Not Ashamed
Details
The Not Ashamed campaign provides an opportunity for Christians across the UK to stand together and speak up for the Christian foundation of our nation, motivated by the conviction that Jesus Christ is good news not just for individuals or for the church but for society as a whole. Indeed, He is the only true hope for our nation.
'The 300'
STEP Schoolswork recently took 300 'Not Ashamed' wrist bands out with them as they visited local schools, with the aim of giving them out to Christians who were not ashamed of standing up for their faith. Below is an account of this by Chris Birch-Evans, Director of STEP:
Recently there was a campaign launched encouraging British Christians to not be ashamed of their faith. Step thought it would be a great idea to do the same campaign in schools. We called it the '300'. Our hope was that this will raise the profile and boldness of the students that believe in God. In nine school days we set ourselves the goal of finding 300 young people in schools who were not ashamed of their Christian beliefs. The Diocesan Youth Officer agreed to help this campaign by buying 300 wrist bands which said not ashamed on them. Our aim was to see if young people we met in lessons and detached work would talk about their faith. Here is a selection of the stories that capture some of these moments.
In one lesson on prejudice we asked if anyone was a Christian in the room. I explained a Christian as someone who 'loves Jesus as their rescuer and lives every day as if his opinion was the most important thing in the world'. One young lass put her hand up in front of 30 peers. I walked over and gave her one of the pictured wrist bands. I explained STEP was looking for the "300" not ashamed Christians. She was overjoyed and a little embarrassed to be the centre of attention. Others asked for bands in the lesson, but we said, 'she was the only one to put her hand up, but at the end of the lesson, if you would like to become part of the "300" come and talk to me'. Lots of young people came and talked to me about why they didn't put up their hands, but 4 of them talked about Jesus in front of their peers, they were enthusiastic about their faith and went away with bands.
After one lesson we had a conversation with some young Muslims who were in the lesson. One of them declared that they felt that Jesus was very important to both faiths and officially they could probably qualify for a wrist band since he wasn't ashamed of his prophet Jesus. We had a fantastic conversation about Jesus, and it was great to get a chance to agree on many on the names of God, but to amicable disagree about whether Jesus was God.
In one school where the students are expected to have a Christian outlook on life, many young people put their hands up to not being ashamed of being a Christian. The lesson leader clarified that one aspect of being a Christian is trying to live each day as if Jesus is the most important thing in life. All the young people left their hands up except one person who put his hand down. The teacher asked him why he had taken his hand down, he explained that sometimes he just was too selfish to consider Jesus in every choice and wished he could. The teacher in that lesson only gave out one wrist band, explaining that this was a honest reflection of a christian trying to follow Jesus.
During a lesson on suffering with year 9 we were exploring how Christians can experience persecution because of their faith and that in other parts of the world some even get killed because of it. We then went on to say that no-one should be ashamed of their faith and what they believe in and even if we disagree we should still be tolerant. We then asked who was a Christian and about 8-10 people said they were. We gave the bands out and told them they need not be ashamed to admit that. The teacher was amazed at how many admitted they were (before any bands were given). One girl in particular who we knew from CU and other church events was in the class and as we taught we could see she was agreeing, nodding her head. Giving her the band seemed the most significant as she held her head up high when leaving.
We gave some to the Christian Unions as well. One boy at Roundwood was wearing his and he said his friend asked him what it was and he was able to start a short conversation about his faith. Although he admitted he wasn't completely sure what to say it showed that the bands did create a talking point.The other CUs also responded well. It seemed to raise people's confidence in their faith and be a symbol for the rest of the school about their identity.
We finished the nine days with about 20 wristbands left. We were astonished that we had only worked in 4 of the 17 local secondary schools those nine days, but had still given out so many. We had been a little concerned that this activity might inspire some persecution or even cause some young people to feel left out, but the feedback has been very positive, complementing how well managed the exercise.
STEP - telling the next generation...
http://www.stepschoolswork.org.uk
Resource Website
http://www.notashamed.org.uk/index.php
Short links
http://www.albandys.org.uk/go/not_ashamed
http://www.albandys.org.uk/go/842