Parish of St. Mary the Virgin, Linton

13 young people (age 13-16) from across the different Churches in Linton responded to a serious challenge, issued by the charity Soul Action, to ‘spend a few days the way a billion spend a lifetime’ - in temporary settlements, or SLUMS.

Over the weekend of the 26th-28th Oct the young people built their own ‘slum houses’ out of discarded materials such as wood and card board. Each dwelling was 2 metres by 2 metres and had to sleep 3-4 young people – the tight spaces kept them warm and cosy at night! They faced restrictions on clothing and personal items (strictly no mobiles, mp3 players, etc). They ate two simple meals a day of lentils and rice, some of them found this quite hard to stomach for breakfast. The young people spent the days taking part in challenges that simulated aspects of slum life; they made their own football out of newspaper, string and carrier bags, they spent some laborious time making paper bags in a pretend factory and they collected piles of wood and made a fire to keep themselves warm at night.

Throughout the weekend the young people also spent time in Bible study reflecting on God’s heart for the poor and what the implications are for people who worship the God who acts to bring about Justice, liberation for the poor, vulnerable, sick and oppressed.

Slum Survivor proved to be an awesome experience for all the young people who took part and for the leaders who had the privilege of walking beside them through the weekend. The young people made the most of the opportunity to raise awareness of the situation and do something about it; at the time of writing this we have yet to collect in all the sponsorship money, but we expect to have raised well over £700 towards the work of Soul Action.

Personally, I was deeply touched by the heart of the young people who took part in Slum Survivor. The sacrifices they chose to make over that weekend were a beautiful act of worship to God. The Lord requires that we love, not with words, but with actions. The young people certainly challenged my own apathy towards the needs of the poor in the wonderful example that they set. God’s heart of compassion moved powerfully that weekend amongst all involved in Slum Survivor.