Being a Christian leader in Eurasia is isolating. Training and support gave JJ courage to act and see God work …
For the first six months that Jo came to church, she didn’t smile. She had built up a protective wall around herself. Over time, as she and sons Josh and Jake got to know the church and the Thrive Team members who live near them on the Barton estate, that began to change.
Moving to the UK when she was seven and being separated from most of her family for several years was very hard.
Last September Devon was busy packing for university. Rewind a few years and life was school, gaming and sleep – on repeat.
When we first met Morgan as a 14-year-old, he was obsessed with video games. He would play them for up to 12 hours straight. Morgan used school as a place to catch up on sleep! We began meeting with Morgan every week to help him become more sociable. Morgan’s next goal was to start his […]
Once, with a few exceptions, to be Irish was to be Catholic. But as far-reaching abuse scandals linked to the church have come to light, many have turned their back on faith. Confidence in any church has plummeted.
A few summers ago, I took my adventurous daughter, then aged 10, to ‘Go Ape’. We were promised “unforgettable adventure” as we climbed and swung through the trees, high above the ground. As I followed Emily climbing up into the trees, I started to struggle. The forest started spinning around me. I felt sick. My […]
Yegor grew up in a Christian home in Russia, but when he was a teenager, he turned his back on God. His church didn’t think his music taste was appropriate – Yegor is a big fan of Alternative Rock.‘I was tired of feeling judged by Christians, and stopped going to church.’ ‘I’m not interested’ Now […]
Life for Matthew has been a struggle and frustration, an everyday experience. This often led to him failing to turn up to school. When he did make it, his anger sometimes boiled over into violent outbursts.
I remember the first time it happened. I had only been in Barton for a few weeks, living with some of the Thrive team, when there was a knock at the door one evening. I opened it to find a moody-looking teenager with his hood up and his head down. He mumbled to me, ‘I […]