We're Back!

We feel like we've been away more than we've been home over the last month - at least Chris has been. After putting our interns on a plane, we enjoyed a weekend with some friends in the Midlands of England and a week with our colleagues who work throughout the UK and Ireland. Only a day after, Chris set out for two long days at Soul Survivor youth camp near Bristol, England (the largest youth camp in England by far - 10,000 teenagers each of 3 weeks!) to learn what teenagers are being taught, hear their stories, and continue to mentor one of the guys he has spent time with. The two had great coversation over the two days and look forward to those conversations materialising over the next several months. After returning from camp and only a few hours of sleep, we caught an early train to Paris to celebrate our Fifth Anniversary. We had a brilliant time! It's such a blessing to have the ability to experience such beautiful parts of the world.

Recaps

iWitness

Over the summer, 140 teenagers joined us in London to pilot a partnership with an organisation in the States. When it all came to an end, we learned loads and caught a glimpse of how God might use this partnership in the future. We saw one teenager from East London make a decision to journey with Jesus for the rest of her life. We are talking with two of the interns about joining us for a longer period. And countless American students began to understand how they can change the world with the love of Christ, starting with their friends.

TX Interns

Our Texas interns finished their 18 days in London on 29 Aug. They were a great example to some of the teenagers that we've been investig in. The highlight of their time here for us was a picture of what we're working towards in London. We met up with a few teenagers for lunch in the park. One of these teens is a believer and the other is not. We ate, threw the frisbee around, talked about life, and asked questions about God. We read a few chapters from Ecclesiastes and did life together. That is a picture of the church towards which we believe God calls us - not a one off event or weekly meeting, but doing life together, rubbing shoulders with followers of the way and those who follow their own way.

Youth Centre

Over the past several months, we have prayed over a vision that God has set before us. As we've experienced teen life and culture in London, we have found that there is a daunting lack of safe space for teenagers' informal development. One of the most blatant examples exists in Southall. You've heard us talk about Southall before. Now we look to take the next step.

While our Texas interns were with us, we spent a week praying on site at an empty garage that we believe God desires to develop into a youth centre. During our times of prayer, we met an employee from a meet shop across the road. We had been praying that God would help us find out who owned the garage. This employee told us who owns it and what it is used for. Remarkably enough, we had prayed that this wouldn't be an initiative of our own (from the outside in) but that we would be a catalyst for a youth centre developed by the community. As a businessman, the owner of the garage would potentially be a respected man in this community. We are now praying that he will catch the vision, donate the space, and connect other parts of the community with the development of this centre.

Please be in bold prayer that God will direct our steps, open the doors for this youth centre, develop partnerships within the community, and provide opportunities for us to walk alongside of teenagers in Southall.

Parents of Teenagers

I came home to an e-mail earlier this week that excites me SO MUCH. Our national partner, Sheila, sent me the following message.

Are you and Angie around on the evening of Tuesday 9th September? We have got impatient waiting for things to happen through the youth work channel, so Jenny (a fellow-parent of teens) and I have invited parents of teens to an initial get-together at Jenny’s house. 8pm start. It would be great if you could be there, perhaps more to observe this time, as we’ll be sounding them out as to what might be helpful, and we’d like to pray for our youngsters. We could introduce you and you could say a bit about your ministry.

Why am I so excited? Because God has led Sheila to take action that we hope will lead to relevant, reproducible, and multiplying forms of church amongst families of teenagers. Please pray that Sheila will continue to catch the vision and spread it, and that the parents who attend on the 9th will realise the importance of living alongside of parents who are not relying on Jesus for life.

We are also in conversation with partners from South Hanwell Baptist Church (the community that we currently worship with) to host a seminar for Parents of Teenagers that will point towards support groups/communities of parents helping one another and, hopefully, pointing each other towards Jesus and the hope that is only found in him.

More Travels

Yes, we have more travels forthcoming.

• Sept 10-12: Chris in Cardiff, Wales to learn about a Gap Year program.
• Sept 18-22: We will both visit friends in Brussels, Belgium.
• Sept 30 - Oct 8: We will both be in Spain (Madrid, Trujillo, and Seville) to visit friends and observe how colleagues are leading teenagers into a journey with Jesus.
• Oct 9-13: Chris in Malaga, Spain for company men's conference.