oxygennews

Questions @ Rm1

It was Wednesday afternoon and I was sat at the table in Rm1 encouraging one of the boys to complete a piece of homework. The task was to design a poster depicting aspects of 'your local community' and whilst he was drawing a church he asked how if God was the father and Jesus the son how could they both be part of the same thing? As I began to explain about the trinity other Rm1 members joined in the conversation and asked about creation, why snakes are seen as bad, what does the devil look like and who created him.
Praise God that Rm1 is seen by the boys as a place where they can ask questions. May we continue to have such conversations and that the boys would be receptive to hearing what we have to say.

Meeting rooms and facilities at Kairos Conference Centre, London UK

The following week is an important one for Oxygen, as we hold various day long meetings to look at the future development, growth as well as growth opportunities.  

Firstly could you pray for the Oxygen Senior Staff Team today between 11 and 3 to step back from the daily activities and go off for a days retreat and reflection at the Karios Retreat Centre in Roehampton

The Oxygen Senior Staff is a new group of people that has come together as a result of the growth and development of Oxygen during the last 18 months. It includes Debbie Garden (Senior Youthworker), Paul Jacobs (Street Pastors Coordinator), Carol Clack (Tolworth Girls Project) and Kate Davies (Coombe Boys Project). Also joining with us is Andrea Campanale who is seeking to develop the Sacred Space Kingston Project which overlaps with both Oxygen and Street Pastors work.

Secondly could you pray for the Oxygen Trustees as they take ½ day on Saturday to look at two aspects of Oxygen’s life, firstly how we go further and deeper with the young people we meet and secondly, what we need to do at the centre of Oxygen in order to create a functioning professional organisation.

Your prayers for these days are vital as we need to filled with God’s heart, wisdom as well as a sense of what direction he would like us to take into the future.

Thanks

Richard

Tags: oxygen, future, strategy, pray

Two new Oxygen Podcasts Available

Two new Oxygen videos are now available for download via the Oxygen infuse podcast that show the wide range of work that Oxygen is involved in. 

The first shows a very special pilot music project, called Oxygen Live run  with Yorda Adventures and YADAPA during October 2007. This pioneering work targeted young people with medium to severe physical and learning disabilities, creating a weekly club on Saturday afternoons where they played with a wide range of percussion instruments. This short film was taken during the end of pilot, performance event when parents and siblings were invited in.

The second video is a different flavour and style. It is a short film showing some of the images from year 7, term 1. In this 3 minute video you can get a flavour of the week the team arrived, special events such as thealling, Suburban Soul and Slum Survivor as well as images from just some of the regular events such as the Korean Homework Club, Urban Nites, Tolworth Girls Project and the all new Coombe Boys Rm1 club.

To download this video you simply need to search for the Oxygen Infuse Podcast in itunes (or your regular podcast programme). Alternatively you can visit www.oxygen-online.org/podcast

Tags: podcast, oxygen live, music, kingston, video, film

A new year

This is the first of the Oxygen prayer letters for a New Year. The team have just returned from the annual Youth for Christ staff conference (photos from which can be seen here), www.oxygen-online.org/gallery

At this conference there were a number of speakers, the first was Ajith Fernando, Director of Sri Lanka Youth for Christ, who spoke about the need for understanding that Pain and Joy come together, that in the Christian Walk, they are, if not desirable but inevitable companions. The second main speaker was  Dr Paula Gooder, who is lecturer in New Testament Studies at Queens College Birmingham. Dr Gooder spoke about various things, but in particular about the understanding of community and Christian Identity in the New Testament. She showed how Jesus saw the community of Israel as key to the Hope of God. That in going to the margins and speaking to the outsiders, Jesus was saying to the vulnerable and excluded that they are included, they are part of God’s plan.

As we start a New Oxygen Year we return with various hopes and dreams for the months ahead. For 2008 these have a strong emphasis on community and creating places where young people can go to belong both to each other, and learn about their belonging to God. During this effort as we will inevitably confront the twin peaks of pain and joy as we face trials, temptations, discouragements as well as hopes realised and young people with lives changed.

As such, 2008 will be a year when we strive to up Oxygen’s prayer and financial cover http://www.cafonline.org/charityprofile/oxygen. As such

• Each Monday morning over the coming 12 months we will continue to update you with stories, news and pictures from this journey through this Monday prayer email.
• We are going to be asking if people would with us in fasting one meal on Mondays, taking time out to prayer for the young people, the ministry and the Oxygen hope of young people discover and follow Jesus.
• We will re launch the monthly Oxygen prayer meetings starting at 8pm 21st February.
• We will be running a 24/7 week of solid prayer between 19th and 25th May 2008
• We will continue to send out prayer newsletters with updates about work in each area, you can read the prayer letter from December here, http://wantachurch.typepad.com/oxygennews/2007/12/oxygen-dec-2007.html

Thank you for your support, encouragement and prayer during the last 12 months. Together I hope we will see lives and our culture continued to be changed in the year ahead.

Richard