Underground gospel

It is full of cast-off sofas and television sets. It has an ancient organ and piano gathering dust in one corner, and a disused pool table shrouded by junk of all descriptions in the other.

A huge sheet of plywood covering the ancient snooker table props up two huge loudspeakers that pump out music generated by the two record decks that it also supports. The weather-beaten green side-door, the entrance to the room, is cheap, shabby and entirely appropriate. The room is not state-of-the-art, neither is it conventional in church terms. It is not luxurious, but comfortable. Not chic, but cosy. The Underground is the perfect venue for the youth outreach every Saturday and Sunday night.

This outreach initiative is pioneered by Dai Hankey, a 23 year-old skateboarder and DJ, with very little hair, very large trousers and an overwhelming passion for seeing the youth of South Wales come to know the awesome reality of Jesus Christ's true salvation power. Born and raised in Pontypool in the Gwent valleys, his parents, both committed Christians, remain his greatest living role models on how to communicate the gospel without necessarily speaking a word. Seven years after his conversion, Dai began working for Highfields as their detached youth worker, seeking to infiltrate the streets of the Cathays area of Cardiff with the truth of Jesus.

No angel

Throughout his first 15 years of life as a pre-Christian Dai was certainly no angel. However, when confronted with some of the issues faced by the boys that he was about to connect with, he had to confess that he had really been quite a tame young man! Certainly, whenever Dai went down to the car park where they all used to congregate in the evenings at 7 o'clock, they'd all be sky high on drugs on a mission of mayhem, and certainly in no mood to hear a three-point sermon on how Jesus could change their lives. Where do you start?

1 Peter 2.12 says: 'Live such good lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong, they might see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us'. The credibility in the gospel that his parents preached to Dai and his sister, was not in their words so much as in the visible evidence of Christ in their lives: a testimony that was clear, consistent, and powerful. This was the challenge to Dai.

If these young people were to see the evidence of Christ in his life, the evidence had to be there in the first place. Dai had to realise that the sanctification process never ceases.

Intro-environment

He saw that the next issue was to create an environment where these street youths could be introduced to true radical, life-changing Christianity, not the rubbishy, liberal, half-hearted, light-weight, do-your-best, wishy-washy, diluted, traditional, legalistic type that does more damage than good to the cause of the kingdom. Hence, the birth of the Underground Youth Lounge.

The council's local youth club is open Monday nights to Friday nights, so the Underground opened Saturday and Sunday nights. The average age of those Dai was seeking to reach was around 17, so it opened late - 9 p.m. until around midnight. Dai asked them what they wanted in a youth centre - and provided DJ equipment, a pool table, computer consoles and more sofas than MFI! All the 15 regular team members are volunteers, some students and some friends, some Welsh, some English, some Calvinistic, some charismatic, some male, some female, but all in love with Jesus Christ and united in the aim to see his name exalted in this desperate generation.

The unity of purpose and direction, love towards one another and godly conduct in their own relationships, is of fundamental importance at the Under-ground. 'Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer' (Romans 12.9-12). Consequently, over the past eight months genuine bonds have been forged outside of the Underground environment, so that commitment to each other is more evident and genuine when the team work together.

Regular punters

There are over 100 names on the books, but there is a regular core of between 20 and 30 regular punters. There is no routine preaching slot during the hours that the Underground is open. The approach is purely relational. Dai said: 'We believe that just as the rich young ruler was drawn to Christ to ask 'What must I do to inherit eternal life?', so our objective is with the youth of Cathays. Our unwritten mandate is 'If they ask, well, tell them. If they don't, well, show them!' I believe that the church's hit-and-run approach to reaching the lost for Christ in recent years, coupled with the damage inflicted by the compromising of Christians who fail to make Christ count when it really matters, has left this generation sceptical about the real power of the gospel, and the motives of the church in its attempted outreach.'

Real people

'If we treat people as merely evangelistic targets, as potential statistics for our 'successful evangelism yearbook', rather than seeing them as sheep without a shepherd who are hurtling to hell, and being overwhelmed with Christ's compassion for them, are they not discerning enough to appreciate our superficiality? These are real people, with real needs, often having little (if any) appreciation of what real unconditional love, total trust, acceptance and self-worth are. We need to rebuild the bridges that have been burned.'

Dai goes on: 'Yes, there are many socially unacceptable characteristics to many of these young people, but arguably where the church has failed to really impact this generation is in its 'You shouldn't do drugs, you shouldn't sleep around, you shouldn't steal' attitude. These are all very commendable in theory, but if you stop a teenager from smoking dope, sleeping with whoever he pleases, even stopping him from swearing, what you have left is a clean-living teenager still destined for hell! I thoroughly believe that once the Holy Spirit is working in someone, he will sniff out all the filth and purge the Christian from within, 'for what do righteousness and wickedness have in common?' (2 Corinthians 6.14) True conversion is not making bad people into nice people, it's someone baring their soul to Christ in repentance, and letting his Spirit work its sanctifying purpose.'

Making a contribution

'Naturally, one of our objectives at the Underground is to see social regeneration in those who attend, that's partly why the centre is open so late on the weekends, it helps the youngsters stay out of mischief.'

Indeed, figures of reported crime in Cathays over the winter period (December 1999-January 2000) are down 40% on the previous year. The opening of the Underground last autumn has contributed (in part at least), to this reduction. Certainly many of the youngsters known to the police for delinquency, theft and drug abuse are among the most regular punters at the Underground. The contribution of the Underground to the community has been recognised and honoured by the Lord Mayor of Cardiff, and both the local council and police are fully supportive. The project has seen answered prayer, with some of the young people becoming far more socially aware, holding down jobs, starting tertiary college courses, giving up drugs, etc.

'However,' said Dai, 'it must be said that our overriding aim is to see these boys in heaven with us.'.

Underground gospel

The Underground Youth Lounge is a small, self-contained, shoebox-type room in the basement of Highfields Free Church in Cardiff

No angel

Intro-environment

Regular punters

Real people

Making a contribution

Main Articles

Other articles