Breaking the cycle of despair Cornwall

|PIC2|Everyone knows about the appeal of the Cornish coast ... breathtaking scenery and quaint fishing villages. Yet there is another side to Cornwall which Paul Aylen has discovered.

As an evangelist with OAC Ministries (Open Air Campaigners), Paul along with his Cornish wife Natalie felt called to move to Camborne last year and begin ministry. In spite of its upmarket tourist reputation, many residents live in poverty and are in great need of Christian support.

Struggling people are experiencing a vicious cycle of not being able to work and an inability to manage their lives and move forward.

Paul understands what they are experiencing first-hand.

"My own background was rough. Coming from a broken home and having anti-social behaviour, my youth was very troubled. I know what it’s like to be caught in a downward spiral of drink, drugs and petty crime. But I also know what it’s like to have Jesus break through to that cycle because He turned my life around," he said.

That is precisely why Paul is coming alongside people in their difficult circumstances.

As he explains, "Although I work especially with young people, I try to encourage entire families. Most of the youth I work with come from a council estate with deprived situations. About half of them come from broken homes.

|PIC1|"The majority of older people who live here are not interested in spiritual matters. With youth it’s different. They seem to be a lot more open to discussion, searching, even wanting to learn and understand. Also, young people here are not yet as engulfed in technology and money the way they are in the city," he says.

Paul reaches out to many grappling with family problems. For example, one man is trying to deal with raising his children by himself as his estranged wife has no interest in their children. He’s not capable of working and struggles to cope.

Being supportive of them, Paul is aware of the responsibility of mentoring young people and pointing them to a brighter future. When he began a youth club last year, two children came. Now the group has grown to 14, including teenagers. Six have been baptised and try to understand what Paul teaches them from Scripture about the way forward in life.

"To begin with, the young people definitely had unacceptable behaviour," he notes. "They needed to see different possibilities, activities they’ve never experienced. The club includes playing pool and badminton, taking walks. Now they can enjoy themselves without being anti-social. They are really being transformed. Christ can break their cycle of despair – I know because He did it for me."

For more information, please contact OAC at www.oacgb.org.uk