It was September 2000 and the staff
team were brainstorming a range of ideas to raise the profile of Crusaders
nationally. “We could all be sponsored to have our heads shaved”
suggested Linda Jones, my PA. The thought terrified me and I was quick
to say no. I quite like my hair! However, the idea would not die and
thanks to Linda’s persistence we agreed that we would go for a
world record Head Shaving attempt in February 2001. The event would
take place in the Harlequin Centre, Watford and we would aim to shave
100 heads – breaking the existing world record by 14 heads. The
event would certainly demonstrate that Christians aren’t the boring
stereotypical people that the media so often portrays.
Two weeks before the main event we only had 35 people willing to part
with their locks. Things weren’t looking optimistic. Should we
cancel? No way – we felt that God had put everything in place
for a great event and we knew that we now had to leave our big, crazy
dream with Him. 2 days before the event and we still had just over 60.
God had promised me though that we wouldn’t be ashamed or embarrassed.
The day arrived and God well and truly poured his outrageous grace all
over our big, crazy dream. 154 heads were shaved! Hundreds of the general
public were spoken to. The atmosphere in the Harlequin Centre was electric.
Local shops got involved by offering free cookies and coffee to those
who took the plunge. The profile of Crusaders was very positively raised
– we even had a feature on BBC Newsround at the prime time 5:30pm
slot. It was a fantastic occasion with over £<to be confirmed>
raised for our ministry. The dream became reality!
For years, many of the Jewish remnant would’ve seen or heard about
the terrible destruction of the walls of Jerusalem. Yet it was only
Nehemiah who had a vision to restore the walls. He wept over the destruction
and dreamed off restoration. He then committed himself to make the dream
a reality, and despite being faced with tremendous opposition he managed
to rally a team around him who completed the work in just a few months.
Who would’ve thought it possible? The dream became reality!
The Bible tells us that in these days the young and old will dream big
dreams and have great visions. Better still, Paul reminds us in Ephesians
3 that God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or
imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…”.
Sometimes we Christians have been badly affected by the disheartening
statistics on the state of the UK church. We understandably feel discouraged
and may even start to wonder if things will ever change. We’ve
stopped dreaming! And when new dreams or visions appear on the horizon
we sometimes find ourselves looking at why they won’t work, rather
than really seeking God to help us make the vision a reality. For example,
when you look at events like our September 2001 “Life2themax”
Crusaders festival in Tatton Park, Manchester it’s easy to come
up with a load of reasons why it won’t work. It’s too far!
It might rain! It costs too much! It’s too cold! I want to really
encourage you though to start “catch the vision” for this
fantastic event for the Crusader family. Our dream is that 4,000 leaders
and young people will have a weekend packed with fun activities, great
fellowship, and ‘full on’ Christian challenges.
This year, and the years that follow, we have some big dreams about
what God can do through the ministry of Crusaders. We dream of an army
of radical young people committed to taking the good news to the generations
that don’t know God. The 5 year strategy plots the course to help
us make that dream a reality. But guess what? It’s not just about
a national or international dream. It’s about you personally daring
to dream about what God can and will do through your ministry at the
local level.
George Bernard Shaw once said “Some men see things as they are
and ask, “why?”. I dream of things that never were and ask,
“why not?”.
At the dawn of Crusaders new five year strategy I echo those words to
you today.
May God bless your dreams.
