JourneyOnline
A small group of young adults from the TEA Party project (Toowong Early Adults) have been road-testing some of the training activities from the Greenhouse project.
Greenhouse project coordinator Mark Cornford has appreciated the opportunity to have a “real” group of young adult volunteer to try the Greenhouse process.
“Greenhouse is about mission and the Toowong young adults were prepared to try stuff with no idea about what would happen to them,” he said.
Mr Cornford was reluctant to give much detail as he didn’t want to “spoil the surprises” for other young adults who undertake Greenhouse training, but he did share one story.
“As part of the program we went with Tim Hodgson of Wesley Mission to hang out with homeless people early on a Sunday morning.
One of the group invited a work friend who doesn’t attend church.
“Afterwards we had coffee together and talked about how we experienced God as we shared life and stories with the ‘streeties’. She said, ‘I believe in God – though I am not too sure what it means. But I do know this – what we did today was something that really excites me, would you let me be a part of this?’
“So she is going to connect with Tim at Wesley and engage with them.”
Tanya from TEA Party said the experience had opened her eyes to the possibilities of doing mission where she was.
“We weren’t sure about how people would respond to us, but what was exciting was that we discovered that people are much more open to God than we thought.
“While it was scary, mission is not as hard as we expected. In fact it might even be exciting!”
Mr Cornford said that this is really what the Greenhouse is about: supporting young adults into mission and then seeing what God does with it!
n
The Greenhouse is an action learning process developed by the Youth and Children’s Ministry Unit (YACMU) to support and mentor teams of young adults to develop mission projects in their own area. For more information go to www.yacmu.com.au or contact Mark Cornford at 07 3377 9782.
Photo : Mark Cornford Youth and Children’s Ministry Unit Greenhouse project coordinator
