Finally got a blogspot!

Hello people! Both near and far!
I have started my blog today, please feel free to check it every now and again to see what I've been up to, and if you notice that i havent written anything for a few week then send me a quick email reminding me!
I've been living in Salford, near Manchester for since early September. In all, it has been a really positive journey, during the early stages, as a team we have had our natural ups and downs, but are proving to be a very strong and solid team.
We are working in the local community, in schools, youths clubs, after school activities, and working with the Oasis church. (www.church.co.uk/salford)
The work we are doing in brilliantly varied, and we are never bored. I love the way we are always trying something new, and being stretched more and more to become better equiped youth and childrens workers.
I will try and keep this as up to date as possible, and feed into it as the exciting world develops around me!
For our first training week, we were asked to write a book review, or report on Nick Page - The Big Story. So i have included a copy of my book review at on this blog.
Please feel free to comment on it as you wish.
Thanks for taking time to read this.
God Bless
Chloe



The Big Story – Thoughts

I really enjoyed reading the Big Story. I don’t read many books, and thought this might be a struggle to actually have a set time scale to have to read a book in, but I found it an enjoyable task, and it has restored my enjoyment in learning from reading books.
I have always read parts of the bible, in bible studies, church and private study, but never really seen the bible as a whole story. Like many people, I tend to know some familiar stories in the bible almost off by heart, from various services and children’s stories I have been brought up with. However, have never really seen the real meaning behind it, or what I find fascinating – the history behind them, seeing who is linked to who, and starting to see some sort of a pattern emerge from within it.
Whilst reading the Big Story, I enjoyed being able to challenge my family on some parts of the bible, to see if they also were aware of certain parts. Mainly small things like, did they know that the box Moses was sent down the Nile in, and the boat that Noah made, is the same word in Hebrew – Teba - meaning ‘the box shaped thing’. I guess information like that isn’t going to change the world in anyway, or change the way I think of the story, but it gave me a bit more background knowledge and understanding, that otherwise I wouldn’t have had.
One part of the book that really stood out for me, was how important names were, and I guess should be still. Names in the bible, they actually meant something, children were named because of the meaning, not just because it went nicely with the surname! Also I found, that when people’s heart and minds had been changed, from that of a non believer to a believer, their name was also changed, as if a sign that their old way of living was now over, and God had given them a new start, therefore a new name; they could now be who and what God wanted them to be. I found this a very powerful sign.
I also loved the fact that Nick Page, really drew out the fact of people being most touched and spiritually fed, when in their ‘wilderness place’. The place of wilderness, was when people had either literally gone into the desert and were in the wilderness without any normality around them, or when they had suffered loss, when they had lost absolutely everything, the people, the things and the homes they loved the most. When they thought they had nothing else; that was when God showed them and gave them everything they needed. So many people I have met and prayed with have felt like they had lost everything in life, and there was no way for them to turn. How great would it have been then, for me to have been able to show them these passages and sections in the bible, to give them hope, and show them that God doesn’t ever leave them alone, and will provide for all their needs?
I brought both books that were suggested, because at first I was worried that I would be the only one to have read this book, but I feel so blessed and refreshed after reading it. I found it a very light book, which was easy and enjoyable to read, but at the same time really challenged my way of thinking, and my knowledge of the bible.

Chloe Purchase