one another? We know the traditions – it’s about remembering God’s gift to us all in Jesus and the gifts the wise men brought – but is that where our hearts are when we buy these gifts? Do we buy them from obligation?

When I was in secondary school, I remember the panic that December brought on – which of my friends do I buy presents for? Who do I write cards to? What if someone gets me a present and I haven’t got them one? How much is this all going to cost me from my pocket money? Eventually, the presents we ended up exchanging were silly, cheap, and essentially meaningless. We wouldn’t even take them home to enjoy opening on Christmas day – the classroom bins would be filled with brightly coloured paper and empty chocolate boxes (the best present for those on a budget with lots to buy) throughout the final weeks. Sound familiar?

I witnessed the same thing happening in a youth club earlier this week. When I asked them why they had opened their presents early, they said “Well I knew what it was, and I wanted to have it now”. The young people did not bother wondering what the present was – they knew it was a cheap gift bought out of obligation. They did not feel any expectation, hope or wonder about what was in the wrapping paper, and did not feel that by waiting anything extra would be gained.

As I grew up, I started to be the strange person that received the presents in school and slipped them into my bag unopened. Even though I (very often) knew what was inside, I wanted to experience a time of waiting for that gift. My friends were always surprised, and often tried to encourage me to open the presents early. I refused, explaining I wanted to truly appreciate their gift by opening it when I had the time to do so properly – not in the five minutes between lessons when I would smile politely, say thanks, and rush on. I would then message anyone who had given me a gift on Christmas day, thanking them for their gift.

Originally, I feel this habit was bred out of a desire to have the most presents to open on Christmas morning, but as I continued to do this, I began to change my attitude to the gifts I had received. Although many of the gifts were bought from obligation

and didn’t cost much, I really began to appreciate that this person had stopped to think of me during the busyness of Christmas shopping, even if it wasn’t really from the best motive.

In the past few years, I have tried to make my Christmas behaviour more meaningful. I buy presents for those I care about, not who I feel obligated to buy for. I try and buy things they want, like or need, not buying into cheap ‘3 for 2’ deals (although if this happens to occur, it is a bonus). Whenever I buy a gift, I try to remember why I am doing it (whatever time of year it is).

The one thing I most want you to take away from this blog post is that however we prepare for Christmas, whatever we spend, that we should have a heart of worship, during a time of hope and preparation, and that all we do should be as part of a celebration of God’s love for us.

Advent

It’s December! That means decorations can go up, advent calendars can be opened, and the crazy shoppers can be released. Life gets busy with writing Christmas cards, buying presents, visiting friends and family, getting all the food in, attending carol services, etc. This has resulted in the office getting quiet as everyone is busy, and I’m sitting and preparing for the events in the year ahead.

While Christmas is exciting, we should be focussing on Advent itself. Just as I am using this month to prepare for the year ahead, Advent is about preparing ourselves for Jesus’ birth and for his return. Advent is a time of waiting and expecting, and preparing our hearts and minds for Christmas, so we are ready and can meditate on the real meaning.

Throughout this month and time of preparation, I hope to update this blog regularly with short thoughts that will help us all prepare for Christmas and remember the true meaning of welcoming Christ into the world.

Guarding Our Keyboards

Social networking is on the rise. There is no denying it. But is it a fad or is it here to stay?

This video shows us that social media is becoming a tool utilised by businesses to increase their advertising, but it is also becoming the way we become known amongst our peers, colleagues and family. Everything we put on social media sites, such as facebook and twitter, can be accessed by everyone on our friends list, and unless you’re very tech-savvy, the friends list of your friends list. Personal information can be distributed and shared across a wide ranging network that often we can not see the end of.

I’m not writing this to cast doom and gloom over social media – I do use it and find it useful for communicating with friends and family, but there is a responsibility that comes with using these kinds of communication tools.

Have you ever posted a status you regretted? Have you ever become annoyed and frustrated with someone or something, and immediately vented that anger online? Have you ever sent something to the wrong person? Or posted a comment on someone’s wall that was supposed to be kept private?

The problem we can face with social media is that it is very difficult to take back what we have said. Tens and hundreds (possibly thousands) of people have seen our personal thoughts that were posted online before we stopped to think about them.

The internet depersonalises what we do. Things we may never say in person can easily slip out online. This may not only be detrimental to us, but those the comments were directed at, and our faith. How Christian would we appear if people viewed our facebook statuses and tweets alone?

Proverbs 21:23 says “Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity”. It was wise advice then – maybe we should remember this next time we go to our keyboards, with a few adjustments –

“Those who guard their keyboards and their updates keep themselves from calamity”

Seasons of Life

The days are growing shorter and darker. Temperatures are falling and the final warm, sunny days seem to have disappeared forever. Leaves are turning from lush summer green to reds and browns before falling to cover the ground. We have definitely arrived at autumn.

I love the seasons. Whenever I’m asked which my favourite season is, I can never decide. There are things I love about each season, but there are also the negatives. Autumn brings a beautiful diversity of colour to the trees, and the satisfying crunch of leaves beneath your feet as you walk; but it also brings the darker, colder days I have already mentioned. When winter comes, we get the beauty that a white world of snow can bring, but also the cold, the danger of driving in snow, and more darkness than light. Spring then arrives, and we are greeted by the new life in the fields, the beautiful spring flowers, and the days growing longer; but we also face the regular rain. And then summer, with the long, occasionally hot, summer days; but then you get sunburn, especially if you are as pale as me!

 

There is a tree outside DHQ that I have the perfect view of from my desk, and I have been enjoying watching the changes that autumn is bringing to it. It reminds me that we all go through seasons in our own lives. These may not be cyclical, like the seasons of our world, but we will experience them all at some point in our lives.

The autumns of our life are those times when things come to an end; leaving school or university, the end of a job, moving home, etc. and we begin to prepare for the change. It can be a time of beauty, just like the changing colours of the leaves, but it can also be a time of uncertainty, and the days can seem to be growing darker around us. But we need to remember that God is there with us and supporting us through this.

The winters are the times of hardship, pain, and loss, when we feel that all the pleasure of life has drained away. We can become cold and lifeless to those around us, but these times can be when God makes us fresh for a new start. Just like the snow can make everything look pure and fresh, God does the same through us.

Spring brings new growth in our lives, and we find ourselves starting new things. God gives us the opportunities to grow and start along new pathways with him. It is a time of new discoveries, and full of excitement.

And finally, the summers of our lives are those ‘times of plenty’, those moments when we feel God especially close to us, and know him in a deeper way.

What season of life are you in? How is God working with you in those moments?

Whatever situation or season we are in, God’s love remains with us, and he will always be there to help and support us. Pray that you find God in your situation, and that you will know his presence with you, whatever season you find yourself in.

There is a time for everything, and everything on earth has its special season.
There is a time to be born and a time to die. 

There is a time to plant and a time to pull up plants.
There is a time to kill and a time to heal.
There is a time to destroy and a time to build.
There is a time to cry and a time to laugh.
There is a time to be sad and a time to dance.
There is a time to throw away stones and a time to gather them.
There is a time to hug and a time not to hug.
There is a time to look for something and a time to stop looking for it.
There is a time to keep things and a time to throw things away.
There is a time to tear apart and a time to sew together.
There is a time to be silent and a time to speak.
There is a time to love and a time to hate.
There is a time for war and a time for peace.

(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, NCV)

The Big Picture

Last week I went to Territorial Head Quarters for my induction as DYO. The two days were filled with meeting the ALOVE team and getting to know the bigger picture of youth work in The Salvation Army in the UK. We got to know the vision and strategy for the next five years, and it is very exciting! We were also able to share our own vision of the work in our own divisions; and discovered that these fitted into the bigger picture of work across the country.

Visiting THQ for this purpose really helped me find my place within the structure of The Salvation Army, and understand my role and purpose here. While I knew about ALOVE and some of the support they could offer, I did not know or understand how I fitted into that or where to start. Now, I have developed a deeper understanding and feel fired up for the future of work with young people in Anglia and across the rest of the UK.

Often in life, we focus on those tasks in front of us. We forget to spend time looking at the big picture and taking action, instead reacting to the immediate, small concerns of our lives. This can lead us to feel like we are constantly fighting fires, without knowing or understanding the cause. As well as fighting the fires, we need to step back to find the cause and do something about that.

In our spiritual lives, we can find ourselves thinking only of the here and now, and what is directly affecting us. We can become disheartened, as we lack the knowledge of what God is doing on a wider scale. We can fail to see the opportunities he is sending us as we are too focused on the small things. The other danger is that we can see our part as being too small, or too insignificant, and withdraw ourselves.

Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you’re still one body. It’s exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive.

I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge. It’s all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, “I’m not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don’t belong to this body,” would that make it so? If Ear said, “I’m not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don’t deserve a place on the head,” would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.

But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn’t be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, “Get lost; I don’t need you”? Or, Head telling Foot, “You’re fired; your job has been phased out”? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the “lower” the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it’s a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honour just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn’t you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?

The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.

You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your “part” mean anything.

(1 Corinthians 12:12 – 27, The Message)

I challenge you to pray that God will reveal the ‘big picture’ to you, that you will understand how you fit into the ‘body of Christ’, and that you will see and grab hold of the opportunities he gives you to get involved. If you have any stories of times you have done this, please share them in the comments. It would be wonderful to hear them!

Preparation

Over the past week, I have spent a lot of my time looking ahead to events and activities coming up in the next few months. I have been looking at a youth worship event in November, Youth councils in March, and even EMASS 2013! With so much to look forward to, it can be very easy to rush ahead without taking the time to stop, reflect, and plan, which is what I have been doing this week.

As well as getting excited about these events, I have had to spend time thinking about how to get to these goals. Attending events like these, we can often not realise the logistics of organising them; the months spent preparing and planning, looking at what needs doing, planning for it, solving problems that occur, etc. and before all this having to plan how you prepare for the event! Without taking time to do these often boring and time consuming activities, events like those I mentioned would not run. Resources would be forgotten, the team would not be complete or understand the roles, vital information would be lost or mislaid, few people would attend, and the event would be a resounding failure. The ‘big visions’ of fantastic events with top notch worship, speakers, and activities that was first envisaged would not be achieved, as the steps needed to reach these goals would never have been put in place.

How often do we do this in our own lives?

Everyone has dreams of where they want to be in life. There are the big dreams; to be rich and famous, or make a breakthrough discovery, or climb mountains, travel the world, etc. and there are the small dreams; to find love, get married, have a few children, earn enough money, have a job you love, etc. But often, the dream and excitement of the future leads us to forget about the hard work needed to make those dreams a reality, leaving our ‘heads in the clouds’ and never achieving anything. We can get sidetracked by the ideas, looking at the beauty of the mountain but never making any attempt to climb it, expecting to somehow be transported to the summit.

Another thing we can do is rush ahead and begin the climb without preparing. Then, we hit problems and we can give up, finding the journey too hard, and praying that God will make the way smooth and just waiting for his response instead of following where he is leading or just accepting his support.

As I said, we all have dreams, but we don’t all plan and prepare. If you were going to climb a mountain, you would spend time looking at a map of the area to identify the best route, you would buy any equipment you needed, you would prepare a bag of items you may need on the journey (at least, I hope you would!). To reach our dreams, we need to prepare for them, planning our route, preparing ourselves as necessary for the challenges that may come our way. We also need to remember to pray that God will guide our steps and be with us as we journey.

While doing these things will not prevent things going wrong, or make the way easy, spending time preparing can give us the best chance of achieving our dreams. And when we do it with God, we will have continual support along the way, and he will help our dreams become a reality.

 

Trust in the Lord and do good;

    dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

Take delight in the Lord,

    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord;

    trust in him and he will do this:

He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,

    your vindication like the noonday sun.

Be still before the Lord

    and wait patiently for him;

do not fret when people succeed in their ways,

    when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;

    do not fret—it leads only to evil.

For those who are evil will be destroyed,

    but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.

(Psalm 37: 3 – 9, NIV)

No Cold Callers

This week, I’ve been spending a lot of time out on the streets for the Big Collection. I must admit, this is not a part of the year I particularly look forward to. Walking from house to house, asking for donations, avoiding dogs, hearing all the excuses, waiting for the house where the elusive £5 note will come from, are all things I’d quite happily leave alone. Of course, this collecting is an important act to support the community work of The Salvation Army, and when you do get the big donations, or a friendly smile and a “I’ll go find my purse”, you feel uplifted and it keeps you going through the no answers and refusals.

One feature of collecting is seeing stickers in people’s windows announcing “NO COLD CALLERS”. This started me thinking about the way we interact with God. Cold callers come without appointments or prior contact, trying to rouse interest in products or organisations, and seek something from them, usually a sale. The question that sprung to my mind was ‘Is God a cold caller?’. Does God call upon us without invitation and demand our lives from us?

I imagine this is what a number of people (churched and un-churched) may picture; God is there, demanding our commitment, our lifestyles, our money, our time, etc. They see him cold calling on the door of their lives regularly, and often at the most inconvenient times, to speak to them about his concerns and how they need to give him more.

I believe this is a very inaccurate picture of God, and this image arises from misconceptions and projections based on the behaviour of some Christians. I am not denying that God has certain standards of living that, as Christians, we should follow. I am saying that God does intrude on our lives any more than we invite him into. When we invite God into our lives, we are giving him permission to show us how to live. We then choose to follow his guidance out of love for him and an act of worship. This is what is meant by the verses in Romans 12:

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

(The Message, Romans 12:1-2)

Sometimes, God will grab our attention through a sermon, song, or conversations with others, but this only happens as we build a relationship with him. Cold callers do not have any relationship with those they meet; God has a relationship with us. If you view God as a cold caller, how is your relationship with him? How much time have you spent with God, getting to know him and talking to him? Cold callers are after a result that will benefit them; God wants a relationship with us because it benefits us.

Do you view God as a ‘cold caller’ in your life?

Thoughts/comments always appreciated!

The Same Yesterday, Today and Forever

The past few weeks have been filled with a range of activities that have helped me get past the post-EMASS blues and focus on my task and role here in Anglia. I’ve been clocking up the miles, travelling around the division to meet Corps Officers to discuss youth work and what I can do as the DYO to support their ministry amongst young people. I was also privileged to travel to Bourne to witness the opening of their new youth centre. This week, we start up rehearsals for the Anglia Youth Band, and relaunch the Anglia Youth Chorus.

All these activities bring new starts, opportunities, and times for reflection, as well as possible doubts and uncertainties. Many have received exam results over the summer, some will have done better than they thought, and others may not have achieved what they hoped. Some will be starting new ventures in life; a job, school, college, university, etc, and may be nervous about what the future holds. Others will be finding returning to the humdrum of life after the summer break difficult, wanting to hold on the memories and excitement of summer activities, and becoming disappointed and disillusioned when the momentum is not maintained.

There can be similar struggles in our spiritual lives. Many will have been to summer camps (EMASS or similar), and have had amazing encounters with God. Friendships will have been created that have encouraged us in our faith that are now harder to maintain without all the free time summer can bring. Some may have undertaken a summer mission project or activity that has yielded fruit, but may now whither when life gets busy again.

At such times, when life seems to change and the experiences of a summer when God moves in amazing ways grow to distant memories, I recall that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He doesn’t change. While our lives change, when new challenges come our way, as we fill our days with bustle and activities; God remains the same. He is always there, supporting us and waiting for us to meet with him. Our lives can’t always be led as if we were at EMASS, and God won’t always meet with us as he did at such events. Life won’t always be spent on the spiritual mountain top. But God is there.

If you’re finding time after EMASS (or another summer event) difficult; if your discouraged and feel God has left you now you’ve returned home; remember God is there with you. Have you spent regular time in prayer and Bible study? Have you been listening to God speaking in the different areas of your life? Focusing on God and spending time with him can refresh you and fill you with the same passion you felt during the summer. If you are really struggling, speak to someone who can pray with and for you, someone you can talk to about your faith, and let them encourage you in your spiritual life.

Thoughts or comments? I’d love to hear them! Facebook ‘Alove Anglia’, tweet @AloveAnglia1, or leave a comment here!

EMASS

Sorry the blog has been quiet for the last few weeks. This is all down to EMASS! First, I was busy running things there, and then I had a week off to recover! But EMASS was an amazing week and a fantastic experience. There is so much to write about, I’d be here all week if I were to tell you everything that happened, but I will draw out a few highlights from each day!

Sunday – Arrival day! We had beautiful weather as the students arrived, ready for the busy week ahead! The school was filled with talk of parents saying goodbye to their children, meeting up with old friends and making new ones, and music flowing around as auditions got underway.

The evening worship focused on ‘Boundless Hope’, looking at our hopes and expectations for the week. As the theme of the week was ‘Boundless’, each day focused on a different aspect of that theme.

Monday – The theme of ‘Boundless Hope’ continued, looking at hope in times of persecution or adversity. We looked at how we all face difficult times in our lives, but we need to remember that God is there with us. He continually gives us hope when we ask for it, and our eternal hope is found in Jesus. He brought us hope when he died on the cross. As a response, we each wrote down the persecutions or adversities we were currently facing as a way of asking God to come into those moments. Once we had done this, we created a cross from the sheets of paper as a sign we were giving them over to God, as can be seen in the

 picture.

In the evening, we had team activities! This consisted of the small groups completing a scavenger hunt and four tasks to try and achieve the most points; including a paper aeroplane competition, tower building, penny tossing, and pea moving. Everyone could get involved and enjoyed themselves.

Tuesday – Up for a laugh anyone? We had two workshops during the day; very different in style and content. One workshop was about ALOVE’s Cut It Out Campaign – a campaign designed to enable young people to bring an end to human trafficking to meet the demands of the sex industry. The students all got involved in making posters and film clips to help spread the message.

The other workshop was about comedy! Tony Vino, a comedian, ran this workshop, teaching about public speaking, improvisation, and getting the students (and staff!) to have a go! Tony and a couple of the other comedians from his company put a comedy roadshow event for us in the evening, making Tuesday a day filled with laughter and smiles.

The theme of the day was ‘Boundless Outpouring’, focusing on the Holy Spirit and how he works in our lives. Students were encouraged to ask for prayer so they could be filled with the Holy Spirit and know more of him in their lives.

Wednesday – Mini Olympics! The whole school walked up to the sports centre ready to take part in the mini Olympics! Five teams competed in a number of events to see who would be EMASS Champions 2012. Games included javelin throwing, three-legged and wheel barrow races, and an egg (or tennis ball) and spoon relay. The most competitive race was, of course, the staff race. Once all the scores were tallied up, the winning team received ‘gold’ chocolate medals, presented by our own resident games maker! Unfortunately, a thunder storm set in just as we were heading back, so everyone got drenched!

The teaching focused on ‘Boundless Salvation’; salvation is for anyone and no one is beyond the redeeming love of God and the saving blood of Christ.

Thursday – The Big Lie In! It may not sound like a big deal, but this lie in is definitely needed; helping both staff and students get a bit more sleep and restoring energy levels ready for the final few days.

The theme was ‘Boundless Adventures’; with Jesus, we start the greatest adventure of eternity. He gives us life, and life to the full, and he will never leave us; journeying with us every step of the way.

The evening ended with a superb talent night. Students and staff revealed their talents, from animal noises to dance, juggling to puppets; ‘Smelly Cat’ to vocal performances of band pieces, EMASS had it all!

Friday – ‘Boundless Communities’ encouraged the young people to think about all they had learned during the week and start making decisions about how they could take it back into their communities.  It was amazing to hear all the ideas and passion the young people had developed during their time at EMASS.

Friday also featured the Big Night In. Everyone got dressed up into their glad rags and sat down to a curry before the partying began. About 45 minutes into the disco, the music went down to allow the awards to be given out. Winners received a ‘gold medal’, again from our games maker, and a rose. The photo booth was also a great hit, with lots of pictures snapped to help everyone remember the evening.

Saturday – Time for goodbyes, but not before the last teaching and final celebration. The theme was ‘Boundless Action’, and, after the teaching, the students and staff shared words of encouragement and testimony with one another. This was a great way to end the week, many young people sharing something for the first time in their lives, and being encouraged by all.

And finally, the celebration. It was amazing to see all the young people work so hard to make the evening such a success. Every option shared what they had done during the week, and the guys from art produced a fabulous item, live!

That’s about it from me about EMASS. If you went, what were your highlights? Did I miss them out? Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments!

Attack or Defense?

Well another week has come and gone, and I’m sitting here wondering where it went. I’m guessing the reason it has disappeared is due to preparing for EMASS, now only 2 days away! I’ve also not worked a full week – I was lucky enough to go to the Olympics on Monday.

Although we applied for a number of different events, we only received tickets for two sessions of the women’s hockey, but we were still very happy to have received these! So on Sunday afternoon, my parents and I got in the car to head for London and the Olympic games!

We got to see four games of hockey; New Zealand vs Germany, USA vs South Africa, China vs Japan, and Belgium vs South Korea. I’ve not played hockey for a number of years, having only played it in PE at school, but it was very exciting to see the game played with such skill, and it reignited my interest in the game.

The way the teams played their games was also of interest to me. I’ll start with China vs Japan. China had been playing better than Japan in their previous games, and the crowd expected them to win. Of course, this would mean a harder team for Team GB, so the crowd was cheering for Japan. But the game was anything but exciting. Japan had a number of penalty corners, but they did not have the power in their shots to score.  China should have easily won the game, but they seemed too scared to move forward and attack. They did not push forward, or use the opportunities they had. This was the same with Belgium and South Korea. Belgium did not push forward, playing a very defensive game and not striking with any force at South Korea’s defence.

The most exciting game of the day was USA vs South Africa. We were cheering for South Africa, and they really delivered! I’ve talked about how Belgium and China played a defensive game, South Africa was the opposite. They were very low down in the table, and so they decided, with nothing to lose, they would attack and push forward as much as they could. It worked. The South African’s scored nine goals during the game, although only 7 were allowed (two were deemed unsafe), while America failed to score at all.

So why have I been writing about these games?

The three teams (South Africa, Belgium & China) were all in very similar situations. They all had nothing to lose from their games, but the way they reacted to their situations was very different. China and Belgium appeared to give up. They did not see why they should try. They were scared of failing, and that damaged any chance they may have had. South Africa played it different. They used the knowledge they had nothing to lose by giving their all so they could go home knowing they had given their all, and it paid off.

Often in life, we can feel dejected when things haven’t gone our way. We give up battling, feeling there is no point. We become defensive, not wanting to give away anything, but ending up achieving nothing.

But maybe we should follow the South African teams approach. With God, we are given the courage and strength to go out fighting. Things don’t always go our way, but we need to hold on to the knowledge that God is with us, supporting us. We need to put on the armour of God and who knows what greatness we can achieve?

Using One's Best Efforts

Today has been yet another busy week for this DYO. Monday started the week off slowly, doing general office work and preparing for EMASS (only 9 days left!). But that was not to last! Tuesday I spent visiting a number of new Corps officers to the division. This was a good opportunity for us to meet one another and spend some time in fellowship, but it was a busy day and required lots of travel time! Wednesday, I headed off to Peterborough for an EMASS meeting. Though the meeting was long, it was a good opportunity to sort out those loose ends. Yesterday I went to Stowmarket for the Divisional Welcome Meeting. Again, this was a good opportunity for fellowship with the officers of Anglia, and to spend some time in worship and prayer together.

With all this travelling, I have had the opportunity to listen to the radio and hear about the numerous Olympic controversies, disqualifications, and problems that have happened. If you haven’t been avidly following the Olympics and have switched off whenever they have been mentioned, let me sum up for you. So far there have been issues surrounding the empty seats in stadiums, and cracking down on ticket touts. There have been disqualifications in the badminton and cycling. American coaches have accused Chinese swimmers of using drugs. Plus much more!

The more shocking of these controversies for me have been the badminton disqualifications, where the Chinese, Indonesian and South Korean teams were accused of “not using one’s best efforts to win”. One of the members of the Chinese team said “We've already qualified, so why would we waste energy? It's not necessary to go out hard again when the knockout rounds are tomorrow”. Later, after they had been disqualified, one of them announced their retirement from the sport because her dream had been "heartlessly shattered".

How often in our own lives do we not give out best because we feel that it is a waste of energy? We feel that what we are doing is not worth giving our all; there may be something else we want to do, yet have to finish this first; the task may be menial and boring; and there are many other reasons we don’t always give our best. But do we ever consider that by not doing our best, there may be greater, unforeseen circumstances? The badminton players certainly didn’t. The players did not even see much wrong with their actions, and felt it was acceptable to ‘save their energy’.

God sees things differently. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 10 that we should do everything for the glory of God, not causing others to stumble (verses 31 & 32). Whatever we do in life, we should do it as if we were completing the task for God himself – yes, even those boring tasks! And we should not cause others to stumble – the South Korean badminton teams admitted that it was the influence of the Chinese team that influenced their actions.

We never know who may be watching us, and so we should always do our best, knowing that we are not causing others to stumble and encouraging them, too, to work their best.

How much would thinking in this way change how you currently live your life? Remember to leave any comments and thoughts you have!

Resting in God

So another week has gone past, and I’m finding myself getting more and more used to calling Norwich home.

This week has found me rushing around quite a lot. On Tuesday, I drove the two and a half hours to Uppingham School so I could see the venue for the East Mids and Anglia Summer School. I was really impressed with it, and I am really looking forward to spending the week there for our Summer School. The weather was glorious, and hopefully it will be the same when we are there in August, but I’m sure we’ll have a blast either way. After meeting with Andrew (DYO East Mids), touring the campus and houses, and meeting some of the office staff, it was time to drive the two and a half hours back to Norwich. By the time I got back, I was ready to sit down and relax in front of the TV!

After the busyness of Tuesday, you would think I’d give myself a day to recover. Think again! I was back in the office at the normal time ready to work. In the morning I was working in the office, and in the afternoon we had a visit by the Chief Secretary and his wife. This was a good visit and we had lots of delicious home made cakes for the occasion.

But the day did not end there! After I finished in the office, I jumped back in the car to drive to Bourne for a community barbeque at an outdoor swimming pool. Another long drive, but definitely worth it! The weather was beautiful, sunny and hot, and I got to meet some great young people! I was very glad that I took my swimming gear – the pool was a create way to cool off. After a swim and a (very unregulated) game of pool volleyball, the food was ready and I was able to talk with some of the families from the area. Before the end of the evening, I was granted the opportunity to present 2 girls with their own Bibles as they were leaving the children’s group. After this presentation, I headed back to Norwich; another long drive, and a very late night!

While getting out and about this week has been good, it has also been very tiring. I’ve found myself yawning a lot in the office and getting up in the morning has been difficult. This tiredness has also made it hard to motivate myself to spend time in prayer and reading my Bible. But this is the most important thing to do.

Although it has been difficult to start my quiet time, afterwards I find that my strength has been renewed, and though I may still be physically tired,  I am more alert and ready to work. This reminded me of what Jesus says in Matthew 11:28: "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest” (MSG).

Life gets busy, which can wear us down and sap our energy. That’s what life does. And when it gets busy, it is easy to let our time with God be the first thing to suffer. But this should be the last thing we lose. When we spend time with God, He renews our strength. He fills us up so we can continue and do more than we ever thought possible.

“[God] energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts. For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall. But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, They run and don't get tired, they walk and don't lag behind.” (Isaiah 40: 29 – 31, MSG).

So next time you become busy and tired, remember to rest in God and you will find you can continue and do even more.

What do you think? Have you ever experienced God renewing you at a time of extreme tiredness? Remember, you can leave your views here, on twitter or on Facebook!

A Boundless Adventure

Hi there! My name is Rebecca (Becky) Perry and I am the new DYO for Anglia. I hope to blog once a week about what I have been doing in this role and what I have learned about myself, God, and being a Christian. Also, after special events, like EMASS or Youth Councils, I will try and do a special blog to review what we did! This is the first time I have blogged, so this is an adventure already. Anyway, onto my first post!

I started as DYO on Monday 9^th July. This was a very scary day for me. I received the final results of my degree in Christian Youth Work on the Saturday before, and here I was taking my first step into the workplace. The job also meant I had to move to Norwich. I have never lived in this part of the world before, spending my life around Liverpool and the North West of the country. When I was looking for jobs, I ideally wanted to not move further South than Birmingham, East than Leicester, or more than 3 hours from home; my boundaries where firmly in place. God clearly had other ideas!

As a trained youth worker, I expected to find employment in a Corps or church; running their youth groups, clubs, organising small events, etc. Working in an office is something I didn’t really expect! Yet as I explore the theme of ‘Boundless’ in preparation for EMASS, I realise again that we should not constrain God by our own limitations, or expect him to allow us to stay in those places we feel comfortable and the boundaries can be seen. 

Working in DHQ hasn’t been my sole place of work for the past 2 weeks. I have already been able to go out and meet young people, youth workers, and groups in Norwich Mile Cross, Dussindale, and Wisbech. I’ve also been able to get out and see some of King’s Lynn and Peterborough. Getting out and about is something I am very keen to do in my role. I want to experience what happens and hear the opinions of those involved so I can offer the best support and direction. I want everyone involved in youth work, from the paid workers, volunteers, supporters, and young people, to have a voice in the work that happens.

During my time as DYO, I want to develop the youth work so that young people can grow into the best they can be, knowing they have been listened to and given as many opportunities to stretch them and explore their faith so it can take them wherever they want to go. I want them to be equipped to move out past the boundaries they could see into the boundless adventure God has for them.

And what about you? As part of the blogging process, I want to hear your opinions and views. Have you recently had an experience of God opening your eyes to the boundless life He offers? What boundaries are you currently working past in your own life?

If you ever want to contact me, please feel free to do so via commenting, facebook or twitter, and I will get back to you.