Tizian talks of his time in Leicester

Introduce yourself…

Hi. My name is Tizian, I am 21 years old and I am from Germany. I am studying Social Work / RE at CVJM Hochschule in Kassel. I recently completed my practical placement at Holy Trinity, Leicester, whilst living in community with the Tree of Life.

Where were you in your practical term? How did you find out about the placement?

I worked at Holy Trinity Church, Leicester (HTL), for my practical placement. I applied to Fresh Expressions via the International Office of the YMCA University.

What type of tasks did you do?

At HTL, I mainly had two fields of work: youth work and Compassion Ministry. In the Youth Ministry, I was part of many activities for children and youth aged 5 to 18 years. Every week we had youth meetings, Bible studies and home groups for the youth. On Sundays, during the church service, I was working with the children. In addition, there were many special events and activities throughout the term, especially at Christmas.

The Compassion Ministry is the church’s work with the vulnerable people in the city. I mainly served at the Foodbank, where we distributed food parcels to people, while talking with them and building relationships. I also served at ‘Triangle’, a kind of soup kitchen with space for openness and conversations. We meet weekly with the clients of the Compassion Ministry to do varied activities like workshops, worship, Bible studies and other learning experiences.

What gave you the most joy?

The whole experience was very enriching for me! I was able to contribute creative ideas and serve both, children and adults, at HTL. I lived as part of a new-monastic community during my term, called “The Tree of Life”. I made deep friendships and had space to reflect on and strengthen my faith. It was very exciting to live in a different country and culture too.

What was your biggest challenge?

Definitely, the most difficult thing this year was the influence of the Coronavirus pandemic on my work. Some groups did not have the possibility to meet anymore, because there was no access to the Internet for example. I would have liked to have more conversations and spend more time with the people I was working with.

Can you imagine working in this field of work professionally?

Definitely, I think it is good to be able to use the resources of the church to help people in the city. I can also imagine working abroad in the future.