20 years ago today....

...well, not today, but 20 years ago this month is when I started working (first 5 years as a volunteer) with young people. Redrock and Druminnis Youth Fellowship is where I cut my teeth. I had no idea what I was doing. I learnt many things about working with young people there, mainly from my mistakes, thankfully none of them too serious.

I have grown in the way I work. No longer do I challenge young people to gulp down chilled cola untill they barf, and my focus has turned away from 'young people' to 'young person'. In my tender youth when I had more hair and less waist I looked at numbers as important. I was proud to host a youth rally run by my church and lead the praise. I no longer reach for that, which is reflected in the fact that I am learning to be a counsellor. It is not that youth work has changed in the last 20 years, but I have matured as a youth worker and a man.

I have learnt that I am not a great speaker, I am not cool, and I am not strong enough to do it all myself. But I am able to communicate God's love, I do seek out the lonely, and I am only part of the band of people who work with young people, both in the place I work and around it.

Will I still be a youth worker in 20 years, 10 years or 5 years, only God knows; and as long I keep trusting and following him, I will be growing towards the light.