Fully trained in Community Restoration

The term community restoration (The Oasis Vision) has proven totally inspiring over the last week and I imagine that it will continue to guide me over the next year. When Steve Chalke arrived on Monday to speak to all the trainees he brought with him a three hour long introduction to what Oasis was, is and aims to be….. He speaks with vision and passion about the state of the world and how effectively we can support vulnerable people. This first week has proven a success

I’ve met my team (hopefully I’ll be able to access a photo soon) who are all like minded individuals. I was surprised to find that I’m the only Scottish person working with Oasis this year, so i’m considered a minority (This could also be phrased to say unique). After a long first day where I left Perth at 4am to arrive in Leicester at 12noon I was glad to get to bed. It had been very hot in England and I had drunk a large amount of Water which resulted in a number of runs (notice, not walks) to the toilet. At 11pm I had hoped that this would be the last trip and I could sleep with my bladder relieved…. Everything went fine in the toilet and I sleepily flushed and opened the door to leave. To my absolute surprise a girl was standing waiting which gave me a fright… I screamed and then she screamed! I said “you’re a girl” and she said “yes, I know”. I replied “but you shouldn’t be here, this is a boys dorm!” she said “is it?”. After this we both laughed. As a male your toilet hygiene standards slip when your living with six other guys. I think I got a fright because I wasn’t expecting anyone to be waiting outside the toilet let alone a girl (thoughts flew through my head… did i put the seat down, did I even lift the seat in the first place….?) The girl turned out to be called Megan and along with the other guys in our dorm we all got on well. On the final night all the guys agreed that our toilet habits had improved as a result of Megan living with us…..

I promise that will be my last toilet story, please let me know if in anyway this was too much information. It’s my first ever blog and I need to be clear about the line between good content and too much content. Training as a whole was a success, and I’m excited about working for Oasis… They talk so radically about community engagement and resurrecting Church at the centre of communities….where it always was, and where it should be.