The
Academy of Christian Discipleship 2004-2005
Sarah
Moulding
My interest in doing the Academy of Christian Discipleship course was instigated when my housemate signed up for the first year. It wasn’t until two years later however that I felt it was the right time to start on the course myself. My future thoughts were focused towards long term overseas work yet I felt there were some valuable basic skills and understanding that I could glean from such a course. Skills and understanding that would serve to set me up with a firm foundation for any future ministry.
My
year of study at the academy was an enjoyable and rewarding time.
The year began with a week of intensive outward bounds activities, most
of which I thoroughly enjoyed. That
week enabled us as the students to form close bonds of friendship and trust to a
level that would never have been achieved in just a classroom setting.
From
that exhausting start we launched into a full programme of lectures two days a
week and varying placement activities. I
had previously been involved with many of the church placements that we were
assigned to as I had been a member of the church.
But there was one placement in particular however that provided a very
new experience and threw me far out of my comfort zone.
This was the placement working with the youth. It was the one placement that I really struggled with from
beginning to end, yet despite that I learnt so much from it.
When I was in a situation right out of my depth, God was there and helped
me learn from the experience.
After
a busy Christmas period, and a production for the Sunday Club children in the
New Year we had a well earned break at a retreat centre up in Bala, North Wales. This was a very rewarding time spent relaxing, having fun,
and spending some quality time with God, to
hear what He had to say to us individually.
During the second half of the
year we had the opportunity to be involved with organisations apart from the
church setting. My placement at
this time was with Tearfund, helping to promote their work and raise the
awareness of poverty in a variety of different setting.
These included a community fundraising event for the tsunami, and various
talks about ‘make poverty history’ at a primary school, girls club, and
within church.
Our
lectures covered wide and varied topics including: doctrine, church history,
issues in pastoral care, sharing the gospel with people of all ages, and an
overview of the entire Bible. One
of the most memorable lectures was looking at the creative ways in which God
speaks to us and the way in which we can respond back to him.
Part of this involved a session doing pottery.
Throughout much of this session I was struggling to create some grand
masterpiece to take home. My
frustration got more and more as each piece I worked on ended up turning to
mush. This continued until I took a
step back and said, ‘Ok God, use me to make what you will and to produce
something beautiful’. This is
just what He did. What resulted was
quite plain and simple yet it was beautiful too.
I learnt a lot that day, to not try and struggle to do things on my own
all the time but to seek God and what He wants to do, and allow him to do it.
For
our valedictory service we were each asked to select a particular verse from
scripture that has come to mean something significant through the course of the
year. The verse I selected was from John 15:4
‘Remain
in me, and I will remain in you. No
branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.
Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me’.
It
was a strong lesson that I learnt through my time doing the academy, and am
still learning today in every area of my life.
Since
finishing the Academy course my husband and I have moved away from Aberystwyth
and are now both studying full time for a one year course in Applied Theology in
Cross Cultural contexts at Redcliffe Bible College in Gloucester with a view to go out and work in Bolivia at some point in the next few
years.
(Sarah was in receipt of an A.R.M.(Wales) bursary during her studies. Details are available from the secretary)