We are wonderfully at the gathering in a film, this winter with Christian Vision for a minute and we have been in the West End which is quite warm but what's exciting me is getting to do some face-to-face interviews with actual, real, leading, breathing people which is fun. So I brought with me now John, hello John, hello. So we met earlier in his live radio because just to my right, which you can't see right now we've got some remote controlled tanks, so let's just start there. Why have you brought tanks to a field near Swindon? I got into radio control model tanks because it was something that I loved doing as a child or would have done had I had the money and as an adult I do have the money to indulge the things that I always wish I had as a teenager. So I started collecting these tanks and the collection got more and more out of hand and then I had to think, right, I've got to do something with this, I can't just accumulate dozens of tanks. So I then had the idea of bringing them here and that's been very well received. It's hugely popular, the activity's been running pretty much solid all afternoon, I've never seen it, not busy all day. Brilliant, which is what you want to see, you don't want to be standing around, it's greater for the guys that are just getting involved with it. Now we were talking earlier about that which I love, there's one part of that which I just wanted to touch on a game so I thought it would be good just to share once more, which is you can go to churches with tanks to engage your guys. Is that right, did I remember this? Absolutely, so one of the challenges that I find is I don't have any particularly gifting, it's traditional to church ministry, I'm not musical, I don't do children's work, anything like that. And there are some small niche things that I can do which are quite a specialist which are not covered by other people. And so for example I can use this activity, the radio control model type battle, to reach guys that aren't interested in church stuff, they're not going to go to any church or Christian events, but they'd be up for doing something fun like this. Yeah, I think if I need a local church within some of the remote control tanks, I would not be missing that, that would be in my diary, locked and loaded with the notification saying do not miss it because it's just, it's different, but it's also something which is going to grab people and I love you saying that you've got into it, you've started collecting them, but actually when you're younger you couldn't do that, so as you've got older you have this collection. I love how God's used to who you are, who we made you to be, to do something that's just an interest in one sense, but actually it's grown into something which is happening clearly, which can help you engage your people. So how often do you actually get to go to churches, is it, is it a local area, do people know about this? Well I've recently started offering it to churches, but this is the second time that we've come to the CBM gathering. And we did it for the first time two years ago, and it's grown substantially since then, I've got a lot more tanks and a lot more people, and we've got a whole engine room of people working on the tanks, so we had a battle damage repair workshop all morning today because the tanks got battered last night, and they were used to everything. And so yeah, it's grown all the time, and it's a delight to be able to use my passion, my interest and my resources to do something useful, that's far better than me just to tell you myself, in my own sort of home and my own domain. And that's the thing though, I always say that we're made on purpose with purpose, and you said that you didn't have any actual additional gifts for churches, but you clearly do, because the whole point for me to church at least is that we can engage your people in some way and tell something to our story who God's made us to be in order that we can actually engage with others, and there's always going to be some level of interest where, you know, we can kind of look at you and think, you know, this is where we're going to connect, but you're just connecting with guys with remote control tanks. And the other thing which I wanted to talk about is, you mentioned someone, and I thought, wow, there was almost impassing, I thought, well that's fascinating, which is Christians in motorsport. Just tell us a bit about that. I got involved with this nearly 25 years ago actually, and it was purely focused on Formula 1 series, Padre and Safety Car Driver, Alex Ribeiro, to the Formula 1 paddock, and then it sort of devolved into all aspects of motorsport, heavily mentored by the Americans. They have the whole Bible Belt culture and NASCAR in the deep south, and they have chaplains who follow the series, they pray over the Tanoy to the Grandstands, which is amazing, and so we were really inspired by that, and we got the Motor Racing Outreach guys to come over from the States, they gave us a training day, mentoring on how to be a chaplain in a motor racing environment to a circuit, and to the staff and professionals in the general public, and it's just developed from there really. So what do you actually do? Are you going there to meet things? Are you now a chaplain within a particular branch of motorsport, or is it just trying to get guys who are interested, or is it, you know, guys and girls as well? Well, there's all different elements to it, so it's supporting the individual club and competitor, so that he can spread the gospel and perhaps be a witness to his fellow competitors, and people that he meets in his very localised thing, right up to the guy who works in Formula 1, and he's based on a team and working at the factory, and that's his workplace ministry effectively, and people who are very high-profile drivers and competitors, and they can use that reach and influence and media prayer for artists, spread the gospel as well. So you're not just, you know, doing Formula 1 only, there's going to be what different branches are motorsport? Absolutely, it's everybody at every level of motorsport in their particular era, in their area. So if that's their mission field, be they male, female, younger old, and professional amateur, that's their mission field, and only they can reach that mission field, because we haven't got deep look at coverage here, you know, we've got to empire and equip everybody to do their bit in their area. Where's faith for you? What was your upbringing? Have you got your classic church background, which is probably what I had? Was it more kind of Paul Damascus blight lights, you know, what's your journey into faith? Just a sort of village Anglican background growing up, and then I sort of came to faith as a teenager, going to a Christian Union, but it was a very quiet personal faith until I got to university and I joined the Christian Union, and then things started to develop, and over the years with the Armed Forces Christian Union, and that sort of thing, it's developed into a more active and more profound faith, really, a more vibrant day-to-day dynamic faith, I would say. I love meeting people, I mean, my own background is I was brought up in really kind of church family, we went to church, Anglican church is pretty much, I was at seven, eight, eight years old, and a Baptist church, and that was my upbringing, but my wife, she had a completely different experience. She was in Leon in France, in very much not a Christian context, and yet it was, you know, bright light kind of thing, but we're all different, and we all come to God in different places, but he takes who we are for him, and I love what he's doing with you. I own remote control tanks, which is, you know, in a men's gathering like this, or with the Christians in motorsport. What is it you're enjoying at the gathering? I'm sort of going back into my mode of interviewing, gathering people, but what are you enjoying about being in a field near Swindham with 2000 guys? It's real guys, adding real-world staff, so we are, nothing special, we're just regular guys, members of the general public, there's no theologians here, no highbrow staff, it's not aimed at, you know, heavyweight bible teaching and this sort of thing, which can be a bit off-putting for people who are not heavily into the Christian thing. It's very accessible, but it's just guys hanging out, having a good time, developing relationships, doing the fact, having a barbecue, just enjoying the weekend, and that's what I love about it. So, let's just do this in two parts, remote control tanks, how can people find out about who you are and where you are? I think you've said you're on a Facebook page? That's right, people search for "armadillo", two words on Facebook, "arma" as in "tankama" and "dillo di double la", and that's how they can find us on social media. Cool, and we'll link to that as well, for people who are listening or watching, and then Christians in motorsport, how do people get hold of that affair, you know, whether they're a racing driver, whether they are in mechanics, whether it's just, you know, they're in the paddock doing whatever, how do they get hold of you? Our website should be back online saying, which is christiansimmedisport.org, or they can find us on Facebook, just under Christians in motorsport and connect with us from there. Can I just say thank you for what you're doing, because remote control stuff, it might have an idea of what it is, but I just want to say thank you that I'm watching guys, because we're literally watching you from where we're sat here at the gathering, it's just wonderful to watch such a simple thing like a remote control car, these are tanks, and yet you're engaging people, and I loved when I saw people arriving to mock, they say before I knew what it was, but they said as she is, and I'm thinking, I don't know what's coming, but I'm very excited, and I want to say thank you for what you've done, because this is just brilliant. Well, it's also about educating people in history as well, because we've got a whole important message for World War II, and there's a display there of World War II history material, and it starts to give people an appreciation for something that our grandfather has been doing. And it's 80 years ago now, we just had the DDA anniversary trial, and it's really important that we raise the profile of that to the general public. Yeah, because I think as we said before, we forget our history, our peril. I think you might have mentioned before that actually our grandfathers have us, but people will always be, now they're two generations away, and we need them to remember all the matters. And people can see straight away that a Sherman tank is the similar size to a Panzer IV, but they also see the huge size of a Tiger and a King Tiger, which were completely outclassing our allied armour, and they get that impression visually in front of them straight away, so that's how it spreads the message to people. And I just don't know how much it's not just about, it's not a toy. I mean, yes, okay, maybe it's coming from a toy store, but I love it so much more than that, because actually it's also, it's history, it's education, it's engagement, and there's so much in just a remote-controlled tank. I'm not saying just very carefully, but it's just a remote-controlled tank, and yet God's taken the passion of who you are, to speak to people through your passions, your interests, and who you are. And I just love that, so thank you. And thank you for your time as well. Not at all. Thank you. We will link to those websites, so if you want to find out more about remote-controlled tanks, or questions in motorsport, check out the comments, and you can find out more about junk and the work he does. And maybe you invite them to your main group at your church. Did you know, Pure 24/7 Radio has a shop? Well, we do. You can buy merchandise while supporting the work that we do here. Simply head over to www.pure247radio.org/shop. That's www.pure247radio.org/shop. [MUSIC]
