Thursday 26 September 2013

Silky Skills in Southall


Nomad hit the ground running on our first mission week in Southall, London. After reflecting on; 2 Timothy 1 v 7 “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” it was time to jump in the van and head on down to London town. Upon arrival, we set up the cage for the first time as a team on Golf Links estate. The first panna of the year quickly followed, successfully carried out by Jack against Michael! There were some great conversations with the young people. Of note was a conversation we had with a young Muslim lad which quickly evolved from Arsenal potentially winning the league to an in depth discussion of faith, the work of YFC and why we were in Southall. Throughout the week we worked with Calum Burke, a youth worker at St Johns church on a number of different estates in Southall. Whilst working with the young people, we also had time to experience Southall's vast religious diversity. Much of Southall is Muslim, Sikh or Hindu and so we had opportunities to visit the largest Gurdwara (the Sikh place of worship) outside of India and a tour of a Mosque. This included a Q and A session with the Imam who Calum has established a good relationship with.

For the team, it was both a fantastic and challenging experience. Mark and Jack could not get enough of the free food at the Gurdwara and the team enhanced their knowledge of other faiths in the process, leading to a better understanding of how to engage with the young people we were working with. On Wednesday we found ourselves in our first school surrounding, which involved leading a series of sessions as a team on Respect. Using football skills and the cage we demonstrated the need for respect both in and outside of a sporting environment. As the week progressed, the team bonded closer together as friends and as the new Nomad team. As first weeks go it was a pleasure to be a part of and we are all very much excited and looking forward to seeing what God does this year with us all!

Please pray for:
 Calum and St Johns church as they continue the work started in the areas and estates that were visited
 Financial support for Calum as they finalise the details to employ a sports ministry worker of their own to work with their own cage as of January 2014

God bless,

Mike