Well i was asked to put some words on paper about my experience of being a missionary here in the UK on the Sion Youth mission team. Before i go into that let me share some background with you.

I finished school in July of 2014 and was looking what to do next.Through prayer and my sense of adventure i knew i wanted to do a Gap year somewhere! So I prayed about it and looked into every option extensively, I had my eyes set on going to the Mediterranean to join YWAM for a DTS on board its boat sailing around the Med while learning about Christianity,but something didn't feel right about it, I then looked at doing a Gap year program in India doing frontline medical work,but it didn't work and again wasn't right.So i was in square one asking God where he wanted me to go on my Gap year this was getting into May and i knew time was running tight though i knew something would come together and just work.Well for the second time I looked at Sion.I have always known of the community through the Celebrate conference and all of a sudden the Lord placed it in front of me and didn't give me any other choices but immediately in my heart i knew it was right! then next thing i knew i was finishing my last exam one afternoon then that evening i was flying over to London for my enquirers weekend it was all very exciting and i just loved it all! So i was accepted and very soon I was back at the end of August to start my 11months with the Sion Community!




It has been a great adventure I have learned more then I could imagine and built friendships that I know will last a lifetime and have had an unspeakable amount of opportunities! Its funny really I mean when I applied I knew Sion was an evangelisation community and coming from a missionary family I expected it, but i didn't really understand what mission was or the impact it has until I had the privilege of going on my first one! I love mission! Its amazing, what an opportunity to be able to go into a school for a week proclaim the name of Jesus and make it relevant and understandable to students! Looking back on my year now I know God had it all planned right down to the small details the way everything has worked and the way I have been able to fit into this missionary community that Sion is! I really do look forward to my next opportunity to get back to Sion and help out! For next year though God has called me into studies but i certainly do pray God will bring me back to Sion another day! And as for sailing on the mediterranean well my twin brother took that adventure! And yes Coventry is certainly not as glamorous but i always say its the people your surrounded with and not the place! 

In the past day or two I have had the opportunity to pray with one person and share a prophetic word with another person,What a privilege !?On both these occasions the person was touched in some way which is encouraging, but as I found myself praying and reflecting on both these occasions afterwards. I thought to myself I have a decision here I can either think “I am great! I am a good prayer!” or I can simply  thank God for these opportunities, pray for an increase of faith and pray for more of these opportunities.

I suppose what I have found myself reflecting on is that God uses humble people. And remaining humble through everything is important even when its tempting not to be. All throughout scripture we see this-Noah was a drunk Abraham was old and fatherless, Daniel was exiled and imprisoned.

So it is just more and more evident to me how crucial this is in any ministry or simply in daily life that it is crucial to remain humble and to be careful not to grow to grow to big for ones boots! “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” Matthew 20:16

 

So we have just started our third and last term this year and heading off on our next mission to Greenwich very soon! Easter was a great, as a team we were at the Celebrate conference running  Cross Purposes one of the youth streams there which was very different but equally exciting learning and doing new things! Then we got a week off so I flew home for the week which was terrific! A chance to relax and recharge and to catch up with friends before heading off back! During the week at home I came to a decision that I will return home in July and go to university! So this is exciting and will be the start of another chapter but I will indeed miss everyone at Sion and the team!  We are moving into a new gear as after this mission we only have one left but apart from that we will be running Discipleship weekends and a summer camp and going on pilgrimage to Assisi!

As ever we continue to ask for your prayer for Sion Community and the work we do! God Bless

So were back after Christmas now and what a wonderful holiday it was! I managed to get back home for Christmas! I got to relax and recharge! And of course most importantly catch up with friends and family! From hanging out to fairly spontaneous 45k hike’s to family party’s and Birthdays!

Nothing beats the Clarke family Christmas experience, although Anthony and Greg couldn’t make it (Anthony is still on outreach in Albania with YWAM and Greg is working in New Zealand) We still did have a lot of fun with the 4 of us kids that did make it, we all gave gifts, ate food and shared stories but most importantly just spending time together!

But time just “being“ at home was a highlight after a few months of living elsewhere staying with different host families and being in different environments. Just being home in a comfort zone, knowing where everything is and just being able to relax and read a book and watch some TV. It really gave me a great opportunity to think back and reflect on the time I have spent so far with Sion and what I have learned! And I looked back with great satisfaction thinking back to where I learned from my mistakes and stepping into the unknown to the times I stepped out onto a stage performing some skit in front of hundreds of students, But looking back there hasn’t been anything I regretted, what I have found that it has been a time of finding me in myself and being comfortable with it a time of laying solid foundations for hopefully a lifetime of serving Jesus whatever sphere that is in.  But all of it has just excited me more and put more urgency on my heart of how we still need to reach out to people all over the World whether that is in an orphanage in Albania or in a Catholic School in London we cant disregard the fact that still all over the world people still don’t know/understand who Jesus is ,and what he has done for us humans. What an exciting vocation we have been given to be Evangelizers!

Now we are preparing for this next term where we will do three Missions in different all girls schools! It will be new for me but certainly more to learn! We are also getting ready for Celebrate a Charismatic Catholic Conference on over Easter where we will run a stream for yr 8-9. We have everything going full steam ahead!

We are just back from some formation time we had in S.E.N.T Brentwood and after that we had 4 days off, So I took the time to visit a wonderful Nun friend of mine Sr Anna Mary of the Franciscans which was great a “mini retreat” I got to do the garden and pray with the rest of the congrgegation and just spend time with them! They were such a powerful witness to me there dedication to prayer there commitment to serve the vulnerable and poor and there constant Joy throughout it all there wasn’t a dull moment!! It really struck me the powerhouse’s of prayer these are to the Church and how valuable they really are!

So finally its the end to a busy first term with Sion! and we all did it!! now as a team we have three missions under our belt and are exhausted and ready for the Christmas break! 

November had us quite busy really, one week we were in Richard Challoner Catholic boys school on mission in New Malden,which went very well! We all had a lot of fun on the team as at this stage we all had our head around mission as it was our second one! So it was great we learnt lots and grew more as a team! It was one day at the end of mission we were just about to load into the van to be dropped to our host families homes,and we were wrecked and had had a long day of everything,but still ringing in my mind was what had happened in Prayer 4 U (prayer ministry).Earlier on when a student and i were praying with other students.Something had touched me in that time and i felt so privileged to be able to pray with these students and to encourage them! Anyway it was a really blessed time and even though we were wrecked it just struck me this is what it is all about even though the work we do might seem pointless there is still the Holy Spirit working below the surface,and it was then that i clicked that i began to understand why my parents had dedicated so many years of their life to full time ministry because we never know what effect we will have anywhere we go we just have to give it our best shot and pray for guidance that we are doing what is right in that situation! so yeah i Love being a missionary!

Following mission and our rest days Drew Fava joined us in the The Ark(the formation house) for a few days of teaching on Charisms! The whole time through the teaching i was just thinking this is just great and just trying to soak as much of the information in as i can! its in these times and situations i am so grateful i have taken this year out to learn more about my faith! 
Alice Hall then joined us to share with us some teaching on Catholic Apologetics which again was awesome to hear and understand more,and to come to an understanding of where the Church came from and its history is really quite phenomenal! every time i hear about it i just want to know more!

And then we were on mission again! not as far,this time we were in Birmingham in John Henry Newman Catholic College. It was great to be so close to home and the school and students were awesome!What particualry struck was the dedication of the teachers in the school and their commitment to each one of the students it was inspiring for me and challenged me to see do i do my best on mission? 
Following mission most of us on the team went to Before the Throne a conference run by a group called Network here in the UK.It was a great weekend of teaching,worship and catching up with friends.Then immediately we all headed down to S.E.N.T for our annual community retreat where we were lucky to be joined by members of our sister Community in Ireland called Ceili Community.Fr Hugh Sinclair led us on a silent retreat yes i said “Silent” retreat,It was very different as i hadn’t been on one before but it was great experience! 
Then i got special permission to leave a few days earlier so i could surprise my sister for her 21st birthday which was very exciting and got to join in the festivities!Now to some time off and getting ready for the new year! 
Thanks for all your prayers! 
Joseph

So wow we have just finished our first mission! I am writing this in the van on our way home.Its been a long challenging week but really incredible,Our day started at 6:30am everyday when we would be collected from the various families who were hosting different members of the team near the school,We would arrive at school everyday for 7ish and have some team prayer followed by more rehearsals until our first assembly every morning at 8:50am. Assemblyies were a bit nerve wracking for us newbies as we hadn’t done a real one before! But as soon as we had one down the next few were easier and we started to enjoy it more! 

The students were great! they got involved in the different things that were running and were great banter! As it was our first mission as a team it was great we got to see different parts to each other and really grew closer together as a team and gelling! It has got me so excited for our team! this year is going to be awesome!

Overall it was a great week! we had our hicups and sure somethings could have gone smoother but hey for the first time i was thrilled!In being able to bring the Gospel message to the young people it reaffirmed it in my own heart the urgency of it and how vital it is that we spread the message! It has given me a hunger for more of God but for more opportunities to spread it!
     We had the privilege of some Franciscan friars of the renewal join us and help us out,which was such a joy! I might be panicking about something or worrying whats next but i would glance over and there they would be chilling with their heart and minds on what the real purpose of what the Mission was,to Love the students and live the gospel which really spoke to me as i would be concerned about how the P.A sounds or is the screen graphics appropriate are the mics working do i need to charge the batteries,which sure is important but i need to remember what comes first! and what a challenge and opportunity for me to grow!

Yikes! I have been here over a month already! The time has flown by and i am enjoying every second of it!
So we are powering through our formation time. We have had great teaching from people like Dom Henry, who took us through a in depth analysis of the four Gospels. Derek Williams took us through the Life in the Spirit Seminars in two days. Sr Mary Paul gave us three awesome days of teaching on Spirituality of communion. Noelle Chircop has just finished three challenging days of Discipleship. Wow we have had so much to take in and on top of that including two days a week of learning different dramas,skits,and signing dances(definitely not my strong point)
All this input is just exciting us more to actually get out there on Mission! Our first Mission is in Harrogate on the 18 October, so the countdown is on!

Every friday afternoon the Community in Coventry have a prayer afternoon, so yesterday I went for a prayer walk around the area. Fresh in my mind was the street outreach we did last friday in Coventry Centre and the book "Jesus Culture living a life that transforms the world". While I was walking and praying I really felt a conviction that, as Christians, we are called to indiscriminate acts of love as Jesus would have done, and to constant prayer in everything we do! Then I came across a gentleman who was a wheelchair user and was struggling. (At this time I was thinking 'haha God you keep to your word', just because I was praying about it!) So I offered my assistance to the gentleman and he accepted. I managed to have a chat with him and push him up the hill and bring him to where he was going. I was like, wow, isn't this what we are called to as Christians?! We're not meant to have days off! This is what we all should be doing! Imagine every Christian you know aiming to do one random act of kindness a day. Imagine! The world would be a different place and the interpretation of Christians would be a world off where it is now!

So after my adventure of getting here.Of lugging my bike and bags through the airports and train stations i did it,i made it to Coventry!

Only been here a few days now but already having so much fun and learning a lot! We have started off with some induction training and getting to know the team!
Its been very different living as community and doing everything together.We already had an exciting adventure to Memorial Park for a picnic followed my an impromptu trip to IKEA! We ended up leaving with two sets of shelves,lampshades and some interesting candles!(i won't mention the bus journey home)That evening turned into a how to assemble IKEA furniture tutorial!
     On the spiritual side of things,Its been awesome having daily Adoration and really learning to meditate with our Lord,and finding peace in the silence.