“If the story of Jesus is true, I must spend my life telling people about it and, when I’m old enough, set up a school, a hostel and a hospital for the poor.” 
With these words, 14-year-old Steve Chalke committed himself to a life serving God. His teenage vision has since developed into a major international organisation, Oasis.

Oasis is now 22 years old, and is the founding partner of the Faithworks Movement. From the early days of the Christmas Cracker ‘eat less pay more’ restaurants, and the travelling Video Express show for young people, it has become a significant voluntary sector provider, delivering educational, health and housing services for local authorities, UK and foreign governments, as well as self-funded initiatives providing opportunity and choice in the UK, and around the world.

The task of being one of God’s agents of change, devoting your life to leading an organisation that is bringing sustainable positive transformation to individuals and communities sounds draining, but Steve says it is his faith that gives him the energy to keep going:

“Hard work doesn’t have to drain you: in fact, it can energise you. In John’s Gospel (chapter 6), Jesus delivers a thought-provoking line when he comments that ‘my food is to do the will of the Father who sent me.’ That’s it. The right kind of food energises rather than exhausts you – Jesus’ energy came from doing his Father’s will. I think that ours comes from the same source.”

Getting involved in community and speaking up publicly for others can be challenging, but Steve believes this is an exciting part of the territory:
“It’s a conscious decision to be involved in public life. Jesus was a public figure and a politician – he had an agenda for the whole of society, not just for individuals. But just as it got him into trouble, it is likely to land us there too. But I believe deeply that the greatest compromise for any Christian is that of not getting involved.”

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