A Call to Give

The Beginning of a Call to Youth Ministry

Now it's time to add an embarrassing photo or two..... The summer after my wake-up moment with God in Bangor, I was fortunate enough to be one of 8 Irish youth reps to the European Methodist Youth Conference, in Murzteg, Austria.

It was an amazing week, filled with moments of awe and wonder, worship in English and German, hearing dozens of languages saying the Lord's Prayer all at the same time, forming life-long friendships, and so much more. I have some colour slides somewhere, if I can find them I'll scan a few more pics to add. These few are, top to bottom:

• Most of the Irish group and some others we met along the way from Finland and England

• The theme for the week, and I still have that sticker on a journal somewhere....

• Getting some pain relief in a very cold stream! On a walk in the hills earlier that day I had stood in a wasps nest, and after a few minutes in the very cold water I couldn't feel a thing.

• The local Roman Catholic chapel, next to the center we were staying at.

Much of that week is a blur, 29 years on, but 4 of us had a few days in Vienna after the Conference, and I remember as we talked on the train one day, saying something like "I want to give other young people the kind of opportunity I've just had".

At that point, I had a bunch of contacts across Europe, no internet, and no idea what was coming within a few years.