Wendy Beech-Ward’s Blog

I love quotes. Here’s a new favourite:

‘In Western society we are culturally conditioned to assume that intellectual assent to a set of propositions is an adequate substitute for obedience.’

I’ve been listening to a track from my mate Steve’s CD which mixes dance music with teaching. One track has Mike Pilavachi saying: ‘Do you remember when you first became a Christian? Do you remember when you first gave your life to him? We were captivated by Love. We were captivated by Grace.’

Today I’ve been working on the programme for Youthwork the conference – through this we aim to resource and equip anyone in youthwork or youth ministry. We’re focusing on Transform: Knowing the Word – Knowing the World. I’ve been in so many conversations this past few weeks which essentially go along the line of ‘Yeah of course I love Jesus; Of course I know he’s saved me. But I just don’t know what for… Oh and by the way life just feels a bit boring and meaningless.’

A few of my mates call me a ‘Line Drawing Maniac’ (I’ll post on this another time I expect.) Anyway it feels like there are lots of lines being drawing in my life between the conversations I’m having and the work I’m doing. The more I’ve spoken to people over the past few weeks the more I’ve realised how we constantly need to remind ourselves what our faith is about because it certainly isn’t just about ‘intellectual assent to a set of propositions’… it is about knowing who God is and then knowing who we are in him.

It’s exciting to spend time thinking around the issues of personal transformation and social transformation. And, to be in these conversations and to watch the ‘lights’ go on in people’s hearts and minds when they realise that far from being ‘boring and meaningless’ their lives should be exciting and transforming – both personally and socially.

Seriously… you really can’t transform communities until you’ve transformed individuals. And the only place to start is by being transformed by Jesus yourself…

W x

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m into ‘women in ministry’… I guess that’s partially because I am a woman. But, I’m also just totally into anyone who wants to ‘do’ ministry/serve Jesus – actually – being able to just get on with it.

I’m always telling my team that my job as their manager is to ‘get rid of the barriers which stand in the way of them fulfilling their potential.’ And, that’s how I view this ‘women in leadership/ministry’ debate. It’s a barrier which stops women fulfilling their calling.

I’m passionate about seeing this change and that’s why I’m part of the Steering Group of Sophia Network. We’re passionate about connecting women in youth work and ministry, to access training, develop skills and share wisdom.  Check us out here and join the Network if you’re with us on this…

I’ve recently interviewed Vicky Beeching about her life and journey, and perspective on this. You can read the full interview here.  And, if you’ve got any ideas, opinions or experiences you want to share on women in leadership I’d love to hear them…

W x

How do you change the world?

You don’t change the world through a religious system.
You don’t change the world through attractive services
You don’t change the world by taking on the world’s values.
You don’t change the world by being no different from those you want to reach

You change the world by becoming a servant
You change the world by identifying with the poor
By sharing the same space, struggles, joys and pain as those you want to reach.

You change the world by changing yourself.
By killing the selfishness you find when you look in the mirror.
By small acts of kindness and love which, in turn, light up the world. 
And bring a smile to the face of those around you.

Saw this and thought you’d want me to share it…

W xx

That got you reading didn’t it? Sometimes I’m not convinced that my parenting skills are all they should be (maybe I should read more parenting books…)

My girls (who are totally wonderful BTW) are 5 and 8 years old, and they – as all kids have to – are gradually learning the difference between ‘wants and needs’. It’s quite a tricky thing to negotiate because apparently they ‘need’ pretty much anything which has just appeared on a TV advert… and they ‘want’ it too!

I was chatting to a friend recently about our basic human needs and, strangely, we didn’t talk much about TV adverts… We talked about what we thought our needs were.  We talked about our need: to be loved, to be understood, to belong, to feel like our lives counted for something.

This week I read this prayer and it resonated:

Lord, I know not what to ask of You.

You alone know what my true needs are.

You love me more than I myself know how to love.

Help me to see my real needs, which may be hidden from me.

I dare not ask for either a cross or a consolation.

I can only wait upon You; my heart is open to You.

Visit and help me in Your steadfast love.

Strike me and heal me; cast me down and raise me up.

I worship in silence Your holy will.

I offer myself to You as a living sacrifice.

I put all my trust in You.

I have no other desire than to fulfil Your will.

Teach me to pray. Pray yourself in me.  Amen

Made me think… made me think – and pray – quite a lot.

W

xx

I read this post on my friend Danielle Strickland’s blog – check her out here and asked her if I could share it on mine.  [WARNING: Don’t read this if you’re faint-hearted and/or would prefer not to know what's really going on in the world.]

This powerful testimony needs to be read, thought about and then acted on… Danielle and people connected with her in Australia have started a Brothel Visitation programme – they visit brothels to make friends with, pray with and support prostituted people… wonder what you and I could do?

My name is Trisha Baptie and I was a prostitute for 15 years; I think one of the most sex positive things you can do is make sure people cannot buy sex.
The buying of sex is violence against women and is a direct deterrent to women’s equality.
Long has the conversation gone on that pitted current prostitute against former prostitute, indoor vs. outdoor, drug addicted vs. Gucci addicted, of which I fell into all those categories. By having that discourse it has long allowed the real question to avoid being asked “Do we as a society think men should be able to pay to sexually access women’s bodies?”
Do we think that a sign of an egalitarian society?
If we know silence and consent can be bought for a price (I remember how much mine cost) and that 92% (Farley et al.) of women in prostitution want out NOW. Should we allow a small minority of prostitutes who argue “choice” further their individualistic agenda on the backs of those who have no choice, on those who are there out of a perfect storm of oppression, neglect, abuse and human trafficking and instead of offering them a hand up to heal and reach their full potential we off them up to feed the demand for paid sex.
Prostitution is the dehumanizing of women by commodifying the female body to perform sexual services for men, which is sexual and social subordination. This thinking actually creates an environment in which all women are seen as a sub-class of human beings with little purpose outside of men’s sexual pleasure.
Allowing or tolerating prostitution affects every woman because the inherent inequality in prostitution becomes a reference point for sexual and social relations between the genders that is not at all rooted in equality, fairness or mutual respect.
I want to make it clear that it is not the prostituted women we must blame but rather the demand. For it is the oldest form of patriarchal and misogynistic oppression, which is why we must men paying for sex stand accountable.
I remember working indoors and men calling in and ordering a woman,
I want brunette, small boobs; will do ____ or Asian, round face, petite. You get the idea. How is it equality if women can be reduced to what amounts to ordering a pizza and picking the toppings? How are those men respecting, honouring and valuing women?
What I remember about my years as a prostituted women was how much I tried to find something empowering in what I found myself doing.
That by choosing who raped me, based on their ability to pay I was empowered.
That by consenting to the abuse, I was free from it.
That by caving into the demands of patriarchy, by working hard to look like what they wanted, talk like they wanted and when submitting to sex on their terms, for which I got money, that I had somehow bested them and was now in control of them.
But I was not, for I remember how much I flinched when they moved to quickly, how I would lay under them and would try to be anywhere else in my mind. How they always seemed to have a sob story for why they needed to buy me, but my sob story of not wanting to be under them, not wanting to have them in my mouth, was never as urgent a need as theirs.
Saying prostitution will always be with us is capitulation.
Sweden, which is a global beacon of hope, criminalized the buying; pimping, procuring and decriminalized the women in 1999.They have since seen a drastic drop in prostitution and Sweden in no longer a destination country for human traffickers. To me that is a country that says we value our women and Norway, Iceland and Bulgaria have all followed Sweden’s lead.
They also implemented exiting strategies, adequate welfare and a huge awareness campaign when the laws were implemented. I am based in reality and know it would be a hard transition period and a long one but what I find great hope in is that fact that there are 10 year olds in Sweden who have grown up in a country where that does not happen.
To me it is not about ones individual “choice” to be prostituted but rather about legacy. NO prostituted women I know, myself included, wants their daughter to be a prostitute for we all know firsthand how it devastates the mind, body and spirit so with every breath in me I will work towards creating a world rooted in fairness, and equality that values humanity and that is done by stamping out the world’s oldest oppression.  Stamping out the world’s oldest oppression.

Only just realised that this is going to appear after a post about ‘How much God loves us’… amazing that eh?  Yeah God loves us; each and every one of us… every one of us!  Makes you think a bit differently about how much you should value and love people knowing that…

W x

Been a bit absent from this… too much been going on – lame excuse I know!

Anyway, this is the main thing I want to say:

Been blown away by how much Jesus loves me and you!  Seriously, can’t get over it… and realised that in the times when I do ‘get over it’ and take it for granted, I start missing the point of it all… so I’m enjoying not getting over it, if you know what I mean…

So watch this… and realise how much he loves you!  Seriously, he loves you, me, all of us… and what’s more he wants us to be his friends. Not just his acquaintances his actual mates – like the mates I’ve got who I just absolutely love hanging out with – you know that kind of friendship? Friendship that ignores things like timezones, geography and busy schedules – friendship which is worth paying any price for… because just being friends is seriously amazing!

W xx

One of the first Christian quotes I learnt was this one:

‘He is no fool who gives what he can not keep to save what he will not lose…’

Jim Eliot, who said this, was a missionary.  Shortly after he said it, he and some of his friends were murdered by the very people they were trying to help.  When I first heard it I was 18 years-old and trying to make sense of my re-found faith.  I desperately wanted to take my faith really seriously – I was totally inspired that someone loved God and people enough to give their life – and lose it – for the sake of the Gospel.

Another favourite quote of mine is:

‘Visionaries are possessed people. Men and women in the thrall of belief so powerful they ignore all else – even reason – to ensure that reality catches up with their dreams.’

Again it’s a great quote which sounds great when you use it… but what actually does it mean? And, more specifically, what does it mean for me and, dare I say, you?

I was talking to my friend Andrew a few weeks ago and he was telling me how he started his organisation the Marin Foundation. Believe me, it’s quite a story but I’ll cut to the chase, and the point of this post…

When Andrew started his organisation all he encountered for a year were people telling him that he stood no chance of actually achieving what he thought God wanted him to do. And, that frankly, he should go back to working in a hotel and that he couldn’t – possibly – expect them to take him seriously.  Andy wasn’t just told this by a few people, he was told this by church leaders all over his city – not just one or two, but hundreds of them, in fact, 641 of them.  Seriously, imagine being told by hundreds of church leaders that the vision you believe God has given you has no chance of happening, imagine that?  But Andy kept going because he lives ‘in the thrall of belief… that reality would catch up with his dream.’

If I’m honest (and I try to be…), if what happened to Andy had happened to me I would have been begging for my job back in that hotel after 30 (probably less) of those conversations.  But Andy didn’t! 

When I asked him why – he basically told me that it was more important (to him) to be obedient to God than to be successful!  And, because obedience was his motivation he could give himself to God first and then to the task God had given him to do second… 

Andy’s tenacity against the odds is an inspiration.  His willingness to love is remarkable.  His attitude of grace is amazing. And in choosing to surrender himself to pursuing obedience he challenges me, and maybe you, to pay a higher price to see the Kingdom established on the earth.

W x

Read more about what Andy does here.  You’ll be inspired and hopefully challenged.  What’ll you definitely see is someone who is ‘giving what he can not keep to save what he will not lose…’

There are some gigs you do and then there are others which fall into another category… The BigChurchDayOut (BCDO) was one which fell into that ‘special’ category.

Simon, my lovely husband, has been working on the Production of the BigChurchDayOut for months now…  After hearing all about it and catching the vision behind it – I volunteered myself and my close friend Laura West (who works with me at Spring Harvest) to help with Artist Liaison.  We got the wonderful job of ensuring that all the Mainstage artists got to stage and on to stage at the right time.  Here are some photos of the day:

Wiston House – where it all took place.

Mainstage – the day before the gig.

Catering… like we’ve never known it!

Botty (my husband) in Control… literally!

Matt Smallbone (Michael W Smith’s bass player) and yours truly.  Matt also plays bass for Vicky Beeching.

The crowd of 14,000

Martin Smith of Delirious? crowd-surfing!

Michael W Smith rocking out…

Kirsty Hallett (the Event Coordinator) and Simon (Botty) looking very happy at the very end of the day!

I love events like the BigChurchDayOut because it gives us a chance to celebrate all that is good about God and his church…

W xx

Close friend of mine, Andrew Marin Check out his blog here  took this… bit more significant than your average bumper sticker, eh?

Hans Kung, a respected Theologian, once said this:

‘Christianity does not stand or fall by an impersonal idea, an abstract principle, a universal norm, a purely conceptual system… Christianity stands and falls by a concrete person, who represents a cause, a whole way of life: Jesus of Nazareth.’

Guess we should be a bit more ‘out and proud’ about Jesus… 

W

xx

One of the great things about my job is that I get to work with some amazingly creative people who use art to speak of the mystery God. 

Check out these amazing paintings from the Big Top at Spring Harvest this year…

Don’t know about you but I think these are incredible!

I’ll be posting some more soon so let me know what you think…

W xx