Visit to Auschwitz

Last Wednesday I went on a trip to Auschwitz run by the Holocaust Education Trust, which aims to educate young people from every background about the Holocaust and the important lessons to be learned for today. You can find out more about the Holocaust Education Trust here http://www.het.org.uk/index.php.

We visited a local village called Oświęcim, then went to Auschwitz I and Auschwitz Birkenau. Our day finished with a moving memorial service led by Rabbi Barry.

It was an long and surreal day and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to go.

This is a poem that I wrote reflecting my experience of Auschwitz, particularly the inspired by the stone stairs in the Auschwitz I buildings.

Steps. Steps
Where I tread my feet
Walking the prints of murderers and murdered
Of vanquishers and victims.

Evil is not often a leap
But steps
A system obeyed
Eyes turned blind
A phone call for a reward
A crowd followed
Priorites chosen

Steps taken
Conscience seared
Humanity eroded.

I very rarely write poetry but it sometimes seems to express some things in a way that prose can't. I hope it goes some way to communicate my thoughts. It could continue and talk about steps to hope and goodness - I may write that verse one day - or maybe you could continue it for yourself.

What steps have you taken today - and where have they been leading?

Signing off as Youth President

This was my signing off post from the Youth President blog

This blog has had more than it's fair share of hellos and goodbyes as it has been the home of five Youth Presidents. I have been thinking about what to say in my last blog for a while and have been humming/wailing a variety of goodbye related songs as I've tidied my desk, cleared out the room I stayed in in London, sent last emails and tried to type up comprehensive and comprehendible reflections and notes on my year.

Actually I'm not very in the mood for goodbyes so instead this is a signing-off blog. I'm signing off as Youth President this evening. This role has finished for me. I've had a wonderful year, and I'm completely satisfied to hand this privilege of a job on to Tamara as I know she will be absolutely brilliant.

I will miss it, though.

I'm signing off as Youth President but I'm not saying goodbye because I will continue to be a Christian, a member of the Methodist Church, and a wholehearted, sometimes overly-zealous sort of person. Therefore no goodbyes needed :)

I have so much enjoyed working for the Methodist Church as the Youth President. It has been a joy.

With no beating around the bush, one of the things I most enjoyed was being listened to. A reason I decided to stand for Youth President was because it looked like an amazing opportunity to have a voice. And it was! Throughout the year I felt like my opinion mattered. I felt listened to and, most of the time, like I could make a difference. This shouldn't end now that I leave this official position! Is it human instinct, to want to be listened to? I hope and pray every single member of the Methodist Church feels like their opinion is valued and that they are heard. We won't always get our own way but we should always feel that we have been listened to with respect. I don't think we the Methodist Church are always as good as we say and think we are at this. There are going to be varying views within our church and to me it's really important that we respect each other even if we strongly disagree. I have experienced viewpoints at what felt like every end of every spectrum within our church this year and I have really tried to not only respect viewpoints which differ from my own but to represent them fairly. I hope we can be our best at this in our decision making and the way we do things. Today, my last day as Youth President, was spent at a British Youth Council meeting where we discussed the new Ethical Partnership Policy. It was clear that the many different member organisations will have differing ethical values and it's not a straightforward thing. It's not straightforward in the Methodist Church, but if we say we are a family I would like us to be a good one; one where all are valued and respected. I think this is easier said than done! But let's strive for it.

So to continue with the signing off before this blog gets too long ...

Most of all, thank you. If I have met you, I enjoyed meeting you. If I have argued with you, I enjoyed arguing with you (is that allowed?!) If I have connected with you via social media, I enjoyed it. If you made me laugh or cry, thank you. If you sent me an encouraging email or card, thank you. If you sent me a challenging email or even a letter to the Methodist Recorder, thank you. If you picked me up from a train station, or made me cheese toasties late at night, or baked fairy cakes in honour of my visit, or allowed me to speak with your youth group, kids club or congregation, thank you. I loved it all. This year was frustrating sometimes, funny sometimes, invigorating always. It was a challenge and I love a challenge. I feel more rounded. It was life to the full for me and I loved it. Thank you.

I will finish with my current favourite bible verse

1 John 3.1
See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are.

I pray that you know that you are a child of God, loved by him.

Hayley Moss, Youth President 2012/13, signing off ...

ps
If you care to partake in some of this week's cheesy goodbye themed favourites ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln8Sj_BDUrs (wow that one's sadder than I thought now I've listened to the whole thing - I'd just been singing the chorus!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eegDtyrSUZw (nice hat Mel B)
And of course, not to be missed - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNs3nK31DKc

Methodist Conference days 6 & 7 - including the whole family of God

I have felt that both yesterday and today have been interesting and productive days. I've enjoyed the debate, the getting up to speak in front of people, the speed of the business and the pressure of keeping up with which of the many pieces of paper we're on. For me, now that I've got the hang of it, it works. However I know that a lot of people do and would struggle to engage with the last two days. We are all different and all need to be enabled to contribute, which is why yesterday Sam (ex Youth President) and I brought a notice of motion aiming to create space for the way Conference is done to be reconsidered. You can find the text of the Notice of Motion here : http://www.methodistconference.org.uk/media/198578/noms%20yellow%20tuesday%209%20july.pdf (208, second one down, link may change over time)

(A notice of motion is an idea which is brought by people during Conference and is voted on by Conference. Sometimes they are related to report which are already part of the agenda, sometimes they are a new thing, like ours)

I am really excited that the Notice of Motion was passed and felt a huge sense of achievement. Yes the work hasn't been done yet but I do actually feel like I've made a difference now as this important topic will be seriously thought about. It could be something that makes a significant difference to our church governance.

In society big advances have been made in the field of learning and the way people are naturally best able to understand things. We know that people learn in different ways - for example through listening, through doing, or through discussing. When I have worked in schools recently I have found that there is much more variety in the way things are taught than there was when I was a pupil. The church needs to pay attention to these advances.

For some standing up and speaking in front of 300 people is unimaginable. For some focusing on a debate style meeting from 9.30am to 7pm (with breaks) is impossible. Many lay people work during the week and therefore find it difficult to attend Conference. There are other ways of doing it. 3Generate has drastically changed the way that the voices of children and young people are heard, now including varied, active, creative and ever improving forms of conferring. I really believe we need to take this experimental attitude and give it a go within the whole church. The Methodist Church in Britain needs to seriously consider how effective it is in enabling the ordinary 'person in the pew' - young, old or in between - to engage with the decision making processes of our church, which are meant to be accessible to all. I quote from the Methodist Church website:

'decisions are made as openly as possible, giving opportunities for all to contribute. It is important for all views to be heard and taken seriously, especially where Christians disagree'

We need to make more of an effort to include the whole family of God in our governance structures and processes - at all levels - so we really are creating opportunities for all to contribute. The majority of our church members are switched off to the decision making processes of our church and if we really are who we say we are, we need to try harder to hear those voices. I am grateful to the members of Conference for supporting this step.

Back to the general update - so yesterday was a good day, and today was also a good day. Lots discussed and excellent contributions from the 3Generate reps, including a successful Notice of Motion from Roxanne which means that the Larger than Circuit discussions will now include consultation with children and young people. Both days included a profile-raising event for our partnership with the Street Child World Cup, along with the Methodist Churches in Nicaragua and Brazil. Yesterday we did a flash mob blowing whistles and saying a prayer and a poem, and today was the Methodist Celebrity vs Methodist Children and Youth football match. I am sad to say that the Celebrities won 10-7, but pleased to say that it was hugely fun and got a good amount of attention for the Street Child World Cup. You can find out more about our work with SCWC here: http://www.childrenandyouth.org.uk/big-sleepover/scwc/ You can also see the blogs of the last two days from the 3Generate reps here http://3generatereps.wordpress.com/ and their video blogs here http://twitter.yfrog.com/315crksbdgrexrhcmorrpmavz?sa=0 and here http://twitter.yfrog.com/17x46ebmdnatvrwtcwcebvsrz?sa=0

Methodist Conference - Days 4 and 5

Yesterday morning we attended the Conference service at Westminster Central Hall. It started with an interactive clapping thing where different parts of room had to do a different clap. There was also drama and a sermon and singing. During the service the ordinands (people training to be ministers) were 'received into full Connexion' which means that they enter into a relationship of service and support with the church.

It was super hot so we went to St James' park and found some shade to eat our lunch in. Pretty soon I headed across the city because I was helping at one of the ordinations. It was a lovely service at Wesley Chapel with about 650 people. One of the OPPs, Sarah, and I distributed communion. Another OPP Matt valiantly tried to direct people from their seats to us in the right order - not much space, wonky pews, music so they couldn't hear his instructions = very confused people! Made me smile :) There were about 8 people being ordained including the first Welsh first language minister! The service was enjoyable but I was feeling much too tired. I hope it was a really meaningful moment for the ministers which they remember forever. I've heard or seen on social media a lot of ministers saying 'this day__ years ago I got ordained' which I've loved - a reminder every year of that special day and the calling from God to be a minister.

Went out to a nice pizza place for dinner and then went to bed without blogging as I didn't have my laptop at the accommodation.

Today was a full on day of business. It included a long and well supported report about ministers with ill health. There are some really challenging points in this paper - I think it needs a change of culture in a lot of places, as there is a lot of pressure put on people. I hope the paper is taken seriously and we become better at looking after each other.

We also discussed the Faith and Order report (Faith and Order do theological thinking), heard a bible study, heard some great stories from world church friends and also I seconded a Notice of Motion which was about ensuring the work on a resource about the topic of Cohabitation asked for by 3Generate does not get overlooked and dropped unintentionally. You can find it here if you're interested: http://www.methodistconference.org.uk/london-2013/2013-07-08/1700-pm/notice-of-motion-205 and the debate will be online soon.

Had some really interesting conversations with people today during the breaks. They are never long enough and I'm rushing back to my seat having not got a drink or gone to the toilet because I've got caught up in an interesting discussion!

In the evening we had dinner at Central Hall as usual and then got taken on a tour of the impressive building by some of the stewardy/tour guide people. They took us all the way up to the dome - a lot of stairs and up very high. The view was incredible. My phone battery had died from all the tweeting & emailing I'd been doing so I didn't take any pictures to put on here but Abby and Roxanne did. My day was finished off with lots of laughing with friends old and new - one had gone back to their room to find no bedding, another no towels and another had had his toiletries taken out of his toiletries bag! Luckily everything is where it should be in my room and I have now caught up on blogging so off to bed. Tom did a video blog but it hasn't uploaded properly so that should get put on tomorrow. Roxanne's (sideways) video blog today can be found here: http://twitter.yfrog.com/c9qsfzmwrzbfiehpzqkvuxiez

Looking forward to tomorrow as Sam (ex Youth President) & I are bringing what I hope is a 'challenging in a good way' Notice of Motion so we'll see how that goes. I'm really excited about it.

Good night!

Methodist Conference - Day 3

Today was a fantastic day! Myself and the 3 children and youth reps really enjoyed it. In the morning was the induction of the President and Vice President of Conference. I thank God for Mark and Mike who are now the ex President and Vice President; I have valued their companionship this year. Mark's message that we are lovely and worthy of love has stuck with me, and I appreciated Mike's astute observations, for example when he picked up on the need for churches to look after their lay workers better. I wish Ruth and Daleep all the best in their roles and am excited to see and hear of their adventures.

In the afternoon we did some practical businessy stuff to set us up for the week, including the first discussion of the budget.

At 5pm was the 3Generate Children and Youth Assembly report. I was feeling really quite nervous but trying hard not to be! I presented the main report and got some interesting questions as well as lots of encouragement. Questions included how will things like 3Generate will be staffed within Discipleship and Ministries Learning Network, why hasn't 3Generate brought more challenging resolutions, and why can't the 18-23s bring resolutions through 3Generate. Then Tom presented the second and third resolutions which are about churches supporting young people through exam stress. Quite a few people agreed that young people - in fact people of all ages - face stress and the church can do something about it. The fourth resolution was proposed by Abby and was about churches creating space for children and young people to ask big questions. Again people were supportive and it was highlighted that this issue affects people of all ages. It's exciting that children and young people can be leading the way bringing up these issues.

The positive reactions in person and over social media were very positive - it was overwhelming how many people have been so supportive. There were many encouraging and moving comments but one in particular brought tears to my eyes: 'think the debate from 3Generate reps has been the best so far and may turn out to be the best in the Conference. ' Wow - I am so proud to have been part of the work with the reps. How exciting to be away from home for a week in London involved in shaping a movement of 8 million members at 15 years of age!
I thought the atmosphere of the debate around the 3Generate report was good in the fact that it was very much about action; not just agreeing to the report and patting the young people on the head but going home and doing something about it. I think the next step is some sort of accountability on these resolutions - wonder how that would happen? It was also good that people were asking challenging questions about the report. It's my prayer that Conference would critique this report in the same way they would any report.
Roxane tweeted through the presentation and I recommend you look at @3genreps on Twitter to see a really good narrative of the debate. The reps did such an amazing job today - we are so blessed to have them as part of our church and our Conference.

Bed time now! You can find the reps blog for the day at www.3generatereps.wordpress.com and the video blog is at http://t.co/s722rzV6VD

Methodist Conference day 2

A weensy blog tonight as it's late, my eyes are stinging and it's a big day tomorrow (more about that later)

Today the 3 children and youth reps arrived. Abby and Rox, both 16, are from Wales and Tom, 15, is from Leeds. I have worked with this quite a lot this year as they have been involved in the rep training weekend and other bits of pieces such as meetings and consultations around the Connexion.

They got here at lunch time so in the morning I got some last bits and pieces done and popped down to the PCC for as much as I could. Jobs included getting everything ready for the 3Generate stand, printing rotas, presentation and other stuff, and continuing some preliminary discussions about things which will be discussed later in the week.

This week Tom, Abby, Rox and I are joined by Meg (Youth Development Officer) and Sam (ex Youth President).We had lunch then spent about two and a half hours going through the agenda and what we think and want to say. I'd given each of the children and youth reps 2 reports to particularly focus on, although they can say things about other reports if they want to. This approach seemed to work as the agenda is very thick and daunting! During our time this afternoon the reps fed back to the group what their thoughts were on the reports they had been given and we discussed together what points we want to make. It was really helpful having Sam in the room to offer his perspective having been in this position last year. I cannot advocate the idea of 'team' enough!

We headed over the Central Hall and set up the 3Generate stand, which took a surprisingly long time but doesn't look very impressive! I'm going to blow up some balloons tomorrow to jazz it up a bit :)

We planned to do some sightseeing today but we spent a lot of time briefing and then it took a while to set up the stand so the reps valiantly sacrificed the sightseeing. We are presenting the 3Generate report tomorrow so needed to focus on getting prepared. Hopefully we'll have some time on Sunday to do some touristing though.

After dinner (which was very slow coming because we got forgotten!) as the weather is nice we sat outside to look at the presentation for the 3Generate report and work out what the Abby and Tom will say when they present the resolutions that come with it. This took about an hour and what we came up with sounds really powerful I think. The reps have worked so hard today - they are amazing. They are really excited about this week and have come prepared to contribute. Expect great things people!

You can read the blog by Abby and Rox about the day from their point of view here: http://3generatereps.wordpress.com/2013/07/05/youth-reps-at-methodist-conference-day-1-2/

So tomorrow is the big day - for us anyway! We will be presenting the 3Generate report from about 5.15 onwards and you can watch it online at www.methodistconference.org.uk/live

Methodist Conference day 1

This week in my role as Youth President I am attending the annual Methodist Conference, where key decision making relating to the life of the church takes place. Myself and 2 other young people are here as elected representatives of all the children and young people connected to the Methodist Church in Great Britain.

So ... here ends the first day of Conference.

Today I was privileged to attend the Pre Conference Consultation, an annual gathering of representatives from partner churches around the world. There were about 30 people from all corners of the earth - a fantastic blend of cultures and world views which led to stimulating and creative discussion. It was, I felt, a refreshing time together. I enjoyed discussing interesting topics these interesting people.

I lost my programme somewhere along the way so now I have to cast my mind back remember what topics we discussed. As I left my house at 4.50am this morning it feels like the day stretches back a long way!! Fortunately I was tweeting throughout the day and these tweets not only serve the purpose of sharing with the a wider audience what happened, but of reminding me of what happened!

The first session was on the topic of 'Innovation in Evangelism'. This was led by two of my colleagues from the Discipleship and Ministries Cluster, Jo Cox and Jenny Ellis. Jo opened our minds to the changing context in which we find ourselves in the UK and challenged us to think about how we can 'do evangelism' when people are in a completely different place to where we are, and to where we can presume that they are. The post Christendom nature of Europe at the minute must look to some like a paradigm shift. It must be strange when you come from a country which was 'given' Methodism by Great Britain; now you hear stories of the demise of the church and of Christianity in that same place. We can feel like we are becoming ever smaller - like the golden days are past. I was aware that for many of the countries represented their history and current position is very different. I think it's important to cast our eyes upwards and see beyond the boarders of our tiny island. As I was reminded today we are part of a church of 8 million members!

Jenny and Jo demonstrated to us a new resource that has been produced called 'Table Talk'. This consist of cards with interesting and challenging questions around a topic eg 'evil' or 'forgiveness' or 'death' which aim to be a springboard for a conversation. I've seen similar ideas and resources out there but the questions are really good quality so I recommend having a look at it.

Second session was about media - and I tweeted my way quite successfully through that one! I'll just repeat a couple of points that have stuck in my mind - Media is a magnifier. If you get the right story and the right outlet (and the right timing) it can go huge. - You can't not communicate. If you don't say anything it can seem like you don't care. You are either communicating intentionally or unintentionally but you are always communicating. We spent time in groups discussing the worth of communicating, and the challenges of communicating. Consider this; the church of North India works in an area with many languages. It was either 18 or 80 - either way it's a lot. How can you communicate effectively both internally and with the outside world when this is the case?

After lunch we had a group photo and then the third session of the day. This one was on the 'people to people' programmes being developed by the World Church Relations Team. This is something that I have discussed with David Friswell, who leads that team, in the past and I am hopefully that some really good programmes will be created over the coming months and years. In my group there was myself, Linda Crossley from Methodist Women in Britain, Jose from Portugal, Alwan from India and Trish who went on a 'people to people' type programme to India a few years ago. It was fascinating to have such varied perspectives in the group. One question was whether this type of programme should be 2 way to which our group said emphatically 'yes'. We went on to identify that we can help each other in different ways and perhaps at different times in the lives of our churches.

I snuck out after that missing the last session as I wanted to work on some of the things I need to have ready for this week. Feel like I have lots of things to juggle but it will all come together, I am part of a brilliant and supportive team, I feel like the other 3 children and youth reps and I have some good things to say and it is and will continue to be a great, God-filled, hope-filled week.

Intergenerational friendships

Hello world!

Again, apologies for not blogging for so long. I know I’m rubbish – sorry!

I want to talk about something that came up while I was at the Methodist Women in Britain annual residential conference, in Swanwick. The theme of the weekend was ‘Crossing the Chasm’.

I first came into to contact with Methodist Women in Britain when I met the lovely Jill Baker, the current President, at Conference 2012, and I have got to know the movement better over my year as Youth President. Jill and Rachel, the Helen Kim Memorial Scholar (http://vimeo.com/58792816), spoke during one of the debates about MWiB and particularly the place for younger women in the movement. My two memories from their (very enthusiastic and slick!) speech are Rachel explaining that MWiB is ‘about more than just making jam!’ and them finishing talking about the involvement of younger women by one saying ‘it’s good news for us!’ and the other saying ‘and it’s good news for me!’

While at the Swanwick Conference I was interviewed during the opening session. One of the questions I was asked in the interview was ‘how can we connect with younger women when their lives are so different from ours; they spend so much time surfing the internet and using social media, I feel like we have nothing in common and I have nothing relevant to offer’. What a poignant question! Clearly many older people feel that there is a chasm between them and the younger generation. Can we cross this chasm? Is it worth crossing?

I started my answer talking about the value of real life relationships. I am a fan of social media and value it as a tool to use to keep in touch with friends and family across the country and across the world, but in my opinion it cannot match real face to face friendships.

I became a Christian at the age of 16 and since then have been a part of four different churches in three different towns – one Anglican, two Pentecostal, and one Methodist. They are four quite different churches with different styles, different demographics of congregations and some differing theological viewpoints. Many differences but I want to draw attention to a similarity. In each one I made friends – or rather, I was made friends with! I’m not the most ‘people’ of people (my husband on the other hand is a charmer and does plenty of friend making for the both of us!) but as I look back over the landscape of my life in past 7 years I can see a number of Christian people, particularly women and particularly women who are older than me, lining the way. They have played a very significant part in my life and my journey as a disciple. They have a part in who I have become and am becoming. They have demonstrated a simple, heartfelt, unwavering care for me. Some I have been and am very close to, some I don’t know very well but have received many a friendly smile or hello from. Some have been around for years, some for a few months or even weeks. Two were my youth leaders back at the very beginning; an unforgettable example of how to share your life (including the sucky bits) with young people and by doing this show them how God is there through it all. One was my host for two years; she welcomed the most random of people into her home (including me) and lived a beautiful combination of generosity, prayer and evangelism daily. Another is an elderly lady who always gave fabulous hugs while everyone else shook hands during ‘peace be with you’; the only person I felt comfortable to share a room with at the church weekend away.

Some of our church friends at our wedding

Young people need these sorts of relationships. They need more than Facebook friends and Twitter followers. They need people who will notice when they don’t turn up for a few weeks. They need people who will cook a good healthy meal with plenty of vegetables for them when they are living on pasta and cheap tomato sauce at university. They need people who will believe in them. They need people who will sit next to them at church. They need people who will invite them round for a cup of tea. They need people who will tell them they are praying for them when they have exams. They need people who will say ‘you look lovely today’. They need people who will send them encouraging cards when they have moved far away from home. They need people who will look them in the eye and say ‘are you ok?’. They need role models, companions, stories to learn from and shoulders to cry on. They need people with wisdom and experience, with love, with hugging arms and squeezing hands and praying hearts who are actually there in their lives.

Church can offer the sort of community that I haven’t found anywhere else. Young people may not often come into contact with people of other generations other than family and teachers – I don’t think I did, until I joined a church. Now I have friends in their 0s, 10s, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s!!

Young people; chat to the older people around you. The chasm between generations needs to be crossed from both sides. Get to know them as individuals. Make an effort to build a friendship with someone outside of your normal comfort zone. It will brighten up your life and theirs.

Older people; don’t underestimate what you can contribute to a young person’s life today. As I told the women at the MWiB conference, God has put you where you are as the person that you are today. You can cross the chasm. Be brave - reach out to a young person. It really will be good for them and good for you. Your love and care will make a huge difference. The internet is no match for you.

Note - safeguarding vulnerable people, including young people, is important. To find out more about the Methodist Church's safeguarding policy click here: http://www.methodist.org.uk/ministers-and-office-holders/safeguarding

Truth and lies about poverty

This morning many of us will have read or heard news reports of Mick and Mairead Philpott being found guilty of starting a fire which killed their six children in May last year.

The tragedy was the result of a plot in which Mick aimed to frame his ex mistress for arson, and gain custody of four of his other children whom she had removed from what had been the family home.

It brought tears to my eyes to see the cheeky little faces of those innocent children. They remind me of the hundreds, maybe thousands of children I have met as I have worked in schools, churches and communities.

One report I read was in the Daily Mail. The front page:

It seems to me to be both unfair and completely disrespectful to use this story to take shots at the welfare system. To describe innocent children as being ‘bred’ as ‘cash cows’ dehumanizes them and detracts from the true horror of this story. The true horror of this story is not that this family took home £60,000 per year in benefits. The true horror of this story is not that they had 17 children. The true horror of this story is not that this man appeared on the Jeremy Kyle show asking for a bigger house for his huge and convoluted family.

The true horror of this story is that six innocent children, human children with personalities and friends and tempers and favourite subjects and toys and toothbrushes, died because of the actions of the people who should have loved them and protected them from harm.

I do not think that the welfare system caused Mick Philpott to turn mystically into the selfish, controlling, deceitful man that he seems to be. This is what the Daily Mail seems intent on implying. What makes a person who they are? What makes someone risk the lives of their children, for any reason? To blame the welfare system is a pretty big and unsubstantiated leap. There are thousands of people who need to claim benefits and are honest people and loving parents. At the other end of the scale there are those who are rolling in money yet cheat on their taxes, exploit others and have unhealthy relationships. A recent headline story of a man who killed his parents for their £230,000 inheritance shows us what we actually already know; rich, poor or somewhere in the middle, people can choose to be selfish, or malicious, or deceitful.

The danger of running a headline such as the one in the Daily Mail is that it twists the emphasis of a tragic story to create a rhetoric that demonises those in our society who are living in poverty and relying on the welfare system. This is an abuse of the memory of those children.

Our society is being encouraged to believe a number of lies about people living in poverty. We are told that ‘they’ are lazy, that ‘they’ are cheating the system, and that ‘they’ have an easy comfortable life raking it in on benefits. Cases like this are out there, but they are the absolute minority. Yes, there are people who take advantage of our welfare system, but not many, and we need to know that despite what our government and the media sometimes tell us. According to the Truth and Lies about Poverty Report recently published by the Joint Public Issues Team, benefit fraud is about 0.9% of payments, about £1.9 million. On the other hand tax avoidance is about 6% of revenues due, about £30 billion. Only 3% of families on benefits receive more than £10,000 in housing benefit a year – many struggle to make ends meet on a daily basis. Only 8% of families claiming benefits have three or more children.

People living in poverty need to be helped, not hated – even those abusing the welfare system. As Christians we are called to love people. In my opinion the story of the Philpott family shows the disastrous consequences of selfishness and greed, not the disastrous consequences of the welfare system. And I think that the lies about poverty that we hear – and ultimately the idea that some people deserve good and healthy lives and some don’t – boost the selfishness and greed in our society.

The story of the Philpott family didn’t make me angry that they took home whatever in benefits. It made me sad most of all; sad because of the suffering of those children, and sad because it showed me that the claims of the Truth and Lies about Poverty report are correct. We are being tricked. We are allowing ourselves to be tricked. Stories of individuals behaving in awful ways are being used to turn us against those living in poverty. As Christians we must speak out against this.

‘Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. Defend the rights of those who have nothing. Speak up and judge fairly, and defend the rights of the poor and needy’. Proverbs 31.9 This blog was first posted on the Youth President blog. It has a large number of comments on it which are worth reading. It can be found here: http://methodistyouthpres.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/truth-and-lies-about-poverty.html

Learning to be kind

In January I visited a Methodist circuit in the Midlands. I stayed with the circuit Youth and Children’s worker Vickie, her husband Chris and her son Dylan, who is 8 years old. I visited 2 local youth groups and spoke at an evening service. I also got well introduced to Dylan's train set, the games on his Ipod, the things he likes to do on his computer and his pet birds.

When I left after the weekend I was surprised to receive a text from my hosts saying that Dylan was very upset that I had left – in fact he didn’t stop crying for an hour.

I was surprised because, to me, I did nothing out of the ordinary.

This weekend I travelled up to Lancashire to be a part of Inspire 7, an annual district event with worship, a keynote speaker and a number of interesting workshops. I was involved in planning and running the youth stream. The young people were fantastic and I think spending the day with them was one of the highlights of my year so far (I say that too often!)

There was a 3 year old girl in one of the sessions, the daughter of one of the leaders. He was leading the session, and so couldn’t respond to her tugging on his trousers. I crossed the room, knelt beside her, said hello, wiped off the chocolate that was smeared around her face and found her some papers and colouring pens.

Later on, she came and round me amongst a crowd of people, and with a surprisingly strong little hand dragged me across the room to see her picture. From then on I was her friend – the one she wanted to help her, to pick her up, to look at her pictures.

I was surprised because, to me, I did nothing out the ordinary.

On Sunday evening I visited One Programme Participant Matt Collins at his project, Methodist Action North West. I joined Matt to help at a drop-in in Preston and was given the job of making hot drinks. In the space of three hours the team of nine volunteers, plus me, served hot drinks and a two course hot meal to 50 homeless and vulnerable people. I totally loved it.

I was surprised because, to me, what those volunteers do is completely extraordinary.

During my week off I went with some members of my church to an awards ceremony at the local Young Offenders Institute. A group of the young men there had taken part in a Prince’s Trust Course, which included spending three days painting our church. We heard their stories; why they were in prison, how their time inside had affected them, hopes for the future, messages of love and thanks to their families and the prison staff. We shared tea and cakes with them, and I even volunteered for a demonstration. I totally loved it.

I was surprised because, to me, people who work with offenders are completely extraordinary.

Being kind to children comes very easily to me. I realise that some people see children as a nuisance, but to me they are very rarely anything other than a sheer joy – even the naughty ones. Why do all the other people in the room ignore the bored chocolatey 3 year old? Why do other people not love seeing the enthusiasm of an eight year old with a train set? It makes me quite sad that I stand out when I do these things, because it means that other people don’t do it. A little bit of attention goes a very very long way.

On the other hand, if I am honest, I find being kind to homeless people or young offenders more difficult. I am ashamed to admit, I would be person who sometimes crosses the street to avoid the Big Issue man outside the bank. I’ve never previously visited our local Youth Offending Institute despite being invited numerous times. These things come awkwardly to me. It’s not a feeling of a dislike but a feeling of discomfort. A subconscious avoidence. I imagine this is how some people feel around children.

I long to be kind.

I long to be kind when it is easy and natural.

I long to be kind when it needs conscious thought, a bit of effort, working through discomfort.

Some challenges to finish with:
Firstly: where, and with you, do you find it easy to be kind? Celebrate this - things that feel natural and obvious to you, don't to everyone. Recognise the gifts and natural strengths that God has given you.

Secondly: where and with whom do you find it a bit more difficult to be kind? This could either be a mild sense of discomfort, an unconscious avoidance, or it might be you can think of times when it's actually really hard. Over the next few days find opportunities to be kind in places where it doesn’t come naturally.

Give another person your attention, just for a little while. Show interest in what is important to them. Wipe the chocolate from the face, buy the big issue, look past the crime. Let's be people who are kind.

The highlight of my trip

From Friday until Sunday I had the pleasure of joining in with the biannual meeting of the Confederation of Youth of the Methodist Church Brazil. They were meeting at the National Headquarters, Sao Paolo, and the agenda included structure and organisation, youth training and mission projects for this coming year. The group consists of the executive – a President (Renato), Vice President (Sinval), Secretary (Cacau), Finance Officer (Simone) and Communication Officer (Julio) – and a president and/or vice president of each of the 8 regions.

The Confederation covers the 18-35 age group, so significantly different from the Children and Youth remit of GB which is up to 23 years. The Confederation is the national body, and each region has a Federation. The executive serve for 5 years and the regional people for two, although they can be re-elected. Their vision is “Being young people committed to the Methodist Church fulfilling their prophetic role in society and in the Church's decisions, reflecting the unity of the Body of Christ” and the team’s theme for this five years is “Connected to Serve”. They have a lovely attitude of serving and wanting to not just pick the easy bits of God’s calling; prosperity theology is common in Brazil and Latin America in general where status is very important. They are all volunteers and extremely dedicated and hardworking. They are doing a wonderful job with little resources compared to Great Britain and no paid national children and youth staff. In fact, it is unknown to have paid youth, children's or family workers in churches or the community in Brazil which really surprised me - the job just doesn't exist. I would love to see an increase in investing in children and young people in this way in the future in Brazil - perhaps the Methodist Church could lead the way?!

Most of them have known each other and been working together for a number of years so they are good friends and laughter regularly run around the room. It wasn’t a sort of friendship that excludes new people though – in fact I felt completely welcome and comfortable. It’s strange how strong the inclination to laugh when a whole room is laughing is, even when you don’t know why everyone is laughing!

I didn’t attend all the parts of the meetings as they had a lot of business to get through and some just wasn’t necessary for me to be involved in, so I had the luxury of catching up on sleep and emails, and Skyping some family and friends, which was really nice. The Confederation looked after me really well!

On Friday night I joined a meeting with the ‘Malta’ section of the Confederation. Malta is the mission branch of the Confederation. They are currently planning mission activities during the Confederation Cup (June 2013) and the World Cup (June & July 2014) and I was able to tell them about the missional activities of the church in Great Britain during the Olympics and Paralympics, speaking about national events I’d heard of and on a more personal level of my experiences through my in depth involvement with Refresh, an ecumenical project in Weymouth and Portland (sailing events venue). Got really great feedback and they said it had really inspired them about what a great opportunity sporting events are and how much we can do to bless, engage with and show God’s heart to our communities and visitors.

On Saturday I had the opportunity to talk to the whole group about the Methodist Church in Great Britain and ended up talking for two hours!! I expected I’d only last an hour – can’t believe I had that much information in my brain! Just shows how things sink in when you are in an environment consistently and for a while. I covered general recent history, national structure, my role, the Connexional team, children and youth work including the Youth Participation Strategy, 3Generate, the Reps, the One Programme, the vision of the church, Venture FX, the development of the Learning Network and the general current situation of Christianity in the UK.

They asked a number of questions and I really hope the time was interesting and useful. I’ve certainly found it both interesting and useful learning about how the Confederation works and about the Methodist Church in Brazil and the ‘Christian scene’ generally. As I’ve seen things done differently I’ve felt both the warm glow of appreciation at what we have, and pangs of jealousy when things are done better – and challenge is good and inspiring so I am thankful for that. I think it’s really good and important to step out of your bubble once in a while so you can see what others are like, and consequently really see what YOU are like.

On Sunday we got to the really exciting bit – talking about how young people in Brazil and Great Britain can partner together. Loads of great ideas, some simple yet effective and some way out there! Watch this space J

My time with the Confederation has been my favourite part of my trip to Brazil – quite a big statement when I think about the crazy adventures I’ve had here! However cool flying over the Sahara Desert or canoeing down the Amazon is, what I really love is being creative with other people about something that I am passionate about. It was a joy to spend time with young people who love being together, love God and love their country and their church. Seeking the Kingdom with great friends – I think it’s one of the best things in life and it’s great to see it happening in the Confederation of Youth of the Methodist Church in Brazil. I’m glad to have made some new friends and am thankful for the inspiration and challenge God has given me through my time with them.

On the topic of friends, and with the fact that being away from home can make you feel a bit sentimental, I’m also really thankful for the friends that I have made in the Methodist Church in Great Britain, of all ages and from all sorts of places. As a relative ‘newbie’ to all this, it really means a lot when people help me understand something or tell me I am doing a good job as it can all be rather overwhelming. The thoughtful messages I have had from numerous people and prayers of which I have been ensure have encouraged me so much these past 3 weeks, and I’m really grateful. (And of course I appreciate the love and prayers of non-Methodist church friends!!)

God, I pray that you would help us to strengthen and deepen our relationships with others, those on our doorsteps, those we love, those we struggle to get along with, and those across the other side of the world. Through these relationships may we learn to become more like you Jesus.

“As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend”
Proverbs 27:17

Manaquiri and being a tourist in Manaus

Thursday was another early morning, leaving at 5.45am to catch a 6.45am boat. We were going to visit a small church in Manaquri. Manaquiri is a largish town near Manaus, accessible by a 2 hour boat ride. You can drive but it's a difficult journey that way. Thankfully the boat today was not a habita (enough of those adventures yesterday!) but a proper chug chug chugging boat holding about 30 people. Travel by river is very common in the Amazonas region as it is a comparably cheap way of getting around. Despite it being 6am when we got there the area around the dock was very busy and noisy with loads of people setting up market stalls or running to catch a boat with belongings balanced on their heads.

Megabus Amazon style!

2 hours later we arrived in Manaquiri, where I was very thankful to see proper buildings, as this meant proper toilets! There were also lots of cars, and helpful moterbike taxi service from the dock (which you couldn't have paid me enough to use!). Saw one lady hop on holding a tiny baby - no helmets on anyone - madness!

Manaquiri is a community that has been visited numerous times in the past 10 years by the Hospital Boat, with people becoming Christians through the evangelism they do. However, there had never been a Methodist Church here despite it being a fairly sizeable place, so there was no ongoing support and discipleship. Last year the Bishop challenged the local pastors to look into planting some sort of church in Manaquiri. There is now a church of about 40 adults and 23 children led by a lay leader called Wagner.

They were extremely proud to show us their register book in which they write the name and date of birth of each person who becomes a church member. Vast majority people born in the 80s or 90s - the church here is very young in comparison to in Great Britain. We spent the morning with Alberto and his wife chatting, looking around their shop and visiting the rented building which they use for church. They are hoping to build a new church building as this one really isn't up to scratch and is costing them a lot of money to rent. They struggle financially as a small church with no local minister and little financial support from other churches and I heard many of the same questions and worries that I hear in the UK - are we really ever very different? We prayed for them and Karla, who works with the Bishop, was able to give some helpful input from a practical point of view.

We rounded off our short time in Maniquiri by having lunch at Wagner and his wife's house (3 rooms with 6 children age 6 - 17! Lots of fun!). They had been out fishing a few days before and caught over 200 fish - I told Alberto he should give my dad some tips! The fish were kept in a big box of ice in the same room as the toilet - have you ever been to the toilet with a toothy piranha watching you?!

I happened to be looking out of the window at the right time on the boat trip back and saw the famous Meeting of the Waters, the point where the black waters of the Negro River and the brown waters of the Solimoes River meet and begin to run side by side without mixing for about 9km. It was a bizarre and interesting site and I'm glad I saw it - blink and you would have missed it as we crossed over it very quickly. You can see it very clearly on Googlemaps (https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&tab=wl)

Once back in Manaus we switched to tourist mode. We went to the market and bought some very stereotypical souvineers - indigenous wood carvings of fat tribal leaders wearing loin cloths and the like. It almost felt disrespectful to buy these things after getting to know real local people - really strange. Hope it is good for their economy.

Our final stop was the Amazonas Opera House, a beautiful huge theatre built with English bricks, French glass and Italian marble. Not what you'd expect to find in the busy, sweaty, shouty city of Manaus to be honest. It's a stunning place, naturally cool inside, luxurious in every aspect, made with beautiful craftmanship - including nearly 200 chandeliers. It was built during the rubber boom in the 1880s when Manaus (quite successfully for a short while) aimed to become the Paris of South America.

Our visit to the Opera House quite delighfully coincided with that of a group of about 100 German package holiday tourists, mostly in their later years and looking wonderfully out of place and foreign. I felt positively local compared to them, with my 15 Portuguese words and slightly less gigantic rucksack. Nice to hear a familiar language as I speak some German and I think confused some of them by eagerly talking to them in the ladies loos. Then home for a shower and to repack before another early night as leaving at 4am to fly to Sao Paolo. Very sunburnt at the end of this day, despite multiple applications of sun cream, going in the shade whenever available, and carrying an umbrella for the latter part! After 2 weeks of avoiding it I look like a tomato coloured British tourist - there goes my pride from the experience with the German tourists. I am no match for the Brazilian sun it seems.

An Amazon Adventure

Pushing a VW campervan down a hill in Manaus at 4.45am to bump start it is not how I ever imagined I’d start a day – and little did I ever imagine the following events of that day! This was the start of our journey to visit a riverside community deep in the Amazon. We joined a man called George who has travelled into the rainforest on a weekly basis for two years building a relationship with the people in one particular area, telling them the message of good news in Jesus Christ, and walking with them in the journey of living as disciples of Jesus and becoming ‘church’.

We drove for 3 hours – the last hour of which, a VW campervan is in no way designed for! I honestly can’t believe how far we go in that van, but time and time again the campervan proved my doubts wrong. After being thrown around the van, it was actually nice to discover that the road had been broken up by recent rain and we would have to walk the rest of the way. We walked for around an hour, first along something like roads, then as we went further into the rainforest, weaving between trees, squelching through mud and balancing on logs across waterlogged ground. We discovered that we were going to take a boat to get to the riverside community, and waited for the boat at a lady called Josephine’s house. Met some jungle chickens!

Four of us perched on two benches in the first little canoe, plus George manning the engine at the back and Josephine manning the paddle at the front!

The canoe took us down little rivers which broke through dense rainforest, trees often touching overhead. The sound of the rainforest around us was amazing - a constant cacophany of who knows what creatures. The rivers are very shallow in some places so a small canoe type boat, called a ‘habita’ is the only kind that can be used. The water is just a couple of centimetres lower than the edge of the boat so you have to sit very still so it doesn’t rock, and you have to bail water out regularly. A motor can be used most of the time, but the paddle is crucial to avoid the random branches sticking out, and to go around the sharp corners. At one point we got stuck on a tree, and George had to get in the water to shove us off. When the shoved, the boat tipped, water poured in and I nearly fall out! Big gasp, life flashing before my eyes, but luckily George steadied the boat quickly and I got away with just one very wet leg! Having visited the Amazon room at the Sealife Centre, I was very keen NOT to go in that water!

The Methodist Church in Brazil has committed to buying 25 habita boats, which cost £230 each, and giving them to missionaries to travel into the Amazon and meet with the communities there. George will be one of the missionaries to benefit from being given one of these boats. Up until now he has had very little support from his church so he made contact with the Methodist Church who are keen to support him both by providing a boat and in other ways. This project is in the very early days and our visit was the first time the Methodist Church in Brazil had visited the community so a very exciting time to be there. The photo below shows George and a habita.

We expected the boat trip to take about 10 minutes ... 1 ½ hours later we arrived, very numb in certain places! The river had widened out and more resembled a lake at this point. We jumped out and went to meet the community. We were meeting in the house of one of the families – a really cool house on stilts. When it’s the rainy season, the river comes up very high, so they build up!

We arrived at 10.30am and stayed for 3 hours, first of all looking around the house and getting to know the people (about 10 including children) and waiting for the second habita to arrive. When it came, we have a sort of church service, where we each introduced ourselves (and I gave the customary gift of a box of toffee from Weymouth with greetings from the Methodist Church in Great Britain!), then Pastor Juliao gave a sermon. As part of this he told us that when Leo Osborne (ex President of Conference) had visited Manaus he had spoken with him about the dream of starting a project working in the hard -to-reach communities of the Amazon, but had no idea of how this would be possible. Then George got in touch and now just one year later the project is underway. Pastor Juliao encouraged the community telling them ‘you are the fruit of the dreams in our heart. You are a gift from God’. It was lovely to see these people being told that they were valued as they spend much of their life cut off from the rest of the world. Then we prayed, they took up an offering which they asked me to pray for, and they shared some testimonies with us. One gentleman told us about how he used to drink a lot and wander around the rainforest, not letting his family know where he was going or when he’d be back. One time he was drunk in his boat and he started seeing things, thinking he was being chased by policemen, and he fell out of the boat. Later he woke up under a tree with no injuries. He said ‘God had saved me. I am very grateful to God and the church for all you have done for me, it has changed my life. Now I am safe.’ A lady told us about how when her son was little he became very sick, and they were very worried because they live far from Manaus. She had heard something about Jesus, but didn’t know him, but she prayed and asked him to save her son, and he got better and is now 5 years old and totally healthy. She cried as she told this emotional story, and said to us ‘I will never leave God’. It was amazing to hear these stories and know that God is doing really great and loving things in people’s lives in places I’ve never even heard of! I think God is so kind to us.

We travelled back the same way, but with an extra two people in the boat for some of the journey, which really scared me as the boat was so low in the water and nobody could move for fear of it tipping. Thank God we got back safely. It poured with rain on the way - rain in the rainforest! Then the long walk, and the long drive. We got back to our host families house at 6.30pm, exhausted, aching, dirty and smelly. I Skyped with my lovely husband then we went out to this amazing pizza restaurant where the waiters walk around and bring never ending pizza to the table. And the best thing was, they had sweet pizza! It was AMAZING! Pizza with banana and toffee, pizza with pineapple and some sweet saucy stuff, pizza with chocolate and finally pizza with a scoop of ice cream. A very good ending to an adventurous day!

Manaus Methodist camp, the Hospital Boat and the value of volunteers

Manaus is the biggest city and the capital of the state of Amazonas with a population of 1.2, 2 or 3 million people, depending on who you ask! It is a vast, sprawling city very unlike the perfectly designed Boa Vista. As we drove from the airport to the Methodist Camp it was clear that in some areas roads and buildings are of good quality, but in many they are not. A car with 4 wheel drive seems a necessity! In Methodist geographical terms, Manaus is part of the REMA region – one of two ‘missionary regions’ in Brazil, which are given extra support from other regions and the national headquarters in recognition of their pioneering work. There are now six churches in Manaus – 2 of about 120 members, and 4 smaller church plants. One interesting historical point is that both the USA and Korea (not specified North or South!) did missionary work in this area, so buildings or projects can often be traced back to one or the other of them, including both of the larger churches.

The Methodist Camp was built by the Korean Methodist Church for Central Methodist Church Manaus. Central Methodist Church has two camps there per year and other groups also use the camp. It is directly next to one of the rivers and surrounded by beautiful rainforesty vegetation.

After a lifetime of camping with my family, girl guides, the Camping and Caravanning club, and various churches, it was cool to experience Camp Amazon-style! It chucked it down with rain and most of the electricity went out – leading to muddy campers eating dinner in the dark! Proper camping J This particular camp was one they have during Brazil’s annual ‘Carnaval’. Methodists (and I think Christians in general) in Brazil don’t tend to participate in Carnaval seeing it as a negative time of excessive drinking and unhealthy relationships. During our short time at the camp we had yummy dinner, watched a muddy game of football, saw a hilarious but very confusing (for me anyway) camp talent show, and joined with the church in a time of passionate prayer and worship. It was fab to see the (mostly young) people there really going for it, particularly when praying for their communities and country – it really challenged me about how seriously I take prayer and the effort that I put into praying for our world.

The next day, Tuesday, we visited the Hospital Boat. As the name suggests, it’s a boat which is a hospital. It was bought 10 years ago and paid for by the USA Methodist Church but now responsibility has passed over to the Brazilian Methodist Church. The boat is moored on the Taruma river and travels down the rivers in the Amazon visiting tiny riverside communities which are pretty much cut off from the rest of the world. It administers vaccines, treats a variety of illnesses and health problems, and also has the facilities for dentistry. Volunteers come from Brazilian churches and overseas to spend a week on the boat; some medical professionals, others people who chat to the communities about God, play with the kids, etc. Jan – March the boat goes out once a month and April – October it goes out 3 times a month. In 2011-2012 36 villages were visited with 17,000 people given medical treatment. The church has a good relationship with the government, which is necessary to do this work – they could easily tell them to stop. However the government appreciates the good work being done, and even sends a member of their health team on each trip.

After this we visited two Methodist Churches – one of the larger ones and one of the smaller ones. The smaller one is based in a deprived community rife with drugs and violence. We met with the Pastor, Katia who shared her heart with us, talking about her dreams for the church and the area, and also the struggles she is experiencing in this work. When Katia arrived 4 years ago the church was in a sorry state – there had been some issues with three consecutive church leaders and the church had been abandoned and had a very bad name in the neighbourhood, receiving regular threats. The church has grown but is still pretty small, with less than 30 members. However, Katia is running a successful and worthwhile ministry among children and young people, with 50-70 children enrolled in the ‘Shade and Fresh Water’ project which provides education and healthy food, and 150 teenagers attending a programme educating them about the dangers of drug abuse. I asked Katia who helps her run these programmes, and she introduced her to her one helper. That’s right, just one. I could hardly believe this, so I asked Flavia, who translates for me, about it. She explained that in Brazil they don’t have a culture of volunteering and social responsibility in the same way that we do in Great Britain – ‘in Great Britain children are brought up with a heart to help other people, but that doesn’t happen here’. Even in churches, volunteering is not a part of the everyday culture. It broke my heart to realise that Katia does so much good work with so little support from her congregation. We’re quick enough to moan that we work too hard, that we don’t have enough helpers, but really we are so blessed to have a culture of volunteering, and an understanding that using our time for the benefit of others is a part of our calling as Christians and a part of our discipleship. I thank God for every person who makes the snacks for the kids club , or hands out the hymn books, or does maintenance on the building. Thank God for all those who use their gifts for our church and our communities. Imagine working with 150 young people who are possibly involved in drug taking and violent behaviour, and having just one helper. We prayed for Katia and I assured her that people in the Great Britain (and around the world) would pray for her when I told them about her (I hope you will, now that I’ve said it!!).

Tuesday also involved a stop off at a road side stall selling gorgeous tropical fruit, most of which I’d never seen before, and barbequing a massive fish for lunch!!

Some resting, some laughing and some visiting in Boa Vista

Sunday 10th was a rest day. We slept in, had breakfast, and generally relaxed for most of the day with our lovely host family. What energised me the most wasn’t sleeping in or lounging in the hammock (although enjoyable!) but being silly on the Just Dance and Guitar Hero playstation games with the 2 daughters of the family, Lais (15) and Lara (7). We laughed a lot trying to understand each other. For ages Lara didn’t seem to understand that I couldn’t understand her and was jabbering away in Portuguese. Then she started repeating what she had said really loudly and slowly to me – classic! Lais is learning English at school, and their parents knew a bit, so with that and a lot of miming we laughed our way through the day. It was a lot of fun and so good to really laugh. We had a delicious barbeque for lunch -good food and nice people!

In the afternoon we went to visit the local military barracks which has a sort of zoo, with animals which they find injured in the rainforest. In the evening we went to church. It was good to see a worship team which included people from age about 10 up. The highlight for me was the song they do at the beginning of the service, where everyone hugs everyone else in the church! This had happened at the youth service the day before, but I had thought it was a one off. Apparently it is a common feature. No awkward hugs either – proper, friendly, smiley hugs J I love it! As usual, I had the opportunity to introduce myself and bring greetings from the Methodist Church in Great Britain, and I also gave them a small gift – a tea towel from London!





After saying goodbye to our host family, taking photos and exchaning contact details, we had a city tour and went to a very touristy gift shop with indigenous style souvenirs before catching our flight in the afternoon. Boa Vista is a planned city – all designed before being built. It has a grassy space in the centre, surrounded by government and law type buildings, then shops, then residential areas spreading out from there. It’s a really nice city – I much preferred it to the busyness of Rio. I think I am made for a quieter life!

Flying over the Amazon was amazing – I thought it looked like fields of broccoli! I managed to hop on the internet to post a blog at breakneck speed, then we went straight to Manaus Methodist Camp. I will try to post about the Methodist camp and the things we visited in Manaus tomorrow – but now I must go to sleep as it’s nearly 22.30 here and we leave at 4.45am to visit a river community. Must remember to take travel sickness pills as we will travel 3 hours by car then onwards by boat!

Maruwai - Indiana Hayley

Before I came to Brazil Rev Tom Quenet, the World Church Relations team member who has very brilliantly organised my trip, told me that the trip to the Maruwai community would be an ‘Indiana Hayley’ experience! He was certainly telling the truth! The last 2 days have been a real adventure. We arrived in Boa Vista, a city in Amazon region in the North of Brazil, at 5.30am on Friday having flown overnight. Unfortunately I left my camera on the plane (I think – I was half asleep and concentrating on remembering my passport) and Flavia’s luggage didn’t arrive (it eventually arrived 2 days later!). We gained 2 hours because of the time difference so it was 3.30am local time. We expected to be able to rest in the morning but plans changed (as they do in Brazil – ‘you must to be flexible!’) so we were up at 7am to travel to the Maruwai community of the Macuxi tribe, a remote village in the Amazon region. Our group now included myself, Flavia (translator), Pastor Dimanei (a pastor in Boa Vista) and Karla (a young women who works with the Bishop of the Amazon – her role is strengthening partnerships with mission projects). We travelled by Landrover to the Maruwai community, a 150 kilometre journey which took around 4 hours on a very bumpy road/track. It wasn’t what I imagined the Amazon is like – not jungley like you see on TV, more wide open grassy plains with mountains in the distance. Apparently about half of the Amazon region is like that and half is jungle. We went through rivers, over rocks, through scrubby fields – it was a very cool but bouncy journey!

Upon arrival we were greeted by Pastor Cize, first native pastor of the Methodist Church in Brazil and the spiritual leader of the Maruwai community, and Nathaniel, the political leader of the community. There are 188 people in the Maruwai community including about 40 children. They live in traditional huts with brick walls and roofs made out of some sort of woven plant – they have to rebuild these huts every 5 years.

Each hut is home to about 9 people. Pastor Cizi came to the Maruwai community many years ago to tell them the gospel; the community has responded over the years to the message of the gospel and now 95% of the tribe are Christians and members of the Methodist Church. Not really what I expected to find after travelling for 4 hours to a remote Amazonian tribe!!! It’s amazing how far the family of God stretches.

There are approximately 3000 Methodist Church members in the Amazon region (REMA), which is seen as one of the two missionary regions in the country – these are given extra help and support from the other regions and the National Headquarters. Maruwai has benefitted from a well, pump and water tank being built in the village. I asked Pastor Cize what difference the well had made to the life of the people, and he told me ‘We have clean water to drink, we have better health, we can take a shower, we can grow crops. It makes everything different for us, because everything depends on water.’

We were warmly welcomed by the community and were blessed with lovely food, many hugs and kisses and readiness to smile for photos! There were children everywhere, ranging from gorgeous chubby babies to football playing little boys to typically embarrassed teenagers. The tribe used to be bigger, over 200, but a few passed away and some moved out to the city. Pastor Cize is aiming to hit a target of 200 people again, and 2 of his daughters-in-law are pregnant, so they’re on the way!

On Friday we had some lunch, set up our hammocks and rested for a couple of hours. I had a battle with my hammock and my mosquito net, as the mosquito net is designed for a single bed and just generally a really rubbish design! I was pretty worried as we were sleeping outside and in the Amazon, so it was important for me to try to protect myself. I spent about an hour trying to make the net cover the hammock and eventually managed to make it almost, pretty much, kind of cover the hammock (with some big gaps at the side!). It got to the point where I thought this is the absolute best I can do, God will have to protect me!

After our rest we visited the water pump and joined a church service. The service was very loud and full of passion. The worship was all in Portuguese and they don’t have song words so I had no chance of joining in, so I just made up my own words. I’d really struggled with the language barrier all that day as Flavia can’t translate everything so 80% of the time I have no idea what’s going on, which is very frustrating. It’s also very true that everything is worse when you’re tired! So it was lovely to spend some time with God and be reminded of the connection that I have with these people that transcends linguistic and cultural differences.

It was difficult to get to comfortable and go to sleep in the hammock (I must have annoyed everyone else by being the wriggliest hammock sleeper ever) but once I did I slept well. On Saturday we had some breakfast then were joined by about half of the tribe in an opportunity for them to ask questions about Great Britain and the British Methodist Church – but they were quite shy so we ended up mainly talking about the Maruwai tribe; things like their way of life, their dreams of mission to other tribes, their plans for discipleship, and whether they feel part of the wider Methodist church family in Brazil and the world. It was exciting to hear of their passion to tell the other tribes about the gospel; this is very difficult because of the distance and the terrain, but they are determined, and the Methodist Church Brazil is hoping to raise money to provide them with a suitable truck. There were mixed feelings on the question of connection to the wider Methodist Church – it is something they feel they need to develop, with more effort both from them and from other people. If they are able to get the truck it will greatly help as they can travel more easily to Boa Vista. Pastor Cize finished by saying ‘we are members of the Methodist Church in Brazil, in England and around the world. And that’s all I have to say!!’.

We had a time of worship (action songs exist in Portuguese and Makoshai too!), I gave some gifts to the tribe, then we took some group photos. Lots of people wanted their photo taken with ‘a Inglesa!’ – the English person!

After lunch we set of home – unfortunately the boat which took us over one part of the river on the way there had broken, so we had to go an alternative way, turning our journey from 140km to 400km!!! Pastor Dimanay was a hero driving us all that way safely. When we got back we had a quick shower, some food, went to a great youth service at one of the churches in Boa Vista, then gladly fell into bed at our new host family’s home.

Rio de Janeiro - Day 2

We left bright and early this morning to make the journey to the Inhoaíba neighbourhood. In England this journey would have taken less than an hour but here it took over too – I do not love Rio traffic! Flavia, who is accompanying me on the trip and translating, drove us there, I’m glad it wasn’t my job!

First we went to LAMAG which is a centre which cares for elderly people. It was in an amazing setting – lush tropical greenery in the grounds of the centre and mountains crowned by misty clouds surrounding it. The centre has space for 22 residents but there are currently only 6 there because the government instructed them to do some maintenance work, which is completed, but the government is being very slow to verify it. The centre is completely funded by the Methodist Church. We said hello to the residents with a kiss and a hug. The staff told us they very rarely get visited by their families – most don’t even ever ring to see how they are. Once a resident was bought by a man who said he was going to get the rest of her belongings and never came back – the elderly lady was there for 20 years!! Another story was that someone rang to ask how their grandmother was, and was told that she had died 3 years ago. People from the 1st Methodist Cathedral in Rio especially give a lot of support to the centre, both financially and with visits. It was very well staffed with a wide variety of carers and on site medical professionals, necessary to fulfil government criteria. The residents feel safe because there is everything they need there at the centre. The staff become like a new family for them. The picture below shows a lady called Maria, aged 86, who seemed very excited to meet someone from England!

Then we drove a short way to IMAG, a social project with a nursery which has 250 children, a sports programme and a computer programme. Unfortunately the children weren’t there because it had been raining too much the day before. IMAG is having some problems with cows from the neighbourhood wandering onto the land, leaving the things that cows like to leave! They are trying to get some funding to build a fence to keep the cows out. After this we were due to go to the Methodist Ecological Centre but couldn’t because of the rain.

In the afternoon I was interviewed for the Rio de Janeiro Methodist District online tv channel! They asked me questions like why was I in Brazil, where had I visited, what evangelistic and social projects does the British Methodist Church have, how is the youth work structured in the British Methodist Church, and have I ever been involved in any mission during sporting events (they are gearing up for the World Cup). The last was a great question because I was able to talk about my work with Refresh 2012, an ecumenical project during the Olympic and Paralympic Sailing events in Weymouth and Portland, which was my One Programme Project last year. It’s helpful that I have been involved in a similar project I hope that my experiences will be able to help them. The interview was pretty nerve wracking – I can get flustered when put on the spot sometimes! But the camera crew were sooooooo friendly and helpful. I invited them to England and offered to find one of them a nice English husband which she thought was brilliant!!

Tonight we fly to Boa Vista in the Amazon, far in the North of the country. We will arrive in the early hours of the morning. Then we go to to Manaus and Manaquiri, and leave the Amazon next Friday to go to Sao Paolo. I am unsure if I will be able to access the internet whilst in the Amazon so may not be able to post for a while. I can’t believe I’m actually going to the Amazon – so terrified and excited!! Please pray that the journey will be smooth and that the next week will be valuable for all involved. Thanks and God bless!