Letter To A Relay Worker

Dear new Relay worker,

Welcome to the family! As you'll be told numerous times in the next ten months, UCCF is made up of students, staff and supporters, you'll also come to find out that you'll always be a Relay worker. We're a family. A few years and a few thousand miles removed, those ties feel just as strong as they did.  So, from a member of the class of 06-07, welcome, it's good to have you.

Let me warn you, this is no dispassionate weighing up of the pros and cons of Relay life. It is impossible for me to exaggerate the debt i owe to UCCF. It's because of UCCF that i love the local church, because of UCCF i love the Bible, because of UCCF i preached my first sermon, and because of UCCF i make my living thus.

So what is Relay all about? Grace. You know that of course, if you paid attention at all during your stay at the Quinta. But it's not about grace as a phrase, or an idea, it's about grace when the rubber hits the road.

Grace extended to you when you fail, grace extended through you when others fail. Grace discovered in the pages of the Bible, from the shiny head of Wayne Grudem. Grace in coffee shops, in campus cafes, in late night conversations. Grace to keep you smiling on the Thursday of mission week, grace when you haven't slept in your own bed for a very long time. Grace when the CU you work alongside want to do something left of center, grace to not compare where you've come from to where you are. Grace when you answer, for the 150th, time the question, 'so what exactly do you do?' Relay is all about grace, and you'll learn that in ways i can't describe. And you'll keep learning that.

Relay is about relationships, With your fellow relays, supervisor and students. Relay will give you friendships you'll never forget. Relay will teach you to laugh at yourselves, taking the work seriously, but yourself, not so much.

Relay is hard. Most of you will be in a new town, or even a new region, miles away from anything familiar. Let this hardness drive you to Jesus, and open the door to new friendships. Relay is tempting. All you are is who you are on your knees before Jesus, don't ever forget that, whether your campus sees an historic revival, or nothing really happens during your time there. Relay is a unique opportunity. Go meet new people, go study, and study hard, go drink good coffee, go do something that has nothing to do with Relay at least once a week, go and run hard in a local church, go for walks in the country. Love people. Love people who belong to a different tribe, and people who are just like you.

Welcome to the family new Relay Worker, you're going to love it here...