I am now weeks away from my gap year coming to an end, this
saddens me in an unexpected way.
I have done some much more than I could have imagined when I started this journey in September.
I have done some much more than I could have imagined when I started this journey in September.
These past couple of months, since getting home have been no
different.
I very much expected the reverse culture shock, waves of
emotion and loneliness on returning home -but was drawn into a false sense of
security by an easy first month. Now I have been back 2 full months the
rippling effects of Cape Town are more visible. From waves exhaustion to a constant underlying sense of stress.
It is hard to convey what it feels like to go through such
an intense experience and return to people who haven’t been there with you or
had a comparable gap year trip, just how odd it can feel.
Sometimes I feel like I am speaking a different language that only some people understand. I am incredibly fortunate to have some rather
lovely friends who have also been on life changing gap years, who get it.
What I know to be absolutely true is the impact of Cape Town
is not isolated to my time there, the year in which I went or my immediate
future. I know this because I see my time in Cape Town continually crashing into my day to day thoughts and activities.
I have recently been to New Wine and Soul Survivor. 10 days
back to back of Christian festival is not for the faint hearted! But my time in
those spaces has been momentous. I went to New Wine with Christians in Politics
as a volunteer exhibitor. I spent most of my week on the stand in the market
place talking to Christians from all across the political spectrum.
On my first
day I spoke to people who were passionately committed to seeing God’s kingdom
come through party political action, those who were deeply cynical of ‘the
system’ and those who introduced themselves as simply ‘not political’.
In 6 days I had many incredible conversations.
In 6 days I had many incredible conversations.
My day at New Wine started at 7am when I would wake up, get
dressed and go to the Rise service (7:15-8:15am) in the Hungry venue. Each day
we unpacked a line of the Lord’s Prayer.
I then queued for a shower, had breakfast in my tent before going to the 9:15am service in the Impact Venue for more worship and a sermon.
At 10:30am my time on the stand begun.
We had seminars every day to advertise, books and many a leaflet to promote and the big question ‘what would you want to see in the queen’s speech?’.
At 2:30pm we had a seminar in the Tearfund venue with guest speakers, Christian MP’s and the heads of the respective Christian Forums in the Lib Dems, Labour and Conservative Parties.
I would sometimes take a break after that by going to a different seminar! Have some food and go to the 7:15pm service in whatever venue took my fancy and leave at 8:30pm to be back on the stand till 10:30pm before crashing in my tent.
This is a rough timetable, thankfully not all my days looked like this, but even when I took time off from CIP it was quickly filled with other fantastic things.
I then queued for a shower, had breakfast in my tent before going to the 9:15am service in the Impact Venue for more worship and a sermon.
At 10:30am my time on the stand begun.
We had seminars every day to advertise, books and many a leaflet to promote and the big question ‘what would you want to see in the queen’s speech?’.
At 2:30pm we had a seminar in the Tearfund venue with guest speakers, Christian MP’s and the heads of the respective Christian Forums in the Lib Dems, Labour and Conservative Parties.
I would sometimes take a break after that by going to a different seminar! Have some food and go to the 7:15pm service in whatever venue took my fancy and leave at 8:30pm to be back on the stand till 10:30pm before crashing in my tent.
This is a rough timetable, thankfully not all my days looked like this, but even when I took time off from CIP it was quickly filled with other fantastic things.
It was amazing! I was inspired, refreshed and enthused in so
many ways.
Working at this level was very reminiscent of Cape Town, I had a deep sense of purpose in each and every hour of my day. In the moment I knew that mile stone things were taking place. I long for more of these moments at uni.
Working at this level was very reminiscent of Cape Town, I had a deep sense of purpose in each and every hour of my day. In the moment I knew that mile stone things were taking place. I long for more of these moments at uni.
One of the best things I heard was –
“whenever we draw a line between ‘us’ and ‘them’ just know that Jesus is always on the other side." With the nobodies, the shunned and vulnerable.
I could probably write a whole blog post on how much I agree with this statement, but I don't think it is necessary, instead I would just encourage you to read the quote several times over.
One of the best songs I sang during the week was - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9ujBoud26k
I love the lyrics -
'Who can stop the Lord Almighty?
He's roaring with power.
He is fighting our battles.
Every knee will bow before him.'
Whenever we sang a song about the breaking of chains I thought about the young people in Vredilus, Bonnytoun, Lindelani and Khayelitsha. I prayed for each of these places to be flooded with a sense of God's peace and for justice to reign. When I think of the dreams God holds for each of them, my heart breaks. It feels like there is such a void between who they are now the who they could be if they were able to fulfil their potential.
Our first seminar was called 'Israel, Judah and Brexit' and Dr Dave Landrum spoke from the Theological Alliance, one of the comments he made was 'if you want truth in politics, you need God in politics.' It was amazing to see how the audience (around 300 people each day) responded when statements like this were made. The atmosphere in the room shifted as light bulbs came on for people.
Another moment when this happened was when Sarah Latham spoke (head of the Lib Dem Christian Forum), her subject was 'Esther, Royalty and Refugees'.
"For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but you have come to your royal position FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS?"
The buzz after this seminar was amazing, people immediately began chatting to us and those around them about what there next step looked like on their political journeys looked like.
It was awesome to see dots being joined in peoples minds. We were asked to reflect on the roles we have currently and think about why we are placed there.
After a seminar on how to reach young people I went up for prayer, I am so aware that when I start university I am going to be new people all the time, I hope that within the crazy mix I people who share the vision of Christians in Politics. I can see how God used me during this week at New Wine to connect with people and talk through big questions, I hope this continues in uni spaces.
Sarah was only able to come to New Wine week 1 for one day, this meant that for the rest of time I was there I was the only Lib Dem on team. This turned led to some crazy moments!
Including getting to be part of a Q&A panel after our seminar on 'disagreeing well'. I sat on stage next to Andy (head of Christians on the Left) and Gareth (head of the Conservative Christian Fellowship) we passed the mike around to respond to the audiences questions. I was first to speak when a question came up on electoral systems, managed to get in that my favourite was STV, also talked about cross party politics and Brexit.
Representation in politics now matters to me even more than before, having seen the consequences of people's voices being silenced and interests deliberately ignored on mass in South Africa.
Know that we are also guilty of this in the UK.
SIDE NOTE: I have recently read Harriet Harmens' book 'A Woman's Work' and Jess Philips' book 'Every woman' would highly recommend if you want your eyes opened to the huge amounts of discrimination women still face in every aspect of life.
https://www.waterstones.com/book/a-womans-work/harriet-harman/9780241274941
https://www.waterstones.com/book/everywoman/jess-phillips/9781786330789
Then on my final day at New Wine I got to be on stage again for an interview in the Impact venue (the second biggest adult service). We were asked to talk about what was on our hearts at the moment. I spoke about how exciting it was to see the huge increase in youth turnout and how I really hoped this wasn't a fluke but signs of young people truly beginning to engage in politics on mass.
I am already planning on returning to New Wine next year, I loved the atmosphere and tone of the event. I also had the best time meeting interesting, generous and kind people! Huge thank you to Pat, Alex, Becky and her fab family, Gareth, Andy, Sarah, Pete, Nicky and the Mabley family for sharing New Wine with me.
I then went home for one night in my own bed before going to Soul Survivor with Knowle and Olton coming together for 5 days. It was amazing to see my families church and mine combine in this way.
Being at Soul Survivor as a youth leader was very different from going as a young person, I really enjoyed working alongside the other adults to plan, feed and support the young people there.
I was also able to be there as a big sister, Mia went for the first time and I am so glad I was there to play card games and give hugs on demand.
Switching from taking lots in a very fast paced environment to a more chilled supporting others one was really helpful for my head space. I thought through lots of things I had heard at New Wine in the worship time at Soul Survivor.
I started writing this blog post because I was feeling so emotionally overwhelmed by the last couple of weeks and wanted to get it out of my head. At the time of writing this I have 42 days left of my gap year left, I am nervous of the huge change uni is to my life, but also excited to soak up the last few weeks of my gap year on holiday with family in Devon, going to Lib Dem conference and Harry Potter Studios in London.
Prayer Requests:
- For restful sleep! I am so exhausted all the time and I hate it.
- To not idealise the past too much and be excited and hopeful for my future.
- For friends who are awaiting A Level results this week.
Thank you for making it to the end of my twenty first blog post, I hope you have found it thought provoking. Have a great week!
“whenever we draw a line between ‘us’ and ‘them’ just know that Jesus is always on the other side." With the nobodies, the shunned and vulnerable.
I could probably write a whole blog post on how much I agree with this statement, but I don't think it is necessary, instead I would just encourage you to read the quote several times over.
One of the best songs I sang during the week was - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9ujBoud26k
I love the lyrics -
'Who can stop the Lord Almighty?
He's roaring with power.
He is fighting our battles.
Every knee will bow before him.'
Whenever we sang a song about the breaking of chains I thought about the young people in Vredilus, Bonnytoun, Lindelani and Khayelitsha. I prayed for each of these places to be flooded with a sense of God's peace and for justice to reign. When I think of the dreams God holds for each of them, my heart breaks. It feels like there is such a void between who they are now the who they could be if they were able to fulfil their potential.
Our first seminar was called 'Israel, Judah and Brexit' and Dr Dave Landrum spoke from the Theological Alliance, one of the comments he made was 'if you want truth in politics, you need God in politics.' It was amazing to see how the audience (around 300 people each day) responded when statements like this were made. The atmosphere in the room shifted as light bulbs came on for people.
Another moment when this happened was when Sarah Latham spoke (head of the Lib Dem Christian Forum), her subject was 'Esther, Royalty and Refugees'.
"For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but you have come to your royal position FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS?"
The buzz after this seminar was amazing, people immediately began chatting to us and those around them about what there next step looked like on their political journeys looked like.
It was awesome to see dots being joined in peoples minds. We were asked to reflect on the roles we have currently and think about why we are placed there.
After a seminar on how to reach young people I went up for prayer, I am so aware that when I start university I am going to be new people all the time, I hope that within the crazy mix I people who share the vision of Christians in Politics. I can see how God used me during this week at New Wine to connect with people and talk through big questions, I hope this continues in uni spaces.
Sarah was only able to come to New Wine week 1 for one day, this meant that for the rest of time I was there I was the only Lib Dem on team. This turned led to some crazy moments!
Representation in politics now matters to me even more than before, having seen the consequences of people's voices being silenced and interests deliberately ignored on mass in South Africa.
Know that we are also guilty of this in the UK.
SIDE NOTE: I have recently read Harriet Harmens' book 'A Woman's Work' and Jess Philips' book 'Every woman' would highly recommend if you want your eyes opened to the huge amounts of discrimination women still face in every aspect of life.
https://www.waterstones.com/book/a-womans-work/harriet-harman/9780241274941
https://www.waterstones.com/book/everywoman/jess-phillips/9781786330789
Then on my final day at New Wine I got to be on stage again for an interview in the Impact venue (the second biggest adult service). We were asked to talk about what was on our hearts at the moment. I spoke about how exciting it was to see the huge increase in youth turnout and how I really hoped this wasn't a fluke but signs of young people truly beginning to engage in politics on mass.
I am already planning on returning to New Wine next year, I loved the atmosphere and tone of the event. I also had the best time meeting interesting, generous and kind people! Huge thank you to Pat, Alex, Becky and her fab family, Gareth, Andy, Sarah, Pete, Nicky and the Mabley family for sharing New Wine with me.
I then went home for one night in my own bed before going to Soul Survivor with Knowle and Olton coming together for 5 days. It was amazing to see my families church and mine combine in this way.
Being at Soul Survivor as a youth leader was very different from going as a young person, I really enjoyed working alongside the other adults to plan, feed and support the young people there.
I was also able to be there as a big sister, Mia went for the first time and I am so glad I was there to play card games and give hugs on demand.
Switching from taking lots in a very fast paced environment to a more chilled supporting others one was really helpful for my head space. I thought through lots of things I had heard at New Wine in the worship time at Soul Survivor.
I started writing this blog post because I was feeling so emotionally overwhelmed by the last couple of weeks and wanted to get it out of my head. At the time of writing this I have 42 days left of my gap year left, I am nervous of the huge change uni is to my life, but also excited to soak up the last few weeks of my gap year on holiday with family in Devon, going to Lib Dem conference and Harry Potter Studios in London.
Prayer Requests:
- For restful sleep! I am so exhausted all the time and I hate it.
- To not idealise the past too much and be excited and hopeful for my future.
- For friends who are awaiting A Level results this week.
Thank you for making it to the end of my twenty first blog post, I hope you have found it thought provoking. Have a great week!
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