May 2011

‘Because I’m Worthless’- Rock the UK tour

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The graffiti on a London subway wall sums up how many young people feel about themselves today. In a challenging world of economic recession and postmodern lack of faith, there is a danger of a lost generation.
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has plans for this year and 2012 to reach out to the under 25s through a programme of high energy, large scale music concerts, starting in Thurrock, Essex in 2011 then building to six events in cities spread through the Uk in 2012 with Will Graham as the speaker.
As a firm believer in friendship evangelism, I have a natural scepticism towards big events and preaching at strangers. So I was encouraged to read the BGEA literature and see their emphasis on relationships.‘People say to me the era of mass evangelism is over. But I don’t believe in mass evangelism. We do personal evangelism, but we do it on a massive scale.’-Will Graham.

As the BGEA website says –

‘The key to effectively reaching people for Christ and seeing them continue to follow Jesus is a relationship with a vibrant believer. In John 1:40 we see the story of Andrew. He met Jesus and began to have a relationship with Him. His first thought was that his brother, Simon Peter, needed to know Jesus. Andrew went immediately and brought Simon to meet Jesus. Bring a Friend is the same concept. It involves praying for your friends, cultivating the relationship, inviting them to Rock the UK, and following up on their response to the message. Over 80% of those who respond at Rock the UK were brought by a friend.’

There will be many gatherings for prayer, a mobilisation of community action projects then a series of equipping throigh dynamic training seminars. The emphasis is on bringing a friend as the preparations are finalised for the Rock the Uk celebration events. Seven weeks of follow up discipleship studies are planned to encourage new beleivers to connect with local churches. An exciting project to watch out for and become involved in. We will bring you more details as they emerge.

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Liberti Magazine

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A new magazine for Christian women has arrived. It is called Liberti and is edited by Bekah Legg, in conjunction with her husband Steve’s successful Sorted magazine.
The Activate team had the chance to meet Bekah and were excited about the content and ethos of the relaunched publication. We took the opportunity to invest and support the new team by buying a copy as a gift for everyone on our address database.We hope you are enjoying this free gift. If you missed out on this opportunity, it means we don’t have an up to date address for you and we would love to hear from you now! Use the contact button on this website and tell us your address to ensure you don’t miss out in the future.
Liberti is aimed at women who feel they are in the age bracket of 19 to 44, which is all of us!! There is an excellent article by Michele Guinness, as well as an interview with Vicki Beeching. There are lots of articles about being stuck into your community as well as interesting writing on lifestyle and health. If you want to read more or subscribe for future issues, (and look out for the £1 deal) then look up
www.libertimagazine.com

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The Hand that First Held Mine

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This is the title of a novel by Maggie O’Farrell. We read it for our book group and discussed it a week ago. I highly recommend it for any of you out there running book groups. The story centres around two couples, Lexie and Innes in the 1950s and Elina and Ted in the 1990s but it’s not just an exploration of love and relationships, it looks quite deeply as the whole subject of parenthood.
Elina and Ted have a baby and I really ‘enjoyed’ the author’s description of the ‘fog’ of those early days as a parent, even though some of it was so vivid it was terrifying! While Elina bonds deeply with the child, Ted is deeply disturbed by the birth and finds that fatherhood raises really deep questions for him about his own childhood. Some of my group members found Elina and Ted’s story not as engaging because for a long time they fail to connect with one another but I think this is perhaps a very realistic situation for couples who drift unintentionally into parenthood.
Lexie and Innes live in Soho in the 1950s and an entire era is brilliantly evoked.
I won’t tell you very much more of the plot apart from the fact that it’s very clever and has something to do with how we all live in the ghost lives of those who have preceeded us. The book’s themes are memory (particularly how what we choose to forget continues to affect us deeply) and parenthood (how who we are is largely formed before we are three). It is a book that made me cry (there was a whole page about loss that I found too distressing to even read) and laugh. It’s also beautifully written. There are some brilliantly drawn characters, part of the writer’s skill is that you loathe one particular character but actually come to pity her.
I rarely read a book twice but I’ve started this one over and expect to enjoy it even more the second time.
It prompted a great discussion about identity, what or who makes us who we are and how much we are in control.

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