Paul
was a 14 year old Sikh lad from down the road, who had had contact
with us both in the schools and in the After School Club on and
off over some time. An average lad in many ways he tried to act
cool in front of his mates, but underneath he had lots of issues
to contend with. His father drank too much and was infamous as being
a very difficult man to contend with in his local community. He
had spent a number of periods in hospital due to alcohol related
illness which left Paul to be 'man about the house' and take responsibility
for younger siblings.
My
enduring memory is of one very significant conversation over a period
of 3 years. I was photocopying in the vestry at church and he came
in and stopped to natter...We spoke very briefly about superficial
things and I asked about his Dad. He moved on quickly to say that
his mum was mentally ill due to a curse put on her by others in
the community. There could have been all sorts of real reasons for
this illness she had (including coping with her husband) but the
power of occult-related activity is very real in the area and there
is a strong belief in curses.
Just for a snatched few minutes I shared with him about the power
of the name of Jesus to break curses, to overrule impossible situations
and the way that our God would be there when called on...I felt
convinced it was right to say this even though we had not had many
lighter conversations about the Lord...He really listened and then
snuck off again and we never spoke further on the subject. As far
as I know he's not a Christian yet...and I do know that his Dad
has now died. He still lives at home.
I think about him often as he and his mates hang out by the chippy
and we go past regularly. I wonder where he's at? I wonder if he
has prayed... I wonder how his Mum is...I believe that our role
is not to fret over 'harvest' - stressing in a wheat-field doesn't
enhance crop-growth...our role is to tell it like it is...live it
like it is...and get the Gospel out there on the grapevine...irrespective
of whether people accept it lock stock and barrel.
Sometimes we can wait so long for the right moment to tell people
parts of a Gospel they're not even thinking about...instead of looking
to address the root of the needs they have...Jesus talked about
water when people were thirsty - both physically and spiritually.
How can we do this more when we plan our programmes...but then how
do we balance that with not spending our entire youth programme
following each crisis, trauma or stress that our youth go through?
What truth are we building into our lives and the lives of others,
which equip and empower for dealing with difficult stuff? Do we
really believe that God has the power to break curses in our communities
and that he might use us to do that? How much do we talk spiritual
issues in everyday contexts when it's not the religious slot? Do
we believe God works outside of religion? What about the multi-faith
or cross faith dimensions of youth work practice?
