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Newsletters
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Emily Baggott: I am going to Uganda with an organisation called 'Oasis Trust'. From quite a young age I felt I wanted to go to Africa to help those less privileged than myself and I thought taking a gap year would be an ideal opportunity to do something practical to help.
I will be living in a team house in a suburban area of Kampala, placed with a local church and involved in community projects. Past teams have been involved in children's work, youth work, Bible studies, teaching English and visiting those with HIV/AIDS. There will also be opportunities to help at the Bambejja home for street girls.
I am really looking forward to meeting the children and teaching them, and just experiencing a totally different lifestyle to my own. I am worried about the very hot climate, which I am not used to in England! Also the frequent power/water shortages and all of the creepy crawlies!! I am going from September to March, which is a long period of time away from home, so I am worried about being home-sick and missing my friends and family. I hope that I will get on with the people in my team and make some good friendships.
I will be working and fundraising to get the money for my trip, which is from September 2006 to March 2007.
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Ed Houghton: As I am planning to study French and Spanish at University, I thought spending time in the country where the language is spoken would be very beneficial. I'm also keen to serve as a Christian and saw a gap year as an ideal opportunity to do this. I will be working in the capital of Paraguay, Asunción in the Cristo Salvador church. The people of Asunción range from being very rich to incredibly poor and have a wide variety of backgrounds. I am told that the church has helped many people with drug problems recently. I will be doing work with the young people of the church and the surrounding area; this may well involve sports playing/coaching, as they have just had an artificial sports pitch built. Having lived in England all my life, I am looking forward to a lifestyle which is completely different to the one I am used to and seeing how I cope or maybe even thrive(!) in the absence of my parents. I am also really hoping I can make a difference to the lives of the young people there and build relationships with them.
It is quite daunting to be away from home for such a long time in a place I know little about and although my Spanish is quite good, it's bound to be a test to speaking it every hour of every day! The heat is another factor, as it is a very humid 40 degrees C at the time I will be going. Finally swapping a middle class English lifestyle for one in an impoverished Paraguayan city will take some getting used to.
I've been working at Edgbaston County cricket ground and doing other odd jobs to earn some funds; other than this I am hoping for support form local charities and maybe a grant from Solihull School. I will be working for a Christian sports coaching programme in France for three months before I leave for Paraguay at the beginning of February 2007 (returning in July of the same year). It would be great for any prayer or even financial support that people maybe willing to offer.
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Nov 06 Prayer Letter
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Jonathon Hunter: I will be working for a Christian gap year organisation called Careforce from September until the end of July. My placement is in St Georges Parish, Kidderminster. I am doing a placement with Careforce, because I want to do a year's Christian service in the UK so that I can help people and also grow in my faith. The work will be with a wide range of different ages. This will include working with children, elderly, and youth groups in St Georges Parish. I am looking forward to learning a lot of new skills and meeting people from a variety of different backgrounds. Getting used to a totally different routine compared with school/college will be a challenge, as will living away from home and working with `non-church' people. Before and during the gap year I will be giving money to Careforce. I have received generous donations from people, which has been a massive boost. During the placement I will look at ways of raising further money to help support Careforce.
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Katie May Joyce: I will be in Manchester for 16 weeks from the end of August, taking part in Genetik: Urban track which is run by The Message Trust. I will be involved in outreach to homeless people on the streets, leading Alpha groups with young offenders and doing youth work through the EDEN project. Part of the course involves urban youth work skills development and training. Then in March I will be working abroad with Oasis Trust, in Brazil working with children. I am working mainly with youth because that is something I really enjoy doing. This gap year is giving me a chance to do something just for God before I go to university and it gives me the opportunity to see if youth work is something I could do in the long term.
I am most looking forward to building up relationships with the young people and seeing what life is like for them and watching them change as they find out about God. It will allow me to get out of the sheltered life that I have and see what the world is really like. I am really looking forward to seeing God working through me and discovering my calling for life. I am apprehensive about the gangs and shootings in Manchester. I am also apprehensive about not having the right words in certain situations and that the young people will listen to what I have to say. So overall I am really excited about my gap year and can't wait to get started!!! I have still got to raise £3600 so any prayer about that would be appreciated!!
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Rachel Mander: I have always wanted to spend my Gap year in Africa and it will be great to make a real impact to a community that is completely different to Knowle!
From April 2007, I will be working with various projects set up by St James' Church in Iringa, for example - working in a secondary school, a deaf school, a bible college etc. I am most looking forward to getting to know all the people there and learning to become totally dependant on God. I am apprehensive about the spiders, snakes and other scary bugs, also the culture shock when I get there and when I get back to England after 5 months! Also I will really miss my family and friends! I will be working over the summer and also as an au pair in Germany for 5 months to raise the money.
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Jocelyn Richard: I grew up in Nepal while my parents were working there in Christian Aid and Development work, so working abroad has become something I wanted to revisit before going to University. I would also like to see whether or not it is something God would have me do later in life. The training in Suffolk should help to prepare me, not only for the 6 months in South America, but also for assessing whether I should do long-term mission in the future.
`SIM' (Serving in Mission) work all over the world on many different projects but always through local churches. They work with children and youth, in health, education, AIDS and development programs as well as translation and theological training. I am most looking forward to learning more of God's plans for my life, seeing Him at work in areas where only God can penetrate, spending time again in a developing country, meeting new people and new experiences.
I am apprehensive about not being able to communicate well with the people. I am learning Spanish, but I won't be fluent. Also missing my family and friends, especially my sister! Above all I'm REALLY excited!!
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