Six Months Out

Sometimes it seems as if time has passed of which you're not really aware. Or maybe I just really don't know what six months 'feels' like. But I reached that milestone last week. Six months in England. I look back and consider them to be good months. These six months have been months that leave me longing for God to do more both in me and through me. Some days I don't even feel like my job is work and others, well, we all have those days. I can joyously report more of the first than the second!

The weather around here has been a bit nutty lately; it reminds me a bit of the spring weather in Texas. Whereas generally the rain falls like a mist or drizzle, we've even had thunder. There's a lot of rain in England, but not much thunder. So, it was an exciting occurrence. Of course it happened to rain on the day we had planned an appreciation barbecue for the Lifegroup Leaders, so we ended up grilling in the rain. Daniel, the head pastor, grilled chicken with a spatula in one hand and an umbrella in the other. It was a good time of blessing those who have poured their lives and prayers into the small groups at church.

The weekend before, all the ladies of the church gathered for a Women's Day out in Killamarsh, a sort of suburb of Sheffield. We met at a house called Westthorpe Hall, and it was amazing. The garage was tidied and decorated and everyone ministered to. Several of the youth girls and two of the younger girls came and we praised and learned about being daughters of the King and made jewelry and cards to hand out to the prostitutes that two of the ladies in the church are reaching out to here in Sheffield. Good food and good fellowship and excellent pinnies, as they call aprons.

Remember, I asked if everyone would be praying for the crazy season. Thank you for your prayers. It's halfway over and there is much grace from God. Sometimes it's just remembering to rest in Him. Hard thing to do. I'm grateful for reminders that He is the King of the World. We completed our scheduled prayer gatherings (church services where we focused on worship and prayer) with a Nation's Night. I got to paint flags on the children's faces; it's really hard to remember how all those flags look. More than one child had Romania instead of France or the like. The church with the older children included lifted up the persecuted church, war torn countries, nations that we felt called to pray for, and rejoiced in what God is doing. The persecuted church portion met in the stairwell and whispered and hummed their prayers. My favourite was probably the rejoicing station. First we would read out what is happening in different places in the world and then choose a way to thank God. Everyone else got a good start when we thanked God with a ROAR!

And the children, well they loved it. They're loving learning about salvation and baptism and communion this week. I call it Back to the Basics. The younger children are learning all about the things and people that God made. We have three children who want to be baptised and in June we have about 10 days of focused outreach to the city. It's called Mission Sheffield, taking a mission trip to your own city. We're praying for great connects as we prayer walk the city, treasure hunt, serve the community surrounding the church building, and have service in the park. Pray for sunshine!!! God is moving, can you feel it? Six months out and six months into God's work. More God, I ask for more!

And I haven't forgotten the story of repentance. Most of us know that it seems really hard to get up in front of a room of people and repent, but that's exactly what Daniel did. The team here has had a bit of a rocky history, and Daniel felt like God was saying that repentance would bring many things to the church including revival. So, he stood in front of the whole church and explained what had been happening and repented for his shortcomings in it all. We as a staff repented for a lack of unity, and the whole church prayed. It was powerful stuff. If repentance will bring the life and renewal of God, let's start doing it more often! What if we were known as a people of repentance? What then? God knows I've got a ways to go. You are all in my heart! Be blessed this spring :).