I knew nothing about ROC when I went to its Devon & Cornwall launch in October this year. What I saw and heard that evening in Plymouth blew me away. Sitting at the back of 1,300 people, I saw a choir of homeless people singing with joy on their faces. I heard an ex-offender tell how his life had been changed because someone cared enough to give him real practical support. I listened to senior representatives of the Police, Fire and Probation services invite churches and other faith groups to work together with them to make our communities better places in which to live.
As a former senior-fire officer and, later, a church leader, I immediately saw the potential that working together could have in transforming our communities. One week later (and thanks to a last-minute cancellation!) I found myself in Milton Keynes at a ROC Ambassador’s Conference! Shortly after that I took on the role of ROC Ambassador for Torbay.
I felt completely inadequate but I should not have feared. Amazing things have happened without my even prompting them. For example: Some representatives from Torbay Council who attended the Plymouth launch went back and told their top boss how good it was. That lady asked to meet me to see how we could work together; she then arranged for me to be shown around the most socially deprived areas in the Bay. On one of those tours I was invited to a Baywide ‘Community Conversation’ meeting; at that meeting, I was invited to the next meeting of a community association that serves one of the most deprived areas! So from nowhere, ROC is now involved in one of the most needy communities in the Bay, and I have done nothing except walk through each new door as it has opened. To me, that is evidence of a higher hand at work - the hand of One who truly cares about our communities and those within them who are downtrodden and underprivileged.
Someone once said, “All it takes for Evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing.” Far be-it for me to count myself as good, but I have found that ROC has inspired me to get up, go out and do what I can to make a difference in our communities. And as I have gone I have found that I am not alone. I have discovered that the One who cares so much for each one of us is already out in the communities. All I have done is joined Him.
I hope that these few words inspire you to take a step of faith, like I did, and get involved. I have every confidence that you will not regret it. Perhaps, like me, you will wonder why on earth you did not do something like this before.
For more information on how YOU can become a ROC Ambassador, click here.
