The theme of the Assembly this year was “Love life”, with John Bell being the main speaker. From all accounts John spoke very well – passionate and challenging, over the weekend. When I was there on Monday he was speaking about the importance of recieving blessings from other people alongside the importancd of giving blessings to them. He illustrated this with stories about people he has met over his life that have enriched his life, even when he initially thought they had nothing to give. Now, usually I don’t find myself in agreement with some of John’s approach to Theology, but on Monday I found myself agreeing with him, more than that, I found myself really resonating with what he was saying. It started me thinking about my time at the Youth Assembly over the last 11 years and how it has blessed me through the people that I was often there to serve; about the times when I took part in summer mission and how they people I met more often than not blessed me more than I felt I blessed them; about the hospitality I was shown when I visited an unrecognised Arab village in Israel, visiting a community who had very little, were severely oppressed, yet still gave everything they had to the 11 white people who were visiting them.

There was only one debate on Monday at the assembly, a debate talking about marriage. It was really interesting to listen to the groups as I was walking around taking photos, hearing how each group had picked up on different aspects if the material. Some were delving deeply into Theology of marrisge and looking at what the New Testament had to say about it; some were exploring current cultural approaches to marriage, asking questions such as “Is more emphasis
put on the wedding than on the actual marriage?” and “Is marriage as important to society as it used to be?”; other groups were exploring issues around divorce and remarriage, during the ‘blether’ where they had recieved some background information about the subject they were also asked some specific questions about Marriage and how the Church relates to it, one of the questions being “should the Church develop a liturgy of divorce?” The reasoning behind this being that an earlier survey of young people had brought back the suggestion that a service marking a divorce may help children and young people (and the adults) to cope with thr break up a marrige better. It was a really interesting debate, I’m sure the final deliverance will appear on the COSY blog soon!

One of the things I loved about visiting this assembly was the number of people I recognised, it really wasn’t that big a percentage of the number of people there. I thought that was awesome! Yeah, it was great to see old friends, people I haven’t seen in ages when I went, but it was just as awesome to see more youth and young adults engaging with the wider Church, the more diverse the attendance at the NYA is, the better for the wider Church!

My role on Monday was to take some photos of the day, capturing some of the moments that could be used for publicity for the event. I was able to get a number of good photos, which will be appearing on here, the COSY blog, the COSY flickr page and a few other places soon, I was very aware that I was starting my visual story telling of the weekend at the end of the event. They may be good photos, the may provide a visual narrative to some of Mondays goings on, but they are missing the wider narrative and context of the entire weekend, so I can’t wait to see the photos appearing from others who were there for the whole weekend, or perhaps just for small parts of te weekend.

I’m going to leave my ramblings there for the time being, save to provide some links for you to better explore things around the Church of Scotland National Youth assembly:
For the COSY blog visit: www.cosyblog.wordpress.com
For the COSY Twitter account: www.twitter.com/#!/cosy_nya
For the COSY Flickr page: www.flickr.com/photos/cosyblog

Enjoy exploring these pages!

Peace Out

I’m really looking forward to the day, I haven’t been to the Youth Assembly since 2009, after which I became too old to go as a delegate. I do miss the asembly, it’s been a huge part of my life for the last 11 years. My first experience at the assembly was in April 2000, when I was 16. It was at this assembly that I decided that I wanted to follow Jesus and gave my life to him. Since then I have seen many changes in the structure, focus and feel of the assembly. I’ve met more people than I can remember, made some amazing friends, experienced things I could never had imagined, had so many incredible experiences it would take ages to list the all, let alone describe them!

I’m glad that I can use my skills and now my business to give back to the assembly. Although most, if not all, of the people who were involved when I first went are no longer involved, the event still means a lot to me. I know firsthand what involvement in the event and this community can be, can mean when you become a part of it.

One thing I love each time I go back to the assembly, whether for a weekend or a day, is the number of people I don’t know. Although the assembly has a group of dedicated attendees, it also has a healthy rate of turnover. It needs to, if it didn’t, the assemblym the community, would soon stagnate and wither.

Once I’m back in Aberdeen, I’ll post a few sample pictures up here from the day, along with a few links to other blogs etc that are talking about the assembly.

Peace Out

I attended the General Assembly 6 times as a youth rep: 2001, 2002, 2o03, 2005, 2008, 2009 and this issue came up every year! It was rarely brought up by a Youth Rep, it was more often brought up by a commissioner to the assembly who appreciated the input of the Youth Reps and wanted to see that input given further weight. The argument against has been consistent since I first attended, Youth Reps are not allowed to vote because of 2 reasons: There is the issue of ordination, most Youth Reps are not ordained; The other issue is that Youth Reps, ordained or not, are not commissioned to assembly. For Youth Reps to be allowed to vote would require, in my opinion, fulfillment across the board on both of these issues, which would then of course require an overhaul of how Youth Reps are chosen to attend the assembly and an overhaul of who/ how the Church of Scotland Ordains people.

I have not always been against the vote, when I first attended the General Assembly I couldn’t understand why the Church wouldn’t just let Youth Reps vote. It made no sense to me, it seemed to me that they were just being awkward, mean perhaps! I blame that on the fire of youth (I was 17 with a full head of hair after all!). I’m now 10 years older and able to better channel my passion into avenues that have an opportunity to bear fruit. I understand the nuances better than I did when I was an inexperienced, naive 17 year old. Now, before you all get mad that I’m labeling all youth Reps (and others) who support Youth Reps getting the vote as naive, inexperienced, young, stupid or anything like that, I’m not. I’m only pointing out that when I was 17 I often spoke/ acted before I thought, I didn’t always understand what I was talking about (i’m not sure that last point has moved on much TBH!).

Youth Reps at the assembly are an incredible force, they speak with passion, with power with pride, with emotion, with eloquence (ok, that last one isn’t always true, some Youth reps have been known to mumble or even inform the assembly that they possess “mind-boggling expertise”). The pint is, Youth Reps are always a welcomed part of the assembly, a celebrated part of the assembly. They are not scared to speak (30-40 people having your back tends to boost you confidence!), they are not scared to challenge, to ask questions (even awkward or stupid ones!). So is it really that big a deal if Youth Reps never get to vote? Youth Reps still make a valued input, still do and say enough to change the assemblies mind and influence them.

I’ll leave you with a quote from my friend Lynsey on twitter: “Hoping the youth that don’t think we have a vote were represented. We don’t all think the same. We’re all pals though….beautiful”

They disagree, but they love each other anyway…….

Peace Out

Anne Dillard

We stayed up fairly late last night chatting and getting to know one another. we all then woke up far too early!

Our first port of call today was the offices of CMN. CMN is an organisation working for and with the people of Nepal addressing the root causes of poverty throughout the country. The organisation has a policy (a good one) of not duplicating work that is already happening – so they do not set up shop in an area where people are already doing the work/ They also work in the poorest areas of Nepal:

Bajhang

Doti

Mugu

Rukum

Rupendehi

Palpa

Dhading

Okhaldhunga

Sunsari

I won’t go into all the details of the work that they do – I would have you here for days! If you go to their website you can browse to your hearts content, let me instead share with you what stuck out for me during our visit.

UMN used to be an organisation focused on implementing the projects, in 2003 they made a strategic decision to become an enabling organisation – instead of doing the work, they work with local agencies and local people and help develop their capacity to implement and support the work. All the work that UMN is involved in has a preventative approach to it. UMN is seeking to work with it’s partner organisations in a capacity building role – both technical and organisational. They work closely with the Nepali government – they are currently coming to the end of a 5 year agreement with the Government about the work they can do and where and are negotiating a new 5 year agreement.

The areas UMN works in are known as clusters, the work in these areas is based on what is best for that locality, this is decided in consultation with local government agencies. UMN aims to be fully accountable to all their partners.

Another really interesting part of the work was the work they do with HIV/Aids. HIV/ Aids is a problem in Nepal – although it is not reaching the same kind of levels that we see in Africa. There are ‘officially’ around 75,000 people diagnosed with HIV/Aids in Nepal, although there will be many more who suffer from the disease but will not/ cannot be tested due to the stigma of HIV/ Aids,  the lack of available testing stations or the fact that the tests are prohibitively expensive, as are the proper after care procedures – follow up checks and good, healthy food.. For some people, it can be a good 3/4 days travel to get to a clinic where they might be tested for HIV/Aids – expensive not only for the test, but for the transport and for the accomodation. Even the places which have the equipment to perform tests may not have the staff trained to use the equipment, or the money available to maintain the equipment in good working order.

There is a presentation which we were shown that I am hoping to get a copy of that you will be able to download and look through at your own pace. we are also trying to get some video clips to show you a bit about the work they do. But that will have to wait until we have more bandwidth to work with!

UMN works from a model of Integral Mission – not just evangelism, not just social action, but both intertwined with each other. As an example they pointed us to John 4: 1 – 26, drawing us to the ‘evangelical’ portion of the passage where Jesus talks about never being thirsty again (vs 13/14) and also to the ‘social’ aspect of the story – the fact that Jesus talks to a marginalised woman and works with her to change her life. UMN do not see evangelism as bbeing something that can be done seperatley to social action, neither do they social action as something that can be done seperatley from evangelism.

This afternoon, we made a short visit to the slums along the banks of the Bagmati River. The people who inhabit this area are mostly people who have moved to the area from the rural areas in Nepal and so have no land or means to obtain a home other than to live in this mini shanty town in the middle of the city. It was a bizarre experience. We were there for 20 minutes, if that, and spent most of that inside the primary school. The kids their were delighted to see us – they loved Suzi because she was chatty and friendly, Joanna because she was giving out shortbread, Chuli because she was asking their teacher lots of questions and me because I had a camera and could take and show them pictures of themselves – it was like being surrounded by 20 of my nephew Joshua, desperate for a shot with the camera. When I was taking kids photos and showing them, I was very conscious that I didn’t want to accidentaly miss anyone out – consequently I spent the entire time there taking kids pictures and showing them to everyone.

The area really made me wonder. The pure joy that was obvious in the life of these kids, who really have nothing, compared to some of the kids I meet in Aberdeen and have met elsewhere in Scotland. Would they be so joyous if they had so little material posession? Despite this, the strain of life in the slum was plain to see on the faces of the parents and other adults living there. They were still amazingly friendly, very smily. Yet I’m sure they were wondering what we would/ vould do to help them. I was wondering that. It was amazing to share in the joy of kids who were so happy to have visitors, but what impact can we really have made on their lives in that 20 minute whistle stop tour? I almost judge the 4 of us for making the visit. Sure, it’s opened our eyes, but that is inly going to help them if we do something about it!Their living conditions are horrendous – mud for a floor, whatever materials they can scavenge for walls and a roof, no idea where clothes come from, let alone food (except for the chickens we saw wandering around and the small crop plantation at the back of the area). I know this slum isn’t as ‘bad’ as some of the slums in India, or Africa or South America, but it’s still heart wrenching to see. When I visited the unrecognised village in the Holy Land I was shocked at the conditions – but even they have a life of luxury compared to the folks we met today.

I pray that our visit today will ot just be a footnote on our trip, but that it is something that inspires us to action, whatever that action is, to help make the world, this life, a better experience for those that we can.

Peace Out

My only complaints about the film would be that not enough was made of Oher’s background – use of more flashbacks could have been quite effective and would have made more of the turn-around in Oher’s life. In the film, Oher was made out to have no knowledge of Football and to be quite a passive player, in reality he already had experience of Football and knew what he was in for. Also, the opening section about LT would also have benefited from some expansion to set the scene for the importance of the left tackle (or right tackle if the QB is left handed) and why Oher’s protective instinct was an important attribute.

It’s definitely a moving story, whether you read the book or watch the film. And I would certainly recommend that you read the book, watch the film or both! Quinton Aaron is very good at playing Oher, Sandra Bullock is fantastic as Leanne Tuohy – it’s without doubt the best performance she’s ever given.

Being a Youthworker, I of course saw the potential benefits this movie could have for use with youth groups and classes to make them think about many issues that the film brings up – equality, class divide, inspiration, encouragment, determination etc etc

Go see it, enjoy, be moved, be encouraged and make sure you encourage others to see it!

Peace Out

Peace out

I’m very excited about this opportunity, I can’t deny that I’m almost as excited about the land we’ll be visiting as I am about the chance to meet with young Christians from a context so different from my own. The conference has been set for 2010 so that it can coincide with the centenary of the 1910 Edinburgh Missionary Conference. During our time there, we will stay in Kathmandu and also in Pokhara. While there, as well as participating in the 5 day conference, we will visit local Churches and meet youth leaders, meet with the UN in Kathmandu and visit some missions.

As long as I”m able to recieve a signal on my Blackberry I’ll be tweeting (I’ll find out if there is an ‘official’ hashtag for the event) and blogging about the trip (my blog posts will also appear on the cosyblog, where there will also be people blogging about the Church of Scotland General Assembly at the same time.

As I find out more over the next few weeks I’ll be blogging more about what I”m looking forward to and expecting from the trip.

Peace Out

Chris

We next meet on November 10th at 2:30pm, location TBD.

In the meantime, here are some photos from Wednesday: