Fresh Eyes

I have had two youth interns over the last 12 months, one from New Zealand, one from the UK. They came to live, serve and learn amidst our faith community.  They both came from positive and vibrant large church communities and strong Christian families. I have to be honest that apart from the opportunity to come to Australia (which I totally get), I wondered what we could possibly give to them, other than a chance to serve in another type of ministry. At first it was a challenge for them both to be in an inter- generational faith community where we did most things across the ages. This was a culture shock to them.

But there’s nothing like fresh eyes to help you see what we have come to take for granted.  After 3 months the first intern said to me with tears in her eyes “I feel like the people of ICentral know me better than anyone knows me back home in the church I have been going to for 6 years”. Her mother came to visit around that time. The 3 of us had been at a conference all week. On the final night’s celebration, our people from ICentral came to join the conference. Her mother saw a difference in her that night, something she hadn’t seen all week and when she asked her why she seemed so happy she replied “My community is here”.

The second intern also said something profound after the first month of her time with us. When I asked her what she had learned so far, she said “I am having a revelation that being a Christian is more about a fun way of doing life with others compared to a Sunday chore” and more recently she said “I feel I have never really walked with Christians before”.

As a result they also blessed and gave us, and me personally so much. By bringing their gifts and time to us, they created a special place in our hearts. Even though they live in other countries, we will always consider them a part of our community. That's the power of true COLLISION.

As a faith community we seek to do life together, not just Sundays. We desire to reach UP to God, IN to each other and OUT to those who do not know God. We have aim to create REAL COMMUNITY in all we do. We have done this across all the GENERATIONS, and found there is so much more we can do together, rather than in separate silos.

We have simply asked the question “What does it take to create environments where the generations can collide?”

Who knew these two youth would reflect back to us so brightly the values we hold so deeply. We can sometimes take them for granted when we are heads down and simply seeking to live them day to day.

Each weekend the females of our community go away for a weekend. The ages range from 7 to 89 years old. I believe only God can bring together such diversity and differences and create an environment of love, acceptance, trust and joy. There was laughter, adventure, tears and growth, wise words, listening hearts and great food, all in 48 hours of temporary community. It doesn’t take much to create an environment like this, just willing hearts and open and FRESH eyes.

2000 years ago Jesus created environments with a community of people. He created spaces for His community where there was food, adventure, inspiration and opportunities to serve others. Jesus led as a great example of living a “Godly life”, He didn’t just talk about it. This was not Sunday centric, but daily. The experiences the disciples had with Jesus became the strength of their community and they knew how to carry on even when He was gone.

What environments are you creating, where the generations can collide? I believe we are called to communities where growth, love and wisdom flow and people of all ages are known and loved and can enjoy doing life together.

To read more about this read “Collide” the book by Tammy Tolman (www.tammytolman.com) or go to www.colide.net.au