Kicking Things Up a Notch

Well. I have been back in (sunny/cold/wet – take your pick) Cardiff for almost two weeks now, and it has been strangely busy getting back into all my different ministries. Christmas break was wonderful – I really was quite tired and in need of a rest – and it was great to see my family and a good few of you at the good ol’ Highway New Year’s Eve party.

But being back here has reminded me of how much I love what I’m doing at the moment. Sure, there are little things here and there which frustrate me daily (the cleanliness of the house, people being late – just my general pedantic nature) but what I’m doing here, and what I’m learning here is just beyond anything I ever would have thought I’d learn.

There have been a few things switched around for this second term – I’m no longer part of the Love a Granny ministry (which I was quite upset about to begin with) and I’m instead part of the SprogZ team. SprogZ is basically 0s-5s for an hour and a half during the week, where the kids come with their parents and play. We have a bouncy castle, soft play, slides, trampolines, etc. All the things littlies just get stuck into and go crazy over. The parents come and have tea or coffee and chat and it is a really lovely atmosphere (even with the nursery rhymes playing in the background on a continual loop). The worst bit, though, is tidying up afterwards. Anybody ever tried to put a bouncy castle away when there are only 2 or 3 people there to do it?

(Fortunately, they don’t want the bouncy castle next week! Hurrah!)

Anyway, enough of my griping. I was told before Christmas by another of the interns that I seem to complain cheerfully (which seems a little like an oxymoron- surely complaining isn’t cheerful at all?) and enjoy doing so. I’m not sure I like that, so I’m going to try to complain less.

Speaking of my fellow interns – we have another two joining us this term! Tom, from Bridgend, joined us at the end of last week, and Aspyn, from Florida, will be arriving at the end of the month. Our intern house is getting fairly busy now! While there are only room for six people to sleep in the house, we effectively have eight people living here (soon to be nine, no doubt!) but it is absolutely fantastic. As I’m writing this, my housemate Rhi and I are having a quick marvel at how brilliant it is that our friends (intern and non-intern) just feel as though they can come and be in our house. Last night we were watching a film, and several of our friends just turned up and joined in. It was great. I really feel as though I am making friendships for life here.

(I’m going to take this moment to apologise for how scattered my thoughts are as I’m writing this. A lot has happened and occurred to me in the last two weeks alone that I want to share with you all and I’m trying – in vain – to organise it just a little...!)

Everything has kicked up a notch now. In each of our respective ministries we are being given a little more responsibility – opportunities to lead and to stretch us and bring us out of the nice, comfortable boxes we climbed into last term. I’m looking forward to this challenge, but I’m possibly a little petrified too. I’ve never really thought I was much of a leader, but I find I’m having to face up to the possibility that God may just be poking me in that direction (after all, why I am here in Cardiff if not to learn what God wants me to?)

A perfect example is yesterday afternoon’s session of Youth Band. I love Youth Band to pieces – I really do. They’re all amazingly talented young people, with so much potential, and a heart for worship just waiting to explode out. Recently, Youth Band has grown so that we now can’t all really fit on the stage, so John – who leads Youth Band – decided we were going to split it in two. Now, it divides nicely (age-wise) down the middle, and John was going to take the younger ones for the session in the scout hut, while Sam (one of last year’s interns who still helps out) and I took the older ones for the session in the main hall. It got to 4.30 yesterday afternoon, and all of the youth were there, and John was explaining the divide to them when my phone buzzes in my pocket.

It was Sam. On placement in school, the text read, won’t be there for the next few weeks.

At this point, my mind staged a minor meltdown. I was going to have to lead the session with the older youth all on my own. Aaargh!

I had it planned out – I knew the songs we were going to be doing, and knew how the session normally ran etc., but having to do it all on my own?! I didn’t feel prepared in the slightest.

But! God is faithful! Really faithful. The session went really well, and throughout it all, I could feel God’s presence so clearly in the room as these wonderful young people worshipped and learned these new songs. I feel so incredibly blessed to be able to work with them. There were a few minor hiccups (one of the legs snapped off the bass drum, I had to hurriedly transpose one of the songs from G to A and transposition is not my thing) but none of that mattered. God’s faithfulness just really shone out to me yesterday, and now I’m really looking forward to taking a more active role in Youth Band and feel less worried about it all.

Talking of things kicking up a notch, our new module for Thursday morning training is going to be a challenge from all accounts. Last term we focussed on grounding ourselves in Biblical knowledge and understanding, seeing Jesus throughout the Bible. This term we are focussing on missional living – what it means to have Jesus right at the centre of our faith and how that works out in the way we live, the way church works, the way we see the church and the way we see others.

We’ve been given a book to read called ReJesus (by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch) and I would recommend everyone read this book. We’ve only gotten as far as the end of the first chapter during training, but I’ve already been challenged to take a look at my own life and think about whether Jesus really is at the centre of everything I do. Is He really at the centre of all of my ministries? Am I taking that five minutes before my ministries begin to make sure that He is at the centre? If Jesus is not at the centre of my life and everything I do, how can I hope to show Him to those I meet? Am I even showing others the real Jesus? The Jesus who was wild and radical and a revolutionary, not the Jesus who is so holy we can never even hope to get anywhere near Him, despite what He did for us?

Anyway, I’m starting to feel like I’m ranting a little. It’s just food for thought, and it has certainly been food for my thoughts over the last week. What I’ve mentioned is what I’ve taken from the book so far, but there is so much more within just the introduction and the first chapter. I would really, really recommend everyone to read it.

On a small side note – have you seen the video that’s circulating on facebook? Why I hate religion, but love Jesus, is what it’s called. It is fantastic, and ties in very well with what the book ReJesus talks about.

In other news, I have my first performance of Borderline Alcoholic coming up! Just a reminder – Borderline Alcoholic is the PSE drama about the dangers and effects of alcohol and we will be taking this production into secondary schools this term and next. We have an all day rehearsal on this coming Tuesday (17th Jan) and then on Wednesday (18th Jan) we are taking it into our first school, where we will do four performances in one day! Now, one performance is tiring enough (it is especially emotionally tiring), but four? I’m slightly worried about that aspect of it, even though I’m quite excited!

So, sneaky prayer request number one: please pray for me and the team this week as we rehearse on Tuesday (that we remember everything well despite it being nearly three months since we rehearsed it!) and then take it into school on Wednesday (that the young people take something away from it, that the performances go well, that we don’t get too tied). Ta v muchly!

In other PSE drama related news, I have been asked to be a part of one of their other productions. This one is called Snakes and Ladders and is focussed on mental health and depression and dispelling the myths surrounding them. In stark contrast to my part in Borderline, I am not playing the mum, but rather the villainous role of the personification of Depression. Rehearsals for this begin in February, and we’re taking it into schools at the end of February/beginning of March. I’ve never played a villain before, so I’m quite excited (though not sure if that’s a good thing or not...)

Here it comes... sneaky prayer request number two: please pray for me and the team as we prepare for rehearsals for Snakes (that I can learn my lines quickly so I’m ready for when we come together for rehearsals). Thanks!

Thank you all so much for your continuing support and prayers since September. I really am having a fantastic time here in Cardiff (though it is not always easy) and God is teaching me so much in everything that I am doing. I really appreciate the love and support of everyone back home and look forward to seeing you all whenever I next come back (Easter, I think...)

One last thing – Christmas trees are lethal, especially large ones found in churches. I still bear the scars of my adventure in taking them down last week... Still, it was relatively fun.

Love and blessings from Cardiff, as always,

Debs xxx

www.goingpublic.org.uk