Laura Trevelyan

It was the summer of '92 and I was ripe for picking. Caring friends had finally managed to steer me in the direction of Caux, the international Centre for Initiatives of Change in Switzerland, and two weeks there changed my life.

A 22 year old drama student, I arrived disillusioned with relationships and pretty clueless about the world. I left with hope, a sense of purpose for my life and a belief in a God who could be consulted about anything and everything 24/7. It hadn’t dawned on me before Caux that God had anything to do with life from Monday to Saturday. God was strictly a Sunday thing.

Coming down the mountain was harder than I thought because most people (including my university tutor) thought I’d turned into a religious ‘nut’ and gone off with a cult! I knew, however, that what I’d experienced at Caux was real and that my life would never be the same again. After graduating I took off for Australia to do a five-month IC training course called ‘Effective Living’. It was one of the most challenging things I have ever done and one of the most rewarding. I learned to take responsibility for my country’s colonial past (not always comfortable) and I started trying to change things about myself which I knew had to change if I was to lead a sane, fulfilling and useful life. Change did not happen overnight by any means but I believe that (as often happens) God honored my efforts and met me more than halfway.

I stayed on a further two years in Australia where my main responsibility was the production of the IC youth magazine Global Express. I was reluctant to take this on but soon realized that I had been hand-picked for the job! Having been somewhat tormented during my teenage years and my early twenties about issues such as body image, self-worth and the meaning of life, Global Express gave me the opportunity to offer a life-affirming alternative to the barrage of commercial youth magazines on offer.

Nine years later Global Express has come to an end. It has not been easy to let it go but the reality is we did not have the personnel to run it and I felt I was called to something else. That something is Action for Life which started at Asia Plateau on Nov 1. I met the first AfL team at the Global Hoho and was mega-impressed. I truly believe that it is one of the most important programs being undertaken by IC today. Like Global Express, one of the main aims of AfL is to encourage young people to believe in themselves and to make a difference with their lives.

I know that AfL is the right next step for me but if I’m honest I have been dreading it all year! Poverty frightens me but I know I must see it if I am to lead an appropriate, informed life. Living in community again scares me too but I know the time has come for me to move out of my comfort zone. The intensity of AfL is a daunting prospect and I wonder if I am equipped for the task but my Bible reassures me thus:" My grace is sufficient for you because my strength is made perfect in weakness ”. I also know fully well that if this is where God is leading me I have nothing to fear. Time and again the things I fear most turn out to be the absolute best.

Laura Trevelyan
UK