Phil Timson is our new Youth Director and an evangelist from Peterborough. We grab a brew and catch up with him.

 

I’m  so excited to be here – by God’s grace He has called me into this role. My passion is both young people and word and action mission so I can think of no better position for me right now! I have loads to learn but, I believe that God equips those whom he calls and in His strength, the Lord will work through me.

 

My amazing kids have hijacked my life but I totally dote on them and love spending time with the three gorgeous women in my life; my wife Emma, daughter Annabella (5) and Sophie (3). Otherwise golf, tennis or time in the surf will make me a contented lad. I’m a wannabe surfer really – I boogie board but I do try tricks like 360s, and the bigger the surf the better.

Young people have so much drive and passion and I believe are the ones who will lead us in transforming our nation. When they commit to doing something they get on and do it – they get out of their comfort zone and face their fears for Jesus – I love it. God is calling them to be change bringers, and I want to be there with them.

When I was younger I used to do magic tricks taught by a magician who was a neighbour of mine. Not disclosing secrets is a key  rule for any magician, however I am now teaching my 5 year old  how to amaze her friends with some basic tricks. I’m just a big kid really and I often get “Daddy will you grow up?”. I will probably always feel young and young people keep me that way.

 

I fully expect to be mingling with the stars and celebs! Not really, but I will be connecting with lots of different people working in youth ministry; networking to see how HOPE can serve them and how we can all work together, on a bigger scale, to make an impact. I will be developing some missions across the country in order to mobilise youth, as we all follow Jesus and share with and serve our communities.

I became a Christian when I was young and felt God calling me to be an evangelist but I blew it back then. We can learn from our mistakes but I made masses of them – getting involved in drugs and a lifestyle all about myself. While I completely turned my back on God he never turned his back on me and he intervened and brought his life back to me and turned my life around. I am humbled by God’s amazing grace and mercy – it is undeserved – and leads me to the point I am now.

While I was youth worker at Bretton Baptist I initiated Street Invasion (set up five years ago) which is an exciting project where young people, from all over the city, get together for a week and do loads of creative evangelism, outreach and social action. We share our hope with our city and I’ll be doing some street evangelism as part of this year’s mission and I’m still part of the core team.