Sophia Network

Interview with Ruth Gilson, Girls' Brigade England and Wales

Claire Rush has interviewed Ruth Gilson, director of Girls’ Brigade England and Wales (GBEW), for Sophia. She says: Ruth is definitely one of a handful of people who has encouraged me to step out in faith and trust in God’s leading. From my time as a local GB leader in Northern Ireland to my current role as GBEW’s Esther Generation Project Coordinator, Ruth has provided inspiration, encouragement and bucket-loads of grace.

Ruth, tell us a little about yourself
After I became a Christian in my teens I had a niggling push that I couldn’t get away from… to train in theology because I thought God was calling me to serve him in some particular way. So I did.

I did loads of things before coming to GB though and I’m really glad about that because my eclectic experience has really helped me in this role. One claim to fame in my past is re-curtaining the student hostel I helped manage in London. Add that to doing a feasibility study on the comparative benefits of a flat-pack or roll system for toilet roll in the hostel… and you can see how well equipped I am for leading here at GB!

My family lives in Yorkshire (God’s own land) but I hang out in Oxfordshire and worship at a local Baptist church. Life is pretty busy, but I love it as there’s so much variety in my days and I get to live with the most amazing sense of privilege about my role in GB. Even though I’ve been here a while now I still feel as if I’m in a long term master-class about serving God and leading others - and it really is stretching. This year I’ve begun a secondment to GB International for nearly half my time and have travelled a bit to see GB in action in places like Singapore, Cambodia, Australia and New Zealand.  My constant question these days is, do we ever stop emerging as leaders…?!

What is Girls Brigade all about?
God is a missionary God; therefore we’re a missionary people!  That’s been re-emerging these past few years as our ‘words in the stick of rock’. It says everything about GB’s grasp of why we’re here. Looking at our 100+ year history as a mission among girls, I think those words have always been at our heart. But, like lots of Victorian-birthed movements, we’ve had a time of re-visiting our roots to rediscover what really makes us tick. The journey has been stretching, but really worth it. We’re clear about Girls’ Brigade:

• We’re called by God to join in with his mission in this generation
• His mission is all about lives restored and transformed through encounter and relationship with Jesus Christ
• Girls and young women are our passion – and we love to see them discover just who they are in God!
• Jesus is our role model. For GB this means we want to seek, serve and follow him in all we do. Through Jesus we are transformed and become agents of his transformation in others’ lives

Isn’t Girls Brigade a bit out of date?
Don’t get me started on this one… it’s dangerous! Seriously though, I do get jaded about the casual way in which some folk disregard GB. Is it because we wear a uniform? Because we’ve been around a long time? Because we have an amazingly sustainable and holistic approach?

Interview with Bekah Legg, Liberti magazine

Bekah, tell us about a bit about yourself.
I’m a bit of a Jack of all trades trying to find something to master – I am trained as a History teacher but currently go into schools delivering workshops looking at sex and relationships, I run a discipleship group for 15-18 yr olds in my community and I am Editor of Liberti magazine. Above all of that I am Mum to six great kids who practically constitute a youth group in themselves!


Why did you feel there was a need for a magazine for Christian women?
While I’m a bit reluctant to admit that I followed my husband’s lead; that is actually what I did. Steve created Sorted Men’s magazine four years ago and since then so many women have asked if he could produce a women’s equivalent. It had never really crossed my radar before, but as more and more women asked, I looked into it and realised that there was very little out there for women like me. Liberti actually existed before we were given it; it was created by Bev Murrill who is an inspirational powerhouse of a woman! Just as I was beginning to get really excited by the potential of a new women’s magazine, Bev emailed us and asked us if she could hand Liberti to us. The rest as they say is history. 
 

What’s your vision for Liberti magazine? What type of women’s magazine is it?
Ultimately I want Liberti to be a rally cry for Christian women around the world. Liberti comes from the Latin word for freedom and I want to liberate women in this country to be all that they were created to be by holding up great role models and elevating the debate about the role of women in the church. Then I want to inspire these women to address issues of oppression and gender inequality around the world. It’s a big dream but globally women do two thirds of the world’s work, receive 10% of the world’s income and own 1% of the means of production. That doesn’t add up. Millions of women face a battle to survive from the moment they are conceived and in this country we are in the privileged position of being able to do something to change that. I can’t think of a single good reason why we shouldn’t. 
 

What are you most excited about in the next issue?

Interview with Paul Wilcox, The Mentoring Network

Mentoring has always been very close to the heart of the Sophia Network. We've been providing mentoring training for the last three years in response to the first survey we did of the needs of women in youth work because so many people said they wanted to find a mentor or learn how to mentor others. It's been exciting to see the growth of mentoring within the church over the last few years, and we look forward to what The Mentoring Network will contribute to that.

Paul, tell us a bit about yourself
My name is Paul Frederick (and I'm so proud of that, that I once considered asking to be known as Freddie) Wilcox and I live in Worcester with my wife, Jane, and two of my children, Emma (18) and Matthew (8). My eldest son, Nathan (20), is away at university. I am part of the Leadership Team at All Saints, Worcester, but most of my time is spent mentoring guys who are in leadership, emerging leadership positions, or/and just trying to hold life together. I am also a lecturer at Cliff College on mentoring, coaching and leadership.

When did you first realise the significance of mentoring?
Almost certainly before I would have called it that! Since leaving a career in teaching, almost 20 years ago now (yikes!), I have found myself in a number of leadership positions within Scripture Union, Covenanters and Youth for Christ. The most stimulating and rewarding times with all my roles have been those spent listening to, encouraging, affirming and, at times, challenging leaders in local churches - who, according to Bill Hybels, have the potential to be the 'most influential force on planet earth'! I also had the privilege of having a number of young guys working alongside me in a voluntary capacity, for a year at a time. Again, it was the opportunities after speaking at an event or conference when we would debrief as we travelled home – talking about what went well, what didn't and why -  that I found the most exciting and having the greatest potential to inspire mutual growth.

Consequently, when I knew my time with YFC was coming to an end, eight years ago, and someone asked me if I had considered stepping out in faith into a full-time mentoring ministry, I didn't have to think very long about it. After I had looked the word up in the dictionary, that is! My next step was to read, 'Mentoring to Develop Disciples and Leaders' by John Mallison. I was then able to meet up with him, talk about where I was at, and see the twinkle in his eye as he chatted with me about having devoted his life to the principles of mentoring and explaining its significance. I was hooked.

Who has mentored you? Can you give an example of a change that being mentored has brought to your life?

Interview with Poppy Sargeaunt, disability youth adviser for Bournemouth YMCA

Ruth Wells says: ‘One thing I love about work with young people is that it is so diverse and so full of inspiring people and projects. Over the last two years I have had the pleasure and privilege of working alongside a truly inspiring person who supports an amazing, innovative and creative project. Let me introduce you to  Poppy Sargeaunt who is a Disability Youth Volunteer Advisor for Bournemouth YMCA

How did your work with the ‘Chatterbox magazine’ start?
The Chatterbox project was developed because within my role as a Youth Volunteer Advisor for Vinvolved. I was meeting lots of young people with disabilities who wanted to volunteer but needed extra support, which the Vinvolved Team were unable to give due to their capacity and roles. When speaking with these young people it was apparent that the information they were given was too wordy, adult and not related to their needs. It was decided that changes needed to take place, so working with a group of young people with disabilities, we put together an idea of how we could create a youth-led magazine project specifically for young people and their families with a disability.

How do you go about supporting the group to put together the magazine?
The group meet fortnightly to create this fantastic magazine. The magazine is created quarterly and sent to every family with a child with a disability within the Bournemouth area. It is also sent to all schools who have young people with disabilities as well as to youth centres and other places that young people hang out.

At the meetings the young people start creating the magazine by creating pictures and bubbles, which they then cut out and organise on a large piece of paper. They look at what should be on which page and then stick them down. One member of the group also hand draws the characters for the problem page. As a group they also go and visit different projects. such as attending a dance show and reviewing it for the magazine.

For the problem page they use problems, which they have individually had and then as a group they look at how to solve the problem. This also allows the group to be a support network for each other. What have been your highlights so far in the work?The main highlight of this project has been able to watch the young people involved grow in confidence and skills as well as building strong friendships with each other. When this project began nearly all the young people had limited friendships, finding it difficult to meet people who they could relate to. This project has given them the chance to meet other young people who have similar interests and can relate to their struggles. Now most of the group meet outside of The Chatterbox sessions, which is a fantastic highlight.

Another highlight would be that the majority of the group were very dependant on their parents driving them to activities. They were unable to travel independently. Now the majority of the group are able to travel by bus to the sessions. This has been a huge transition for them and supports them in developing their independent skills for the future. The magazine has achieved national recognition.

What are the main challenges?

Interview with Jo Saxton, author and director of 3dm

Jo - tell us about yourself, where you live and what you do
I grew up in London, and worked for St. Thomas Church, Sheffield years ago, initially leading the youth work, then gathering a team leading the student work and the student congregation. I now live in Southern California in the USA and am one of the directors of a movement/organisation called 3dm which helps churches get discipleship and mission  at the heart of all they are and do.

My job at 3dm is wide and varied: we gather church teams into a two-year journey we call a learning community, so I spend a lot of time coaching senior pastors and their teams on building a discipling culture within their churches, and on how to launch missional communities. I do some teaching, some group facilitation, as well as give regular coaching  to church leaders. I love my job, because I firmly believe when we as church as doing our job, society is fundamentally changed. Alongside that I'm a leader in a global missional movement called The Order of Mission. I do some speaking and writing here and there. I'm married to a wonderful man called Chris who's a pastor, and we have two gorgeous and hilarious daughters who are full of life and comedy.
 
 

What was the inspiration behind your new book, Influential?
I think as a leader the issue of women in leadership is always a live one for me. The vast majority of what I do is with men, and it’s very common to be the only woman in the room. But I know that there are many great female leaders out there, and many who have not been invested in so we just don't know of them. When the conversation comes up, leaders that are in favour of women leaders often say they want women leaders but they are not coming through. The reality is that they simply won't come through if we are not investing in the theological issues, or in the discipling, investment, character development that is part of every leader's formation. Women often miss out on that direct mentoring from leaders. Influential is an attempt to address some of the areas leaders may need to attend to as they respond to their calling, and hopefully equip more female leaders to get a few steps further along in what God's called them to do.
 

As a woman in leadership what are the main challenges you have faced and how have you tackled them?
One challenge over the years has been confidence to believe I'm called to lead, especially at times when I was given more responsibility. In my 20's I worried if it would mean I would never get married, because what guy would want a women with a big leadership role? In my 30's I wrestled with going back to work after having my girls, because what did that say about me as a wife and mother? I questioned things like - am I too strong, is it godly and feminine to be a leader, is there something wrong with me?

Interview with Katherine Rush, artist

You can see more of Katherine's work on her website: www.katherinerush.daportfolio.com

Have you always known that you wanted to be an artist? Are there early experiences of art or teachers that particularly inspired you?
Ever since I was a little girl I was always reaching into the crayon tin picking out the bright colours and using them to scribble and swirl all over any scrap paper, colouring book, or disregarded new/old newspaper that I could find. Needless to say, my family weren’t always too happy to see that I usually left the room in a mess with crayons, and felt-tips all over the floor.
 
Throughout my teenage years I always had dreams about being a highflying fashion designer, but deep down I never really took my own interest in art seriously, I certainly never viewed it as a potential career path! When it came to picking my GCSE subject choices I was particularly torn between Art and Design, or Home Economics. Obviously I ended up going down the art route as I’m not such a whiz in the kitchen!
 
During those last four years at school, slowly I began to become more and more passionate about art, in particular painting. Although I still just imagined painting to be a hobby, something that I would hopefully get the time to do at the weekends. However I then had the privilege to take a trip to Rome with my family and visit Michelangelo’s famous Sistine Chapel. Here underneath his vast painted ceiling I was overawed by the vibrant hues of colour, the actions of the figures, and the message that he was trying to tell. After that visit I bought a book from the gift shop (probably a tourist trap) and was fascinated to read about all the hidden meaning that Michelangelo had placed within his work. It wasn’t just a “pretty picture” on a ceiling, instead it was crammed full of symbolism. It was then that I realised how my own art could be much more than a framed picture sitting quietly on a living room wall, but how instead it could be a loud message. Four years, and an art degree later, my passion for painting has amplified! I can’t ever imagine a day where I don’t get to do or think about painting, or get into my studio and get my hands messy!
 
How does your faith interact with your art? What are some of the themes that you explore?
I love paint. I love the feel of it, I love how it drips, how it can be scraped away, brushed over really thickly, or how on some days you can just mix together extraordinary colours. Alongside this passion for paint is my desire to glorify God within my artwork. I have always been interested in traditional ecclesiastical art. It is fascinating to visit ancient monastic icons and see their depictions of stories from the Bible. However, I longed to be able to interpret my faith in a contemporary manner. As a result, I began to paint on aluminium. Our God is not just confined to the history books; he is the God of today and tomorrow, so I wanted to be able to create a modern up-to-date body of work symbolised by the sleek surface of the aluminium.

Interview with Jenny Baker, director of the Sophia Network

Jenny usually finds herself as the interviewer in this monthly feature, but for this month Ruth Hassall has stolen the reins and turned the tables on her to find out  more about what she’s involved with, what she’s passionate about and what prompted her to launch the Sophia Network. Enjoy!

Many of us know you as one of the founders of the Sophia Network, but tell us a bit more about yourself and the other things you’re involved in.
I’m acting festival director of Greenbelt at the moment; I first went to the festival when I was 20, and was a trustee for nine years. It’s a brilliant job and it’s going to be an amazing festival this year. I love being active – I did my first marathon this year, and have just got back from a cycle ride in Scotland. I did triathlons for ten years, but swimming is not really my thing, so I think I’ll stick to running and cycling from now on. I’m a member of Grace, an alternative worship community in Ealing, west London. I’m married and have two adult sons; one is at uni and the other will go in the autumn so it’s an interesting time of life. I share an allotment with some friends and love the rhythm of growing things.

How do you manage to juggle all the different things that you do?
I think it’s important to be aware of what energises and what drains you. I know that running gives me an opportunity to reflect and unwind so I’ll always make space for that, same with seeing friends. I’ve been trying to put more boundaries around my work, but probably still spend far too much time doing emails. I find it helpful to talk to other people about the busyness of life and to get their perspective. But I do love the different things I’m involved in, so being busy is good.

What do you enjoy most about your work?
I like problem solving, being strategic and getting things done! I enjoy consulting and making decisions I love opportunities to teach or train people, to get people thinking and interacting. I really enjoy the variety of what I do – from writing, to leading worship, to speaking, to working at Greenbelt. I’m grateful for opportunities to mentor others, and always get a lot out of these relationships.

What are some of the biggest challenges that you’ve faced in your working life, and some of the biggest opportunities?
The biggest challenge has been my own lack of confidence and my self-doubt. I was an incredibly shy teenager, and grew up in a church that didn’t allow women to lead. It’s been a long journey to overcome both of those things and I know that at times, I’ve been my own worst enemy. I’ve had to battle a lot with my ‘inner critic’ – the voice that tells me I’m no good, but I’m getting there!

I’ve often had to be encouraged to take opportunities and am really grateful to the people who’ve seen potential in me and have given me a push. Lots of them have been men – Dave Wiles, Lowell Sheppard, John Buckeridge and Jonny, my husband.

Interview with Joanna Jepson, chaplain to the London College of Fashion

Tell us about your work as chaplain to the London College of Fashion. What kind of things do you do?
Chaplaincy at London College of Fashion is in many ways like any other chaplaincy, I’m there to provide pastoral care for staff and students and accompany people of any faith or none in this episode of their life. People often ask about ‘all the eating disorders and drugs I must have to deal with’, but working with designers and lecturers (as opposed to models), means I am with people as they contend with financial cuts, ethics, the pressure to achieve artistic notoriety while retaining integrity and all the other stresses of life like money, time, relationships. So the pastoral work is the bread and butter of my role at LCF.

On top of this there is the creative project work which enables me to do outreach in schools, with women and teenagers, and artistic agencies. Last year I ran a summer school at LCF for 25 teenage girls from traditional Islamic schools where we looked at themes of identity, modesty, faith and fashion. It was a brilliant opportunity to offer teaching to these talented girls who had had art and music removed from their curriculum, while providing a safe context for them to meet women from other faiths and hear about their beliefs and how they too express devotion albeit in different ways. This year we’re going to turn it into a multi-faith summer school with girls from Islamic, Christian, Sikh and Jewish schools. I have also had a chance to begin leading seminars in the States for women and teenage girls who want to get to grips with how to withstand the relentless pressure to conform to one image of desirability. So it’s a fantastically creative and varied role…

Fashion came seem very superficial with its focus on appearance and ideal body shape. Is that your experience? What’s a Christ-like attitude to fashion?
When I first talked about wanting to develop a ministry within the fashion industry it was interesting how many Christians (and columnists), remarked on how odd it was for a priest to focus on people involved in such a superficial industry. I think it suits the media to be disparaging about the fashion industry but I think it is shortsighted for any Christian to take that view; after all we worship the Creator God and are made in his image – it’s no wonder that creativity is going to be so much a part of our humanity. I thought it was crazy to think that people in that industry are in some way ‘less deserving’ of pastoral care and incarnational presence!  What has been so great is to see just how seriously LCF takes its responsibility ensuring its graduates have sustainable, ethical practice running through their work. Whether it is sourcing the cotton, reducing production waste, partnering with women’s cooperatives in South Africa, or setting up the global hub, the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, LCF demonstrates that fashion is anything but superficial. The challenge is getting that message out to the consumers and encouraging us to do our bit to change. Beginning to look at our consumer appetite for fast fashion is a really good place to start and I always try to use the Season of Lent as the moment to have that conversation. A Christ-like attitude to fashion could begin there. Seeing whether you can go without buying anything unnecessary for the whole of Lent. That exercise is a really effective way of showing up to ourselves where our addictions might lie.

Young women increasingly seem to be judged on their appearance and are under pressure to look perfect. What do you think needs to be done about this?

Interview with Stephanie Heart, member of the Endangered Species team

I met Stephanie Heart at the Endangered Species summit in London last month, and invited her to talk about what she does.

Tell us about Stephanie Heart.  What do you do?
My aim is to combine creativity with passion to present a message of true beauty, value and worth. Stephanie Heart uses innovative illustrations to explore complex themes working to engage women into the subject matter in creative ways. Through different projects I have exposed the dark side to the beauty industry; spoken out about the objectification of women in advertisement; engaged young women in analysing the impact of the media surrounding them.

Stephanie Heart works to remove the expectations that have been placed on young women today by the media, beauty and fashion industry, our friends and even family members, working to remove these demands on young women so that they can be free to be themselves.

What inspired the work you do? How did it begin?
I was on my way home from a youth session that I lead for young women at my church and a young girl aged about 14 told me how she left the house one day with no make-up on. She said that she saw someone she knew in a shop, and so ran and hid. I asked her why and she said because she believed that she was ugly without make-up on.

I thought at that moment what could make a beautiful young girl at 14 years of age believe she is not beautiful without make-up on? That she needed to purchase a product in order to be beautiful? That beauty was something she had to buy not something that she was? Stephanie Heart began from the desire to address these issues.

My first project explored the theme “searching for beauty”. I took a group of around ten participants and asked them to complete a questionnaire on how they felt about their body. The first project explored the theme of the increasing numbers of women in contemporary society choosing to go to extreme and dangerous measures in order to change their bodies. Just as shocking is that this has become acceptable in Western culture. Those who engaged in the project - as models, volunteers and final viewers of the work  - were encouraged to ask themselves whether changing our bodies is about self-improvement or self-destruction.

Interview with Alice McDermott, RAF pilot

Alice, tell us about your job
I am a pilot in the Royal Air Force. I have been flying since 1988 when I started  training, aged 18, while I was at university. I have flown many different training aircraft and some frontline aircraft also. Notably I was the second female to fly the Tornado Bomber aircraft, but have spent the majority of my flying career (22 years to date) flying Air Transport Aircraft, the Hercules C130 K and J models. I have flown these aircraft into both Iraq and Afghanistan over the span of many years. The thing I enjoy most is flying 60 metric tonnes of aircraft on night vision goggles into war zones! My least favourite thing is having to be away from my husband and friends whenever the RAF decides.

When did you become a Christian?
I made my first commitment to Christ when I was 12 years old, but when I was around 20 I started to wander away from God, my faith and church. I never stopped believing in Christ, I just became quite confident in my own abilities and didn't rely on God. It was not till I was 36 that after several instances over a few years I felt nudged back to Christ, and started to come back to church. I recommitted my life to Christ and was baptised four years ago. I now preach, and lead services. I am a deacon at my church and I am studying lay ministry with Spurgeon's College.

How does your faith make a difference to you in your work?
Knowing I have God to walk with me through the hard times as well as the good. Knowing I can rely on him when faced with difficult decisions, and knowing I have a church praying for my safety when I am in dangerous places. My favourite passage in the Bible is Zephaniah 3:17

Interview with Emma Wilcox, A-level student

Emma Wilcox is an A-level college student who took part in the Christian Apprentice last October. Sharon Prior caught up with her to find out what impact it has had on her. 

Tell us about your experience on the Christian Apprentice
It was great fun and really takes you out of your comfort zone. Before the weekend I never would have thought that I would lead worship in a church where nobody knew me and that I had never been to before, but I did it on the Sunday morning of the event and people in the congregation were really positive about it afterwards. It was very scary, but we were all challenged to do something that we had never done before and I did!

What did you learn about leadership?
I realised I had had the common misconception that to be a leader you have to be loud and bossy and tell people what to do all the time. On the Christian Apprentice I learnt that these stereotypes are wrong. Listening to the leaders and learning about the different ways they lead I saw that it is important to share ideas and voice your opinions, but at the same time listening is just as important for a leader. I also learnt that in a task the process of achieving the task is just as important as the outcome. If a task is lead and done well and everyone is feels like they contributed then that is sometimes more important than getting the outcome 100% right.

What did you learn about yourself?
I learnt a lot more about myself and how I relate to others. I also learnt how I communicate and the ways in which I lead groups of people. I learnt the differences between an introvert and an extrovert leader and then thought more about my personality and which category I fit into.

What are you going to do in your church as a result of this experience?

Interview with Jo Fitzsimmons, Team Leader of This Way Up

Jo, you've recently started a new job as Team Leader of This Way Up. Tell us what about the work you're involved in.
This Way Up is a Christian charity that supports young people dealing with issues of loss, whether that be family breakdown, separation, loss of a parent due to them not being able to fulfil their parental role or any bereavement that a young person has experienced or is going through.

We work one to one with young people and in small groups either in schools or at The Branch, our office base.

What’s your role at the charity? What are your priorities at the moment?
My role is Team Leader. I have a great balance of face-to-face work with young people in schools, small groups and at The Branch, as well as managing, supporting and developing the team of fulltime, part time and volunteers who work for TWUP.

At the moment my priority has been to listen! Listen to those who have worked with the charity for some time, my boss and the trustees, to the young people, to the schools and to the needs of youth workers who may feel out of their depth dealing with some of the issues young people are wanting to discuss.

Increasing numbers of young people have to deal with family breakdown. How can youth workers discern when young people aren’t coping and need support? What are the things to watch out for?
For some young people, family separation could be a relief; if there have been tensions within the home for a long time, the relief of a calmer home life is helpful. However this isn’t often the case. Each young person reacts differently; there are those who show outward signs in terms of how they relate to others, perhaps by letting out their anger, fears and frustrations on their friends and family.  Equally there are those who internalise those feelings and become withdrawn, those who don’t like to ‘bother’ anyone with their feelings and hurts.

As a youth worker it’s important to know what a young person is going home to after their session with you, who’s at home and something of what their home life looks like. Any changes in that, even those that the young person might gloss over, ought to be ‘mentally stored’ and shared at your debrief session as, at some point, a young person’s behaviour might change as a sign of struggling to cope with what’s going on at home. 

And how can youth workers help?
Listen. Listen. Listen.

If we’re too busy preparing, running and delivering our programmes it is too easy to take your ears away from the young people you are doing it for. For many who experience loss or family breakdown, they want someone who they can cry with, get angry with, ask questions, share stories.

For others more specialised support might be needed; always have a list to hand of support services that you are happy to recommend to a young person .

This Way Up runs regular training for youth workers to run small groups called ‘Lost and Found’. This is an eight-week small group programme that enables young people to share their feelings and thoughts around the issues they have faced, it develops peer support and is used in schools and local communities very effectively. We’re running training courses in March, June and September – more details on the TWUP website.

Interview with Rose Uchem, missiologist in residence at CMS

Rose, could you start by telling us a little bit about your background – where you are from and what you have done in your life.
My name is Rose Uchem and I am from Nigeria.

I am a missionary and a senior lecturer at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka where I teach post-graduate and undergraduate courses in Christian Religious Education as well as Comparative and International Education. Before I got my present position in the university, I was involved in the training of missionaries; first with my order (Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary) for seven years and later with a male order, training seminarians (future priests) applying gender-sensitive perspectives at the Spiritan International School of Theology, Attakwu-Enugu for eight years. I also set up an NGO called IFENDU which addresses issues of women’s human identity and seeks to create the necessary awareness on women‘s assigned subordinate status and to change this to that of equal partnership with men. It has special consultative status with the UN, and in the capacity of executive director of IFENDU, I create awareness on gender, culture and religion through workshops, seminars, conferences at national and international levels

I am currently in Oxford as a ‘Missiologist in Residence’ for a period of three months at the invitation of the Church Mission Society. While in Oxford I will give lectures and seminars with a focus on cross-cutting gender issues in mission both to CMS staff and to other centres for theological programmes.

Your PhD thesis is called ‘Overcoming Women’s Subordination’ and explores the status of women in the Igbo people of Nigeria, as well as in the Catholic Church. Can you give us some examples of how women are treated in Igbo society?
Actually the issue of ‘subordination’ of women to men which I explored in my doctoral thesis is not peculiar to the Igbo people of Nigeria, nor to the Catholic Church. It is just that academic procedure compels one to limit one’s scope of study. It is prevalent throughout the world. ‘Subordination’ refers to the attachment of more value and first place to the male than to the female; and a secondary or lesser status to the female.

Interview with Mandy Toombs and Beth Taylor of Golddigger

Why are you called Golddigger? Are you after people’s money?!
Mandy: Well we do like the controversy of our name, we have to be honest(!), but Golddigger is also a great description of what we are about. As a band everything we perform, write and teach has the aim of helping people to find the gold in their lives. We believe in the value of people...the way they have been created with purpose and their uniqueness that brings a real genuine beauty to the world. It’s so frustrating to see so many people struggling to see any of that value they have but instead they seem swamped under so much rubbish; media pressure to be and act a certain way, negative things people have said to them, comparing themselves to people who have been made differently etc. and our heart is to dig through all of that to help people to see themselves more accurately. So we are very much golddigger's... but the gold we are after is better than money!

How did Golddigger start?
Beth: Golddigger began, like all good things, over coffee, back in 2005. Golddigger became Golddigger Trust in 2007 when we became a registered charity. Although Golddigger has operated in a few different forms over the years, we've been in our current form as a duo for the last year or so and have seen a massive expansion in what we do- communicating with more young people than ever in schools, churches, conferences and youth centres. We're both now working for the charity almost full-time, have offices up in Sheffield and are developing partnerships with lots of national youth charities, alongside releasing our debut album in September with a UK tour.

From your experience, what are the biggest issues that teenage girls have to deal with?
Mandy: There are so many issues that teenage girls may have to deal with... its crazy how you can be sitting in a room of 10 teenage girls and know that the issues among them could be self harm, eating disorders, relationships, alcoholism, family breakdown, abuse, struggles in education, health issues, abortion, self hatred, friendship and so many other things.

Interview with Jenny Cornfield, Open Doors

Tell us about the work you do
I work for Open Doors - the Christian organisation that helps to support the persecuted church. We work in over 45 countries supplying Bibles, training church leaders, delivering Bible based literacy programmes, campaigning on behalf of those imprisoned or treated unjustly, offering trauma counselling, setting people up in businesses when their livelihoods have been taken. Basically supporting churches in any way that that they ask of us and supporting individual Christians who are suffering for their faith.In this country our main job, and my job really as Head of Strategic Relationships, is to raise awareness of global persecution. So many Christians in the UK simply have not heard about the situations that Christians in other countries have to live through. We work with the church in the UK and Ireland asking them to be involved in walking alongside the persecuted church – recognising their inextricable link with them. We encourage the church to support their family who is suffering and put feet to their prayers by recognising that there is much that we can do to make a difference to the lives of those who follow Jesus Christ in countries where faith costs the most. We ask the church to recognise that being involved with the persecuted church is being involved in family business. It’s about relationship.

What excites you about your job?
Where do I start?! Probably the most exciting thing about my job is definitely sharing the stories of the persecuted church and then also sharing the difference that we can make to that story. For example, in March last year, two young women, Maryam Rostampour and Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad were arrested and imprisoned in the notorious Evin Prison in Iran. The charges brought against these two women were those of ‘apostasy’ and ‘propagation of the Christian faith’. They had been Muslims but had become Christians. In August, the two women were put on trial and told if they denied their faith all charges would be dropped. Both women declared before the court that they were Christians and that they loved Jesus Christ. They refused to deny their faith and also stated that they were prepared to go back to prison if that was the price that they had to pay. Open Doors, along with other agencies campaigned on behalf of these women. We encouraged people to send letters to the Iranian Ambassador in London asking for their release. In November, they were released. It is believed that the pressure of all the letters written on the women’s behalf secured their release.

Interview with Rachel Warwick, creative spirituality practitioner

Rachel Warwick works with breathe and Orison, setting up spaces in schools where children and young people can explore spirituality. In this interview she has tons of wisdom to share about how girls and boys might respond differently to opportunities for quiet reflection and prayer.


Rachel, tell us more about Breathe and Orison
Breathe is for 16-19 year olds, and uses 12 simple activities to present a Christian response to questions of identity, forgiveness, dependence, acceptance, future and the existence of God, inviting students to consider their own thoughts, ideas and beliefs. It does this using a large floor mat in 12 segments, each of which has a practical activity; for example, Russian dolls, a tree, play dough or scales. Each segment relates to one of the 12 meditation tracks on the iPod the students are given to guide them through the session. I've been working with it since September 2009, marketing it, talking to schools and colleges about using it, running breathe sessions with students, and exploring other ways to get it "out there" so that more students in colleges and schools can experience a creative way to think about the stuff that matters. 


Orison has been described as being "like the Science Museum but its about prayer not science." It builds creative prayer spaces in schools, giving pupils from nursery age up to year 11 the opportunity to experience different ways of praying as part of their RE curriculum. It uses bubble tubes, mirrors and sand trays, fizzy vitamin tablets and magnadoodles, inflatable globes and newspapers to help pupils think about prayer, identity, forgiveness and the world. Primary school pupils spend half the lesson learning about different types of prayer through a classroom-based craft activity, and the other half exploring the prayer space. Secondary school pupils start their experience with a video in which four young people share their personal experiences of prayer, before having time to visit each of the zones and investigate the activities.


I love the opportunities both projects provide to be in schools and colleges with young people, giving them space to consider their spirituality and explore the Christian faith and how it responds to questions of identity, globalisation, suffering and forgiveness. Seeing children and young people deepen their understanding in these areas never ceases to inspire me and encourage me to grow and develop in my faith too. I've learnt loads about God from some five-year-olds and a plasma ball!



A youth worker recently described a typical night in his youth club as the girls sitting down quietly to paint nails and the boys racing around causing chaos. Orison and breathe both sound like they need quiet and focus. Do you find that girls and boys react differently to the opportunities you provide?
Yes, girls and boys react differently to the resources. There are definitely some patterns in this, although I think other things affect it too, including the age group, the atmosphere, the time of day/week/year and how comfortable the group are with one another.


Interview with Rachael Heffer, YFC

Tell us a bit about yourself, Rachael.
I live in Ely and I’ve been married to Darren, who runs an architectural practice in Cambridge, for nearly five years. We have one son, Jacob. Born four days before Christmas 2008, Jacob arrived one day early. Of course he immediately rocked our world as we knew it! Now, at nearly 15 months, he is a walking, babbling bundle of excitement and is experimenting with sound and words as a good excuse for making lots of noise! 

I work for Youth for Christ as part of the Leadership team in the role of Corporate Director. I joined YFC nearly nine years ago now, having done a language degree. I have worked in various capacities, both for a local YFC Centre in Newmarket, Suffolk, and, for six years was part of the Church and Schools Resource Department based in our Birmingham head office. I went on maternity leave in November 2008 and took nine months off before returning to work in Autumn 2009.


How did you find being on maternity leave? 

While filled with a huge joy and the anticipation of expecting a baby, the mental transition I experienced in approaching maternity leave was an interesting one. The reality of ‘withdrawing’ from my high level of involvement within YFC life and ministry was quite a daunting prospect. I had a sense of grief and loss at leaving, even in the short term, especially heightened as my maternity leave fell at an extraordinary time of change for YFC. It was also a time of hypothetically mapping out my future hopes for both motherhood and ministry mixed together and what that would or could look like. 

I started my maternity leave three weeks prior to my due date. In the lead-up, given the level of relationship I had with my line manager and with YFC, I wished to be very open about my plans to return to work and my desire to potentially take nine months leave, interspersed with a few ‘Keep in Touch (KIT) days’ which was a new initiative for YFC. To have open dialogue before going on leave worked for me in helping me build a picture of how things could be ‘re-imagined’ for my role, even though it was all subject to seeing how I felt after the baby’s arrival. Having taken some time to reflect, God gave me a peace to focus on this new season of life and to fully enjoy this new adventure of motherhood.

During my maternity leave, I unreservedly threw myself into ‘mummy-hood’ and the many groups that were on offer locally in ‘baby-world’. I was very fortunate to have many friends with children within my church and also to develop a whole new circle of peers who proved such an encouragement and a fun weekly life-line in the first nine months of our babies’ lives.

The first six weeks were quite mind-blowing in many ways but we enjoyed it very much. However, when Jacob was six weeks old, the fog cleared a little, my head seemed actually to re-connect with my shoulders and I was pleased to find that my passion for, and commitment to, the work of YFC hadn’t been swept away in the baby-haze! As I felt the pull to contact colleagues, my passion for working with and mentoring young people, and to the ministry seemed stronger than ever. I had prayed that God would re-affirm my ‘calling’ in whatever way he wished within this new season.  I was pleased to feel he did so and I felt a renewed sense of calling to the ministry of YFC, even in these early days of Jacob’s life. I could already sense the pull between the two worlds of working life and being a mum to a gorgeous, fast growing little boy.

I found that my suggestion of doing some ‘Keep in Touch’ (KIT) days with YFC during the fourth to ninth months of my maternity leave was of real benefit to me and allowed me to keep connected to the organisation and to hit the ground running more effectively upon my return. I returned to work two and a half days a week when Jacob was nine months old.


What made you want to go back to work? 

My choice to return to work was predominantly based on an overriding call to ministry among young people and with YFC. While Darren and I had looked at it financially, and of course this was important, my decision was made on the basis of my desire to continue to work and conviction that this was the right thing for me, and for us. Of course I had moments of uncertainty, questioning ‘is it the right thing for Jacob?’, ‘it’s not what my Mum did!’, ‘other friends are full-time-mums…is that what I should do too?’ I came to the conclusion that you can always feel guilty as a mum if you allow yourself, but, under God, Darren and I felt it was right for me to return part-time, thus allowing for the balance of life that I’ve found.

Interview with Lowell Sheppard

You can't help but notice women who are cast in the role of supportive wife, who have set aside their own careers or dreams to enable their husbands to follow theirs - Michele Obama, Sarah Brown, Samantha Cameron. We hear less about supportive husbands who do the same, but they are out there!

Lowell, you’re a bit of a global citizen – born in Canada, your boys were born in the UK, and you’ve lived in Japan for the last 13 years. What brought you to the UK?
I had wanted to live in the UK from a young age. Dreams of living in a country cottage, chatting with locals in the local, rummaging through used books stores, spiritual reflection in old and cold cathedrals . . . . these are images that brought me pleasure in as a pre-teen. Additionally there was a sense of call. So when Kande and talked of marriage, I was clear with her;  I was heading to England and was she willing to come with me. In return I would follow her to Japan one day. Oh, and by the way, I did live in a country cottage in North Yorkshire for our first three years. It was 300 years old and the farm was mentioned in one of James Herriot’s Books. The cottage was half way between two villages each with their own church. So outside of each side of the cottage we could see a church. Our first-born is buried in the graveyard of one of those churches. 


And how did you sense God was calling you and Kande to Japan?
As I said, I kind of had a deal with Kande. But I did not take it too seriously, until late in the 80s. Kande had established a business in the UK that trained professionals in negotiation tactics with the Japanese. This then led into a non-profit activity of organising homestay for Japanese students in the UK which she has continued to this day. So she began to travel to Japan and she came back from one of the trips saying that she felt God was going to have us live there. Then one night at Spring Harvest a few years later, Kande had a dramatic moment, where God stopped in her tracks and called her to Japan. She is not given to these kind of things. Funnily enough, I had had my only little epiphany in the morning at the leaders' prayer meeting when we prayed for Kobe, as the earthquake had just happened. For the first time for me, my interest in Japan moved from my head to my heart. I cried.


You’d led a national youth charity and were used to the CEO role. How did it feel to take more of a back seat and for Kande to take a lead in developing her ministry?
We did not make the decision quickly or lightly. I consulted with an inner circle and they all concluded that Kande had a call to Japan and I should follow. It was difficult, as I had been in my position for four years, and I had intended to stay at least a decade. 

Interview with Christine Miles, Caris magazine

Tell us a bit about yourself – work, life and interests!
I’ve worked in journalism now for about 12/13 years. For most of that time I’ve also worked as a part-time youth worker, either in church- or council-based settings. I’m the features editor at the Church Times, but for a while now I’ve been neglecting my “real job” by also trying to edit Caris — a teen mag for girls launched in autumn 2007 and supported by the CT as well as some women outside the CT — which hopefully offers an entertaining, fun and inspiring God perspective to life, the universe and all things teenage.  

Personally, I have a particular heart for 11-14s… it’s such a key age in terms of inspiring young people, and in helping them to connect with God. Stats show that boys tend to hotfoot it out of church at the age of 12, and girls not long after. I did the same when I was a teen. I left aged 12. I didn’t leave because I wasn’t interested; I was bored of hymnbooks and ladies in hats. I thought if God was real he had to bigger than what I had seen thus far. I wanted a bit of passion; a bit of reality; a bit of God on a Monday morning at school! I really had a love for God and would tell my friends about him, but I was struggling with what I now understand was probably the transition from a childhood faith into a more adult faith, and being part of church because I wanted to be there, not because my parents took me. It was great having had a heritage of Sunday school Bible stories, but I needed to meet with Jesus for myself not just hear stories about him. And I needed to know how knowing God connected to life as a 12/13 year old. Was he just “out there”, or could he make a difference to it all? I also remember feeling really confused about what actually made you a Christian, and how did you know that you definitely were — I mean, no one gave you a certificate saying so!
   
So it was great when, aged 15, I heard more about trusting in Jesus and the cross, and particularly when someone took time to talk and pray with me to be filled with the Holy Spirit. After that I finally knew God had come close to me, and had touched my everyday life. Teenage life would never be the same.
   

I want Caris to help girls connect with God in their life as a teenager: to get his perspective on how loved they are, understand that life has a purpose, be inspired that they can make a difference, and understand that in God there’s hope for healing from emotional hurts. Through doing Caris I’ve also realised how important it is for Christian girls to realise that there are others out there who also love God. There’s so much peer pressure. It’s such a hard time in life to stand out from the crowd. You really need some encouragement!
   
Outside of work I’m just really enjoying getting stuck into getting to know people in the area that I live in Tottenham, London. We’ve just had a community street party, which was fab, as we have people from all over the world in our street. I am loving making new friends, and the feeling that God’s got some great things in store for where I live.

How did you get into journalism?
I trained in magazine journalism after an English literature degree. I’d been interested in journalism as a teen after seeing some women in my church who were journalists, but wasn’t really sure I had what it took. I wish someone had mentored me then. I would have done things so differently! But getting on my journalism course was a real God-thing. I applied late. They agreed to interview me, but the course was full. Friends at church were praying that someone on the course would be offered something better. And the day of my interview the tutor told me one place had opened up that morning — a girl had been offered a traineeship on a paper with a job at the end of it. After my interview, he offered me the place over and above everyone on the waiting list. I took the place mostly on the basis that it seemed like such a God opportunity.  

You launched Caris in 2007. What started it all off? Tell us about your vision for the magazine.
When we were doing the research into setting Caris up we really had the feeling that something was going wrong with childhood in our country. Then a rash of reports came out reflecting that children and young people in the UK were saying that they were desperately unhappy; that childhood was going wrong for them. A lot of people feel that a lot of advertising and media influences on children and young people are not having a good effect on them. We wanted Caris to be part of the answer… inspiring girls towards loving and accepting themselves, loving others, loving the planet, and loving God.

Interview with Emily Chalke

Emily Chalke works for NightLight in Thailand, working with women involved in the sex industry. This interview gives some insights into the really valuable work she’s involved in, and you can find out more on the NightLight website.

Emily, tell us about the work you’re doing.
NightLight is a registered Thai jewellery business to employ women out of the sex industry. Currently NightLight emplys 85 Thai women who now have a job that gives dignity and life-giving opportunity. As well as giving the women a new job the women become part of a community which cares about them and it's a fun place to be! We begin each morning at 9am with communal worship, lunch is provided free each day with the women taking turns in daily preparation. Once a week, every woman is involved in a small group session and all of the women come together for games or life-skills training one afternoon a week.

I am based at NightLight during the week and work alongside the women in various aspects of running the business. A large part of my time here is spent doing outreach into the red-light district and follow up from that.  Twice a week we go into the red-light district to build friendships with the women working on the street or in the go-go bars. This is where we first met many of the women who now work at NightLight. We also visit areas where women are trafficked from other countries into Bangkok for the sex industry.

How did you get involved in this?
It's a long story but here's a brief version. When I was younger I had always thought that I would work in Southeast Asia one day; apparently I told my best friend on the first day of secondary school that I was going to go and work with women prostituting in Thailand when I grew up. In the years while I was 'growing up' and studying Theology in London I used to visit and talk with women caught in London's red-light district in Soho.

My compassion for women trapped in these circumstances began to grow and then in December 2005 I made a trip to Cambodia and Thailand specifically to discover where I might work on a longer-term basis. At the very end of that trip, on the morning before I flew back to London, I met with Annie Dieselberg the founder and CEO of NightLight. I spoke with her about the newly formed work of NightLight and the work that they were doing in bringing women out of the sex industry, it sounded amazing and just what I had hoped to be involved with. So six months later I packed up everything and moved to Bangkok not exactly knowing how it would work out but knowing that for now it was where I had to be. I've been in Bangkok just over three years now and it's been an incredible adventure everyday since and I'm constantly amazed at the work God is doing here restoring many lives!