Conspiracy of the Insignificant

Patrick Regan with Lisa Hoeksma
Survivor Books/ £6.99/ ISBN: 978-1842913-69-7

I became a Christian when I was 16. My spiritual reading in the early years was a diet of the gospels and biographies of inspiring Christians. This book may be to this generation of young Christians what stories of Keith Green and Corrie Ten Boom were to me.

Patrick Regan has a great story to tell, and in ‘Conspiracy of the Insignificant’ he tells it with great honesty. The book tracks the development and growth of XLP, a youth work organisation working primarily in South London.

The story starts as 16 year old Patrick encountered real poverty in the old cardboard city in Waterloo and as it weaves through the next decade or so there is a constant interaction with the poor and marginalised. The book shows the response of one man and his team to the needs that they saw around them. What emerged out of that obedience was an organisation known as XLP.

For me that’s the real heart of the book - obedience and faith in the face of great need. It has led XLP to becoming a large youth work organisation with links across the world. XLP works in schools to share the gospel and meet the needs of young people across London.

One ‘in praise of’ review calls this account ‘a model for what can happen’. I disagree. Reagan and Hoeksma offer a story, one which is inspiring In parts and unfailingly honest. I’m not sure that any youth worker should try and replicate what Reagan has done, but should read it and be moved. The story lifts our eyes from the everyday and gives us a chance to dream about what can be when God is involved.

It’s also a book that will inspire young people, in true Survivor Books style it is easy reading (though maybe could use some more dates to help us pin the story line together). It’s worth passing on to those young people who have been involved in The Noise or Soul in The City. 

When I read Keith Green and Corrie Ten Boom, I didn’t come away thinking about what great people they were, but how amazing God is. My hope would be that people could read this book and not come away thinking what a great bloke Patrick Regan is (although he is!), but what a great God we serve.