Hi! How you doing?
We’re back after having been on a 3 ½ month
sabbatical (break) that has been truly wonderful. More of that later. As
our church website is under reconstruction, I thought I would open a new blog
using the same app I used for the Zoe Challenge, and wondered what to call it?
I wanted to capture the call and challenge we face as modern disciples of
Jesus, so tried various things like Gav-follower, but thought that might freak a
few people out and at best sound egocentric, or worse like I was leading a
cult! I could use Gav-Disciple, but I wanted something that anyone could easily
engage with; since ‘disciple’ means ‘learner’ (from the Greek language that the
New Testament was written in), I went with that. And ‘Challenge’ because having
done a huge Physical (Zoe) challenge in May, I learned how through teamwork and
training you can achieve incredible things, and feel that following Jesus is a
life challenge in which we never stop learning, and never cease to have
adventures, trials and laughs. What do you think? Hope you enjoy ...
So I did my last Sunday on the 12th
May, and early on the 13th flew out to Latvia with my now
great mates Ben, Tom and Jim to begin the mighty Zoe Challenge: cycling from
Riga in Latvia, ...
via Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Netherlands, and then in the UK
from Hull down to Southampton. All to raise money and awareness of the fight to
stop human trafficking in the UK; all because a girl called Zoe was conned and
trafficked here for the purposes o sexual exploitation. But Hope for Justice
rescued her and I want to help rescue more people like her. Thanks to everyone
who helped me raise nearly £14000 towards this.
It was an incredible journey, full of pain,
laughter, rain, sunshine, hills, emotional moments and huge mental and physical
resolve. If you’ve never done an endurance feat, when you’re body runs out of
energy, your mind plays tricks on you and you struggle to function normally. It
was such a privilege to do this with the whole team, not just the other 3
cyclists, but our back up team of Isaac, Spoony, Ed and Helen and all the UK
supporters and staff. When we’d reached our destination for the day around 6 or
7pm, shattered, recovery drinks downed, showered, gone down to dinner and
sorted kit out I would crash back in my room around 11, 11.30 and try to pen a
blog; I didn’t manage it every day but I loved it when I could. It helped me
connect with everyone back home.
The elation of crossing that line in
Southampton as a team was utterly magnificent. I learned that I had something
to give, something to bring, something I could do to help a massive goal;
something that was an outworking of my faith; something that went towards what Jesus
started when he said he had come to set captives free. That’s what motivates
me.
You know I never would have managed it
without the other guys. None of us would have made it on our own. Each of us
had our moments when we’d had enough or hit a wall. Each of us picked the other
up, sometimes literally off the floor, with the words “Come on you can do it”.
I made friends alone the way too. I had only
met Ben a couple of times before, the others not at all, but by the end of it
we were more than mates. We had found a bond that will never be lost. We had
set out to accomplish something together and in doing so found that elusive
thing that humanity searches for: belonging; being in a pack, a family, a team;
and finding our place in it. I never would have found that sitting at home. It
happened as I went on a challenge in which I needed help, and was in turn need
to help.
I hope as you read this you realise, or
perhaps would allow yourself to believe that you have a place in a tribe and
can find belonging. That tribe is a bunch of people who are also searching for
meaning, purpose and fulfillment as they follow Jesus. Join me as I spend my
life on the challenge of following this incredible person, where I have found
belonging, acceptance and team. Join me as we learn together how best to do
that. Get stuck into the Challenge and you’ll find your tribe.
Gav
Leave a comment if you like and we might
spark a discussion. No worries if it doesn’t. I’m not precious ...If you
have experienced these things, let us know how ...
No comments:
Post a Comment