News From Viney Hill!
I've been working at the Christian Adventure Centre for a month now and I am already leading low ropes sessions and taking adventure walks by myself, which in a way is scary because of the levels of responsibility involved; but I know this is where God wants me to be because of the way things are progressing here.
I am living with a fantastic family who have introduced me to the local area and their church (which is not unlike St James' it even shares the same name!). I love my work and the other instructors at the Centre are brilliant, I've learnt so much already from shadowing them. But what does working at the Centre actually involve?
Well, the mission of Viney Hill is "to develop a Christian Community working to encourage and inspire personal, social and spiritual development through the creative use of outdoor pursuits". Over the next year I will get a feel for outdoor education and residential work which is what I will be stufying at university next year, so working here is already proving to be an invaluable experience.
It's fantastic being able to work in the outdoors doing adventurous activities knowing that God is at work here through the Christian values that the Centre upholds. I've done cleaning duties (!), administrative duties, welcomed groups in and out of the Centre; it's all amazing, but what I have discovered is how much of a difference it makes to a session if you build up relationships with the people you are instructing. Someone at the Centre described their role here as an 'outdoor youth worker', which I think is a great way of putting it. Doing and teaching adventurous activities is not only fun, but also encourages positive qualities wuch as motivation, a higher self esteem, and a belief that you can do things.
My training will go on throughout the year, as I work towards a GNAS Archery Leader's award and my Single Pitch Climing award. All I can say now is bring on the rest of the year! - Hannah Wilmott
This article was posted at 12:11 on 2nd November 2006
