Global Relationships at 3generate

How does it feel to be on the edge?

What is it like to have others in the center?

Where in the world would you like to pray for this week?

These and other questions were at the heart of some conversations at 3generate about the world.  3generate is the gathering of Children and Young People from around the Methodist Church in Britain.  This year it was at the Birmingham, NEC and Andy Dye, Programme Team Leader from the Global Relationships team, was there to share in conversations with young people (and generally help out!).  (See Andy on the left, pictured with Liddy Buswell, 3gen Global Church Youth Rep)

At the event Andy used a world map that is reversed from the usual way we are given it.  The south is at the top of the map and the pacific is at the center.  You can see it in action on the right here. Young people were asked to find Britain.  It's not an easy task when everything looks different! 

'This map is wrong!' - 'Where are we?' and 'Wow!' were some of the reactions.  We discussed how it felt, and why the maps we use are all centered on Europe, with the North at the top.  One young man realized, 'Its because of colonialism, aint it.  Europe drew the maps and put ourselves in the center'

Viewing the world in a different way changes things and the young people prayed for places in the world on their hearts and placed a dot on the map to symbolize that moment of prayer.  

Elsewhere at 3generate there was input from the young people from the Methodist Church in Estonia, talks led by Liddy Buswell (Global Church Youth Rep) and a video from Ben Rose, a young person from the Birmingham District who is serving as a Global Mission Fellow.

Please continue to pray for 3generate and that with the young people there and worldwide, we might hear the inspiration for God's global mission.