Post In Youth Articles
Added by Paul Brown on Wednesday 18th February 2009

In 1989 I was 17 years old, I had been a Christian for just over a year.  My faith was on fire, I was eager to find ways to discover more about this amazing God and his plans for my life.  At church one Sunday I heard the minister talk about a team to Uganda.  He spoke about the needs in the country and how the people had suffered under Idi Amin.  We were encouraged to pray for the country and we should seriously consider giving up our time to serve God on this team. 

Over the next few weeks I chatted to my parents, youth leaders, prayed about the team and started to feel that this was something God wanted me to do.  The next numbers of months were very challenging as I tried to convince my parents' that this was the right thing to do.  I came from non Christian home, I had never been on a plane, Uganda wasn't the safest country in the world, my family had no money, but somehow I felt that God would provide and he did.  After lot of odd jobs, lots of support from my church I raised enough money to go.  

For 5 weeks in July 1989, including my 18^th birthday (which my mums wasn't happy about) I had the most amazing encounter with God and his people.  As I look back now, those 5 weeks really shaped my faith, challenged my perceptions and moulded me as a Christian.  Over the 5 weeks I faced many challenges, eating strange food, being the youngest member of the team, living away from home for the first time, managing 10 Ugandan men to organise the painting of the hospital roof, killing a snake and probably the hardest things was loosing my youth leader in a tragic accident and being 1000s of miles away from friends and family during that time.

It was a truly amazing privilege to see God work in various ways, I truly felt honoured to meet Ugandan people who had such love and joy for God in situations that often would have put us to shame in the west.  People who truly loved God with all of their hearts, trusted God beyond anything I had ever experience, their courageous faith inspired me when I needed God most to not turn away from him to but to return to him as a loving heavenly father.  I was humbled by how I was treated because of my colour, I was put in charge of 10 Ugandan men to paint a roof, when I was hardly allowed to paint in my house let alone be in charge of others.  I saw how extreme poverty affects people, how they could only pay for part of the medicine they need, how they had to travel for long periods to find food and shelter, how people died because the lack of basic necessities that we take for granted. 

Short term teams are not holidays they are encounters with people in the real world, it is easy to get desensitised by charity campaigns, to just rationalise that it's the system that is failing, or it is someone else's problem.  It's not that easy when you're standing at the bed of a child who has aids and has days to live.  The stark realities of living conditions in the developing world shock us into action, transform our hearts and motivate us to be more compassionate.  As Christians we often need to be challenged out of our comfort zones, short term teams can provided that whether it is a team in Brazil or a team down the Newtownards road.

In August 2009 I have the privilege to take 9 young adults to Sao Paulo brazil for just under three weeks, the team consist of Lara Gibson (Assistant Leader), Catherine Harris, Kirsten Miller, Amy Brow, Judith Glasgow, Stephen Alderdice, Jason Cardwell, Dale Curragh and John Watson.  We are going to work with a Tearfund project called Casa Filadélfi. CAF is a Christian organisation in São Paulo, Brazil, that supports children, adolescents and families living with or affected by HIV. CAF projects are designed to reach out to people who are excluded from society, to help restore their self-esteem and equip them with the skills they need for the future. Casa Filadélfia (Philadelphia House) is not only an orphanage for HIV-positive children but a drop-in centre for people affected by aids; offering children, young people and their families, emotional, spiritual and social support. This takes the form of healthcare advice, sexual health guidance, psychological support, careers guidance and legal advice. The organisation carries out HIV prevention work and tries to prevent the abuse of children.

Over the next 7 months as the team prepares please for us, pray that we would make a difference in the lives of the people we meet, pray that God transforms our hearts so that we live, as he intends us to live, pray as we plan and prepare fundraiser that they are well supported.

Below is a list of joint fundraising events between the Brazil and Malawi team, we are planning a range of fundraisers events to cater for different age groups.  Please see these events as opportunities to support the teams, but also ways to raise the profile of mission and great opportunities for building fellowship within Knock.    

• Saturday 27^th December 10am at Storm Cinemas a Family movie of "Madagascar 2 - Escape 2 Africa", fun for all the family just after Christmas. Please see any team member for tickets.
• Tuesday 30^th December 7.30pm at Storm Cinemas Movie night showing "The Day the earth Stood Still" please see any team member for tickets.
• Friday 30^th January at Knock our Annual Table Quiz
• Friday 20^th February at Knock a Talent Auction, an auction like no other not to be missed.
• Friday 27^th February at Newforge Country Club a Formal Dinner dance with entertainment.
• Friday 27^th March at Knock Songs from the Show with Paul and Suzie Campbell.
• Friday 24^th April at Knock Knock's got talent our own versions of Britain's got talent, as we search for the stars of Knock, fun for all the family.
• Monday 4^th May Marathon, enter a team, run it yourself or even walk it.
• Saturday 16^th May Car wash and Coffee morning

If you have any questions or would like to help at any of the above events contact Paul Brown on 07973674777 or pbrown@knockpresbyterian.co.uk

Other Articles in Youth Articles //