Harrys Travels

Building Bridges, Uncovering Apostles and Loving the Church. Reflections from the Kaleidoscope Round Table.

Before we get started I should confess that this was my first such round table and I tend to shy away from labels; underground church, relevant, emerging church, sub culture, post-modern church, new generation, new expressions, new monastic (have you noticed that prefixing something with ‘new’ makes it sound somehow more inviting, trendier?). The church is the church is the church! where 2 or 3 are gathered we have ‘church’, I’m feeling increasingly uncomfortable in a purely ‘Evangelical’ setting, (I found myself reacting rather badly in a Pentecostal meeting the other day; I dislike being shouted at and have an inherent distrust of men in suits!) I am not about to convert to Orthdoxy, Catholicism or even become Anglican (I think officially Misty and I are still listed as Lutheran having declared ourselves as such when living in Germany, where you have to pay a fee to convert from the state church!). I am simply doing my best to be a follower of Christ and love the church finding her beauty in diversity rather than in a monotone that comes forth when a single stream begins to believe it is the only valid expression of the body of Christ on earth.

There. Now I’ve got that off my chest I should also say that one of the common themes coming from the discussions were along those lines. As we discussed what God was doing around the world amongst the emerging church and in underground culture it was apparent that there was an increasing humility towards the traditional church, an understanding that the evangelical church, much less its emerging edge, has all the answers. We need to love and value the church in its diversity. We need to remember that ‘there is nothing new under the sun’, especially as we move forward seeking expressions of church that are able to speak into generations and cultures. We are not the first to try and nor will we be the last... thank God.

The Round Table was a small part of the larger Slot Arts Festival held in Poland each year. A magnificent run-down monastery and its grounds provide the setting for an arts festival with seven stages including 3 all night dance venues and an extreme stage for punk and hardcore bands. 5000 or so people attend over 3 days, a festival organised by some pretty cool guys, it has a Christian ethos and every year 4-500 young people discover Jesus knocking at the door of their hearts and give their lives to Him. Really cool artsy projects, some excellent bands and a beautiful monastery? I loved it!

The Kaleidescope RT was made up of 30 or so guys and girls from all over the world (India, Thailand, China, Canada, US, Brazil, Belarus, Ukraine, UK, Portugal etc). We had an awesome time swapping stories and inspiring each other, then delving into discussion around the challenges that we had faced and were continuing to face.

Encouragement to build bridges between nations, conspiring together and helping one another as well as the need to uncover and develop young apostles were common themes of conversation. The challenge of  a post-Christian Europe as well as that of the Islamic world were chewed over, there is no doubt in mind that the European challenge is the biggest that has faced and possibly ever faced the Church. We need to adapt, learn from our History and pray like never before for this beautiful continent of ours.

On a personal note I had a wonderful time hanging out with the Traveling Jones’ some people have a gift of hospitality which goes beyond welcoming and serving the stranger but draws him into the family, Andrew and Debra have that gift. It was great to meet Sascha from Prague who stands in teh line of Huss having spent the last 15 years translating the bible into Czech, a beautiful and humble guy, teh finished translation has sold 50,000 copies in its first 3 months!

All said it was a wonderful time and well worth the 24hour drive from Skopje

this week next week

I'm trying to pack my bag and getting distracted! Its one of those strange happy-sad evenings. I'm going to miss my beautiful wife and children more than usual (if thats possible), we've only just 'landed' in Macedonia and already I'm leaving for a week. On the up side I know the Round Table talks I'm heading to will be fantastic, Alpin and I are heading to Poland for a meeting of underground church leaders from around the world. But to be honest I wish I could just stay at home (Skopje feels like home) and enjoy our new paddling pool and barbecue with my family. 

When we get back we've got just a few days and then we all head down to Ohrid for the summer mission team stuff. I'm going to keep hold of that and let the thoughts of playing on the beach with my family talking about community dreams with Glasnost and hopefully chatting about Jesus with people I don't yet know. 

But for now I'm packing a bag and getting an early night in advance of the 20hour or so drive to Wroclaw.

Shutka Thoughts

Each day for the past 3 weeks I’ve ‘helped out’ at the church run pre-school in Shutka the largest Roma settlement in the world. Lets be clear though, by helping out I mean playing, laughing and being laughed at, singing (occasionally dancing,) praying, and loving the 4 & 5 year old kids who have quickly become some of my favorite children in the world.

I’ve walked the dirt tracks of Shutka with my grown up friends Nebosha, Ivana and Dejanna, smiling at the stern faces of the gypsies who usually quickly return my smile and ‘stravo’. The streets of Shutka are some of the very poorest in Europe and yet I’ve been invited in to sit and drink coffee and to allow these gracious people to welcome me into their homes to share the little they have. I’ve prayed simple prayers with some of these people, that God would care for their children and that He would provide for them. Its a tough place, life is hard here and spiritually its super crazy and yet I always leave with a smile on my face. I see Jesus at work in dirty streets and smiling faces.

Jesus is here; he’s walking the streets, kicking a football around, drinking coffee with aging men, helping the women as they scrub the filthy clothes of their offspring. He sits with families and talks about their lovely children, teaching parents by example how to show that love. And then rebukes quietly but firmly men who beat their wives because thats what they saw their fathers do. He sits with families who call themselves Muslim and explains simply that there is one God and then demonstrates His love and power by healing the eldest son (this miracle was one that was wrought over 2 years through the love and prayers of Jemo’s pre-school teachers). He plays, He smiles, He turns up day in day out to teach at a small pre-school on the edge of this town whose name means ‘garbage’ He gets frustrated when landlords extort money and when the roof continues to leak after He’s paid to have it fixed, He copes without complaint when the water is turned off on the hottest day of the year and instead carries bottled water from the city centre on a crowded bus, when the electricity fails for the umpteenth time that month He simply changes his plan and carries on regardless. Jesus loves Shutka.

Last Friday we said goodbye to 6 children who will be going to school next year (schooled children are something of a rarity in this town) we gathered them together and the rest of the children extended their hands and we began to pray for them. These six, Leonardo, Sara, Riamonda, Armando, Leonora and Saradin stood proudly but with heads bowed. As we finished Nebosha leant towards me and whispered in my ear pointing to his 6 six graduates “this is the army of God in Shutka”. And he’s right for these children have spent 3 years together learning about who they are in the face of God, learning to love each other, worshipping and praying each day being valued and loved by those who care and pray for them. They have been trained and now they must be released into the world of Shutka. They aren’t abandoned though; Nebosha visits each family once a week to check how they are doing and once a month brings some kind of provision, cleaning products, basic food or school supplies all of which help the family to keep the child in school rather than forcing them to go back to the street and somehow contribute to the families meagre income.

And in Shutka I’m dreaming of a boiler room, a community of disciples that will support and encourage the existing work (there is also a Saturday kids church and weekday lunches for 100 children) and to love the men, women and children in that place. To truly be the hands and feet of Jesus, dirty hands from helping men build houses and women scrub clothes and dirty feet from playing soccer in the dusty streets with laughing children.