Our Culcheth worker Hannah shares about the growth of a new detached project, reaching young people in her local community…
“Despite the challenges of the past two years, I have been encouraged by the favour and the faithfulness of God over the work in Culcheth.
As a result of a successful grant during the lockdown period, the Culcheth area has seen the start of a brand-new project called ‘The Tent Project’ on a Friday night. The Tent came out of the need for flexible and restriction friendly project which would enable us to continue supporting young people in a time where they needed it the most.
The Tent Project is nothing trendy or glamorous, it simply started as a gazebo with some games and hot chocolates on a prominent part of Culcheth’s main street.
Yet each week the young people started to come, and it grew, little by little.
“It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” (Matthew 13:32)
A few weeks before Christmas, I had a moment in the buzz of it all when I turned around to see some year 11 boys helping two women from the Methodist church to put up fairy lights in the gazebo.
Young people were scattered around watching their friends play in the football cage, while others chatted to volunteers and played cards under the Tent.
In that moment, I was reminded of a prayer prayed at the launch of the project to “not despise small beginnings.” The beginning was small. It might even still feel small or insignificant, yet I am learning that these small things add up.
I sometimes think that we despise small things so much that we are afraid to even start or step out. Zechariah says, “Whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice,” because one day the small thing will no longer be small.
Today I want to encourage you to not despise your small things because when you put your small into the hands of a great God, you can trust that he is working in and through them for his eternal glory.
The Tent Project runs fortnightly alongside the football cage. Please do continue to pray for this space, for significant conversations with the young people and more volunteers from the local churches.
Hannah
(Culcheth Worker)