Who are you not to be?
Coach Carter is an inspirational film about a basketball coach who works with a group of young men on the very margins of school and society. Carter helps them change from being a highly dysfunctional and disaffected group into a successful team.
One character teeters close to the edge of gang life for much of the film. But Carter will not let him be. He is on his case, challenging him and pursuing him, getting him to think differently. Their personalities clash and their relationship is far from smooth.
Towards the end of the film though, the jigsaw pieces have fallen into place, both in terms of the young man's life and his thinking. At a crucial moment in his life and indeed, the film, the young man stands and quotes from Nelson Mandela's inaugural speech:
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It's our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won't feel unsure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not in some of us. It is in everyone. As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our worst fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
Oasis believes that every single person is made in the image of God. That means that they are wonderfully unique, full of potential, and deserve the opportunity to discover the fullness of life they were created for.
Many young people today lack the chance to discover who they really are and what they can be. Maybe, like the young man in Coach Carter, it is fear that holds them back. Maybe their lives are riddled with hatred, unforgiveness or low self-esteem. Maybe their lives lack hope and direction because no-one has taken the time to listen to their dreams and longings. Perhaps it is because the adults in their lives don't believe in them or would rather they simply weren't there.
In John 10:10, Jesus said "I have come that you might have life and have it in all its fullness." It is that fullness, that liberation, that hope, that transformation that we, as Oasis, strive to bring in every place we live and work.
We are committed to bringing liberation to young people. To help them move on, to work for change and challenge the injustices that rob them of opportunity. At Oasis we take time to listen to and engage with young people, and as a result see them grow, excel, expand, and become more of who they were created to be.
Thank you for supporting us, for joining with us in this adventure. I hope you enjoy reading this edition of Newsround, which contains so many examples of transformation, liberation and change which are bringing hope for the future.
Jill Rowe, Ethos Development and Resourcing Director, Oasis UK