Storybearers - Week 3

0:00 · Speaker 1 So we are back after John being here last week in our Storybearers series. This is our third week of four, and we'll finish next week. We're going to be finishing next week. I'm going to be speaking briefly from Psalm 139, and then I'm going to be talking with Louise Jones. And I just want to give a little heads up before next week that that conversation will very much be centered on disability and on bereavement. So just to mark that ahead of next week. but this morning is very different. We're doing community missions at six tonight, but we're bringing community into the service this morning as well.

0:36 · Speaker 1 And it's not just one person being interviewed. It's not just two. I think it's a panel of six in total, five guests being interviewed, something like that. So I need to get off the stage pretty quickly to give them time to speak. And they're going to be talking about transforming lives for good. Keith will talk about that in a little while. He's going to host the interview this morning, not me. But before they come, I just want to open up a portion of God's word, a little portion from Jeremiah 29.

1:02 · Speaker 1 And it's not the well-known bit that you all know from Jeremiah 29. I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. It's a little bit before that. I want to do is I want to briefly set up and give you the context for what's going to be read. Basically, it's Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar, They have conquered Jerusalem, deported a large number of Jews, the leaders, the skilled artisans, the top layer of Jewish society to Babylon. This imperial technique designed to immerse and assimilate the most troublesome people groups into Babylonian life and culture and leave their conquered cities easily controllable by a puppet ruler. And so these exiles have been brought to Babylon. They are devastated.

1:52 · Speaker 1 And in their devastation, they are determined to withdraw, to stay separate, to resist, to not be sullied, to not be stained in any way by engaging in this enemy pagan culture. And in their exile, false prophets among them are telling them that this is only going to last a year or two and then God's going to make a way for them to go back home to Jerusalem. And into this situation then, God's true prophet, Jeremiah, writes this letter in Jeremiah 29 to them about how God wants them to respond in their exile. And it's a very different message. And we might not see it straight away, but it would have been a shocking message for them to hear. Here's the little snippet that I'm reading from out of the letter. Verses 4 to 7. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile, exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

2:48 · Speaker 1 Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there. Do not decrease. Also seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.

3:18 · Speaker 1 Jeremiah goes on in the letter to tell them that God's mercy will bring them back to Jerusalem, but it will not be in a year or two. It'll take 70 years. And that means, of course, most of them, if not all of them, will die in Babylon. It'll be their children and their children's children who inherit that promise. So this was a shocking message to people living in enemy territory. Don't withdraw, but engage. Don't keep your distance, but put down roots. Don't be sideline, spectating, horrified critics, but be productive, be fruitful, get married, raise families.

4:01 · Speaker 1 Don't let yourself disappear in Babylon, but multiply. And then don't simply tolerate, but seek the peace and prosperity. Seek the shalom. That's the word Jeremiah uses here. The shalom, the flourishing, the wholeness, the peace, the harmony of this alien and enemy city. Contribute to it with your knowledge and your skills and your abilities and even pray for it. Pray for this city. Pray for its shalom.

4:41 · Speaker 1 Dwell there. But dwell distinctively under the ultimate authority of the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, your ultimate king. Now the vast majority of us here know nothing about forced exile in the alien culture, never mind an enemy alien culture. But this idea of distinctive dwelling and this motif of exile, this understanding of ourselves as exiles, this posture in life as exiles, as followers of Jesus for the church of Christ is very clear in the New Testament. Peter, in his first letter, calls his recipients exiles and foreigners. He tells them that they are resident aliens. He tells them to live such good lives among the pagans. And he doesn't mean that in a derogatory way.

5:36 · Speaker 1 Just live such good lives among the pagans that they will end up seeing your good deeds and glorifying God. Paul is clear in Philippians 3 that those who are in Christ, those who have received his grace, are not citizens of this world. Rather, our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that term, resident aliens, is a helpful one for us to consider as we consider ourselves. You see, the exiled Jews had made the decision that the only faithful response as exiles was to stay as far over as possible on the alien side, if you like, on that alien pole as possible. Withdraw, critique, pray for Babylon's destruction, disintegration. As we examine ourselves before God, perhaps some of us sometimes find ourselves over towards that pole too. As we lament a post-Christian culture, as we lament this being a post-Christian country or city, We didn't used to feel like the excise that we feel now.

7:05 · Speaker 1 As we lament that, we are tempted to withdraw, to wash our hands of it, to simply react and criticize and lambast and draw away. Criticize on social media and WhatsApp groups and almost take some sort of, I told you so delight in whenever things go wrong or when things do fall apart in some way. But then there's the other side. Unlike these Jewish exiles, it might be more likely that it's towards the other pole of resident that so many of us might congregate. That Nebuchadnezzar's technique has worked on us and we are so fully assimilated and conformed and wrapped up in the values and culture that there is no distinctiveness to our dwelling. There's no saltiness to our impact. That we've forgotten our identity as excess. Forgotten that we are not citizens of this place, but citizens of heaven.

8:15 · Speaker 1 Our social media feeds, notwithstanding the odd strategically placed Bible verse, our bank statements, How we spend our time and our energy, as I was mentioning, the content of our conversations are all practically indistinguishable in terms of values from those who are citizens of here. There's virtually no sign of an exile identity or an exile posture in our lives. Different factors, our personality, our upbringing, our age, many others will give us a propensity to be inclined towards the resident assimilation pole or towards the alien withdrawal pole. But what God calls us to do is wrestle with and seek to live out that resident alien identity. And that is a far more challenging calling than being stuck at either end. To be spirit-filled, grace-fueled, distinctive dwellers in our culture and our communities who are deeply involved but don't assimilate, who deeply love but don't fall in love with, who sacrificially serve but ultimately serve the authority of a greater king who resolutely and tenaciously seek and pray for the shalom of this place we are exiles in while knowing and understanding that shalom in all its fullness will only come, will only come with the return of our eagerly awaited Savior, Jesus, who will in his time put all things right.

10:06 · Speaker 1 This is a profound challenge, but it is a challenge we're called to live out together as the church of Jesus Christ and prayerfully reflecting on what Jeremiah says to these exiles in Babylon helps us to think that through. And as I was reflecting on these verses, personally, a question came to mind, maybe a bit of a strange one, but it sort of came to me, if I wasn't here tomorrow, if I wasn't here tomorrow, what impact would that have on the shalom of, I'm not a city dweller, so on the shalom of my street, my neighborhood, my community, how would my contribution, how would my prayers, how would my witness, how would my spirit-filled, grace-fueled, distinctive dwelling be missed? But then I'll talk about us being a body. We're not lone wolf shalom seekers and prayers. We the body of Christ together. He has set us free to respond to his love and his grace together.

11:21 · Speaker 1 So perhaps a more profitable reflection would be if this church wasn't here tomorrow, not the building, but us, the people, what impact would the loss of this excise on mission, building gospel bridges, spirit-filled, grace-fueled, distinctive dwelling, eager Savior awaiting, praying people have on the shalom of Newton Abbey and beyond. In education, in healthcare, in social care, in business, in the arts, in politics, in the lives of the most vulnerable, the widows, the orphans, the poor, the outsiders, bringing cross-shaped sacrificial humble love, bringing kingdom light and justice and beauty into dark places, bringing shalom into broken places, bringing the comfort and compassion and encouragement that we have received from God in Christ to the troubled and distressed and discouraged. What would the impact be? I actually think it would be quite profound.

12:50 · Speaker 1 If this church wasn't to be here tomorrow, and if all the churches in Glengormley and Newton Abbey weren't to be here tomorrow, I think the council and schools and trusts would need to raise funds and scrabble about and recruit people to fill all the gaps, and it still wouldn't be the same. But we need to continue to prayerfully wrestle with our resident alien calling as individuals. What is our small piece? What is my small piece in the jigsaw of the church's calling, the church's response into this? And that's where our story bearers come in. this morning to hopefully encourage us and challenge us with their story of their small, I would imagine they would say, but yet deeply significant seeking and praying and contributing to the shalom of the city in which they've been placed, serving Christ, responding to his grace, showing his love through their contribution. And Keith, I'm going to hand over to you to introduce that little bit.

14:05 · Speaker 2 Thank you, Chris. Just a little tiny bit of context before we look forward to hearing from our panel at Glen Abbey. We are committed to living out the gospel through active engagement in our local communities. in doing so. We want to demonstrate God's love in practical ways that bring tangible benefits to those who live in our neighborhoods. Now we do this in a range of ways, including working alongside gospel partners. And we have a number of these as church. And today we get to focus on just one of them in our Storybearers series.

14:43 · Speaker 2 So that is Transforming Lives for Good, or TLG for short. Please watch this little video as I'm going to ask during the video the interview panel will come up. I will turn into stage crew briefly and hopefully and seamlessly you'll get to see the panel after this little video. Thank you.

15:08 · Speaker 3 My name is Polly. I'm really amazed in the class because everyone's so loud I felt annoyed and my head was always sore. I used to find it hard dealing with the noise and I always got angry.

15:26 · Speaker 4 Billy's self-esteem is extremely low. He thinks he's rubbish at everything and he's not. He just doesn't believe in himself. He needs to be heard, he needs to be seen. And Thursday's one hour gives him that.

15:39 · Speaker 5 When I met Billy at first, he was struggling with a few things in school. Staying in class was difficult and I was a bit surprised that there were anger issues because Billy is a very kind and caring boy. But when we talked about it, it was obvious that it was a big problem for him and it was upsetting him.

16:00 · Speaker 3 I'm feeling as human as I get angry all the time.

16:04 · Speaker 5 So we've done a lot of work around that, haven't we? And he has done really well.

16:10 · Speaker 3 I feel more like me when Heather comes to me, because I go and play games like that one.

16:17 · Speaker 5 He's very kind because he does let me win, and it's brilliant for helping him to focus.

16:23 · Speaker 3 I find it really hard to talk sometimes. I don't find it hard talking to Heather.

16:28 · Speaker 5 We used a lot of TLG resources to help us think about what makes us angry and good ways to deal with that, and what we would do the next time. I go to the school football team matches and he was captain for the day.

16:46 · Speaker 3 When you're captain, if someone scores from another team, you just say, keep your heads up and keep going.

16:54 · Speaker 5 He was encouraging everyone. And when other players were frustrated and annoyed, he was picking them up and lifting their spirits. And he was just a brilliant captain.

17:06 · Speaker 3 I would like to be a football coach because I'm feeling I could help weak kids. And I would like to help people like what Howard does. Heather's made a difference to me because I'm still in class more.

17:23 · Speaker 5 The teachers are very proud of Billy and the work that we've done together and how he deals with some of the anger issues now. He's been amazing. Absolutely amazing.

17:37 · Speaker 4 Because of TLG coaching, Billy doesn't come into school with anxiety on a Thursday. It's going to be a journey for him, but definitely the running off has lessened and him self-regulating is starting, we can see it really starting to improve.

17:53 · Speaker 3 We go out on trips or not at the end of the year.

17:56 · Speaker 5 We are going to Laser Quest and then McDonalds. Laser tag.

18:02 · Speaker 3 Do you know what I said? I'd say to Bori, it would be good if we went to laser tag with our mentor.

18:07 · Speaker 5 Can we get it right? Yeah? Cool.

18:11 · Speaker 4 If you're thinking of having TLG early intervention, grab them with both hands, do not let them leave the building. It's so fundamental for some of those little people who need it.

18:23 · Speaker 3 Thank you, TLG.

18:39 · Speaker 2 Well, as if by magic, hopefully I'm sure you never saw them come up onto stage, but here they have all appeared. So nobody's done a runner, which is the first thing I was glad to see this morning. So after we chatted, anyway, it's a few pre-match nerves, probably is the best way to put it anyway. But everybody's delighted to be here, aren't you? Yeah, okay, okay. That's it, we get to know it. Now, we've one visitor with us this morning, so I'm just going to come by way of introductions, and we'll get quick little introductions from everybody. Fiona, maybe just would you mind introducing yourself?

19:08 · Speaker 6 Thank you, Keith. My name is Fiona Norris. I am Vice Principal at Fairview Primary School, and we are very fortunate to have currently five fabulous volunteers in our school doing TLG, which is wonderful and we're very blessed and thankful for that.

19:23 · Speaker 2 Okay, thank you very much. I see Flo, you've got a mic. We've got a little introduction from you.

19:30 · Speaker 7 Yeah, I'm Flo Ray and I come to this church and I have two grown-up children and I've been volunteering with TLG for two years.

19:45 · Speaker 2 Lovely, thank you very much. Norine? We're worried about Norine.

19:51 · Speaker 7 I talk a lot.

19:51 · Speaker 2 Everybody that knows Noreen, we're worried about Noreen. Noreen, briefly, tell us a little about yourself.

19:59 · Speaker 8 My name is Noreen Reid, and I've been a member of Glen Abbey for probably, I think, about 12 years. And I'm working also with TLG this last two years.

20:08 · Speaker 2 Well done, thank you. Karen.

20:12 · Speaker 8 Hi, I'm Karen, right, Philip. We've been here about 24 years. We're oldies. yeah my three kids, Alison, Jacob and Nathan

20:23 · Speaker 2 Lovely, thank you very much and finally Esther

20:27 · Speaker 5 Most of you know me I think, I'm Esther I'm part of the staff team, work here with kids

20:33 · Speaker 6 but maybe some of you don't know

20:34 · Speaker 5 my past life I taught for 21 years and was in special education for 14 of those

20:40 · Speaker 2 Okay, so we are definitely blessed of Esther on both our staff team and as Coral not steal your thumb, but also as coordinator for us in relation to TLG. Esther, now we've seen the video and that will obviously have given us an understanding from another school in Northern Ireland and obviously a different context. We've seen Billy's story, but how does Glen Abbey Church get involved with TLG?

21:04 · Speaker 7 Okay, so I think we've been involved probably five, six years, but it's

21:07 · Speaker 8 pre-COVID.

21:09 · Speaker 7 We have two schools that we are in. We are in Woodlawn in Carrick and we have two coaches in there and we're also in Fairview where we have five coaches.

21:18 · Speaker 5 Over the years we've had probably

21:22 · Speaker 7 11 people coaching right throughout the town. There's a few people that take turns and take a step back which is great and fine. And we've had about 20-22 children through the coaching which is great to have that impact on 22 lives and the school as well. Obviously Fiona is very

21:42 · Speaker 8 welcoming and we're part of the Fairview family and we've always been made to feel really welcome

21:46 · Speaker 5 in both the schools. We're also kind of involved with TLG. We've posted their conferences and I've

21:53 · Speaker 7 had to represent them at a few events and one in the City Hall which was quite interesting. So yeah, we are involved quite a lot with TLG.

22:01 · Speaker 2 Okay, thank you very much. That gives us just a good, a good overarching picture and a starting point for us. Now going ahead in the direction of both Flo and and Noreen, so if we've got the mics up that direction. Just for our first question, so I'm just gonna ask the same question of two of our three TLG coaches, but first up, Flo, you okay? You're delighted to be going first. You get a bit of it over with anyway, that's not a bad thing. So Flo, tell me this, why TLG, and why volunteer with TLG? And within that, what part has faith played in that for you?

22:44 · Speaker 7 Well, I'm going to risk the wrath of Alistair Bennett and tell you that I'm retired. And I just work a few days a month now, so I have time. And for me, volunteering with TLG, it's a real highlight in my week. It's a real privilege to meet each week. It brings me great joy. It's a real blessing in my life. I get to volunteer in a great wee school with great staff from the head, Miss Catherine McLean, one of our very own church family here, to the very supportive teachers and assistants, to the office and canteen staff, and to Lollipop Lady. They've all made me very welcome these past two years.

23:37 · Speaker 7 And hopefully spending time with the young ones will maybe keep me young.

23:45 · Speaker 2 What about faith and where's that come to play for you in your decision?

23:50 · Speaker 7 Yeah, I get to spend time putting my faith into practice. So rather than meeting physical needs with TLG, we try to meet emotional needs by giving the little ones our time, consistency, love, a quiet place one to one. And as a Christian, we're commanded to pass on our faith. And as James and Paul both say, this involves how we act towards other people. so TLG gives me an opportunity to put this into practice James talks about meeting others needs as an outworking of our faith so in a small way I can meet some of my little ones emotional needs by giving them godly messages about their value and worth and the hope and prayer is that as I sow seeds that they will grow and my little one will be curious to find out about the God who made them. And I also get to link with the little one's home, sending messages a couple of times a term. And we have a weekly communication book so we can send wee updates.

25:15 · Speaker 7 I just wanted to say that at our initial TLG training, we were advised to identify a prayer partner. And for me, this has been a vital support and encouragement.

25:29 · Speaker 2 Thank you so much. Over to Norrie. So same question. So I suppose, Norrie, why volunteer with TLG? Two-part question. Why TLG? How come you thought of them? And what part, again, for you has faith played in your decision?

25:44 · Speaker 8 I think Keith would be happy if I had notes. I told Keith just to go. When I first heard of TLG, I remember thinking this is a fantastic organization because I have 11 grandchildren, two of them needing a little extra help in school. And they got it. And one of them is now working and the other one's heading into university. So I saw the value of one-on-one. But because of that train of thought, I was thinking, well, I'm not qualified. I am not a teacher.

26:21 · Speaker 8 I'm not a counselor. I'm nothing professional, so I have nothing really to offer. So I shelved it. Then about a few months later, again, I heard Esther speak about TLG. And just my heart was thinking, goodness, could you do something? So I went onto the website, first off, before I spoke to Esther, who would be trying to convince me. So I went onto the website, and the website said, one coach, one child, one hour per week. And that was like, just hit me.

26:51 · Speaker 8 I have an hour that I can give to a child. And so I approached Esther. Esther put me right. And this is what I want to say. There'll be nobody out there as dorky as me. I am well aware of that. But Esther said, Noreen, we're not looking. It's not necessary to be a professional person.

27:11 · Speaker 8 It is just someone that will love a child, that will care for it, that will be there consistently, will listen, will hear from them and you will share life with them. And, you know, I thought, well, do you know what? I could do that. And I'm going to tell you, every one of us can do that. Yeah. So I entered TLG.

27:37 · Speaker 2 Putting your faith into practice then? What about that?

27:40 · Speaker 8 Oh, I so enjoy it. And I thank you, Fiona, for the welcoming school as well. But I so enjoy it because I really believe we have been learning about seed sowing, and we are sowing seeds. This is a way of going out into the community. Jeremiah 29 in action, going into our community and sharing Jesus. And Esther had said, look, we're not preachers and we're not teachers, but sharing. I know when I go into that room, and do you know what? Don't tell Fiona.

28:13 · Speaker 8 I sit in her chair. And I feel very important for an hour. actually I don't sit in the chair I say to the children you sit in Mrs Norris's chair because someday you could be in her chair or you could be a boss and sit in this chair so I don't sit in your chair your job's really safe but what I do I know that God is present in the room and also I bring him inside of me so the Holy Spirit is with me and in some stages maybe some of the questions one of the things that i would fear i had feared about tlg was i wouldn't be able to um not necessarily answer but act appropriately maybe in a way that the child would need to hear and um i realized that um the holy spirit is in me and if i need help i just have to shout out help and you know what he always turns up he always turns up so we are sowing seeds into a child's and not just into the child, into the family as well, as Flo has said, because the opportunity we have with the family, I wear my heart on my sleeve, nobody has to second kiss me, sometimes it's not a good thing, but I speak to the parents at the beginning, and I tell them, you know, they're thankful for you giving that time to their child, and I will tell them that I do it because I want to honour Jesus, and Jesus sees the potential, he knows the potential in this child, and so if we can child reach that potential is that not amazing that God the creator God would allow us to partner alongside of him so it's faith and action as you said Flo.

29:53 · Speaker 2 Fabulous thank you thank you Noreen. Okay the next little bit so Karen yes yeah you're going to be you're going to be on the mic so this is the next little bit and I suppose what we're keen then to get a sense of is what does a session look like on this this little bit so we've got Flo who's in Woodlawn and Karen who's in Fairview So Flo, I think I'm going to come. No, Flo will come to you first.

30:15 · Speaker 7 Okay.

30:15 · Speaker 2 What does a session look like?

30:17 · Speaker 7 So when I go to Woodlawn with my little one, we get to chat and read stories. We laugh a lot. And I have brought back some of the classics from my childhood. So we get to play Snakes and Ladders, Snap, Old Maid. beetle we love that and we in my little kit that I was given at the very beginning a little TLG bag with wee bits and pieces in it we have a TLG ball and my little one loves to play donkey so that's great fun and she's discovered she wanted it to last a wee bit longer she discovered that donkey only has six letters, but hippopotamus has 12. So we sometimes play that. We do lots of arts and crafts. She's very, very artistic.

31:19 · Speaker 7 We make pom poms and little pieces of jewelry. We sometimes have afternoon tea. And we have a little Czech tablecloth and a teapot and a cup and saucer, napkins, of course, and an odd little fairy cake or two.

31:37 · Speaker 2 Are you worried that you're going to have to come after this now? It's fun.

31:44 · Speaker 7 And we maybe even decorate some gingerbread men. And a lovely thing is that I've been invited to attend the school performances, so I get to go and encourage my little one in her role, and Miss Maclean always ensures that I get a front row seat.

32:02 · Speaker 2 Oh, fantastic. Thank you so much. That's definitely helped make that alive for us and live for us. So, Karen, different school, different context, different gender, I think, as well.

32:14 · Speaker 5 I have. Yes, I've had one little girl. That was my first. It's very different. Lots of craft, lots of fun and pretty things. And the last three children have been boys. don't like rules. It's trying to get them to play any game without panicking.

32:31 · Speaker 5 What are they going to do?

32:34 · Speaker 8 And more recently, don't like to break the rules or telling me I'm playing it wrong. Which, yeah, yeah. Anyway, I'll move on from that.

32:45 · Speaker 7 I generally play a few games at the beginning.

32:49 · Speaker 8 just try and chat a little bit. No, don't want them to feel at ease. Sit beside them rather than in front of them directly. Then we have brilliant resource books, absolutely fantastic resource books with TLG.

33:08 · Speaker 5 If there's the main issues, maybe anxiety. We have, sorry, I should have wrote notes like Flo,

33:17 · Speaker 8 But then there are resources such as emotional roller coaster, which I do use quite a bit, and explains all the different emotions we can feel in a day or a week. And I encourage children also to then make their own roller coaster and talk about their emotions that they're feeling. And we give them strategies then how to cope with that. If they're in a classroom and they feel a certain way, we also have lots of little fidget toys that I like to give them that maybe the teachers aren't so keen on. But yes, I have awful airplanes that we make. So I've made these airplanes so many times. The ones we made this week were so rubbish.

34:01 · Speaker 5 Me and the child decided it was worthy of the bin and nowhere else. So yeah, it's a real mixture. It's really, you go with a plan, and most of the time the plan doesn't happen. You just have to be flexible and let it take you where it takes you.

34:20 · Speaker 8 This year I've had a child, or I'm finishing with him soon, and he has no interest in the airplanes, much to my happiness. And actually we ended up making a short video. He's a brilliant wee story writer, and we thought, why don't we bring this to life? So we drew all the backgrounds and then videoed it step by step, just each scene, you know. And it's brilliant, all the sound effects to it. Never knew I was able to help somebody do that, but I'm learning new skills. So, no, it's just a complete joy. Every child is so different, and it's just being there and listening.

35:01 · Speaker 8 The communication with the parents and teachers is fantastic. That's what we do at the beginning. We meet the parent, we meet the teacher, sort of get a gist. My child, I've been another child of two at the moment. he's very different so happy coming into the sessions and you wouldn't think anything's wrong whatsoever but it seems to help

35:24 · Speaker 2 okay thank you so much Karen really appreciate that just moving on then on to the last little set of questions I suppose it's to maybe be reflective and have a think back over what have you seen you know have you seen changes so I'll give you a break for a minute and then we'll go to Noreen first and then Karen second. Noreen.

35:47 · Speaker 8 Yes, my children have been, I have just coached two kids and both girls and they've both been very different. Last year, my child, I really would have loved to have told you that at the beginning of the year, I should say parents fill out a sheet that shows us what the temperament of the child is like and what all's going on. And then at the end of the year, they fill the same form out again, telling you if there's any improvements. And you know what? I was really, really disappointed because there weren't lots of improvements in my child in that year. But I had made friends with mum. And the last, she had written down that the wee one had particular anger issues and stuff at home. And she was saying that her at home, after the year of coaching, she found that the child was far more aware of the people that she hurt and that surrounded her.

36:53 · Speaker 8 And when she had a temper tantrum and all the rest of it. And so she was more aware and that she was being more careful about that. And if mom spoke to her, she would. So that was something that I could take away that was written down in a sense. But can I tell you that I'm still in touch with that wee family. The child moved on to big school. They would have liked me to have went into big school with her. But that was impossible.

37:22 · Speaker 8 But the mom, because of my circumstances with Jim, I wasn't able to go out. So mom would be coming in to me. Unless I had somebody with Jim, I couldn't leave him. So mom would come in to me. And I had her down about five times. She shared her story with me. I was able to pray with her and for her. And I am still in touch with that wee family.

37:45 · Speaker 8 And, you know, that is just what God does. And although I was disappointed that I didn't see all singing, all dancing, you know, improvement, there was a relationship relationship form there. And this year's child has been very, very different. And I have three weeks in there was improvement three weeks in for me. And do you know what? And I just think God is so, so good. This year I didn't get back into TLG until February, because for those that most of you know, that I lost my husband in September. And so I didn't go back until February, Keith.

38:21 · Speaker 8 And when I went back in and I was really nervous about it and how I would manage. But this one and this one are amazing. Fiona and Esther, they know my personal. Esther knows my personality. Fiona knows the child and she matched me up with a great wee one. and her mum, oh, wait, I tell you this, two weeks ago, her mum sent me this message and this will not sound it because it's confidential information, but the mum, I can't tell you about the child. It's confidential information,

38:51 · Speaker 2 Dory.

38:52 · Speaker 8 But I can't tell you this, that mum sent me this message and mum's best friend was with her and they'd been in the house with the child and mum has known this wee one for eight years, Our best friend has known her for eight years and she has never heard her or saw her do what she had done. And mom was over the moon and just, you know, the child is getting this confidence that she doesn't have. And it has just been amazing. And you know what? I'm going to tell you something, guys. I get more maybe than they do out of it. God blesses us. You know, he blesses those that give and better than those maybe that receive, I'm thinking maybe.

39:33 · Speaker 8 But yes, it's a two-way thing. And also being able to pray with them and pray for them. Sorry, Keith, I'm finishing now. You know, when you ask people, most people won't say no to prayer. Most people won't say no. And I've been able to pray with the family at sports day.

39:50 · Speaker 2 Lovely, Noreen. Has anyone plans for lunch? I'm not sure. That's super. Thank you so much. Karen, how do you follow that? You don't. So just a wee bit of feedback.

40:03 · Speaker 2 Just what have you seen?

40:04 · Speaker 5 Okay. Sometimes I see the difference, and it's very gradual. Particularly from mums, I hear the feedback.

40:14 · Speaker 6 And with my first child, the little girl, we ended up going to Crazy Gulf for going for wee cups of tea and cake

40:20 · Speaker 5 and things like that. And she just increased in confidence, and you can see it. Other times, no, I felt, oh, have I actually helped this? year. I felt that last year until I spoke to these two people. And I was like, no, there's such a difference in this child.

40:43 · Speaker 8 He's so confident now. And I'm like, really? So maybe sometimes

40:48 · Speaker 5 it's just in the last month or so with the child. And then you start to notice, oh, he's starting to crack jokes with me. And maybe still won't break the rules, but we'll make new rules up to the game that will enhance it and make it better, things like that. But the most recent child I'm with, I am just the highlight of his week. Monday mornings are the best thing. He was refusing to come to school and being dragged half-clothed to school, but now he's bouncing into school on a Monday morning. So I don't understand that, but neither do my kids. And he just bounces in and is going, I've had the best week and cannot wait to tell me everything.

41:32 · Speaker 8 He's just bursting to tell me all the things that he's done during the week, which I love. It's just, it makes my heart glad. It's brilliant.

41:40 · Speaker 2 Well, thank you so much for that feedback. Really, really appreciate it. Fiona, you have been very patient. I suppose it's nice, I'm sure, having a listening to, you know, a perspective, certainly for those who are coming in with TLG and coaching, but very keen to hear from you in relation to TLG.

41:58 · Speaker 6 Yes, Keith, the impact of TLG in school for us has been absolutely huge. I had been speaking to Karen a few months ago and with the child that she's finishing with at the minute, she said, I don't think I've made any impact. And I was like, oh, hold on, you absolutely have. I took that child in the front of my car with the road safety team to Cookstown and back, and he did not stop talking the whole way. And it got to the point I had to say, could you maybe just give me a wee minute to focus on the road? Like the confidence, and that is down to your one-to-one input over the last year. But aside from just that, schools are at a crisis point. We don't have funding for mental health initiatives.

42:42 · Speaker 6 We are very lucky in school that our principal prioritises that. either, I mean, I think he's just fed up with me nagging at him, to be honest. We do pay for our school counsellor, but that doesn't even scratch the surface of the well-being of our pupils. TLG is such a fabulous resource because it's all about early intervention. So I'm able to watch and see, and we have such good communication with our staff that we're able to pick up children that are really struggling to come into school, children who are maybe almost selective mutes, who don't have the confidence to speak, children who just live in crisis point. I always talk about every family is either one step away from crisis or lives in crisis at all times. You get up in the morning and it's very depressing. You get up in the morning and nobody knows what the day ahead has in store for them.

43:38 · Speaker 6 And for a lot of families, they are already living at crisis point. and a lot of our children are born into crisis. And it's trying to work with families to give the support, not just to our children, but to our families. And that's really what TLG does. It's that early intervention. I mean, Karen has spoken about her wee boy this year. A mum works in school and she won't mind me sharing with the fact that he really struggles to come to school. And it's not that he doesn't like school.

44:11 · Speaker 6 Once he's through the door, he loves school. But school-based anxiety is on the rise, and he now will get up on a Monday morning, be up first in the house, wake the whole house up, because he knows he is coming in to Cairn on a Monday morning. I mean, Noreen is working with a little girl this year who is a selective mute, and all of a sudden is starting to engage in conversation, is able to do class presentations, and that is down to the impact of our fabulous coaches. So whilst they on a day-to-day basis may not see the impact that they have, we as a school see it. And we are very, very thankful for it. Just on a completely separate note, other external agencies, it's not that they've abandoned us. It's the nature of public service at the minute. Everybody is pushed, pulled.

45:02 · Speaker 6 There's no resources. There's no money. Children have to be fully school refused, full school refusers before EWO or EWS will pick them up. We had a child last year who had to sit to 35% attendance before an EWO was picked them up. CAMS are only picking up 20% of referrals made to them at the minute for our children. So it's trying as a school to pinpoint where the support is needed, early intervention, to be able to ensure that the external agencies aren't then required later on.

45:35 · Speaker 2 Thank you so much just for that feedback from school. Very, really useful, I think, for us to hear and to get a really clear picture of what's going on. So thank you. Esther, just concluding remarks. You've had the opportunity of listening.

45:51 · Speaker 7 Yeah, just to reiterate, you know, I kind of resonate with Fiona because I was a support service in my past life. I would have been in weekly, twice a week, and that is no longer happening within schools.

46:05 · Speaker 8 Schools are in crisis, children are in crisis.

46:07 · Speaker 7 Levels of anxiety within children, regardless of their background, is higher. And I didn't actually know Alistair was going to put that verse on, but that was what I was thinking of, was that you do unto the least of these you're doing unto me. We have a mission field on our doorsteps. We have a real opportunity to go in and to come alongside children who are in crisis or who are vulnerable for a particular reason in time. I am going to do an ask. I am going to say please pray about it. Please search your own hearts to see, do you have an hour, a week, one child, one hour, one week? You will make a difference.

46:45 · Speaker 7 You do not have to be a teacher or to be skilled in any way. TLG are very good at training. They will resource you. The schools that we are in are fabulous at supporting you as well. And it's really about building relationships with children. If you care and you are compassionate, that is all you need. You just need that time and that ability to care, to come alongside a child and listen and make a difference. And I'm particularly going to ask you guys out there, so many young boys don't have male role models.

47:20 · Speaker 7 could you actually spend time coming alongside and be that male role model for a very vulnerable little boy? There are leaflets sitting on the desk outside. Please come and chat to me or chat to any of the coaches or email in at info because the more coaches we have, particularly for Carrick, we've only got two coaches in Carrick right now. Catherine would love more, and she is asking me all the time, could we have more? So if you live around that area, please, please, please consider it. And I'm sure Fiona wouldn't say no either. So, yeah.

47:54 · Speaker 2 Okay, thank you so much. Look, thank you so much to our fabulous panel this morning. You have brought TLG and engagement. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. That was super spontaneous applause before we got to that point. So thank you so much. Just to conclude, and as the band comes back up again, two statements resonated with me just from, I'm sure there was more than that from Chris's talk, but two in particular, don't withdraw, but engage, be productive.

48:31 · Speaker 2 I think we're seeing that in spades. Seek the flourishing, the wholeness, the peace, and the harmony of where we are. So Newton Abbey or Antrim or Carrick or whatever, contribute with our knowledge and skills or abilities if we have them, and also with our time. And I'll mention that earlier on. And I suppose the question, and there's the question for church, but the one I must admit that resonated with me was, if I wasn't here tomorrow, what impact would that have on my street, my neighbourhood, my community? And certainly we've heard live examples of what would be missed if you weren't here tomorrow to be able to do with what you're doing. So thank you so much for that. We do have an opportunity to come back here at six o'clock tonight to hear more about our missions, partners and what's going on within community and give thanks and have the opportunity to pray for TLG later.

49:23 · Speaker 2 Let me just pray very briefly and over to Al. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity that you give us to engage in the world that you've created. We do pray for our schools, for Fiona, and pray for our Glen Abbey teachers, our TLG coaches, Esther, our coordinator, and those, Lord, who are being coached. May they flourish in their roles and in their school life. And may ultimately they serve you and experience you. And ultimately, may your peace come. For we ask this in your son's name. Amen.

50:00 · Speaker 2 Amen.