‘A legacy is something you leave behind that will benefit others.’
Have you noticed how in recent years everything and everyone has to have a legacy? Events, people, organisations are now measured by their legacy — by what of worth they leave behind.
Since 1980, Careforce has always been about people serving God — 2,610 volunteers from over 50 countries on more than 500 placements. As Careforce closes at the end of this year, I would like to suggest a possible legacy — three ingredients that future generations might appreciate about Careforce.
A role model
The first ingredient has to do with the remarkable growth over the last ten years or so in UK gap year programmes within evangelical organisations and churches. This growth can, in major part, be tracked back to Philip Tompson — the founder and driving force of Careforce in the late 70s and early 80s. He wanted to enable British Christians to spend their gap year in the UK serving with smaller evangelical churches mainly in urban contexts and with organisations directly ministering among those with disabilities and real social need.
Careforce right from the beginning has tried to ensure that Christians taking time out should be driven by a desire to serve God and their neighbour, rather than only seeking their own personal gain — servanthood rather than personal fulfilment. This desire to serve others in any kind of need can find expression within the UK as well as overseas.
For the first 15 years of Careforce, many larger evangelical churches and organisations in this country would point suitable people to Careforce and provide finance to enable Careforce to develop its programme. At its peak this relationship led to over 130 British volunteers serving with Careforce in 1999/2000.
Since then many of these evangelical churches and organisations have grown their own gap year programmes. Many who might previously have commended those wanting to take a year out to Careforce now hold on to them. The funding that used to come to Careforce from these churches has been redirected to fund their own gap year programmes. So now we have internships, pastoral assistants, gospel workers, ministry assistants… Our decline seems to have co-incided with growth elsewhere.
Part of this growth elsewhere has been fuelled by the example of Careforce. Our experience has helped others to see the value of enabling gap year opportunities in the UK — opportunities where volunteers can serve and give as well as grow as Christians and gain valuable life and ministry experience.
A beacon
A second ingredient to the Careforce legacy lies with the growth of the international side to our programme. This has enabled Christians from around the world — commended by their own pastors and leaders — to take up service opportunities for one or two years with UK churches and organisations.
It began quite slowly in 1994 as we recognised that there were very few Christian-based programmes enabling Christians to come to the UK — whereas there were over 50 organisations recruiting and sending Christians away from the UK.
As the decline in British Christians offering to serve with Careforce began to bite at the turn of the century, so we have experienced a real growth in numbers of internationals wanting to join our programme. Over 80% of our volunteer team in recent years have been Christians from around the world.
This interaction with Christians from over 50 countries worldwide has given us enormous joy. These volunteers have brought refreshment and inspiration to us as an organisation. But perhaps, more importantly, our placements have tasted the excitement of discovering at first hand that God is at work worldwide and have been delighted at the contribution these volunteers have brought to their own mission programmes.
Most of our international volunteers have come with a servant heart and a deep desire to engage in mission wherever they are based. Some of these international volunteers have reached people on their placements that others have found difficult and they have opened doors of opportunity into their local communities that might otherwise have stayed shut. And how challenging it has been to see their strong desire to engage in cross-cultural mission here in the UK.
There have been frustrations — negotiating the corridors of government to access visas and many hours waiting in the arrival halls of Heathrow and Gatwick while incoming volunteers have been screened by immigration — three to four hours’ wait from the moment of touchdown was not unusual.
We are encouraged that there are now more signs of others in the UK Christian community wanting to involve international Christians with their work in this country. Local churches and a few organisations are appreciating that, as long as visa doors remain open, there is a real opportunity for a genuine interchange of God’s people to engage in cross-cultural mission here in the UK.
Life after Careforce
There is a third ingredient to our legacy that will continue to show itself in the coming years. It is connected into a phrase that all generations of our volunteers have been confronted with as their time with us has drawn to a close. The phrase ‘Life after Careforce’ has brought home the reality of continuing on with discipleship and service as each volunteer moves on and lives out their faith wherever they find themselves in the future.
This ‘Life after Careforce’ is about growing our understanding of what it means to follow Christ in today’s world and how that might find expression in a life that is one of selfless service to others — often in difficult and hostile contexts — wherever and whatever is to be our future life path.
A servant heart lifestyle and a developing discipleship based on the truths of God’s word have been embedded into us as an organisation right from the start. It is something that we on the staff and our placement supervisors have striven to model to the volunteers all the way through from 1980 to 2012. This part of our legacy has more to do with what Paul outlined in I Corinthians 3.5-8: ‘After all, who is Paul? Who is Apollos? No more than servants through whom you came to believe as the Lord gave each man his opportunity. I may have done the planting and Apollos the watering, but it was God who made the seed grow! The planter and the waterer are nothing compared with him who gives life to the seed’.
For over 32 years Careforce has striven to be faithful in watering and nurturing those within our programme. What matters now is that there will be Careforce alumni all around the UK and the world — alumni who will bear testimony that it was God who began to fashion them to be more like him during their time with Careforce. It was God who gave them a focus for future service as they experienced God’s pull on their lives as they served on their placements. We trust that they will continue to demonstrate this God-given life as they shine as stars in a hostile world.
The organisation that has been Careforce will shortly leave the scene. The name Careforce will soon be consigned to history. But, as it goes, Careforce leaves a legacy to God’s Kingdom.
Ian Prior has been Director of Careforce since 1992.
Further information on Careforce can be found at http://www.careforce.co.uk/celebration.html
