Homeland



'My' hometown.

 

 



There is something odd, weird even, in my opinion about being on holiday in Glasgow. The first time I ever spent time away from home in Glasgow there was something surreal about waking up in the morning and looking west to see where I lived.

Ten years later, to the day by coincidence, and I found myself staying at the the in-laws. For the last week and a bit Lizzie and I have been in Glasgow, well Bishopbriggs, which has been nice. I had forgot how busy Glasgow is compared with Caerleon. In a busy 10 days it's been good meeting family, friends, churches, and house group in this surprise holiday home. However, one family member, Lizzie's auntie, has been very ill and is sadly back in hospital. If we had a chance to see you it was good meeting up but if we didn't then sorry and we hopefully will next time. Aside from that we had some humdrum things to do like go to the bank, as I've had some problems with my account since moving, and I've still not got my new phone!! More excitingly Lizzie and her mum did a 10k run at Strathclyde Park in Running the Race, a missions sponsered event, while her dad and I manned the WEC tent.



Strathclyde Park- where the race was run.

At least Oscar was pleased to see us.

It was also a good chance to take some time out from what has been a very quick August. Having some time out to think about how our first month in Wales has been, getting preparation done, and then returning home has been helpful. Sitting in Starbucks has a strange affect on  me in that I feel compelled to finish what I sat down to do and bearing that in mind it's forced me to be more focused upon returning now that everything has restarted, save Friday night youth club. However, that's due to a change in the way we are doing things and it will be starting back in October.

The secret diary of a youth worker part 1

I've spent most of this morning thinking, in fact I was convinced, it was Monday so I was a little surprised to hear that there was a prayer meeting tonight at the church since they happen on a Tuesday. Perhaps I had missed this one in the notices and I'm sure I had not fallen asleep during the church notices either. To add to my confusion our hosts are leaving for a short break on Thursday, which Owen keeps referring to as the day after tomorrow, which confuses me further as I think he's off to watch a film. Now with a little over half the day gone it turns out I was wrong, it is in fact Tuesday. That means tomorrow is Wednesday and Wednesday is youth club day.
Since arriving here I've been twice to the youth club and each week has been an interesting experience so we'll see what tomorrow brings. The first week was very calm and peaceful as far as youth clubs go, and last week was more sugar fueled. In many ways it's a typical youth club set up; table tennis, pool tables, X-box, juice, and other smaller games. One of the really great things is; there are a lot of young people on the register, just over 100, between 12 and 17 years old from a variety of backgrounds which ensures an interesting mix each week.
Even though Caerleon is an affluent area there are, or I should is, a part that seems to have missed out on that affluence and the local council are unwilling to deal with that situation. The youth club has a great opportunity to make a difference to the young people that come from that small section. Other people in the church have taken the initiative to reach out and show God's love to the residents who are in that situation. Part of my role as a youth worker is to develop the ministries, take them forward and at the moment it's still hard to work out how to take it forward as I've only been twice and I don't want to overstep my mark*. Building relationships with the young people  followed by observe and report has been my remit in these first few weeks, even if the reporting has been to my diary and contemplating what next?, which is important even if it can seem a bit of a chore at the time.
This is the last 'solo' youth club week as the school terms sees the return of Friday night youth club, the youth Bible study, and the rest of the young people's program. September when it comes along with the return to the daily grind of school will be busier for both myself and young people so having a structure in place for analyzing (my observe and report) and developing relations between Lodge Farm and the youth is crucial so that things move forward and don't stagnate or just happen because. In that respect I, or should I say we, are considering ways of dealing with the group(s) of youth God has given us, as we couldn't possibly have anywhere near everyone turning up on the same night. As you can see the church is not your typical church building and we just don't have the space, nor it would it be fun or safe for such a large number of youth. This is both a challenge and blessing, which is exciting, bring on next week!

Lodge Farm Church

*I think this is a long term challenge for me. Lodge Farm will be here long after Lizzie and I move to pastures new so avoiding the temptation to make an executive decision every now and then is an important one.