At the end of August I, Nick, in part of The History Maker Foundation, took four lads to Scotland. THMF gives "disadvantaged" young people the opportunity to experience outdoor adventure. Here's a bit of background before I tell you about the trip itself: Joel, the ginger-headed kid on the left in the picture above, was best-mates with a young man named Joey. Joey loved both Jesus and the outdoors and was able to share both of his passions with a lot of young people while working at an outdoor retreat called Compass Christian Centre in Scotland. Joey's life was cut tragically short in a climbing accident a few years ago. Shortly after we moved here, Joel said he would like to get a group of guys together and take them to Compass. So over the past several months, Joey’s family, the founders of THMF, worked very hard to make Joel’s goal happen. But it was up to us to find the right guys to take on the trip. While all this was beginning to take shape, another charity called Go4 Enterprises started with the goal to help employ these same "disadvantaged" young people. It made perfect sense that these two charities work together. Go4 provides the lads and THMF provides the funding.
I’m worried that the term "disadvantaged" young person may not be clear. This is often a term used to describe young men and women who have grown up in an unstable environment, or had very limited family structure. Many of them get addicted to drugs, develop alcohol problems, and often times into legal troubles. So you can imagine how hard it would be to find a job in a country where 1 in 5 are unemployed and your background is less than stellar. You can also imagine how difficult it would be to stop the destructive lifestyle without both family and hope.
Ok, on with the story of the trip. At 5 a.m on a Monday we loaded up in the mini bus and began our 9 hour trek towards the middle of nowhere Scotland. In a one day trip, I was able to drive about 2/3 of the length of the U.K. When we arrived the lads were surprised to learn that there would be no cell phone service, internet, or t.v. It was only us in the hills with a bunch of cows, goats, and sheep. Our first day there, we were led on a full day hike up three munros (a munro is a class of mountain peaks). It was a great way to start our week. It put us to the test which revealed our true personalities. None of us really knew each other all that well before the trip, which added another challenge. During the first two days, we all kind of stuck close to the ones we felt most comfortable with. Joel stuck with me, Liam and Chris stayed together, and Alfie floated between the two. It was difficult to break the ice, and I was beginning to fear it was never going to happen. After a nine hour drive, two days of hiking countless miles, and being stuck together in the lodge with only ourselves to entertain us, we decided to go do something familiar to us all, go to the pub.
The most important thing we can do as Christians who are concerned about sharing the love of Christ with others is not to invite them to church, but to meet them on neutral ground. It wasn’t until our night at the pub that the ice finally broke. I got to learn about their upbringing, their goals, and their beliefs. After that night, during the remainder of the trip we all clicked. The next day we did some rock climbing and abseiling (repelling) and there was plenty of joking and teasing each other. A sign that we were beginning to not only feel comfortable with one another we actually liked each other enough to put one another down. I’m convinced that none of that would have happened had we not gone to our neutral ground. Since returning home, I have been able to stay in touch with these guys. Although, there is no way they would go to church with me, just yet, they are more than happy to meet me at the pub.
Now, for the N.T. Wright bit.......
A couple nights ago, I got to hear two lectures and meet N.T. Wright. I don’t think I’ve ever been more intimidated to meet someone before. If you’re not familiar with his work, he is one of the the intellectual elites in theology,and one of my heroes. Although he seems to be a very nice man, I couldn’t help but think that every word that was coming out of my mouth must sound so stupid to this guy. So thanks again to my insecurities, I really didn’t get to enjoy meeting him. He was very gracious and signed a couple of books for me, and as far as I could tell, never once rolled his eyes at me or gave me any impression that he thought I was a waste of space. After all, I’m sure that’s what I would have done if I were as smart as he is.
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