Tuesday, January 15, 2013
New Year, New Things, Etc.
Around this
time of year, it’s customary to look back and take stock of the year just past,
make top-ten lists and so on. I’m
finding this more difficult than usual because 2012 seemed to fly past… but
here’s a few things that have been on my mind and heart as we prepare for what
2013 might hold.
This
biggest news is easily the arrival baby Wilson #2 in May. Niamh is rather excited about being a big
sister, even if she has no idea what this means! Emma just had her 20 week scan and all is
looking good so far.
Ministry-wise,
the next big thing for the team involves our housing project. We are in the process of setting up an
independent charity so we can obtain a property (via a Christian organisation
called ‘Green Pastures’) to house destitute refugees – at the moment we’re
looking to house people connected with a culturally sensitive Christian outreach
to people from the Middle East and Central Asia that we have been working with.
Next week we’re meeting with the Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector, who
will give us some advice on how best to move forward with getting charitable
status and finding funding. It’s the
team’s next big step since our trip down to Manchester to meet with and ask questions of
the Boaz Trust. Our working title for
the project is “Fasgadh House” (fasgadh being Scottish Gaelic for a shelter).
We had a
great Christmas. It was the first year
that Emma and I spent the day with only ourselves in the house. It made for a quiet and low-key Christmas,
which was probably just what we needed after all the busyness connected to the
Christmas outreach at St Rollox. We
headed over to Belfast for the New Year where we spent quality time
with Jen and Dave (Emma’s mum and step-dad), Niamh was spoiled and didn’t want
her holidays to end! We were also able
to visit our home church Newtownbreda Baptist (Emma spoke at ‘Soul Ties’) and
connect with friends that we don’t see enough of. The only damper on our time back in Belfast was encountering the ugly side of
sectarian violence again. A car bomb was
placed under a family car by dissident republicans just down the street (thank
God the policeman saw the device and the PSNI were able to remove and destroy
the bomb). The east of the city was (and
continues to be) brought to a standstill by violent protests over the City Hall
flag issue. It left us with a great deal
of frustration and sadness.
This
Christmas and New Year brought back some difficult memories. A good Kurdish friend of mine who I met with
regularly and read the Bible with disappeared.
Eventually he was able to make contact, and it turns out that because of
situations out of his control he had to return to Kurdistan.
Of all the refugees that I’ve met, few have suffered more than him and
his wife. I miss them for a lot of
reasons – they were good friends but also (in my mind anyway) had one of the
strongest and clear cut cases for asylum that went unrecognised. The last time I saw my friend was when I took
him to a carol service at Glasgow Cathedral last year.
It’s one of
the perennial difficulties of working with refugees, no matter how close you
get to somebody, there is the possibility that they will disappear or have to
leave without saying goodbye. So much of
mission strategy now is about sustainability and the long-term, which is great,
but in situations like this, it can lave me with a sense of guilt. Questions like, “Did I do enough, could I
have done more to aid their situation?” “Should
I have invested so much time, energy, and resources in a person when there was
no opportunity for follow-up?” I suppose
that ultimately we have to trust God, that we are obedient His will with the
time that we have, and have faith that the Spirit continues to work when we’re
not around. As important as strategy and
measurable data might be for being an effective witness in our communities, I
don’t think that this should ever trump that God calls us to work relationally
and these relationships are not always ‘quantifiable’ or deemed ‘effective’ by
the way we humans calculate success.
I am
looking forward to 2013, there will be a lot of changes to ensure that good
ideas, like the Fasgadh House, will become a reality. And there will be the added excitement of a
new family member to get to know!
God bless,
as always we appreciate you payers and support.
Paul
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Love the work you're a part of, and hope and pray myself and Lois and any children God blesses us with in future, will be serving obediently like both of you in future. Blessings.
