How to have a good gap year

Every year hundreds of young people leave the familiar cocoon of green old England and head off to spend some time on foreign shores. They may go as a gap year after finishing school; or as part of their university course; they may even be on a short-term placement with work.

Whatever the reason, all will share a huge variety of emotions as they depart. Excitement, fear, trepidation. Will I be happy? How will I cope with the language? Will I make friends?

If Christians, the situation can feel even more daunting, especially if they can't choose where they are to go. This may leave them asking whether there'll be a church, whether they'll meet any Christians. They may even wonder whether they'll keep going in their faith.

Off to Austria

These are the sort of concerns I had way back in 1989. As part of my degree in Modern Languages, I was to spend a year in Austria to improve my somewhat scrappy German. After sending off various forms I discovered that I'd been assigned to teach English in a school in a town called Krems-an-der-Donau, about half an hour from Vienna. I was to share a flat with three Austrian girls in the 'Arbeitergasse' - which translates most charmingly as 'Workers' Alley'.

As my departure approached I really began to worry - and not just because it sounded as though I was about to go and live in the poorhouse. Austria wasn't exactly known for its active and lively church scene - how would I cope? At university I'd been completely spoilt. I was used to being taught the Bible clearly each week and being surrounded by hordes of hungry (both spiritually and physically!) students. How would I manage without all this?

I expressed my concerns to a woman I met at a students' conference that summer. Amazingly, she was at a church which supported a man called Andrew Paige who worked in Austria for IFES (International Fellowship of Evangelical Students). 'Why don't you write to him?' she suggested, 'he would probably know about churches in your area'.

At last the day came for my departure. Not before, however, a letter arrived through my door with an Austrian postmark. It was Andrew. When I read his letter I couldn't believe my eyes. There was indeed a small evangelical church in Krems. Even more wonderfully, it met in none other than the salubrious Arbeitergasse! 'Workers' Alley' was maybe not such a bad place, after all!

Wonderful provision

I left England and arrived in Krems. Arbeitergasse certainly lived up to its name ƒin a picture book town, full of pretty houses and quaint little haunts offering Kaffee und Kuchen, my street was certainly the blot on the landscape. However, I knew that, ugly or not, I was right where I was supposed to be. Church couldn't have been any closer - no excuse for me to lie in bed on Sunday mornings! I literally walked out of my block of flats and into the little hall where everyone met.

It wasn't long before I appreciated just what a wonderful provision this was. This year in Krems wasn't going to be easy as a Christian. There was no one at church the same age as me. This wasn't surprising. Most Austrians I knew had no understanding of Christianity. In their minds only old people went to church and a Catholic one at that. They thought I was extremely strange. Added to that was the fact that my spoken German was pretty abysmal. The lovely people at church all spoke in broad dialect and I was struggling to take anything in. I knew for sure that, with all this combined, it was a very good thing that church met on my doorstep.

Floundering

I fear that if the church had been 20 minutes' walk over the other side of town my attendance would have dwindled. As it was, God had left me without excuse. He provided me with this group of Christians and the fact that I saw them each Sunday and once a fortnight for home group made all the difference.

I say this because as the year went on my relationship with God began to flounder. The work I did was far from onerous and I had plenty of free time. I found myself enjoying the dizzy delights of trips and parties and the attentions of boys. I was scared how, away from the constraints of close, accountable friends, I seemed to be able to think and act in a way I could never have imagined. I was struck that this was the sort of person I really was - that I didn't naturally love God and obey him. That left to myself I was rebellious and worldly and found it easy to leave God out of the picture.

God's grace

However, God is very gracious. With no thanks to me, I was kept Christian that year. As my German improved, church really helped. However, God also provided other things to encourage me.

First, I received some tapes from a Christian friend. Sitting on my (albeit ugly) balcony in the sun, I felt I'd been given a taste of heaven. I gobbled up this good, solid, spiritual food I'd been sent.

Second, I began to receive regular letters from a friend, also teaching English for a year, in Japan. She too was struggling as a Christian. We wrote to each other and encouraged each other to stick with Jesus. I even kept a picture of her on show to remind me.

Third, something very exciting began to happen in the life of a friend of mine. Charlotte, also over from England, lived in a house near me and I saw quite a lot of her. We shared the same friends and did the same things. Charlotte often popped in and we used to sit in my room and chat. I suddenly noticed that during these chats Charlotte's eyes were often drawn to the Christian books on my shelves. Soon she was asking to borrow them. She read voraciously and we talked a lot about what she had read. One wonderful day, Charlotte told me that she had put her faith in Christ and wanted to live life as a Christian. I could only thank God - both for saving her and for giving me a Christian friend in the most amazing of ways.

However, she wasn't the only one who became a Christian that year. One of my flatmates was a Catholic girl called Helga Holy. Now with a surname like that, Helga clearly stood little chance of escaping from God! One wonderful day, Helga asked if she could come along with me to church. Before long she was coming with Charlotte and me to home group and asking the people at church loads of questions. For the first time in her life Helga said she understood grace and forgiveness. She was soon talking excitedly about the Christian camp she was going to do in the summer. It was wonderful.

In short, it was a year when, despite my sin and laziness, God showered me with blessings and proved his fatherly care. When I drifted he acted to rein me in and give me help and friends that reminded me of his goodness and brought me back. It was a year when he proved that he isn't only a God who saves but also a God who keeps. He will never let one of his little ones escape from his hand.

Practical advice

So, if you face the excitement and challenge of a year away, here are some things to think about.

1. Church - take seriously Hebrews 10.24, 25.

It is vital you find a Christian family where you are going. You will need their encouragement to keep going and they will need yours. So find out everything you can about churches in your area. Try asking your church leaders for help on this.

Or write to IFES and ask them whom you should contact in the country you're going to. Their address is 321 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 2JZ, or you can email them at info@ifesworld.org. It's worth doing this before you go, if possible, as the chances are the non-Christian locals won't be clued up on somewhere suitable. In addition, if you find out some places to try before you leave England, then you can start as you mean to go on and show people it is important to you to meet with God's people week by week.

2. Personal Bible study - take to heart Psalm 119.9-11 and 2 Timothy 3. 16 and 17.

If you are to keep going as a Christian, obeying God and doing his will, you need to keep feeding on his Word, storing it up in your mind and heart. So plan what you might study while you're away. Decide what Christian books and tapes you might need to help you. Pack them or get a Christian friend or tape library to send them out.

3.Prayer - remember 1 Peter 5.7 and James 5.13 -18.

Our loving Father longs for his children to come to him with all their cares. Tell him your fears about the year and keep coming to him, day by day. Pray that he will protect you and watch over you and provide you with Christian friends. Get friends at home to do the same. Remember you pray to a Father who listens, a Father who 'is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine', a Father who 'is able to keep us from stumbling and present us blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy'.