The Prelude

"Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written."
John 21:25

Every great story has a prelude.  This is at least true in my opinion, whether or not any other literary critic agrees.  The prelude sets the stage, provides the background, and gives a context into which the story moves.  Now many of you would argue with me, since many of the best stories you've read did not include a prelude before the first chapter at all, but simply jumped into the story.  But surely these stories have the best kind of preludes: one that is woven into the story itself, one that gives a depth and richness to the story by placing it within a history and a meta-narrative that is greater than the story.  Lord of the Rings is my favorite example of this (and one of my favorite books).  Tolkien does such a good job of weaving in the prelude (that is the history of Middle Earth) into his stories that you come to almost believe that Middle Earth is a real place.

Many of you are wondering whether you've mistakenly wandered into a literary blog instead of one about youth work in Wales.  I share these thoughts with you, because I think it is often most helpful to understand life in terms of a story.  Our lives are small stories in the greater story of God's work in the world.  Our lives have an enormous prelude, a great epic into which they are woven and in which they find their meaning.  Individual churches and congregations have a story too (albeit larger) fit within the same story into which our stories are placed.  These stories matter because they expand and deepen the story God is writing in and with us.

So again you're asking, what does this have to do with my upcoming work in Newport, Wales?  As many of you have heard, I have not yet worked through the "immigration dance" in order to be able to stay long-term in Wales.  Instead I am going for a shorter period of about 2 months under a tourist visa.  I am not legally allowed to work during this visit (even voluntary work with the church).  Initially this left me wondering what I was to do with 2 months in Newport under such limitations.  If I couldn't work, then what was the point of being there?

But I now believe that the opportunity I have during this initial time in Newport is to make a thorough study of the prelude.  I am looking forward to the story God will write together with our brothers and sisters in Newport, weaving it together with my story and His great story.  But before I can adequately engage in the "writing process" I have to learn the story God has already been writing with the Christians in Newport.  Where are they at in their story and how did they get there?  What great deeds has God done in their story?  What trials and sorrows have they faced together?  How do my gifts and how does my story fit in with theirs?  It is only after we work through these and other questions, that we can begin to write intelligently and faithfully.

I've done some of this work in other places before, but this will be a larger and deeper challenge than what I have been involved with before.  I deeply covet your prayers and encouragement as I enter into this season in April (I depart April 8th and will return May 28th).  Also, if you have any suggestions of how to do this or resources to help me with this (books, articles, etc.) I would appreciate them.  More to come soon on how this is going!