Tikhtak

Joining a Mission Net in Germany

Over Easter I will be attending a conference in Germany bringing together young people from all over Europe to look at the theme of Mission. I will be leading a workshop with Jill Ford from All Nations college on Mission and Creative Arts. At the beginning of our workshop we will set up some stations around the room showcasing some missional creative arts projects from round the world. I will be talking about World to Rights and trax16 but will also share about a version of The Apprentice run last year in South London to champion models of biblical leadership. Ammie, an Actor from Battersea came up with the idea as an antidote to all the bad press about youth and gun and knife crime. After an interview process 24 young people were selected and competed in two teams in exactly the same way as the TV version. The project was so successful that this summer she will be running a London wide version. I will also share about the work of Neema Crafts in Tanzania. With both of these projects and many more nothing could have been achieved without collaboration and drawing on different peoples skills and abilities. That will be one of the main objectives of our workshop as we work with youngpeople from all across Europe. Especially in  working together across borders.

Liverpool Cathedral - A safe place to take risks

In the shadow of Tracey Emim’s Neon art installation “For You” in Liverpool Cathedral we ran our World to Rightsday with 150 school children from local schools. To see how we got on check out our blog. But I wanted to comment on the impact the Cathedral has had on me. Last week I blogged about how impressed I had been by Aston Villa FC’s work within the local community, well Liverpool Cathedral has restored my hope in the mission of a cathedral!

As you enter a big sign tells you that the cathedral is “The Great Space.” One thing the cathedral is aware of is that space is a valuable commodity and it is happy to share it with anyone who comes in and to be flexible in the way it does it.  The next thing you see is their mission Statement which ends with "The Cathedral is a centre for hospitality, welcoming all its visitors and affirming their common humanity" - The Neon light’s of Tracey Emim’s installation is then proof of this. Talk about taking a risk allowing her to put a pink strobe of writing under a stain glass window!  But what this also says is that the Cathedral is happy to allow its city to express itself in its so called sacred space on their own terms. Although her message may look tacky to some, it carries  a very personal  feel, “I felt you and I know you loved me.”  and it makes any onlooker aware the distinct lack of contemporary Christian symbols.

We certainly felt the love from Liverpool cathedral throughout the day. One of our team in conversation with the Deans wife Caroline asked about the use of space in the cathedral and she shared that a new strap line is being considered - A safe place to take risks! This is obviously happening already allowing 160 children to run free and perform a World to Rights play. May be all the risk taking stuff happens at that end of the cathedral! All I can suggest for the success or failure of Liverpool Cathedral in its mission is... to watch this space!

Check out our Manila DVD extract on Youtube

In the Autumn 2008 the CMS Youth and Children's team set off with Tim Dendy (Freelance film maker) to make a DVD about the lives of a group of street children in Manila. We worked with a CMS mission partners in a street children's outreach project called jigsaw and worked with children who regularly attend this program. The experience was an incredibly rich one as we hung out with these young people over a period of 10 days. Their lives, struggles and responsibilities left our team feeling  humbled and inadequate to offer any real help or solutions. This is why the work of Jigsaw is so important as well as the aim of our World to Rights project to raise money for similar children's projects around the world. The DVD is due for official release in April but as a little foretaste you can see a preview on youtube.

Aston Villa's Mission to the communtiy

The day before yesterday I had the opportunity to interview Duncan Riddle the head of community at Aston Villa FC for trax16. My main interest was to explore further the link between Aston Villa and their deal with Acorns children's hospice in the light of our World To Rights project and to explore any possibilities for future projects. I was both amazed and impressed how much the club, from staff through players and fans, are involved in supporting, visiting and raising money for acorns and how involved the club is in reaching out to their local community . 

When I asked Duncan,Why invest in acorns? Why not another charity somewhere else? his response was that Villa are committed to the local community, especially as most of their support comes from the local area around the ground. Among other things they are also running a project with the NHS to educate young people about obesity and provide a full time school for disabled young people to get qualifications to get into work.

  I find it impressive that a group of footballers and their supporters can impact and share their skills beyond just football with their local community. If football is the religion of people in the UK then have football clubs become the churches? I think Aston Villa's example is a challenge for every congregation up and down the country. And what drives them to do it? It seems they must have instilled in them a moral obligation from some time in the past!

In the winter of 1873/4, the cricketers of Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel, Aston, Birmingham, formed a football club to provide recreation during the winter period. The irony is that Aston Villa a child of the church has now grown up to show her what she should be doing. For the whole interview listen to next month's trax16.

CMS Members act out Child Rights

Cheeky, playful, graceful and focused are four words that well described the work of 80 or so senior members of the Church Mission Society as they took part in our World to Rights drama project the High Leigh CMS conference over the weekend. The aim of our session was to give the conference delegates a flavour of what children are getting up to up and down the country engaging themselves in drama about child rights both in history and today. The best way to do this was to let them have a go. As always it was a pleasure to work with this special generation and see how they transformed themselves from passively sitting on seats to become an energised group enacting scenes from a Manchester Cotton Mill, The Streets of London and a  Victorian Circus. As one Member exclaimed:  

"I am 7 years short of a century and can remember a time when life for many children was actually like this".

World to Rights continues this week in Doncaster and then we're off to Liverpool next week. Follow our progress on the World to Rights blog

World To Rights project write-ups and resources

Over the last few weeks we have been to Guildford, Chester and Wells cathedral to work with schools    on our World To Rights project. You can find out how we got on as well as see pictures from the events by clicking on this link to the WTR's blog.

Also we have developed resources to go with the project which include assembly material, a full Lent course based on a jigsaw puzzle called "Love to pieces" and downloads from the World To Rights performance. The latest uploaded resource is based on the recent blockbuster Slum Dog Millionnaire, with a "Who wants to be a millionnaire" game on child rights. Throughout the year this will be added to so keeping checking it out. You can access this all free of charge by simply  clicking on this link or logging on at the World To Rights Website. This week we will be going to Worcester and Winchester Cathedrals.

Manila day 9 - Farewells to Jigsaw

Today was quite an emotional day as we said goodbye to all the children and staff at Jigsaw. At lunchtime we all met up and took everybody to KFC as a thank you to everybody. We had a lot of fun and we were presented with a t shirt each and a card from the children.

We have been really impressed by the commitment of Jigsaw staff to the work with the children.They really are one big family and perhaps a better expression of church than most around. The children themselves are amazing and have a faith that has transformed them, whilst difficulties around them still remain.

Tim Lee (CMS and Jigsaw staff worker) put into perspective the value of a project like Jigsaw, which doesn't lift these children out of their community but helps them to transform it themselves. Talking about the boys we have worked with he said " They will grow up to be good fathers, Uncles and Husbands." What a great legacy that is.

This evening we went out with Tim and Kate Lee and their 3 children for a Chinese meal. We had managed to find a photo shop to blow up and frame 3 pictures which we had taken that afternoon and we gave it to them as a parting gift.  We have an early flight tomorrow morning and then a 16 hour journey back to the UK. Check out our latest pics on dave's flickr and the CMS flickr.

Manila day 8

Today was our last day of filming and it was made a little more challenging with the tail end of a typhoon causing constant down pours. In spight of this the GV's (General Views) of Manila went on and in some ways they were more desperate with children having to huddle for shelter under trees and bridges. It also felt quite a cold and detached exercise as we filmed them in their plight. I know that the Dvd will be a tool to educate and challenge schools in Britain to these issues, but the camera couldn't filter out the fact that these are fellow human beings.

For much of the day we were based at Jigsaw and worked with the teenagers filming them going about  their business. Some played on a "Track and Field" consul game that I was hooked to myself at their age, while the girls played pictionary and did craft. Obviously the trick was allowing them to relax and not be too thrown by the camera and lights. At the end of the filming we got them together for a pose giving us their best Filipino look. It has been very special to get to know this group and they have been so welcoming and loving to us.

So we finally filmed the last shot outside a pizza hut where some of the children guided in cars to parking bays, which is a common way for children to get money here. As we made our way back through a traffic jam it was time to reflect a bit about the week and what we have achieved. One thing is for certain that we are all very tired and have crammed in a challenging project in to a short space of time. Superlatives can't be used enough for Tim and Kate Lee and their willingness and flexibility to enable us to film and interview both children and staff at Jigsaw. They are remarkable people working in a very difficult and yet blessed environment, with a real love and passion for both God and children. Check out our latest pics on Dave's Flickr or CMS Flickr.

Day 7

This morning we attended the worship time with all the jigsaw staff. It was special to see the fuel that fires their work with the children who come from the streets and the sqautter dwellings. The first song was sung in Tegalo, but it was a great one to mix everyone up as we swung arms with someone, then pointed to the ground, stamped our feet and turned around. We then had to find a new partner. By the end of the song we had danced and laughed with everyone in the room. There was also a time given for staff to ask us any questions and we were positioned in hot seats at the front of the room.

After this we interviewed two of the staff members and asked them specifically about their faith and  their work. Jo Ge pointed to Jesus putting the disciples straight when they tried to stop the children from coming close. "Let the children come unto me"  She shared how working at Jigsaw had shown that no matter how smelly, dirty or broken the children are it was her and Jigsaws job to allow the children to come to Jesus through them.

This afternoon all the boys came over to our guest house to use the swimming pool and play basketball. While this went on we re-interviewed a few of them. We all had a great afternoon and it was nice to just to relax and then play basketball together. They of course were much better than us although my height is always a not so secret weapon. 

From tomorrow we will start the GV's (general views) around the city. This will involve filming anything that relates to the interviews we have chosen for the dvd. It really does feel like we are running down the back straight now with just 3 days to go. Check out both CMS flickr and Dave's flickr for all the recent pics.

Weekend in Manila (Day 5 & 6)

On Saturday we arranged to meet the girls at Jigsaw to interview them. With the exception of one they were a little younger than the boys and so it was an unknown as to how they would take to being interviewed. They appeared all smiles and joking, giggling and hanging off each other just like girls in the UK. The youngest was 10 and the oldest 18 with stories of begging and sleeping on the streets, and the abuse that often goes with that. While Tim Dendy and Mike filmed each one of them Anita and I stayed with the rest of the girls and played circle games and pictionary. We had a real laugh together which again reflected in the magic of what Jigsaw has achieved in this community. The girls spoke less in interview and were less willing to  talk about their hardships, partly due to shame and perhaps just like any other child, they didn't want to have been seen to be in trouble. There was also a fair bit of pain and as one girl replied   "I don't wish to look to the past there is no use, just to the future."

For this reason Tim Lee (CMS and Jigsaw staff) carried out the interviews as he has a good relationship with them all and a knowledge of their past, which meant his questions stayed in areas where they could answer and he knew what to avoid.

We finished Saturday in the knowledge we had now footage of 6 boys and 4 girls, but little did we realise that we were only at the beginning. All morning today we have spent looking at their stories, seeing what places we need to film around the city and in the squatter dwellings to illustrate what they have said. Never mind finding translators and voice overs to link the interviews and video. This week  we also hope to film them playing basketball in their neighbourhood, doing chores as well as visiting them in their community. This has also meant that we have needed to pull together the basic outline of the Dvd, which Mike North has stepped up to the plate to lead like a fish to water. We now have four days left to shoot the film. It  has been a bit like writing an essay where you spend all your time on the preparation and the last two days on writing it up. We know what we want, it is just a case of getting it done.

Check out CMS flickr and Dave's Flickr for pics. We will be uploading the most recent ones there soon