Margins and Borders: 2016

Monday, August 29, 2016

dinner and a dander

Taking in the view over Alloch Dam to the Campsies, one of Milton of Campsie's many hidden gems.

Some of you have been keeping up with our updates on the Facebook group about our friend F from Syria. He was recently recognised as a refugee and is currently waiting on information as to when his wife and family will be able to join him. His housing situation was less than ideal, but thankfully he has been moved to a better flat and is getting proper rest and is able to cook for himself.

We had F up to the house for dinner. The kids were delighted to see him and Shane was at his cheeky best, doing the one-winged chicken dance. Niamh was more reflective and has taken in a lot more than I thought she would. She has been telling her friends at school about refugees like F in school -- totally unbeknownst to us.

After dinner we took a walk around the village. F is from a village in Syria. He said it was similar. Sort of. Scottish villages are a lot greener.

It was great to have a refugee friend back to the house. Now that we're back into a normal (for us) schedule, it's easier to plan to have people over. It's also amazing how little things, like Shane being potty trained (hooray!) leave that little bit of extra energy that make hospitality more doable. It has always been a big part of our ministry, but one that we haven't really been able to the past couple years with Shane's cleft, studies, and work/kid/school/nursery juggling.

It was a joy to have a proper visit with F. Continue to keep him in your prayers, especially that his family will be able to join him soon. F who misses village life in Syria actually thinks he'd like to live up around Kirkintilloch once he has more choice in the matter of choosing a place to live.

Posted by Paul and Emma at 1:22 pm | 1 comments

Friday, August 19, 2016

A Decade

Us at Corinth. We're still this young and cute, obviously (or, the one on the right)

It just passed me by a four months ago, but it's probably worth pause for reflection. In May 2006, we started serving refugees with ITeams in Athens. That was 10 years ago. Hard to believe, eh? In many ways Athens still feels close to me, many of the friendships formed still feel real despite the distance thanks to the wonders of the internet.

Cliché, I know, but There's a lot that I know now that I wish that I knew back then. I sometimes long for the enthusiasm I had when we first went to Greece, even though some of that enthusiasm was down to lack of experience. The picture looked a lot more simple: there were refugees in need and I simply wanted to serve. Even if that meant boiling 1,000 eggs in an Athenian kitchen in sweltering heat, scrubbing toilets, staying behind on my own in the refugee centre so I could run the showers a bit longer, letting refugees (on reflection, both ill) that we met sleep in our extra room, and so on. Work in Athens tired me out in a way that I find difficult to articulate. A lot of it was kicking against the reality of my limitations. I'm far more limited than I thought I was and the needs (in every sense) were far greater, and bewilderingly complex, than I could have ever imagined. The frustrations have been greater than I could have imagined. The joys even greater than that.

In ten years of this work, people sometimes ask if I have been desensitised to the horrible stories I hear regularly. Probably. I'm my current role supporting destitute asylum seekers, I have the horrible job of trying to prioritise our resources for those who are most vulnerable. This involves saying "no" more often than I'd like. Call it desensitisation, callousness, shrewdness, or whatever, it just happens eventually and it's painful, but it is what it is. I hope it's not a cop-out, but I try to reality that the mission is God's. We're privileged enough to be involved in that, but it doesn't depend on me. Or you. Or rather, it isn't all about me or you, but for that reason, we should be all about the mission.

Also, this week marks 8 years of living in Glasgow. Again, so much has happened in that time. Too much to cram into one post. Now that my dissertation is submitted [picture me collapsed on the couch watching Countryfile with a vacant look in my eyes] there is more time for writing on here. I'll try to make a series of some reflective posts on what ten years of work with refugees has meant. So look out for that.

In the meantime, I want to express genuine thankfulness to all of you who have supported us and journeyed with us up to this point and that you continue with us into the future.

I'll close with the words of another Paul --

"When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling."

Posted by Paul and Emma at 4:44 pm | 0 comments

Friday, May 06, 2016

new shoots in spring

I'm happy to let you all know that the Wilsons have moved. We were grateful for the provision of the Manse, but it's great to be in our own place now. In our time in Glasgow, we've moved progressively northwards... from Springburn to Bishopbriggs and now a little bit further out to a village called Milton of Campsie.

It feels rather different from our first five years here living in one of Glasgow's most deprived neighbourhoods. I'll admit enjoying the fresh air -- both literally and figuratively. Maybe this is just me justifying things to myself (and I'll admit there is this lingering guilt that we've turned back from our original vision in some way), but Milton of Campsie seems a good compromise for us as a family. In Springburn -- especially with the stress of Shane's medical needs -- we found ourselves so frazzled that we didn't even have the energy to do the things that we had moved into the community in the first place, especially hospitality. So Milton of Campsie is lovely, we have a view of the Campise Fells out our window, green spaces on our doorstep, a good school for the kids, and the streets are quiet enough to get the kids out on their bikes. It's also not without its problems. It feels a lot less anonymous than the suburbs and feels like, and is, a village. Niamh was excited to meet another Niamh at the park the other day, and was asked, "Are you new here?" It feels like there is a community here that we can put down roots in and make a also make a contribution. We're looking forward to having refugee families over at the house again, going for walks in the nearby woods and hills.

I've been doing some odd jobs around the house and it already feels more like home than the manse ever did. I never "mentally unpacked" there, trying not to get used to it, knowing that everything would need to be packed up again shortly. In 12 years of marriage, we have now moved 9 times! We're looking forward to staying put for a little while.

So some other news...

-> New Syrian refugees. We've met more and more of the new Syrians at St Rollox. It has been good to make a connection there. Their stories are as tragic as you might imagine, but many are hopeful being in Glasgow that they can rebuild their lives.

-> Studies. I'm nearly finished with my Masters now. Formal classes are all finished, just meeting with my supervisor. The past semester has been tough -- especially with the upheaval of moving on top of it all. I had to take some time off from St Rollox simply to get all my writing competed. I sometimes feel like I was living at the desk, tapping away on the computer, reading, and trying to memorise verb paradigms. I just finished my last examination -- and waiting on the result -- so I might offer more reflections on how it has all been once that comes out! I'm going to start writing my dissertation soon -- writing on the role of narrative asides in the Gospel of Mark (e.g. 7:3f, 13:14), which fits into some of the discussions of orality and the history of the earliest gospel... I see you're yawning already, so I'll move on.

-> Emma has been doing a lot of face-to-face advocacy work at St Rollox and the response has been overwhelming. It has been great, but now Emma is taking appointments for two weeks in advance. There have been many encouraging outcomes, but it's also a heavy workload and stress from hearing tragic story after tragic story. God has been using it to bring her into contact with new people, but pray for her patience in the midst of all of the ever-present need.

-> Many of our refugee friends -- from the Middle East to North Africa -- have stated attending a local Alpha course. Some also come along to football and St Rollox. It has been great seeing local churches in the north of Glasgow working together to make it all possible.

I'll close with a few pictures from around our new home. If you want our new contact details, send us an e-mail. We should have a new contact card soon, but we need to get an updated photo [Here I offer an apology to my mother-in-law Jen!] first. Shouldn't take long... honest!