Tis Sunday afternoon and high time I wrapped up my day-by-day record of Essential I reckon. So, Friday:
I must admit I wasn't involved in loads of Essential stuff on Friday, so I'll keep this account brief. This was mainly because I had seven hours of lessons timetabled for the day! I skipped one of those hours to go to the lunchbar, but aside from that I had lessons from 9 til 4 straight. Also in the evening I had accepted a long-time ago an invitation to go go-karting in Leamington for Tom Carter's birthday. So that meant I missed the evening Essential stuff, which I was rather gutted about, although it has to be said the go-karting was great fun!
The prayer meeting first thing was good as usual. In a strange kind-of-way I'm actually gonna miss not having these on every day next week! Today's lunchbar was about differing world religions. The talk focussed on how all world religions have major differences, things which contradict one another, such that it's impossible for them all to be right. The speaker also sought to point out Jesus' claim that he was the only way to God, rather than it just being a case of "take any route you want".
The evening meeting was due to be about whether a fresh start is possible (I'm guessing the speaker might have said "yes"!). At Globe Cafe a British evening took place, with baked potatoes and desserts and live music, as well as a story of how a Warwick student encountered God. As I wasn't there I'm not sure how these two things went - I'm still waiting for the chance to ask someone to tell me about them.
Well, that was Essential. In a few days, I'm hoping to write something looking back at the week as a whole and assessing how it went and so on. For now though, I'm recovering from the week and catching up with all the things I neglected throughout its duration. Especially sleep. :)
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Essential Day 4
Things got a bit busy towards the end of Essential, so it's now Saturday night as I'm looking back at Thursday! I hope I can remember what happened.
This week most people have been trying to get to the 8am prayer meetings in our small groups. It's so weird to walk across campus at that time of the day for a prayer meeting for at least a couple of reasons: 1) I'm seldom out-and-about on campus at that time of day generally (I have little reason to be in a standard week!)) 2) It's very bizarre to walk across campus and find that everyone that you pass is a Christian (other CU people going to their prayer meetings in different halls!)
The lunchbar today was all about suffering (where was God in the tusnami kind-of theme). Lots of good points came out of this, such as numerous examples in the past of God using evil for good, the fact that we can't always understand everything that God does - some things are hidden from us (Dueteronomy 29:29) and that bad things shouldn't really come as a surprise to us as we're living in a fallen world. It was awesome to see the chaplaincy absolutely packed - every seat taken and not much food left (the fact that there was only ham and biscuits left at the end prompted the speaker to say that if you wanted more food all you could have was "a ham biscuit"! Oh dear!). A couple of international students from Globe came along, one of whom I attempted to relay the gist of the talk to afterwards as he missed most of it (although not very succesfully I feel :( ). Nonetheless it was great to have conversations with these two guys - it's always encouraging to see people searching, especially those that you know. I pray that they might continue doing so.
During mid-morning and mid-afternoon I had a few lectures to attend and used the time around those to do a little work and to take a brief nap. In the evening though it was back to Essential stuff and quite a novel event. In the Cryfield halls we were operating a "text-a-pancake" service, whereby we put up some posters and told people about the opportunity to text us asking for a pancake and we'd deliver it to their room or kitchen. This was basically a chance for us to get out there in amongst people on our campus and be a presence as a CU (lots of similar events were going on in other halls: text-a-toastie, grill a Christian (that's a metaphorical title that one!)). There were just over 15 of us, so we split into groups of about 5, with one group going to each Cryfield Hall. I went to Cryfield 3, where I used to live. :)
For a couple of hours we cooked up some yummy pancakes and asked everyone that we saw if they wanted one, responded to text orders and so on. With every pancake that we gave away we tried to give away a copy of John's gospel and a flyer advertising Friday's Essential events. A few of us got into prolonged conversations with people about things of a Christian nature and we wanted to make the most of those opportunities. However, this wasn't our out-and-out goal this time: we simply wanted to serve our campus and make ourselves known as a CU and publicise our other events, taking our opportunities as and when they came along to go deeper with people.
In light of these aims, I think our evening was a success. In Cryfield 3 we gave away around 50 pancakes I reckon and I believe the other two groups managed to give away at least that many, many with free copies of John's gospel and Essential publicity. We got to meet and chat to loads of people - many just for a short while, but one or two for a good deal longer. Thus, I think text-a-pancake went well. I hope we might have the opportunity to follow this up in these halls before too long.
I ended the day by going to the 24/7 prayer room for an hour - think that was quite a good way to end the day actually, and thanks to my nap earlier on in the day I didn't feel quite as totally exhausted as I would have done otherwise. The prayer room (located in Westwood Church, which is situated just off campus) is, in my opinion, a really encouraging place to spend time. People have written prayers and scripture passages all over the walls (well, actually on paper on the walls, but you know what I mean ;) ). There were some poignant things written up there from which I was able to take some strength. And of course it was a good opportunity to pray for our campus and the rest of Essential. The one day that remains.
This week most people have been trying to get to the 8am prayer meetings in our small groups. It's so weird to walk across campus at that time of the day for a prayer meeting for at least a couple of reasons: 1) I'm seldom out-and-about on campus at that time of day generally (I have little reason to be in a standard week!)) 2) It's very bizarre to walk across campus and find that everyone that you pass is a Christian (other CU people going to their prayer meetings in different halls!)
The lunchbar today was all about suffering (where was God in the tusnami kind-of theme). Lots of good points came out of this, such as numerous examples in the past of God using evil for good, the fact that we can't always understand everything that God does - some things are hidden from us (Dueteronomy 29:29) and that bad things shouldn't really come as a surprise to us as we're living in a fallen world. It was awesome to see the chaplaincy absolutely packed - every seat taken and not much food left (the fact that there was only ham and biscuits left at the end prompted the speaker to say that if you wanted more food all you could have was "a ham biscuit"! Oh dear!). A couple of international students from Globe came along, one of whom I attempted to relay the gist of the talk to afterwards as he missed most of it (although not very succesfully I feel :( ). Nonetheless it was great to have conversations with these two guys - it's always encouraging to see people searching, especially those that you know. I pray that they might continue doing so.
During mid-morning and mid-afternoon I had a few lectures to attend and used the time around those to do a little work and to take a brief nap. In the evening though it was back to Essential stuff and quite a novel event. In the Cryfield halls we were operating a "text-a-pancake" service, whereby we put up some posters and told people about the opportunity to text us asking for a pancake and we'd deliver it to their room or kitchen. This was basically a chance for us to get out there in amongst people on our campus and be a presence as a CU (lots of similar events were going on in other halls: text-a-toastie, grill a Christian (that's a metaphorical title that one!)). There were just over 15 of us, so we split into groups of about 5, with one group going to each Cryfield Hall. I went to Cryfield 3, where I used to live. :)
For a couple of hours we cooked up some yummy pancakes and asked everyone that we saw if they wanted one, responded to text orders and so on. With every pancake that we gave away we tried to give away a copy of John's gospel and a flyer advertising Friday's Essential events. A few of us got into prolonged conversations with people about things of a Christian nature and we wanted to make the most of those opportunities. However, this wasn't our out-and-out goal this time: we simply wanted to serve our campus and make ourselves known as a CU and publicise our other events, taking our opportunities as and when they came along to go deeper with people.
In light of these aims, I think our evening was a success. In Cryfield 3 we gave away around 50 pancakes I reckon and I believe the other two groups managed to give away at least that many, many with free copies of John's gospel and Essential publicity. We got to meet and chat to loads of people - many just for a short while, but one or two for a good deal longer. Thus, I think text-a-pancake went well. I hope we might have the opportunity to follow this up in these halls before too long.
I ended the day by going to the 24/7 prayer room for an hour - think that was quite a good way to end the day actually, and thanks to my nap earlier on in the day I didn't feel quite as totally exhausted as I would have done otherwise. The prayer room (located in Westwood Church, which is situated just off campus) is, in my opinion, a really encouraging place to spend time. People have written prayers and scripture passages all over the walls (well, actually on paper on the walls, but you know what I mean ;) ). There were some poignant things written up there from which I was able to take some strength. And of course it was a good opportunity to pray for our campus and the rest of Essential. The one day that remains.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Essential Day 3
Well, today was the day that we'll call day 3. Quite logical really as it was the 3rd day of Essential. Or you can call it Wednesday if you like. Either way, time to reflect on the day that was.
Prayer meeting was cool again (and surprise, surprise I was a little late for it - no change there then!). Went for breakfast in Rootes Restaurant with some of my 10:25 after this before doing some work for my course for a while. Wednesday is my day off so I didn't have any lectures or seminars, which is always nice!
The CU football team then had a session in the 24/7 prayer room. 'Twas cool to pray that we'd be effective witnesses both on and off the pitch, in what we do and what we say. Then we actually had a match straight afterwards - lost 2-0 against quite a tough team. Before the game we had the chance to give out some flyers to the opposition and the players of the previous game plugging the Essential meetings for the rest of the week. A couple of the international students gratefully accepted them. For the most-part though the other football players either turned down the offer of a leaflet with something of a scowl on their face, or else accepted it and rapidly stuffed it in their pockets in a manner that said "I'll probably bin this later". A bit sad really, but we did all that we can do: prayed about it and then stepped out and informed people - have to leave the rest up to God really. This also matched up to the attitude of arrogance that I've noticed at among footballers at Warwick in particular - a lot of them seem to be rather full of themselves. Maybe it's a bit unfair to pick on the footballers in particular but one thing I'm pretty certain on is that when you're so full of yourself like this there's no room for God in your life. A certain degree of humility is needed to accept that you might need God after all. But I'm being too negative - who know's what God is doing in their hearts under the surface. I pray that He might be an agent of change in these guys lives.
Because of the football match, us footballers arrived at the main meeting a little bit late. However, we did manage to catch most of the talk which was all about forgiveness. It was a really good message once more and Roger left everyone with the challenge of making a decision.
Globe Cafe was top notch again. Tonight was a Chinese evening. As well as a presentation about Chinese music, calligraphy and ying-yang, there was also a talk about whether Christianity is a religion just for the west. There were a couple of good conversations that I was involved in: about Christianity in Taiwan with some Taiwanese students and with a Japanese exchange student about why it's important to explore whether a religion could be true.
We're now over half-way through the week. I guess my biggest prayer at this stage would be that we'd see more of the same: more ground-breaking conversations as God changes more people.
[Currently listening to: Everything by Tim Hughes - awesome song, so encouraging]
Prayer meeting was cool again (and surprise, surprise I was a little late for it - no change there then!). Went for breakfast in Rootes Restaurant with some of my 10:25 after this before doing some work for my course for a while. Wednesday is my day off so I didn't have any lectures or seminars, which is always nice!
The CU football team then had a session in the 24/7 prayer room. 'Twas cool to pray that we'd be effective witnesses both on and off the pitch, in what we do and what we say. Then we actually had a match straight afterwards - lost 2-0 against quite a tough team. Before the game we had the chance to give out some flyers to the opposition and the players of the previous game plugging the Essential meetings for the rest of the week. A couple of the international students gratefully accepted them. For the most-part though the other football players either turned down the offer of a leaflet with something of a scowl on their face, or else accepted it and rapidly stuffed it in their pockets in a manner that said "I'll probably bin this later". A bit sad really, but we did all that we can do: prayed about it and then stepped out and informed people - have to leave the rest up to God really. This also matched up to the attitude of arrogance that I've noticed at among footballers at Warwick in particular - a lot of them seem to be rather full of themselves. Maybe it's a bit unfair to pick on the footballers in particular but one thing I'm pretty certain on is that when you're so full of yourself like this there's no room for God in your life. A certain degree of humility is needed to accept that you might need God after all. But I'm being too negative - who know's what God is doing in their hearts under the surface. I pray that He might be an agent of change in these guys lives.
Because of the football match, us footballers arrived at the main meeting a little bit late. However, we did manage to catch most of the talk which was all about forgiveness. It was a really good message once more and Roger left everyone with the challenge of making a decision.
Globe Cafe was top notch again. Tonight was a Chinese evening. As well as a presentation about Chinese music, calligraphy and ying-yang, there was also a talk about whether Christianity is a religion just for the west. There were a couple of good conversations that I was involved in: about Christianity in Taiwan with some Taiwanese students and with a Japanese exchange student about why it's important to explore whether a religion could be true.
We're now over half-way through the week. I guess my biggest prayer at this stage would be that we'd see more of the same: more ground-breaking conversations as God changes more people.
[Currently listening to: Everything by Tim Hughes - awesome song, so encouraging]
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Essential Day 2
The alarm this morning went far too early. However, by the time I'd had a brisk, cold walk to the 8am prayer meeting and Bible study I was feeling surprisingly awake by my standards for that time of the morning. It was really good to encourage one another and to pray before getting on with the rest of the day. After the prayer meeting a few of us went to Rootes Resaurant to have a leisurely breakfast and this was a good opportunity to get to know a couple of the AMs (Assistant Missioners, who have come from outside the university for the week).
I did some work in the middle of the day - some reading towards an essay. I also went to a lecture, which was going on at the same time as today's lunchbar: "Birth, life, death ... is there more to life than this?" I did though manage to make it to the main meeting at half five. Today I thought this was very slick! The drama was outstanding - very funny and very thought-provoking. Roger was talking about how God could change people, citing the example of the woman who was caught commiting adultery in John 8 in the Bible. People seemed to really listen and Roger spoke in a very clear manner making some good key points (but also finding time for a few humorous anecdotes). I think we're very fortunate to have a speaker like him with us this week. The meeting also featured a really cool true story of how a Warwick student became a Christian - these are always really encouraging.
Globe Cafe took up the rest of the evening. I was amazed at how many people turned up for our Japanese evening! Praise God! There was some Japanese food (though not that much due to unexpected sheer weight of numbers) and a presentation about Japanese culture, including a lengthy explanation of Japanese toilets! A Japanese girl gave her testimony to round the evening off. It was quite exciting to hear her story and she was passionate about telling it so hopefully that might have got through to some people. Right, I'm off to bed. Hopefully I'll get somewhat more sleep than last night.
I did some work in the middle of the day - some reading towards an essay. I also went to a lecture, which was going on at the same time as today's lunchbar: "Birth, life, death ... is there more to life than this?" I did though manage to make it to the main meeting at half five. Today I thought this was very slick! The drama was outstanding - very funny and very thought-provoking. Roger was talking about how God could change people, citing the example of the woman who was caught commiting adultery in John 8 in the Bible. People seemed to really listen and Roger spoke in a very clear manner making some good key points (but also finding time for a few humorous anecdotes). I think we're very fortunate to have a speaker like him with us this week. The meeting also featured a really cool true story of how a Warwick student became a Christian - these are always really encouraging.
Globe Cafe took up the rest of the evening. I was amazed at how many people turned up for our Japanese evening! Praise God! There was some Japanese food (though not that much due to unexpected sheer weight of numbers) and a presentation about Japanese culture, including a lengthy explanation of Japanese toilets! A Japanese girl gave her testimony to round the evening off. It was quite exciting to hear her story and she was passionate about telling it so hopefully that might have got through to some people. Right, I'm off to bed. Hopefully I'll get somewhat more sleep than last night.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Essential Day 1
Essential has started! Woo! And so here's my post at the end of day 1 of this week (well ok, so as I'm finishing this off to post it's actually nearer the end of day 2 - looks like I'm going to be a day behind all week!). As this week is kinda different from any other I think my blog entries might take more of a journal-type approach than usual. I reckon I'll aim to record the main goings on of each day.
This morning started with an 8am prayer meeting (not a time at which I usually go anywhere for anything to be honest, so it came as rather a shock!). It was really encouraging to start the day in this way, however. Then after I'd had a lecture and a seminar there was a lunchbar entitled "Is it a case of God vs science?", featuring free food and a talk on the aforementioned topic. The talk was given by Roger Carswell, who's to be the main speaker this week. Whilst he's not a scientist himself, I thought he exhibited a fairly curious and scientific nature. He sought to explain how he felt the Bible and science weren't incompatible. For example, one of his key points was that there are many things that science can't explain. He also spoke about how science is made up of theories some of which are more definite than others. A key point that resonated with me was about how we often accept what the media tells us or what our friends tell us as fact, rather than going back to the original source. Clearly this could bias someone's view of the God v Science argument if people don't go back to the original source of the Bible, as I feel they often don't. It was really awesome to see a couple of friends come along to this and to be able to discuss things with them.
The main meetings this year are being held in Rootes Restaurant. The set-up wasn't great today as there were some dividers that are part of the furniture in Rootes Restaurant which were blocking the views of some people including mine. Despite these obstructions though it was a thought-provoking event and it was good to see the place fairly packed, including lots of non-Christians. Before the talk on "Do Warwick students need God?" there was a sequence of video interviews asking people that very question. The answers there went from one extreme to another and some were rather apathetic about it (as I'd expect I suppose). The talk was once more poignant and the evening was linked together well with a relevant drama sketch and a testimony from a Chinese student called Dustin.
Globe Cafe, which caters in particular for international students, had a French theme. So we had French food, as well as a quiz and some French music. The evening concluded with a talk about "How can I please God?"
After that I went to the 24/7 prayer room for a bit. We're trying to make sure that someone is praying for Essential every hour of the week (from 10pm on Saturday gone til 10pm next Saturday). By the time I got home in the early hours of the morning I was well and truly ready for some sleep, especially as there wasn't much time until the 8am prayer meeting.
This morning started with an 8am prayer meeting (not a time at which I usually go anywhere for anything to be honest, so it came as rather a shock!). It was really encouraging to start the day in this way, however. Then after I'd had a lecture and a seminar there was a lunchbar entitled "Is it a case of God vs science?", featuring free food and a talk on the aforementioned topic. The talk was given by Roger Carswell, who's to be the main speaker this week. Whilst he's not a scientist himself, I thought he exhibited a fairly curious and scientific nature. He sought to explain how he felt the Bible and science weren't incompatible. For example, one of his key points was that there are many things that science can't explain. He also spoke about how science is made up of theories some of which are more definite than others. A key point that resonated with me was about how we often accept what the media tells us or what our friends tell us as fact, rather than going back to the original source. Clearly this could bias someone's view of the God v Science argument if people don't go back to the original source of the Bible, as I feel they often don't. It was really awesome to see a couple of friends come along to this and to be able to discuss things with them.
The main meetings this year are being held in Rootes Restaurant. The set-up wasn't great today as there were some dividers that are part of the furniture in Rootes Restaurant which were blocking the views of some people including mine. Despite these obstructions though it was a thought-provoking event and it was good to see the place fairly packed, including lots of non-Christians. Before the talk on "Do Warwick students need God?" there was a sequence of video interviews asking people that very question. The answers there went from one extreme to another and some were rather apathetic about it (as I'd expect I suppose). The talk was once more poignant and the evening was linked together well with a relevant drama sketch and a testimony from a Chinese student called Dustin.
Globe Cafe, which caters in particular for international students, had a French theme. So we had French food, as well as a quiz and some French music. The evening concluded with a talk about "How can I please God?"
After that I went to the 24/7 prayer room for a bit. We're trying to make sure that someone is praying for Essential every hour of the week (from 10pm on Saturday gone til 10pm next Saturday). By the time I got home in the early hours of the morning I was well and truly ready for some sleep, especially as there wasn't much time until the 8am prayer meeting.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Evangelism
After not posting for a long while (due to university holidays, the presence of coursework and an exam and so on) I now find myself well and truly back into the swing of blogging. Two posts in two days: not bad given my past posting rate huh?
Anyway, I thought I'd have a little natter about evangelism today. Clearly it's not going to be possible to say everything that I want to about evangelism. It's a huge area with so much ground that I could cover, but I did want to touch on it as we find ourselves on the eve of Essential (Warwick CU's mission week, which starts tomorrow - well later on today as it's now the early hours!).
I've been thinking a lot about evangelism recently and in particular about why I haven't been involved in it more and why I'm so rubbish at it. It's the kind of thing that's easy to get daunted by I think and perhaps the hardest part is getting started. To get started you need good motivation. So why exactly do we as Christians tell others about Jesus?
My favourite quote about is evangelism comes from Charles Spurgeon who said that evangelism is simply "one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread". This is so true - we're simply pointing other people in the direction of where they can get exactly what they need. The trouble is, most people don't realise they need it (the Bible says that they are blinded from the light - ask me if you want the reference). Which is perhaps one reason why some people get rather annoyed by evangelistic approaches from Christians - they don't see the need for any of it. However, we should want to see others turn to God as He commands us to love others and if we truly love everyone (yep, even our enemies) would we leave them to die in their sin? (as the Bible says that they will without knowing Him) Matthew 28 (verse 16 onwards) is the key passage that commands believers to go out and tell others.
Anyway, that's just a very brief outline of the motivations for evangelism, constituting a very small part of what I could say about evangelism. Maybe I'll come back to it at a later date, but for now it's time to put this theory into practice in the shape of Essential.
Anyway, I thought I'd have a little natter about evangelism today. Clearly it's not going to be possible to say everything that I want to about evangelism. It's a huge area with so much ground that I could cover, but I did want to touch on it as we find ourselves on the eve of Essential (Warwick CU's mission week, which starts tomorrow - well later on today as it's now the early hours!).
I've been thinking a lot about evangelism recently and in particular about why I haven't been involved in it more and why I'm so rubbish at it. It's the kind of thing that's easy to get daunted by I think and perhaps the hardest part is getting started. To get started you need good motivation. So why exactly do we as Christians tell others about Jesus?
My favourite quote about is evangelism comes from Charles Spurgeon who said that evangelism is simply "one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread". This is so true - we're simply pointing other people in the direction of where they can get exactly what they need. The trouble is, most people don't realise they need it (the Bible says that they are blinded from the light - ask me if you want the reference). Which is perhaps one reason why some people get rather annoyed by evangelistic approaches from Christians - they don't see the need for any of it. However, we should want to see others turn to God as He commands us to love others and if we truly love everyone (yep, even our enemies) would we leave them to die in their sin? (as the Bible says that they will without knowing Him) Matthew 28 (verse 16 onwards) is the key passage that commands believers to go out and tell others.
Anyway, that's just a very brief outline of the motivations for evangelism, constituting a very small part of what I could say about evangelism. Maybe I'll come back to it at a later date, but for now it's time to put this theory into practice in the shape of Essential.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
One World Week
This past week (13-21 Jan) at Warwick has been "One World Week", which is widely plugged as being the "World’s Largest Student-Run International Event". There are apparently more than 120 nationalities represented in this weeks festivities (so I guess that means it includes people from about 1/2 of the world's countries - not bad really). The week consists of loads of cultural shows: music, dance, a fashion show, food from many countries, sports competitions and forums on different subjects of a global nature.
According to their website, OWW is "a well-respected annual event that stimulates personal development through a week of Festival, Forum, Arts and Sport". It aims to promote "a view based on acceptance and appreciation of the world's mosaic of cultures." It started out as a one-day event 10 years ago and has evolved into nine days of "cultural celebration, unity and a belief for a better future."
International students are a significant part of the fabric at Warwick. Around 25% of our 16,000 students are international students. Yet there seem to be at times quite sizeable divides between the different nationalities on campus. One World Week, although only lasting for one week, does something to address this issue. I don't think I'm the only one who feels that whilst being a step in the right direction, it's a step which is quite small. That said, One World Week provides a fantastic opportunity for different facets of different nations to be displayed and celebrated. I've not attended a huge amount of OWW events since I've been at Warwick, but this year I have witnessed marching bands in the piazza, Asian music performances in the students union and a forum about whether foreign aid is effective. All very interesting stuff.
It's rather sad to see so many people from overseas feeling a little alienated by the fact that British students would rather spend 100% of their time with fellow Brits. The British student lifestyle, which for a reasonable number involves going out and drinking in excess regularly, is not always one which international students are keen to follow. And personally I'm rather glad that a lot of them don't. This is just one small reason why international students are seldom as included as they ideally would be. Whilst it would be easy to criticize internationals for forming their own "mini-ghettos" by hanging out purely with their countrymen (and women), I can't help but feel that in many cases the blame lies more at the door of us Brits.
I remember reading in the media after the horrific events of 7/7 last summer of how the community of Beeston in Leeds operated. White British people were living in the same street as many people with Asian and/or Muslim backgrounds. Although these two groups lived together alright - they would leave one another in peace, say hello to one another and so on - they seemed to spend time exclusively with members of their own "group". Whilst there was not any physical divide, there seemed to be a hidden, underlying one. From my experience this is not unique to Beeston in this country by any means.
Ken Livingstone is always quick to praise London's diversity and to claim that it's a wonderfully multi-cultural place where everyone lives happily together. Happy on the surface maybe, but I suspect there is much tension underneath. Such tension is probably present in much of Western Europe - as it seemed to be in Paris with some of the race-linked uprisings not so long ago. Thus I'm of the opinion that a whole lot more needs to be done to integrate outsiders in our society.
As well as One World Week, Globe Cafe, which I'm involved in and is run by the Warwick Christian Union, also hopefully plays its part in bringing together people of different nationalities. Whilst primarily aiming to pass on the fantastic news of Jesus Christ through Globe, by following our calling to love people (including foreigners) we also aim to make internationals feel at home at Warwick. And it really is a joy to know people from such a range of backgrounds. One thing's for sure in my mind, having so many internationals around certainly enriches the experience of being at university dramatically. That is, assuming you take the time to engage with them ...
According to their website, OWW is "a well-respected annual event that stimulates personal development through a week of Festival, Forum, Arts and Sport". It aims to promote "a view based on acceptance and appreciation of the world's mosaic of cultures." It started out as a one-day event 10 years ago and has evolved into nine days of "cultural celebration, unity and a belief for a better future."
International students are a significant part of the fabric at Warwick. Around 25% of our 16,000 students are international students. Yet there seem to be at times quite sizeable divides between the different nationalities on campus. One World Week, although only lasting for one week, does something to address this issue. I don't think I'm the only one who feels that whilst being a step in the right direction, it's a step which is quite small. That said, One World Week provides a fantastic opportunity for different facets of different nations to be displayed and celebrated. I've not attended a huge amount of OWW events since I've been at Warwick, but this year I have witnessed marching bands in the piazza, Asian music performances in the students union and a forum about whether foreign aid is effective. All very interesting stuff.
It's rather sad to see so many people from overseas feeling a little alienated by the fact that British students would rather spend 100% of their time with fellow Brits. The British student lifestyle, which for a reasonable number involves going out and drinking in excess regularly, is not always one which international students are keen to follow. And personally I'm rather glad that a lot of them don't. This is just one small reason why international students are seldom as included as they ideally would be. Whilst it would be easy to criticize internationals for forming their own "mini-ghettos" by hanging out purely with their countrymen (and women), I can't help but feel that in many cases the blame lies more at the door of us Brits.
I remember reading in the media after the horrific events of 7/7 last summer of how the community of Beeston in Leeds operated. White British people were living in the same street as many people with Asian and/or Muslim backgrounds. Although these two groups lived together alright - they would leave one another in peace, say hello to one another and so on - they seemed to spend time exclusively with members of their own "group". Whilst there was not any physical divide, there seemed to be a hidden, underlying one. From my experience this is not unique to Beeston in this country by any means.
Ken Livingstone is always quick to praise London's diversity and to claim that it's a wonderfully multi-cultural place where everyone lives happily together. Happy on the surface maybe, but I suspect there is much tension underneath. Such tension is probably present in much of Western Europe - as it seemed to be in Paris with some of the race-linked uprisings not so long ago. Thus I'm of the opinion that a whole lot more needs to be done to integrate outsiders in our society.
As well as One World Week, Globe Cafe, which I'm involved in and is run by the Warwick Christian Union, also hopefully plays its part in bringing together people of different nationalities. Whilst primarily aiming to pass on the fantastic news of Jesus Christ through Globe, by following our calling to love people (including foreigners) we also aim to make internationals feel at home at Warwick. And it really is a joy to know people from such a range of backgrounds. One thing's for sure in my mind, having so many internationals around certainly enriches the experience of being at university dramatically. That is, assuming you take the time to engage with them ...
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Season's Greetings
Season's Greetings? What on earth does that little phrase that you see everywhere at this time of year actually mean? A year or two ago I was sent the message that a modern-day Christmas card apparently should contain. I reckon it shows pretty well what a PC-mad environment we're living in! It went as follows:
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral celebration of the northern winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.
AND
A fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition, of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2006, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures and without regard to race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.
Isn't that just ridiculous?! Anyway, I hope you have a very happy Christmas and a wonderful new year. I also hope you find the time to pause and think about what Christmas is really about. Although December the 25th itself was originally the date of a pagan winter festival, it was hijacked by Christians as a celebration of Jesus' birth. It was only this take-over that gave us something actually worth celebrating in a winter festival, rather than just the fact that there's loads on tv and you get time of school/work etc etc.
"Season's Greetings" to you all ;)
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral celebration of the northern winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.
AND
A fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition, of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2006, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures and without regard to race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.
Isn't that just ridiculous?! Anyway, I hope you have a very happy Christmas and a wonderful new year. I also hope you find the time to pause and think about what Christmas is really about. Although December the 25th itself was originally the date of a pagan winter festival, it was hijacked by Christians as a celebration of Jesus' birth. It was only this take-over that gave us something actually worth celebrating in a winter festival, rather than just the fact that there's loads on tv and you get time of school/work etc etc.
"Season's Greetings" to you all ;)
Friday, November 25, 2005
Make Poverty History
2005 will go down in history as having been the year of "Make Poverty History", white wristbands, Live 8 and Bob Geldof (amongst other things). But has it all been worth it and indeed was it a valid cause in the first place?
Personally I've been a moderate supporter of Make Poverty History (I wore my white band until it became so dirty that it would almost have been unhygienic to continue wearing it!). It's fairly blatantly obvious that the rich-poor divide in our world has been getting greater. It's simply not fair that as a global population we have resources a-plenty yet there are those who are dying in want. Every day people die of preventable diseases. Every day people die from a lack of food when in the west we can go to a supermarket and pick a meal off the shelf 24-hours a day. MPH ran extensively their "click" advertisements, which claimed that for every click in the advert (one every three seconds), a child dies as a result of extreme poverty. These facts must shock anyone who possesses a heart. For this reason I'm totally behind the principle of Make Poverty History, but doubt it can be achieved. Just because you can't complete something fully though, doesn't necessarily mean it isn't something worth striving for.
Live 8 was a fantastic event. Brilliantly organised, with fantastic intentions and many of the best bands and musical acts in the world. It was a privilege to be there. Coldplay, Keane, REM, Robbie Williams and The Killers amongst others provided a quality day of music that I'll never forget. The sun was shining, everyone was up-beat and it was great to be there with friends. The videos with the MPH message and the speeches of Bob Geldof, Bill Gates and others were very moving and one of my highlights of the day was the 200,000 people in Hyde Park standing in absolute silence watching an extended "click" video. Despite the way that people seemed to be moved by these videos on July 2nd, I'm dubious about how commited to Make Poverty History most people in this country actually are.
Sure, people in the UK seem to have been behind the cause of MPH - 200,000 at Live 8 in Hyde Park, white bands were everywhere earlier this year and so on. Yet I'm majorly underwhelmed by people's overall desire to see poverty relief. I've lost count of the number of strangers who have noticed my white MPH wristband and asked whether I was at Live 8 (why does wearing this necessarily mean that I was at the concert?). Every person that I've met in this way has wanted to talk almost exclusively about the entertainment value of Live 8. Granted in terms of entertainment it's probably the greatest event I've ever been to, but when I've been talking to strangers I always try to bring the conversation round to the MPH cause and no-one seems interested. I am far from convinced that people in this country are willing to make any real sacrifice. The general attitude seems to be "Yeah, nobody should be poor - that's injustice - I'll give to that cause ... as long as it doesn't affect me too much - I'm supportive as long as it does nothing to detract from my own comfortable, affluent lifestyle".
So, since the start of 2005, aid has been increased significantly; pledges have been made that corrupt leaders will be named and shamed; and modifications to trading laws have been promised. Will the money filter down to those who need it though? And will the money be used for the most beneficial things such as sustainable development, rather than for quick-fix solutions?
As a Christian I believe that ulitmately there's another reason why MPH is unlikely to do as well as many might hope and this is due to the fallen nature of man. As someone pointed out to me not so long ago, gospel freedom really needs to come before social freedom. Money will never be distributed fairly whilst man is living for himself. Man is by nature selfish, but Christ can free us from that. People may make great efforts, but ultimately human greed will surely undermine those efforts unless all hearts are changed by Christ.
So, whilst I'm sceptical, this does not mean that I'm against Make Poverty History. The principles are sound - we should do all we can to further the relief of the poor (What would Jesus do? Well, he fed the hungry, so surely we should do likewise). How will we answer future generations if we haven't even tried to aid the relief of poverty? We must do all we can, but I firmly believe that ultimately hearts need changing permanently by the one true power that can permanently change hearts to bring about any significant and lasting, permanent change.
Personally I've been a moderate supporter of Make Poverty History (I wore my white band until it became so dirty that it would almost have been unhygienic to continue wearing it!). It's fairly blatantly obvious that the rich-poor divide in our world has been getting greater. It's simply not fair that as a global population we have resources a-plenty yet there are those who are dying in want. Every day people die of preventable diseases. Every day people die from a lack of food when in the west we can go to a supermarket and pick a meal off the shelf 24-hours a day. MPH ran extensively their "click" advertisements, which claimed that for every click in the advert (one every three seconds), a child dies as a result of extreme poverty. These facts must shock anyone who possesses a heart. For this reason I'm totally behind the principle of Make Poverty History, but doubt it can be achieved. Just because you can't complete something fully though, doesn't necessarily mean it isn't something worth striving for.
Live 8 was a fantastic event. Brilliantly organised, with fantastic intentions and many of the best bands and musical acts in the world. It was a privilege to be there. Coldplay, Keane, REM, Robbie Williams and The Killers amongst others provided a quality day of music that I'll never forget. The sun was shining, everyone was up-beat and it was great to be there with friends. The videos with the MPH message and the speeches of Bob Geldof, Bill Gates and others were very moving and one of my highlights of the day was the 200,000 people in Hyde Park standing in absolute silence watching an extended "click" video. Despite the way that people seemed to be moved by these videos on July 2nd, I'm dubious about how commited to Make Poverty History most people in this country actually are.
Sure, people in the UK seem to have been behind the cause of MPH - 200,000 at Live 8 in Hyde Park, white bands were everywhere earlier this year and so on. Yet I'm majorly underwhelmed by people's overall desire to see poverty relief. I've lost count of the number of strangers who have noticed my white MPH wristband and asked whether I was at Live 8 (why does wearing this necessarily mean that I was at the concert?). Every person that I've met in this way has wanted to talk almost exclusively about the entertainment value of Live 8. Granted in terms of entertainment it's probably the greatest event I've ever been to, but when I've been talking to strangers I always try to bring the conversation round to the MPH cause and no-one seems interested. I am far from convinced that people in this country are willing to make any real sacrifice. The general attitude seems to be "Yeah, nobody should be poor - that's injustice - I'll give to that cause ... as long as it doesn't affect me too much - I'm supportive as long as it does nothing to detract from my own comfortable, affluent lifestyle".
So, since the start of 2005, aid has been increased significantly; pledges have been made that corrupt leaders will be named and shamed; and modifications to trading laws have been promised. Will the money filter down to those who need it though? And will the money be used for the most beneficial things such as sustainable development, rather than for quick-fix solutions?
As a Christian I believe that ulitmately there's another reason why MPH is unlikely to do as well as many might hope and this is due to the fallen nature of man. As someone pointed out to me not so long ago, gospel freedom really needs to come before social freedom. Money will never be distributed fairly whilst man is living for himself. Man is by nature selfish, but Christ can free us from that. People may make great efforts, but ultimately human greed will surely undermine those efforts unless all hearts are changed by Christ.
So, whilst I'm sceptical, this does not mean that I'm against Make Poverty History. The principles are sound - we should do all we can to further the relief of the poor (What would Jesus do? Well, he fed the hungry, so surely we should do likewise). How will we answer future generations if we haven't even tried to aid the relief of poverty? We must do all we can, but I firmly believe that ultimately hearts need changing permanently by the one true power that can permanently change hearts to bring about any significant and lasting, permanent change.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
If I'd wanted a Russian winter, I'd have moved to Russia
Oh my life! It is so, so cold outside! And I keep having people tell me how it's "going to be the coldest winter for decades" and the like. :(
I guess it wouldn't be nearly so bad if it hadn't come on so very suddenly. Up until about Tuesday, it was a lovely mild autumn, with people often walking around campus in t-shirts. Then, all of a sudden Wednesday hit us and it was as if we'd suddenly found ourselves in Siberia.
On the flip-side of the whole "I hate how cold it is" thing is the fact that there have been glorious clear blue skies almost every day this week. I guess the cold is just the price that we have to pay for this. If it's going to stay this cold though, then it would be nice to have a little snow for a change. But maybe that's asking too much.
I guess it wouldn't be nearly so bad if it hadn't come on so very suddenly. Up until about Tuesday, it was a lovely mild autumn, with people often walking around campus in t-shirts. Then, all of a sudden Wednesday hit us and it was as if we'd suddenly found ourselves in Siberia.
On the flip-side of the whole "I hate how cold it is" thing is the fact that there have been glorious clear blue skies almost every day this week. I guess the cold is just the price that we have to pay for this. If it's going to stay this cold though, then it would be nice to have a little snow for a change. But maybe that's asking too much.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Plans for University Holidays
Incredibly it's already nearly the end of week 8 (out of 10) of the term at Warwick. So, just a shade over a couple of weeks til the Christmas holidays are upon us. Those couple of weeks are going to be incredibly hectic and no doubt jam-packed with stuff (not that the previous 8 or so haven't been) and with that in mind I thought it was high-time that I started to give a little consideration to what I might get up to over the 4-week break.
In the past I've worked, rested, studied and been overseas in the winter holidays, but this year I suspect that the overseas travel and work might be missing. I guess this is partly because, being a final year student, I should probably take my work a bit more seriously this year and so forsee the opportunity to catch up on all of the reading that I should have done but haven't done this term. It might also be a good idea to get cracking on a couple of assignments as for me it always seems easier to work during the holidays on these sort of things as there are far less distractions! During term-time if I have work that isn't urgent, but there's something else going on as well (e.g. football, a CU event or just a trip to the bar etc) then the work tends to get somewhat neglected!
Thus I reckon the holidays will be quietish and will probably see me spending a couple of weeks at Warwick (I even get to stay in my campus room this time, unlike in the 1st year) mainly doing work (or at least that's the aim ...) and a couple of weeks at home. Hopefully the time at home will be spent catching up with friends, relaxing and taking time out to appreciate the true meaning of Christmas.
In the past I've worked, rested, studied and been overseas in the winter holidays, but this year I suspect that the overseas travel and work might be missing. I guess this is partly because, being a final year student, I should probably take my work a bit more seriously this year and so forsee the opportunity to catch up on all of the reading that I should have done but haven't done this term. It might also be a good idea to get cracking on a couple of assignments as for me it always seems easier to work during the holidays on these sort of things as there are far less distractions! During term-time if I have work that isn't urgent, but there's something else going on as well (e.g. football, a CU event or just a trip to the bar etc) then the work tends to get somewhat neglected!
Thus I reckon the holidays will be quietish and will probably see me spending a couple of weeks at Warwick (I even get to stay in my campus room this time, unlike in the 1st year) mainly doing work (or at least that's the aim ...) and a couple of weeks at home. Hopefully the time at home will be spent catching up with friends, relaxing and taking time out to appreciate the true meaning of Christmas.
Monday, November 07, 2005
CU Houseparty
This past weekend I went on Warwick CU's "CU Houseparty". Perhaps the best way to describe it to those who don't know what this is is to quote the tag-line:
"it's a party - in a house, although not really..."
This sums it up pretty well as houseparty isn't exactly as it says on the tin - more accurately it's the CU's annual weekend away. The only time in the year that the whole of the CU get to go away together.
There were about 150 of us who went to a Christian conference centre called Quinta, which is in Shropshire (near Wales). Over the weekend there was the chance to listen to loads of talks (in main meetings and seminars), worship and pray loads (for campus, the persecuted church etc etc), discuss biblical issues in small groups and play loads of games and generally chill out with and get to know one another. It was a really fantastic weekend! I really enjoyed many aspects of it and left feeling really challenged, yet encouraged on many fronts. It definitely left me thinking why on earth didn't I go on either of the last two house-parties? It was one-of, if not the best weekend since I started at Warwick.
The speaker for the 4 main meetings that we had was a guy called Tim, who works for UCCF. He was helping us to explore the book of 2 Peter and I found a lot of the things that he was saying really useful, especially those about living with an eternal perspective.
On the Saturday, a good number of us went on a quite sublime walk which was highly enjoyable despite the constant rain. Some of the scenery local to Quinta is astounding (see my photo-page for pictures of this and other bits of house party). As the weekend was so packed with stuff to do I got little sleep, so arrived back at uni physically exhausted (before a lovely long recovery sleep), but spiritually refreshed.
One thing that someone said over the weekend that really struck a chord with me was about how weekends like houseparty need to be like an elastic band that is stretched so far that even a long time after the weekend it never returns to the shape it was before. We need to ask the Lord to help us to change permanently, not just to be in His presence for a weekend. This is definitley something that I've struggled with in the past after similar events and will be praying about this time around - that I remember things like living every day with an eternal perspective.
It really was a great weekend - I got to know a load of people a lot better and it was awesome to spend so much time worshipping and in prayer and to be challenged loads - but unless we'll able to let those challenges affect our lives then there will have been little point in going away. Hence the challenge of the elastic band ...
"it's a party - in a house, although not really..."
This sums it up pretty well as houseparty isn't exactly as it says on the tin - more accurately it's the CU's annual weekend away. The only time in the year that the whole of the CU get to go away together.
There were about 150 of us who went to a Christian conference centre called Quinta, which is in Shropshire (near Wales). Over the weekend there was the chance to listen to loads of talks (in main meetings and seminars), worship and pray loads (for campus, the persecuted church etc etc), discuss biblical issues in small groups and play loads of games and generally chill out with and get to know one another. It was a really fantastic weekend! I really enjoyed many aspects of it and left feeling really challenged, yet encouraged on many fronts. It definitely left me thinking why on earth didn't I go on either of the last two house-parties? It was one-of, if not the best weekend since I started at Warwick.
The speaker for the 4 main meetings that we had was a guy called Tim, who works for UCCF. He was helping us to explore the book of 2 Peter and I found a lot of the things that he was saying really useful, especially those about living with an eternal perspective.
On the Saturday, a good number of us went on a quite sublime walk which was highly enjoyable despite the constant rain. Some of the scenery local to Quinta is astounding (see my photo-page for pictures of this and other bits of house party). As the weekend was so packed with stuff to do I got little sleep, so arrived back at uni physically exhausted (before a lovely long recovery sleep), but spiritually refreshed.
One thing that someone said over the weekend that really struck a chord with me was about how weekends like houseparty need to be like an elastic band that is stretched so far that even a long time after the weekend it never returns to the shape it was before. We need to ask the Lord to help us to change permanently, not just to be in His presence for a weekend. This is definitley something that I've struggled with in the past after similar events and will be praying about this time around - that I remember things like living every day with an eternal perspective.
It really was a great weekend - I got to know a load of people a lot better and it was awesome to spend so much time worshipping and in prayer and to be challenged loads - but unless we'll able to let those challenges affect our lives then there will have been little point in going away. Hence the challenge of the elastic band ...
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Why blog?
So why did I decide to start a blog? I thought this would be a sensible thing to write about in one of my first blog postings.
I guess the main reasons for setting up this blog were my enjoyment of creative writing and the feeling that it would be interesting to have some of my opinions, reflections and stories "out there" for friends, family or anyone who's interested/lost on the internet to peruse through. Not only will my entries hopefully inform, challenge or entertain, they will also, I hope, help me to structure my thoughts better as there's so much information going into the human body that sometimes I find it can be helpful to ease a cluttered mind by getting everything out and committing it all to paper (or in the case of a blog ... to server). Also I love the way that God made everyone such that two people seldom see something in exactly the same way - situations are rarely black and white, but more often one of various shades of grey. Thus if my entries provoke a healthy debate of matters then that's great. So along those lines ... please feel free to post any comments that you may have in response to my blog entries. It would be good to hear your news and views.
What will I write about on my blog? Well, almost anything is within bounds I suppose. Things that are in the public eye and things that happen to me or are going through my mind (as I continue to piece together the jigsaw of life!) are subjects that are particularly likely to crop up here. One topic that is going to be banned (or at least kept to a minimum), however, is football. I talk about football far too much in life as it is, so I see little need to write extensively about it here. So it'll be like Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned, but not as funny. Having said that though, I can see myself having to make an exception to the no-football-rule for the world cup next year ...
I guess the main reasons for setting up this blog were my enjoyment of creative writing and the feeling that it would be interesting to have some of my opinions, reflections and stories "out there" for friends, family or anyone who's interested/lost on the internet to peruse through. Not only will my entries hopefully inform, challenge or entertain, they will also, I hope, help me to structure my thoughts better as there's so much information going into the human body that sometimes I find it can be helpful to ease a cluttered mind by getting everything out and committing it all to paper (or in the case of a blog ... to server). Also I love the way that God made everyone such that two people seldom see something in exactly the same way - situations are rarely black and white, but more often one of various shades of grey. Thus if my entries provoke a healthy debate of matters then that's great. So along those lines ... please feel free to post any comments that you may have in response to my blog entries. It would be good to hear your news and views.
What will I write about on my blog? Well, almost anything is within bounds I suppose. Things that are in the public eye and things that happen to me or are going through my mind (as I continue to piece together the jigsaw of life!) are subjects that are particularly likely to crop up here. One topic that is going to be banned (or at least kept to a minimum), however, is football. I talk about football far too much in life as it is, so I see little need to write extensively about it here. So it'll be like Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned, but not as funny. Having said that though, I can see myself having to make an exception to the no-football-rule for the world cup next year ...
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Litter
Well, it's maybe a strange thing to write about in my first blog entry, but today I'm going to have a little rant about litter ...
What's prompted this? Well, last weekend I was taking the bus into Coventry (lovely place, lovely place, don't get me started!) and the bus stopped at a stop. A couple of young lads (around my age, though they didn't look like students from my university - and the way one of them behaved I hope they weren't) got off the bus. One of them was carrying a bottle and proceeded to lob the bottle over a hedge into the garden of a company's premises. He then went on to rifle through his coat pockets, pulling out any peice of paper that he could find, before scattering them all over the pavement as he and his friend walked along.
It made me think that it would be great if someone went round to his house and threw a load of rubbish in one of his rooms - all over the floor would be good. How would he like that? A bit radical you may think and I don't think it's actually something I'd do (!), but I just thought that this guy was a grade-A moron for being so lazy, thoughtless and stupid when there was a bin just metres from where he was. I wonder how he would feel if he was treated in that way - one hopes it might make him reconsider his actions. By the way, no wonder Coventry has such a tacky reputation if that's the way that it's citizens treat it! (although clearly I'm exaggerating here)
What's prompted this? Well, last weekend I was taking the bus into Coventry (lovely place, lovely place, don't get me started!) and the bus stopped at a stop. A couple of young lads (around my age, though they didn't look like students from my university - and the way one of them behaved I hope they weren't) got off the bus. One of them was carrying a bottle and proceeded to lob the bottle over a hedge into the garden of a company's premises. He then went on to rifle through his coat pockets, pulling out any peice of paper that he could find, before scattering them all over the pavement as he and his friend walked along.
It made me think that it would be great if someone went round to his house and threw a load of rubbish in one of his rooms - all over the floor would be good. How would he like that? A bit radical you may think and I don't think it's actually something I'd do (!), but I just thought that this guy was a grade-A moron for being so lazy, thoughtless and stupid when there was a bin just metres from where he was. I wonder how he would feel if he was treated in that way - one hopes it might make him reconsider his actions. By the way, no wonder Coventry has such a tacky reputation if that's the way that it's citizens treat it! (although clearly I'm exaggerating here)
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