I was definitely changed by the people I met. Everyone I met over there changed me in some way – some more than others. I’m trying to be an intentionally more joyous person. Years ago, I thought of myself as a really positive person, always looking for the best in people and in situations. Various things that happened in my life have knocked that out of me a wee bit, but I’m done with that. I want to be positive again, and I’m going to be. I can make the choice to be like that – my new friends have taught me that much! There is so much around me that is truly awesome and God-sent, I want to make an effort to see these things and to take the time to wonder at them.

Dancing, I want to keep check on the pride that as often held me back from expressing myself. I don’t want to be embarressed to dance, like I have been in the past. Dancing is such an incredible experience. At the Crossing the Bridge conference, despite all our cultural and societal differences, we were all brought together at many points during the week by the language of dance. Whether it was just shoving some music on and doing our own thing, surrounded by others doing their own thing or learning a dance from another culture. When the music played and we started dancing, all the language and cultural barriers were forgotten and we all just melted into the moment, into the atmosphere of enjoying ourselves and having fun together!

On a more serious note, my faith has been seriously challenged while I’ve been away. I’ve been guilty over the last few years of becoming quite apathetic in my faith, not really putting as much effort or focus into cultivating and feeding it as I should have. I’ve allowed myself to often become sucked into the trap of Church politics – at a local and national level. The people I met, the strength of faith I met in Nepal has really challenged me to climb out of my rut, to stop being so blasé aboutmy faith. In Nepal, I met Christians who live in countries where Christians are persecuted, I met people who live close to villages where Christian homes were burned and a family burned alive, I met people who themselves have suffered for their faith, and through all of this, I saw more passion for God than I ever have at any large Christian event in the UK – including the General Assembly, the National youth Assembly, CLAN gathering and Spring Harvest. There were none of the trappings of the institutional Church that we have here, or they were at least not as pronounced and deified as they are here!

One thing that struck me was the timing of the trip and how that challenged me. Since 2001, at this time of year, I have attended the Church of Scotland General Assembly 6 times as a Youth Rep. It has always been a great experience, meeting other young Christians, being involved in the Church of Scotland at that level, seeing how decisions are made and meeting many of the people working in the Church of Scotland. But it is also a week of religious trappings, of institutional mumbo-jumbo, of pedantics, arguing over individual words and, dare I say it, tension between Christian and Secular living. I thought I would miss not being there this year. I didn’t, not a bit. Hearing the stories I did in Nepal, encountering the people and Churches that I did helped me realised how skewed my focus has so often been in my faith and the outworking of my faith. I have put to much effort and energy into things in the Church that, ultimatly, don’t make that much of a difference, compared to the difference standing firm in your faith in the face of persecution and hatred does. It has not all been in vain, although undoubtedly some of what I have been involved in has been. It’s just been an eye opening experience. I don’t judge myself, or others, for the perspective I worked from, I worked from and with my personal experiences as I knew them. But I am so thankful that I have had the opportunity to have my eys opened and my mind opened to the reality of wat Christians in parts of the world are facing. I’ve always known about the persecuted Church, about Christians who live in fear of attack because of their faith, but knowing about such things is completely different from knowing people who live with such things. I pray I never forget what they taught me about following and serving God.

I can only imagine that over the next few weeks and months, more and more thoughts will pour out of me about this trip, perhaps not always in the most sensible order! Let me thank you all in advance for your prayers, support and encouragement in working through these thoughts.

Peace Out

I will miss not being at the assembly, the 7 Youth Assemblies I have attended, as delegate or staff, over the last 10 years have been very important to me. I’ve made many good friends, been challenged, been inspired, at the assembly in 2000 I gave my life to Christ. Through my involvement in the Youth Assemblies, I’ve been opened to many other opportunitites – the ecumenical assembly in 2001, being a General Assembly youth rep in 2001,2002,2003,2005,2008,2009 (2003/2005 as a youth assembly rep – I’m quite proud to have been a part of the first group voted by the Youth Assembly to represent the Youth Assembly at General Assembly in 2003, voted by the NYA of 2002), going to Toronto in 2002 as part of the CofS group that visited the Roman Catholic World Youth Day celebrations, being involved in the Wadi adult network, the upcoming trip to Nepal and countless other weekends, evening and events that I was able to attend/ be part of through the people I’d met. I know this list seems a bit narcissistic, but I’m just realising how blessed I’ve been to be a part of all these things.

If you’ve never been to the Youth assembly and you are eligible to go, I would recommend that you do, if you’ve been before, why do you share some memories with us? Those who are going this year – relish it, enjoy it, participate. Its the kind of event that is only as good as you make it, if you don’t put yourself into it and take part, it will never be as good as it could be – for you and for those around you.

Peace Out

Peace Out

The Church of Scotland National Youth Assembly starts today! As I’ve previously blogged, this is an awesome event! Close to 300 young Christians from around Scotland will be gathering in Stirling as of this afternoon to spend a weekend together exploring what it means to be Christian in Scotland in the 21st century and how we interact with the rest of the body of Christ.

There is so much going on this weekend, I can’t begin to describe it all! I’m excited about my contribution, I’m away to go for breakfast so can’t describe it all fully just now. But basically, I’m serving NYA with 3 of my greatest passions this weekend: I’m leading 9 hours of sporting activities over the weekend, I’m doing a session called ‘worship through a lens’ and I@m part of a team blogging and twittering about the weekend. It’s great to be able to use my passion to serve a community that has given so much to me over the years!

Must dash, food calls!

Peace out

So what is NYA? It’s a youth event run by the Church of Scotland for 16 – 25 year olds. Over the course of the weekend we debate issues facing the Church, attend seminars designed to help us with our faith journey, have ceilidhs, eat together, generally just having fellowship with other Christians at the same stage of life as us.

What is it about NYA thats made it so important to me? As well as the life changing event of giving my life to Christ in 2000, each and every year I’ve attended has changed me for the better. When I first attended, I was 16, severely lacking in self – confidence and entirely unsure of who I was and where I was going in life. It didn’t change instantly, but as the years passed I grew in confidence and was much more assured of who I was. Was it NYA that caused this change in me? To put it simply, yes. The part of the event that changed me the most has always been the people I meet there. Some of my closest friends are people I”ve met through NYA. Indeed, the 2 most inspirational people in my faith and professional journey I met at NYA2000: Paul Beautyman and Steve Mallon. Amongst the many people who have inspired, mentored and encouraged me, their ‘investment’ in me has had the greatest affect on me (not to belittle the many other great people who have taken me under their wing!). Over the years I’ve met hundreds of young Christians at NYA, I can only hope I’ve had half the impact on their lives as they’ve had on mine.

Many of the debates and seminars over the years have encouraged me to explore my faith in relation to real life, how does what I read in the Bible connect with life? The many, many conversations, debates and people I’ve experienced over the years have enabled me to have what I think is the greatest asset in my approach to faith: an open mind. I don’t always agree with what people say or how they approach faith, but instead of being abrasive, I love having the opportunity to be able to chat to people and hear their story and how they got to have the approach they have.

I believe know that I have matured so much in the last 9 years. My involvement in NYA, and everything that has come out of that (General Assembly Youth Reps, World Youth Day, Impact, many friendships and much more) has grown me so much more than anything else I could have been involved in. I can’t think of anything else I could have been involved in that would have allowed me to be pushed out of my comfort zone so much, to learn so much, to grow so much. I’m eternally gratefully for NYA and for everything it has led to in my life.

I can’t wait for this weekend, although I’m a little sad that it will be the last NYA I can ever attend as a delegate. After this year I’ll be too old! I hope I’ve matured enough to move on from this chapter of my life in a positive way. One of my characteristics is that I’m incredibly nostalgic. I love revisiting memories and photos, thinking back to the awesome things and people I’ve experienced. Without doubt, my days as an NYA delegate will be up at the top of the list of happy memories.

If you’re there this year, I look forward to seeing you. If you’re not and have been before, we’ll miss you, if you’ve never been, I’m sad for you!

Keep an eye out over the weekend on my blog, the NYA Blog and on twitter (#nya2009) to hear about whats going on this year.

Peace Out

Enjoy!

Peace out

Chris

There was quite a funny moment during the the morning worship when one of the youth reps leaned over to me and tried to engage me in a discussion about how hot the Proctor was, I’m not here to judge, but I’m just not that keen on women twice my age!

With the first report of the day being from the Chaplains to Her Majesty’s armed forces, the Bible reading during the morning worship was read by a Chaplain. Rev John Duncan, currently stationed in Afghanistan, also on the voice link was Rev David Anderson. I really enjoyed that moment because David Anderson was my Sunday school teacher and John Duncan was my Dad’s best man (at least if its the John Duncan I think it is!).

I’ve really enjoyed the moderators addresses over the course of the week. Today was no different! Here are some of the points I wrote down from his address:
do we proclaim the gospel unashamedly? Or do we hide behind being Scottish and Presbyterian and say we don’t want to force it upon others?
Do those closest to us know we have taken a stand for Jesus?
Do we take glory in Jesus like Paul did?
We should never be ashamed of a gospel that will change people!

One of the big reports of the day was a joint report called ‘Forgiveness & Proportionality’; for of such is the kingdom of God – creating a Church where all may safely live.
Basically the report is all about discussing what the theological concept of forgiveness is and how it informs the policy/practice of the Church of Scotland in relation to sex offenders being involved in the life of a congregation. It’s definitely worth a read, its available here.

At lunchtime, the Mission and Discipleship council took all of its staff, members and the youth reps out for lunch. We had a great time, was nice to spend that lunchtime together. It was also Doug Nicols last such gathering with those who were there. I’m really glad for him that he’s found a Parish to move to, although he’ll be greatly missed in 121.

In the afternoon there were 2 reports of interest. The Mission and Discipleship report, that went quite well for the most part. After that there was the National Youth Assembly report. THe report was delivered by Iain Mclarty, moderator of the National Youth Assembly. There were some questions about the report, including one commisioner asking if how the Church was doing with its internet use ie: its website. When it was asked I was really excited thinking about how it was a chance to push them into perhaps incorporating things like twitter, RSS and podcasts. Or even developing a policy of allowing CofS national stuff to be online outwith the main website. This didn’t happen. I can’t remember who answered, but they said they were pleased that the youth page had been updated……..and that was it. (BTW: I couldn’t answer because only the moderator of the youth assembly or one of the youth assembly appointed reps could answer. I felt it was a wasted opportunity. But I’m not going to go on about it, thats my moaning done now on that point!

Tuesday night was a busy social night for the youth reps. First, we were hosted at the scottish storytelling centre by the moderator. It was a really nice time with the group and the mod. He spent some time wandering around talking to us all, what really struck me about him was how down to earth he is, he’s such a normal, nice guy. At the end, as part of a vote of thanks, Iain McLarty informed the moderator that, as a group, we would like to offer him the opportunity to have his portrait painted by Colin, one of the Youth Reps, he seemed quite chuffed at the idea!

After that reception we were invited to Holyrood palace for the beating of the retreat and then a reception in the palace hosted by the Lord High Commissioner, His Grace George Reid. The beating of the retreat was fantastic, standing in the grounds of the palace with a great pipe band playing, accompanied by some Scottish country dancers. Inside the palace, there are a lot of people at this reception every year who just want to be seen, but there are also a lot of great people there. Many Youth reps, including myself, had the chance to chat to some of the ex-moderators. As a group, we all love Marjory McLean (the acting principle clerk) and Rt Rev Alan MacDonald, and a large number of us got to chat to them both. Some youth reps had the chance to speak to the lord high commissioner as well. After the palace, we all went to the Hard Rock Cafe for some dinner. That was a lovely time to spend some time chatting with folks as well. Once we were done there, we headed back to the hotel where we enjoyed our last night together just sitting in the bar chatting and laughing, then moving on to one of our rooms once the bar closed!

All in all a good day, a busy day, but a fun, sociable day.

Peace Out

Chris