So
This was going to be the last post, but its taken me so long to type Saturday night and I have a service to prepare this is all you are getting for the time being!
OK so its 7:30 and we are meant to be starting our hour long presentation. We thought there was no chance of starting on time so we had only planned 45 minutes of programme. We were missing one of the group, even though we were meant to be there 45 mins earlier. We also couldn’t start for 2 other reasons, the powerpoint and video weren’t on the memory stick, and the ppt hadn’t been saved anywhere else! And the voting members of the assembly were stuck voting for the next World Executive. We sent a runner to the voters to see if we should wait. And Alison Adam took over the stage and kept everyone singing – which included us taking the stage to teach everyone the final song of our presentation. Our member turned up, the video was found and the powerpoint remade! And we were still waiting. An hour late we started our presentation with the current (at the time) executive and area officers in the congregation. During that hour I’d been wearing my new pasmina, which originally was just drapped round my shoulders like a scarf, but after crawling round the floor and nearly strangling myself I changed it to how I would often wear a scarf - kind of knotted... anyway.
So our presentation started. We danced in to the room singing Bambelela– which was the theme song of this assembly (it means never give up and when said the reply is ‘Christ is our hope’) we stood on the stage as the the history of Helen Kim was explained, and pictures of what we had been up to appeared on the screen. Then we had to say our name, our country and our area. Hi I’m Rachel Coates, from England and I represent Europe: Britian and Ireland area. Was a good job we all had our name badges on still, they were a bit of a mouthful. That done we got off the stage and Aurelia and co did a stunning drama about our 2 faced attitudes. After that we set everyone a challenge, mainly about a dialogue with us. Then Rachel and Lise asked 2 questions to the people and I ran around the room (yes you read that right, I ran) with the mic getting their answers. It was a good time of engaging and starting a dialogue. I hope someone wrote down what they said. My face was the world vice pres who said we need to get young people involved in the planning as well as the events! Woo participation! at the end of that part me and Rachel had another freaky moment when I said what she was about to say, in almost the words she had in her head!
This led on to the vision declaration where we stated:
We believe in:
- God
- Peace
- Self-worth
- Beauty
- Empowerment
- Empathy
- Equality
- and Nurture.
We affirm:
- that we are all equal in the eyes of God;
- therefore, through empathy, we can nurture each other to reach our full physical, emotional, social and spiritual potential;
- that one another can be empowered to be confident in themselves and in their beauty
- and that peace is possible. (many languages)
We confess that:
- we have sinned against God and our fellow sisters and brothers
- at times we haven’t done our part to speak out for the voiceless
- we have erected and maintained the walls of race, class and gender
- we have failed to love ourselves and others, as Jesus calls us to do.
We commit ourselves:
- to love one another as God has loved us and to reach out to those in need
- not to accept anything less than an equal partnership
- to work towards creating and maintaining a sustainable world
- to use our voices
- to do all we can and to pray for what we can’t
- to the glory of God.
I said Self-worth and ‘to do all we can and to pray or what we can’t’. The vision we had written as a group, but then Rachel, Juliet and I had finalised it with Tara’s help. That had been Friday afternoons job! The words in the believe section came from the area / continent visions we wrote on Thursday. Europes was about self-worth and beauty – inside and out.
The vision was followed by a mini challenge that Rachel and I read out. We did a small presentation to Dr Kim, and then invited past HKSs on to the stage to sing ‘we are the ones’
We are the ones to make a change in this world
We are the ones to make our Jesus known
Let’s join our hands to break the chains that have kept us apart for so long – so long
Let’s come together as one
Not minding all the differences between us
Let there be peace and love and harmony
So we can live in unity.
That done I took off my name tag – as the British unit had decided to for their presentation. The Europe: continental area president did a presentation about her area and how it may be changing. Then the Irish took over, Rachel played and sang (I made a good mic stand) then we had to do some irish dancing – the one photo I’ve seen is when we are standing still but we looked like we were having a good time, it was great fun. See Wesley I do dance!
After this someone from Europe told us about her unit and then it was the British Unit’s turn. We went on to the stage in our black trousers, white t-shirts and red pasminas ready to sing ‘for everyone born’ which is a very moving song about justice and equality – and is in the new Methodist hymn book! Between each verse and chorus 2 people got up to tell a story that linked. I obviously linked with the verse about young and old. The most moving story was that of Kate, which started ‘Sticks and Stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me, yeah right!’
The evening ended with everyone singing in Christ alone. The we had chance to look round the market a final time – Emma if I hadn’t been for that and a pushy lady you wouldn’t have a present!
We (me, Rachel and Niki I think) sat in the courtyard after this. Not really ready to go to bed. But then tiredness kicked in and off to bed we went.
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