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- the Pais Project Team
Amy, Andrea and David are part of the Pais Project team that is currently based at the Greenbank Christian centre in Liskeard.
Kernow Youth sent their reporter, Max Rowse de Franco, to find out more about the Pais Project, and the kind of work they are doing here in Cornwall.
Max: Hello Amy, Andrea and David, please tell us a bit about yourselves and the Pais Project.
Amy: Hello my name is Amy Luis, I'm 19 years old, and I come from South
Wales. This is my second year with the Pais Project and I am the team leader. I was in Oldham last year, and I'm starting in Cornwall because I stayed on and
my course director thought I had a good pioneering spirit. This is the first team in Liskeard, and they asked me to come down to set up the Cornwall team.
Max: Andrea, how did you become part of the Pais Project?
Andrea: At first, I had just finished university, so I thought what next? So I started praying about it, and my church said, “Maybe you can just join Pais”. When I thought about it, I thought “I'm too busy now”. I prayed some more, and God told me that it was the right thing, so I applied for Pais and they asked how I felt about Cornwall - I said, "whatever God wants to take me, that's where I'll go".
Max: What is the Pais Project, and what is their aim and mission?
Andrea: Pais’ mission statement is: "Missionaries making missionaries" so we go out and tell people about Christ, but also really work with them,
see them saved, and also follow them up, making sure that they can walk the walk, and then setting them up to do the same.
“Missionaries making missionaries”
Max: Does Pais aim to work with a particular group of people?
Dave: Well, mainly we work with secondary school age children, year 7 to 11,
but in youth groups, we can work with younger children - Sunday school, year 5 and 6. Also, in Rochdale, there is a team that works with adults who have drugs and alcohol problems.
Max: Ok, Amy, how did you become a Christian?
Amy: I've always gone to church since I was a baby in my mother's arms. When I was five, I was in my grandparent's house, and I was listening to a Christian tape with Chris Bowater speaking on it, and he said: "No matter how old or how young you are, you can have Jesus in your life". As a five year old I asked my Nan: "Can I have Jesus in my life?" She said a little prayer with me asking God to forgive me and from there on I believed I had Jesus in my life
But as I went into secondary school I walked away from God because I was completely bombarded with "Jesus loves you" and "Don't do this", "don't do that" and "you're a Christian" and I was sick of it, I always went to church and I was fed up of hearing about this love, because I had issues in my life.
"No matter how old or how young you are, you can have Jesus in your life" |
Max: So what about you Andrea, how did get to know God?
Andrea: Well, as a child I was sent to church but it was nothing, nothing really to me, so, as soon as I could stop, I did stop and it wasn't until I was seventeen that my friend actually convinced me to go to church.
"I don't want to go tonight", I said, but I ended up going. As soon as I walked into the place there, was a total different feel about it. Everyone was so friendly and so kind, and a nice preacher was there, and I went and sat down. I carried on going and gradually, as I learned more and more, I realised I needed Jesus in my life - I need Him to help me through everyday - so I made a commitment to Him.
Max: Ok, David, how about you?
David: When I was really young, about 2 or 3, I actually asked my mum about how to be a Christian, because I've always gone to church, so mum said that ever since then I've wanted to be a Christian.
... there was a lot of stuff wrong with me... |
Max: What is the work done by the team, and what have you planned for the next few terms?
Andrea: We came down in September, and we're here for a year - definitely. Each one of us is here for at least a year if not longer. Since we've been here, here it's amazing the doors that God has opened. He is opened so many opportunities to go into different schools - Liskeard High, Bodmin High and junior schools have just come in, as well as in the local area again. We’re doing lessons, lunchtime clubs, and JAM club with Phil Hadley in Bodmin. We're also doing assemblies, and circle times - we've just started doing circles times.
Max: Tell us more about the circle times
Andrea Circle times, is different topics, issues that young people have, maybe an anti-bullying workshop or self esteem, where we sit down in small groups and work through different issues in a non threatening manner. We just get them to work out different things that are going on, how to deal with them, and how to work through them. In a small group it's easier for them to challenge themselves.
Max: I've heard of an event with Pais Project called "Ignite" do you want to tell us more about it?
Amy: The dates for it is the 24th to the 27th of February, it is called "Ignite mission", and its based in the Greenbank Christian centre, AOG church, Liskeard It’s organised by the Greenbank centre and the Pais Project together, but also linking up with Grace Community church as well. It's like uniting the two churches together.
On Thursday night, we've got "Unity 2" with Grace and the AOG youth |
The idea is that we get young people from the local schools to come along and get saved, basically. There will be different teams, and there will be different things during the week - like a social night, there will be a boys and a girls night. I think that the idea is we have a morning to late afternoon event and a break for dinner. Meeting at about 10am and finishing at about 9pm.
On Thursday night, we've got "Unity 2" with Grace and the AOG youth. We hoping to get Mark Witty from Flame Throwers. He is doing a week mission in Plymouth, so we are hoping to get him on the Thursday night to come and preach and take part. There are a lot of different events happening including ice-skating - which is only £1.50.
Max: How do the Pais Project teams fund themselves?
David: There are quite a few different ways. One is you can join a club called the "1001 club", where an individual will try to give an amount of money each month, and you'll try to get 1001 people. There is also "50 at 50" which is where 50 churches give £50 as the minimum a month. You can give online as well, where you can give whatever you want, or you can give a monthly fee. Also our teams will do events, and we are doing one on the 12th of March, with the Grace church - we are doing a Caribbean night - we're going to have Caribbean entertainment and lots of fun stuff and Caribbean food. This will be for the Pais project team, and for people in Jamaica.
I think I'll be really selfish if I didn't go out there and tell young people about Him |
Amy: I think my job is important to me because I'm saved and I think I'll be really selfish if I didn't go out there and tell young people about Him, because I believe if they haven't got Jesus, they won’t have the opportunity to spend eternity with Him. So I think I'll be selfish if I didn't do that.
Andrea: I know what hope Christ has given me, what difference He has made to my life. There are so many young people out there without hope, without any knowledge of what life is about, and they get lost in it, and it's so hard for them to see at that point. If there are’nt people going out and telling them that there is something different, that there is actually a big hope in life, and that that's through Jesus, where would they be? They just live a hopeless life, filled with nothing but regrets - we want to take the Gospel to them, and tell them about Christ, because He is cool and we want them to know Him.
David: From people in the youth group, they all have lots of different problems, and we can't do much for them, but what we can do is pray for them, and we can help by being there, so they have someone to tell about their problems. I think that its really important to be there for them, and try and help them in any way we can.
Max: Thanks for sharing with us, and God bless you.