In2venture

Using a Watch as a Compass

This week is a really basic way to find north using an analog wristwatch.

Obviously this is not as accurate as a compass and is easy to get wrong by making simple mistakes, so never go out with the intention of relying entirely on your watch for finding direction – this is meant as a fun activity to try out and possibly a very last option in an emergency. There really is no substitute for a good compass.

The way to do this is simply to point your hour hand directly at the sun whilst holding your watch flat.

Obviously this is easier when the sun is visible, however you can still do this in cloudy conditions by sticking something in the ground and seeing where the shadow falls. The shadow will obviously fall away from the sun, so you can use this information to work out where the sun is and orientate your watch accordingly.

Once you have your hour hand pointing at the sun, the line directly between your hour hand and the twelve o’clock position will point south and from this you can work out the direction of north.

Can you do this from a digital watch, phone etc? Not directly, but you can use the time and create an analog watch face from rocks or drawing in mud/sand, marking on the 12 o’clock position and the hour hand position. The other option is to draw a watch face on a piece of paper. These improvised analog watch faces can then be used in the same way.

Also do bear in mind that this is the technique for the Northern Hemisphere only.

go out and give it a try.

– Graham

With this weeks upcoming Active Project trip down Smallcleugh mine, it seemed a good time to revisit a thought for the week from back in summer 2013.

For any of you who have been mining with me in the past few years, you will undoubtedly have experienced the Polo mint experiment.

Mines, when you get deep down are completely void of any light. They are one of the darkest of places you can find on Earth and no matter how long you sit there without a light source, your eyes will never adjust. I once read that your eyes take approximately forty minutes to fully adjust to darkness (not sure how true this is but it sounds good to me), however no matter how long you sit in this environment your eyes will never pick out any light. It is a strange and humbling experience to be unable even to see your own hand in front of your face.

In this environment we often get group members to snap a Polo mint in front of their eyes, which causes a small spark of light. In any other place this would be almost impossible to see.

For me this is a great way to think about life as a Christian. Jesus said he is the light of the world.

If Jesus is the light, I think we are the Polo mints of the world.

As Christians we often think of showing Christianity to others as bringing light into the darkness. This can often be as simple as living a Christian lifestyle and setting a good example. We may think that what we do is small and insignificant, but as we can see from the humble Polo mint, even the smallest spark can bring light into someone’s life.

– Graham

ICE – In Case of Emergency

This week’s tip of the week is worth five minutes of anyone’s time as it may just save your life.

There are two things you can do right now with your mobile phone to help the emergency services in the event you have an accident while out and about.

ICE – In Case of Emergency

If you have an accident the emergency services will want to contact your next of kin as soon as possible to let them know what has happened and where they are taking you etc.

Storing the person you would want contacted in your phone under ICE rather than their name will allow the emergency services to contact the right person straight away.

You can always store more than one person as your emergency contacts – simply store them as for example;

ICE – wife, or ICE – dad etc

Something to be aware of – does your mobile have a password?

If your mobile is password protected it won’t matter how many ICE contacts you have in there as the emergency services won’t be able to access them anyway. You can get around this by turning off your password when out on activity or engraving/writing your ICE numbers on your phone or phone case. Alternatively you can have them engraved on jewellery in the same way you would do with medical information.

Emergency Text

Another possibly life saving thing you can do with your mobile right now is register it with the emergency sms service.

While out on activity it is more than likely that you will be dropping in and out of mobile signal. In these cases making a call to 999 could be extremely difficult.

In these cases sending a text would be a lot easier as it will send often even with weak and intermittent  signal.

Not many people know that you can contact 999 via text – there is just one easy thing to do to register your phone with the service. Simply text ‘register’ to 999, when you receive your response it will ask you to text ‘yes’, and you are done.

Now in an emergency you can send a text containing the following-

Which service you require/briefly what is the emergency/location

E.g

Mountain rescue. Man mid thirties with head injuries. Grid ref – NY 329 282

Within 2-3 minutes you should get a response from the emergency services telling you they are on the way. After 3 minutes, if you have not received this response, assume that you have not got through and try again.

Remember – this will only work if you have registered your phone beforehand.

For more info check out – http://www.emergencysms.org.uk

Simple things that can make a huge difference.

– Graham

Introducing the In2venture Active Project;

The Active Project is the new program dedicated to working with and for the local community.

I chose the concept of ‘Active’ around a threefold idea.

• Active in the environment – taking people out into creation to take part in outdoor activities
• Active in faith – using these opportunities to introduce or encourage Christianity
• Active in the community – using the contacts created to perform work beneficial to the local community.

Active in the environment –

This new project will reach out to the local community, young people and families – providing them with the opportunity to experience the environment and creation in a way which they may not have experienced before.

Using all the tools, qualifications and experience at my disposal I will take members of the local community out into various locations ranging from mines to mountains, forests to rivers – along the way creating good fellowship and sharing new experiences.

Active in faith –

This project will aim to create new and meaningful friendships through shared experiences.

These meetings and activities will provide an excellent opportunity in which to discuss and explore Christianity in a comfortable and informal way regardless of whether you are a Christian, non-Christian or undecided.

Short and informal talks related to the activity or environment we are in will introduce topics of discussion and thought.

Active in the community –

This project will aim to be a positive influence in the local community.

Occasional events such as organised lake & mountain cleaning days will allow us to get together as a community and give something back to the environment.

Other community days will involve things such as first aid workshops where people can come along and learn new skills beneficial to them and the people around them.

Funding –

This project is close to the heart of In2venture and is exactly where we should be – working with young people and families in the outdoors to introduce or encourage Christianity is what we are all about.

There will be no set charge for people taking part; however these types of programs do cost money to provide. My hope would be that people would feel comfortable in donating whatever they can or wish to in order to help with the provision of this project, however this will not be expected.

And on into the future –

I have big hopes for the future of this project.

My plan would be that once a regular core group is established some of the focus could be switched to training in leadership skills with the aim of eventually handing over the running of the project to volunteers, freeing me up to start another project group and start the process all over again.

It would be amazing if in several years time we had a network of community groups all working in the local community encouraging each other and themselves in faith through the outdoors.

Prayer and support –

This project cannot succeed without the support of the local community.

There are many ways that you could help – there isn’t a single person that if willing, could not be of huge benefit.

The simplest way of helping this project is by sharing the details with people that you think could be interested. We regularly post on facebook (where you can ‘like’ us and share our posts), twitter (where you can follow us @in2venture and re-tweet our posts) and our website www.in2v.org.

Alternatively word of mouth is one of the best ways and we have leaflets available to help, which I would gladly pass on to you upon request.

Of course the best way of helping this project is through prayer. Please pray that we could be of benefit to the local community and be an encouragement in people’s faith, even if we are simply the smallest of sparks which will start the flame of Christianity.

If you would like to be involved in this project in any way or attend our events, please feel free to contact me –

Graham.simpson@in2venture.com

And we are under way…

The first date in the diary for the Active Project is a trip down Smallcleugh lead mine. Places are limited and are already going fast, so get in touch if you are interested.

– Graham

Waterproofing Matches

As we head out into 2015 I have had a lot of time to contemplate the year ahead for In2venture. As I consider my place in this future I found it helpful to look back on why I got into this role in the first place.

Why do I do it?

People often ask why I would work in a Christian outdoor centre and I suppose it can be traced back to two main defining moments in my faith journey, one on the surface more remarkable than the other.

Many years ago I went along to a Spring Harvest event with my then girlfriend and her family and a group of close friends. Throughout the festival many people would come back from sessions and meetings talking of how God had spoken to them and how they had had profound ‘Christian’ experiences throughout the day. I had always thought of myself as a Christian but was concerned that I had never felt the things they were claiming and had never had a particular sign or defining moment. This continued throughout the week, people having these experiences and me becoming numb to the environment I found myself in.

On the drive home to Darlington I decided to give my girlfriend a lift home to Durham where she was living while at university. On this journey she gave me a gift that she had bought me at the convention, a bible with a metal case inscribed with the picture of a drinks can and the text ‘Thirsty?’ written underneath. The meaning of the play on words was clear, what are you thirsty for? Are you thirsty for the knowledge and relationship contained within the cover? This book was to provide me with the sign I had been longing for all week.

After dropping her off in Durham I proceeded to drive home, taking my long but enjoyable route away from the motorway via the back routes. I got about half way when I became thirsty and pulled over to reach for a can of Pepsi I had in the back of the car, when at well after midnight in the middle of nowhere I clearly heard church bells ringing loud and close by. The ‘coincidence’ of the thirst, Bible inscription and church bells was not lost on me and I excitedly took this as the sign I had been looking for.

This incident has shaped my life and my career choice massively, but not in the way you might expect. This has shaped my life due to how little impact it had on me. I got the sign I was looking for and yet my attitude, lifestyle and views on life did not change in the slightest.

Years later, now working for in2venture I attended an evening meeting with a local Church Army captain working with in2venure at the time. I had a good relationship with him based on shared experiences in the outdoors and at the end of the meeting he asked to pray with me and to ask Jesus into my life.

This second incident has shaped the way I live my life, not because of the sign I thought I was looking for but because of the fellowship and commitment of the people around me.

I have no doubt that many people have a sign or defining moment that sets them on the right path but for me God worked through personal relationships and good fellowship.

Why do I work for a Christian outdoor centre?

I think that the outdoor environment provides an excellent place to have meaningful encounters with people, to demonstrate the Christian lifestyle and morals that I have chosen to try and follow.

At this point in my Christian journey I find the environment of being in a church and part of a church community essential, but many people do not feel comfortable there at the stage they are at. My work allows me to take these church principals and the Gospel out into God’s creation and reach people through personal relationships and shared experiences.

This is why I do what I do.

– Graham

Nappy Boot Drying

If you have young children at home, a pair of their disposable nappies can be a great help in drying your boots and shoes.

Simply turn a new disposable nappy inside out and shove it into your soaked boots – as they are designed to absorb moisture they should help the drying process by drawing the moisture from the boots (an effective alternative to scrunched up news paper).

Leave the boots in a warm, well ventilated area to dry.

The nappies can be dried out ready to be used in your boots again.

– Graham

As we are flung head first into 2015 we are often told we should be making some new resolutions to improve ourselves.

These resolutions often involve some kind of self improvement – eat less/exercise more is the usual gist of it. The resolution being a promise made to yourself which is often soon broken.

Whilst out on my bike I was contemplating the idea of revolution (brought on by the revolving wheels) instead of resolution.

The concept of revolution seems to fit better with my New Year’s promises to myself.

The dictionary can describe revolution in two ways – a very important change in the way things are done or a circular movement.

For me this seems a lot more accurate, I either make a significant change or come full circle only to repeat the same promise to myself a year later.

As Christians we are aware that we are not perfect and New Year’s resolutions are a great excuse to take a step back and look at ourselves. We also know that in reality there are many ways we could improve as Christians – the Bible asks us to strive to be like Jesus, a tall order for anyone.

Whilst eating healthy, losing weight and exercising more are all good things to aim for, ultimately Jesus does not care about how we look or what we eat. He cares about how we act towards him and our neighbours in day to day life. He calls us to live a life of love and to spread the Gospel message with those around us.

I hope like me you will be aiming at improving your spiritual wellbeing this year as well as the obligatory post Christmas diet – and of course let’s try and make this a revolution of the life changing kind.

However this is a great thing to aim for every year, even if we do end up back where we started.

– Graham