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Caught in Conversation

An interview by John Robinson

On the way to Germany, John Robinson (JR) interviews Martin Edobar (ME) and John Nguyen (JN), two Kairos Weekend first-timers from Koinonia, the Kairos student outreach in London, England. Here is an excerpt.

ME: Meeting loads of cool new people, enjoying the vibe and seeing the bigger global picture.

JN: Being able to experience a larger community than Koinonia itself; there are lots of different “Koinonias” beyond London!

JR: Have you heard anything about the spiritual theme for the Weekend?

JN: The theme is Truth. I think it’s quite appropriate for me because I’ve just started this faith journey, so I'm still getting rid of the old me and the 'untruth' in me.

JR: What does Kairos mean to you?

JN: I’ve heard it’s a Greek word meaning ‘the opportune moment.’ It’s quite fitting, actually, because this
kind of weekend does not happen all the time. When it does come around you should seize the opportunity and experience it as best you can.

JR: How did you guys end up in Koinonia?

JN: A friend asked me to sign up as a member, and I said, “Yeah, fine.” Then she asked me to actually go to
a Koinonia meeting, and I said “Ummm, not so sure...” I wasn’t really a Christian. I had never been to anything like that before, but I decided to give it a shot. I really enjoyed it, but I felt quite different to everyone else. Then we had an overnight retreat in Kent. That helped confirm why I’m here and what I am doing with Koinonia – and that’s why I am going to the Kairos Weekend.

ME: For me, it was during Fresher’s Fair at university. My friend Sammy and I walked past the Koinonia student centre and thought we smelled food, so we went inside to see what was going on. I was just
shocked that somehow a society in ULU (University of London) had a permanent room; that is very
uncommon. Someone made me a toasty and gave me a leaflet about a dance event that evening. Sammy and I took the leaflet thinking, “Nah, we’re not going.”

We were going to go to a party in Soho, but later we thought, “Let’s just go to this dance party instead … it might be interesting.” We went along; everyone was really friendly and cool. At that point we didn’t know what it was really all about; we just thought it was a weird kind of society. So we kept going to the meetings and eventually decided to do the Alpha course - and we enjoyed it. We were invited on a weekend away. We were a bit hesitant - a weekend in a barn with people you don’t really know? It turned out to be a great experience, and made us want to stay!

JR: If there was one thing you could take away from the Kairos Weekend, what would it be?

ME: To understand what community is all about, and the concept of truth.

JN: To have a moment with God where he comes deeper into my life. I’ve already been praying about
it, and I think the Kairos Weekend will be a great opportunity for that to happen.

[John Robinson is a staff member of Koinonia, the Kairos student outreach in London.]
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