Wow! It is November already! It has been an exciting month and lots of things feel like they are coming together! So what better thing to do than to splat them all at you in a blog post because it has been ages!
We had our first mission group meeting and had quite a fruitful conversation about our vision for Rubery and how we might start doing things. We went on a prayer walk of the area and that was a helpful way of starting to see the parts of our community that we don’t normally look at, parts where there are high levels of poverty and relative deprivation.
I went to a fantastic launch event for the safer families for children west Midlands. Safer families for children is a Christian charity where people volunteer to be family friends and are then put in contact with families that need a bit of extra support with the aim of stopping children from being put into the care system. of course me being the excitable Yes Woman that I am signed up and I am excited to go to my training for it in December!
Recently I have started to organize the “New Road Nativity” . The idea is that people gather in specific shops on Christmas Eve morning dressed as Nativity characters and at pre-agreed times, start walking down New Road - a bit like a flash mob nativity. Local shop keepers are being very supportive, we have a stable and we are looking into getting real farm animals, and trying to reach out to local youth and children’s groups.
Another thing that is bubbling to a head is “Tea and Toast”. When I first arrived Claire was keen to deep something that would be for parents that toddlers could come to but the parents would still get something out of it perhaps around school drop off time in the morning. This was inspired by Soul; Food in Weoley Castle which was a project developed by a previous mission apprentice. We have been offered free use of Hazel house - which is a community center next to a primary school by the head and when we discussed the offer of this space at the mission meeting we came up with the name “Tea a Toast”. My brother is working a logo which looks pretty snazzy. Clare and I have visited Soul:Food and are speaking with the people who set it up. It is all looking very good!
I am still helping with my Brownie unit and I am hoping to set up a Rainbow unit in the New Year, I am also helping with the weekly stay and play group which meets on a Wednesday morning at st Chad’s and they bring a bouncy castle and ball pit! It is wonderful! I am also hoping to develop a link with a local high school to support young Christians there in exploring their faith!
Overall I am doing loads and loads of stuff but loving all of it! That said there are some tricky parts as well, it can be quite difficult to be far away from friends and family in a totally new place, and sometimes I can find it quite hard to work out what to prioritize - do I see my partner, or my mum or my new friends in Birmingham or organise church events or meet people or should I be spending more time Praying or am I doing enough or am I doing too much or am I just worrying too much!!!! - I can find it hard to get out of those spiraling thoughts sometimes but that doesn’t mean it is all bad, I still very much feel that at this point in time I am in the right place.
