Happy Thanksgiving!

(Feet, post race)

Sadly, Thanksgiving is not a holiday here in Sheffield. However, next 29 April when the prince gets married, we'll have an extra public holiday. Go figure. But back to where we left off. I know I mentioned that I had been training for a 10 mile adventure race. I knew it was going to be tough, but had I known there would be so many hills, I would have run a lot more of them. I remember thinking part way through the race that I wasn't as muddy as I thought I would be. That's then the really intense section of the course began. A very determined scrub was required to wash the mud off at race's end, and I had cuts that I didn't even remember getting. But the important fact is that I FINISHED. I may have come in 179th, but cross the finish line I did. And for those who are considering something similiar, it's best not to ask how much distance remains at any point along the track; believe me, you don't want to know.

(Slightly muddy running conditions :))

You don't, however, want to miss the photos below of the kids in the Gathering. Recently, one of the mums had some flags made, and the kids love waving them in worship. Here they are marching with their banners to the song, "The Overcomers." The lyrics go something like this:

I see a people, changing the nations,
Now rising up to take their place,
I see an army, righteous and holy,
filled with the Spirit and unafraid.
They carry a banner, written Jehovah,
Lion of Judah, the King who reigns,
Christ the Redeemer, He is our Master,
And we've conquered all in Jesus' name.
We are the overcomers, we are the overcomers,
We have overcome in Jesus' name.

(The Overcomers!)

I had tears in my eyes while I was marching with the kids. They are the overcomers. We recently did a series with the kids about healing, and the kids came into the service to pray for people who were unwell. One woman got her knee healed, and the kids loved it! One of my favourite parts of children praying for people is their lack of pretense. The lead in of one of the girls is, "What's wrong?" And then she prays. Have you had a child pray for you lately? It's awesome!

(Bouldering in the Peaks)

A little less awesome is the need to say goodbye to good friends! My climbing partner and friend Pip got a great job in London, so we had to say 'see you later.' I was really sad to see her go and not just because now I have to find a new climbing partner. She was part of lifegroup, a super friend, and she will be missed! Guess I'll just have to visit London more often :). I will miss my friend.

(Capture the Flag!!)

Saying 'see you soon' to old friends brings with it the challenge of making new friends. In the meantime, I spent some time with the youth playing Capture the Flag out on the Devonshire Green, a local park. My team won and we met a couple of new friends. Two Uni students and two younger boys joined in on the fun as well as a girl called Alex that we had met during Re:create, the youth arts camp. I had loads of fun, but need to get back in sprinting shape. Plodding out ten miles works different muscles than sprinting to release someone from jail. My favourite score probably belongs to the little boy called Ritzim who just walked the opposing team's flag across the line while the rest of us were tussling over our flag. It was a classic moment. Never underestimate the small people!

(Sparklers!)

And never underestimate the simple pleasure of fireworks and sparklers. My second 5th of November has come and gone. We had a churchwide party watching the fireworks from the top of Bole Hill. Then, when we couldn't stand the cold any more, we went back to a church member's house for hot chocolate, toffee apples, conversation, and games. We even had a large group of Uni students come, friends of one of the Uni students we met on the Dev at Capture the Flag. That same Uni student even visited one of our lifegroups. It's neat to see how one event can lead to another. I hope that he visits again. Indeed, that many people visit that we meet. :)


(Worship with Logan)

This November marked two years in Sheffield, and my third Re:fresh, our annual weekend away. We had 71 attendees including one of the gentlemen that is doing our Alpha course! I spent the majority of the weekend with the children teaching them about what it means to be awake to God and His purpose for our lives. With the little ones, we explored themes including, Wake Up...My Heart, Ears, Eyes, and Hands & Feet. The older children explored Wake Up...And Listen, Love, Live, and Go. Elsewhere, attendees learned about power evangelism, church planting, and were encouraged to take risks for the gospel. The weekend was a success as people left refreshed and envisioned. Next time I'll discuss our Carol Service and the two foot of snow that feel here two weeks ago. Until then, I hope you all had Happy Thanksgivings, that your Christmas is truly fully of Christ, and that the New Year brings new life, new adventure, and new intimacy with our King.

(Re:fresh friends)

Shooting, Sozos, Students, and Celebrations!!

(The view at Chatsworth)

Hi friends,

It's been ever so long since we've talked. How you been? I've been doing well. Keeping busy and joining in the excitement of the Autumn season. As most people were away during my birthday and a friend was getting married a few weekends after, I didn't celebrate my birthday until the 25th of September. And I celebrated in style. Camo jumpsuit, camo ski mask, helmet, boots, goggles, and...you guessed it, a paintball gun. There must have been about a dozen of us who went out on what was my very first paintballing experience. It was intense! And yes, those little round balls of paint hurt when they contact flesh. I had four bruises/welts to prove it.

Soon after, I helped out and experienced a sozo. It deals with less visible wounds, those we receive from others and choose in the course of our life. Sozo is the Greek word for saved, healed, and delivered, or as my Dad likes it, redeemed. The idea is that Jesus meant for salvation to include more than just eternal life and forgiveness of sins, He meant for us to be healed from wounds in our past and delivered from the demons that irritate and lies we believe. In short, a sozo is a time of healing prayer. You can check out bethelsozo.org.uk for more information.


(Padley Gorge, The Peaks)

In addition to celebrating my birthday, Antioch Community Church Sheffield celebrated 5 years. We had a roast dinner, cake, testimonies, and celebrated what God has done over the past five years. Old friends were there with some new, and it was truly a time to thank God for five successful years in Sheffield. We had about a hundred people show up for the event. Here's to five more!

(5 Years of Fun)

We've celebrated some other changes this past month. Two new babies were born into the church congregation, and we've had a 12-year-old girl visiting with one of the families. She has a mild case of autism, so it's been interesting to interact with her. It's exciting to have new kids to introduce to Jesus! I've also starting leading one of our smallgroups in lifegroup. The lifegroup as a whole rotates on a two week system. One week in lifegroup and one week reaching out to people in your social network. It's started slow, but it's great to see people reaching out to and even thinking about how to reach out to their friends who don't yet know Jesus. I hope to see a lot of fruit and new lifegroups started out of our efforts.


(Baby Bea)

This coming year, ACC Sheffield may have a new building to welcome these people into. We've looked at a property that would definitely be a fixer-upper, but is a fairly good location. Please be praying for us as we negotiate terms of lease and just that we hear God's voice clearly. Obviously we don't want to walk out where He's not leading, but we felt as a staff like He was calling us to step out in faith to believe for a building this year. It would be exciting to have a place to call our own. I'll keep you updated as things unfold.

(Fun in my Flat)

Speaking of updates, I did get my visa sponsorship and managed to get my application posted just in time. The package had to be mailed on Sat 23 October and I got my certificate of sponsorship on Friday evening. Talk about needing to trust God and His timing! Now it's a waiting game. Well, mostly a praying game. They take my photo and my fingerprints and they make a decision. I'll continue to update you.

In other news, late September is the time for universities to return to session. We've had many new students visit. One girl even came all the way from Colorado :). One exciting visitor is an international student. He brought his friend to lifegroup, and she has recently given her life to Jesus. Hooray! Plus this girl has already invited two of her friends who don't know Jesus to lifegroup. Isn't that exciting? And one of the women that a teammate and I know from conversation club has also given her life to Jesus. God is one the move; jump on board. Talk with you all soon!

August Youth Extravanganza

(Autumn has begun)

As you can probably tell from the title of this month's blog, August has been a month chock full of youth events. Almost as soon as we returned from the ICON Conference in Colorado, a group of 9 youth and 2 leaders came to Sheffield. The team came from a church in Houston called Calvary to help with two of our major annual youth events: Re:create and Soul Survivor.

(Arts in the Park)

If you remember from last year, Re:create is a youth arts camp that we've run the past several summers. Last year, it had a serving Sheffield focus; the idea being a literal recreation of the city. This year we spent four days partly spent in the City Centre meeting youth and largely spent exploring questions of faith, identity, and God's truth through various artistic mediums. We got to have great conversations with the young people about who God says they are versus what people say they are and to speak the truth of who they are. And, it was a great pleasure to hear the youth team share their testimonies. Some of them as young as fifteen.

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in peace, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity. I Timothy 4:12

Throughout the camp, we had various visitors and finished off with a youth-led Gathering on Sunday. Kate spoke about the importance of truly surrendering our lives to Jesus, and the youth performed a drama highlighting the life and death importance of choosing Jesus. Two of the visitors got saved at the service! Please be praying for these two new believers and for the youth both from Sheffield and Houston.

The following Wednesday, 5 drivers and 25 youth gathered into cars for the journey to Soul Survivor. This year, I had the privilege of being amongst those 5 drivers. So at half eight that morning, we started off to join 10,000 other youth at the Royal Bath Showgrounds outside of Shepton-Mallet. It was my first time driving past Birmingham, Nottingham, and Bristol. I even came really close to Wales. Along the way, one of the cars on the journey had a breakdown and ended up leaving Sheffield at 4pm instead of 8:30am.

(Packing up and setting up Camp)

The journey back and forth both ways was definitely worth the outcome. Our young people met with God in the presence of 10,000 other youth, heard great teaching, and saw 500 young people give their lives to Jesus. Our youth were shattered (tired) on the journey back, but full of the presence of the Lord. We finished off with a barbecue at the McGinnis home and sent the team back to the States with tear-filled eyes. Time together in Heaven will be sweet indeed.

Much less sweet although still an accomplishment will be the finishing of a 10 mile adventure race I'm training for. For those of you from Fort Worth, the race is similar to the Marine Mud Run, except a bit longer and less obtacles, more mud. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I think it should be fun. I'm running with several people from church, so it's a great time to build relationships.

(My housemate Jenny and I)

I ran 9 miles this past weekend, and I'm looking forward to the run in a few weeks. I promise to post some pictures in my next update and also to tell you all the exciting things that have been happening in the merry month of September. Thanks for all your support and prayers. And an extra special prayer request this month is for my visa. The UK Home Office has recently tightened some of it's visa category requirements. Please join with me in praying for favour with the Border Agency! See you soon with September news.

Psalm 130:7, 142:10-11

O (Sheffield),put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with Him is full redemption.

His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor His delight in the legs of man; the LORD delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love.

Hello my faithful friends, supporters, blog readers,

There's been a big delay between this post and the last. I'm considering reformatting the way I post and posting the highlights of my months in smaller bits. We'll see. For now, here I am coming at you on the frontside of August 2010. My 28th birthday is a mere skip, hop, and a jump away, and today the sun is shining. A week ago, during staff prayer, the word hope popped into my head, and the above verses seemed to resonate with my soul. With the Lord is unfailing love and the Lord delights in those who put their HOPE in His unfailing love. Pretty good promises if you ask me.


(Boy band pic from Keystone)

If you ask me what I've been getting myself up to this past month and a half, I would start with my trip to observe the gentleman who goes in to share small dramas at local schools. We, his name is Mike, and I visited two schools early one morning. A primary school and a preschool. Mike has been going into schools within riding (motorbike) distance of Sheffield for the past 15 years or so. He tries to visit each school 6 times a year sharing Bible stories with the kids, and it was a good introduction seeing as I'm hoping to serve in some local schools at the start of the coming school year. The story of the day was of Mark losing his tunic as he ran from the soldiers chasing the disciples after the arrest of Jesus. It was great to be able to share with the kids the power of prayer. Mark prayed for God's help, and God answered.

(I couldn't get over the size of American sodas)

God answered in a big way in a service we had in June. The Randy Clark Healing Conference took place in Sheffield and several church members attended, as well as a fellow church planter.
At a service the following Sunday, the church planter shared some exciting stories of people healed and saved in his country. During that same service, five people were healed and one of our youth gave her life to Jesus! The faith of the whole church has increased through the experience.


(With the fam after iCON)

That same weekend, a church member who's father had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, asked Daniel and this church planter to come out and pray for his father. The church member shared the gospel with his parents for the first time since he was saved. (He was saved on an Alpha course about a month before). Then the three prayed for the man. At his 6 months check up, the doctor told the man that he didn't need to come back for a check up until Christmas - his scan was clean! God is SO good!!

(The view from the top of Keystone)

Can we remember all the good things God has done for us? I've been challenged to recount what He has done in my life. It was one of the challenges at our bi-annual International Conference (iCON for short). Six hundred church planters, including the children, descended on Keystone, CO for a week in July. It was a great time of teaching, fellowship, restoration, refreshing, and fun. And, it was a great opportunity to see our first ever entirely British-led Gathering. Though small in numbers, it's nice to see the people that we are discipling and training take their place in leading the church in the UK!

This summer we've also taken a break from the normal routine of a weekly Gathering in order to let the small groups that meet weekly get to know each other better. Young professionals met with students, youth met with families, and vice versa culminating in a time of eating together and singing songs of worship the final week. As much as I loved spending time with the families, it made me realise how much I enjoy seeing everyone together at church on a given Sunday.


(Frisbee at LG Gathering in the Park)

I enjoyed seeing my family in Colorado and some great friends, and I enjoyed a break in routine this summer. I like change, but I don't like change. Funny, huh? Balancing boredom and discomfort, spontaneity and the desire for order. As I process all that I learned and received at iCON, I hope in the unfailing love of the LORD to find that balance. Just so you know, all of you are part of the history of good things that the LORD has done in my life that I'm recounting! Thank you for your support!! May you experience the unfailing love of the Lord today as you put your hope in Him.

Cheers

Divine Discontent

Twice in the last few months, I've been told that divine discontent can be a positive indicator. It's one way that God leads us to new things. We get in a state where we want something more; we know that there must be something more, and what's more, we need there to be something more. I was walking through the Rivelin Valley on a footpath near my house with a friend, when she shared the same thought. At the time, I was wanting to meet more people and find new ways into the community. One conclusion I had was that maybe I just needed to ask God to send more people my way. That very same evening we passed a Uni student drinking alone and the Holy Spirit led us to stop and chat, to make sure he was all right. We had a 40 minute conversation about God. Prayer answered. Bring it.

(Freedom and joy in Worship!)

Many other things that we've been praying for, we've been seeing. I know, I know, I shouldn't be surprised when that happens. But I like to see how God works it out. In Lifegroup, we had a discussion about living life without fear. One common fear that people had was being afraid of what people think. At the Gathering following the discussion, we had more joy and freedom in worship than we've had in a long time. Deciding that fear was not going to rule brought freedom. Other prayer requests we've seen answered include a finished Child Protection Policy, a member of our Alpha group giving his life to Jesus, and the children dancing in worship at the Gathering.

('40s themed Volunteer Appreciation)

The kids have been learning about the Parables of Jesus. We took a break from our study of the Supernatural for the Summer. They have really grabbed ahold of the stories of Jesus and enjoyed making the stories Jesus told into stories of their own. This last week we learned about the story of the Seeds and the Sower, and the kids taught the adults the motions they had learned to the song, "Everlasting God." It was as much fun to watch the adults worshipping with actions as it was to watch the children leading them.

('You comfort those in need...')

The church also took two weeks to pray for the children in schools through an organisation called 'Pray for Schools.' We prayed for the children that are taking qualifying exams and dreamed big dreams about what it would look like if all the children and teachers and administrators knew Jesus. I found out about the fortnight through an organisation here in Sheffield called "Christians and Sheffield Schools." Basically, they're interested in knowing about any Christians that are doing work in the schools in the area. I met a gentleman who goes into schools and does drama from the Bible. This month, I'm going to go to a few schools with him and see what he does with the purpose of discovering how I can help out with a few schools myself. I'll keep you posted.

(Most recent staff photo)

Elsewhere, Sheffield is getting ready to say goodbye to its Uni students for the summer. Several of them will be staying around during July, August and September. One of the Uni lifegroups has been praying this term about a way to reach out to the community. They felt called to serve the neighbourhood where our church building is located; it's called Broomhall. Going door to door, they eventually met a Pakistani man and his family they were able to serve, and they've built a relationship with the Pakistani community in Broomhall. It seems that God is giving us new inroads into the community in many new areas.

(Cross in the Clouds by Hana, a youth at ACC)

Maybe divine discontent is a good thing. Not always comfortable, but it gets us to ask questions and puts us in the position to go search for the source of our peace. This month it led us to that conversation with the Uni student, to more freedom in worship, and to serving new friends in Broomhall. I guess it keeps me from remaining in my comfortable box, safe yet boring. I would love to hear how God is calling you all out of your comfort zones! Thank oodles and tons for your prayers, encouragement, and support. May your divine discontent lead you on a road to revelation of what God is calling you to do next (in the words of Yancy Smith). Cheers!

A New Song

(Yorkminster)

"I waited patiently upon the Lord and He inclined and heard my cry.

He pulled my up out of the miry clay, He set my feet upon the rock.

He gave me beauty for ashes and joy for my mourning and praise for heaviness.

He put a new song in my heart and a crown upon my head, He gave me life forevermore.

He's been so good, so, so good to me, so good, so, so good to me, so good, so, so good to me, Jesus.

He picked me up, and He turned me around and placed my feet on His solid ground

Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

Now I've got love, joy, peace, and righteousness in the Holy Spirit.

Oh Yay." (Cory Asbury "So Good to Me")

I know I've told you that I'm constantly looking for blog inspiration, and this time someone suggested that I start out with a poem. It resonated with me probably because I've kept a book full of quotes, poems, and inspiring stories since I was a teenager. Hence the song at the beginning. It's good to remember how good God has been to me. April has been a busy month, full of joy.

(Becky's 18th)

I attended my first 18th birthday here in the UK. The legal drinking age is 18 here today, so it's a big birthday. Amid the little boy who knew the moves to the Michael Jackson songs, the can-can contest between the men and the women, and the 90-year-old grandma who boogied on the dance floor, was a sweet family blessing their daughter on her big day. Becky is a sweet part of our youth group at church, going hard after God and challenging us to do the same.

(Re:create Stomp Session)

Becky and some of the other youth participated in Re:create Preview Day. Re:create is a youth arts camp aimed allowing the young people in our city to express themselves whilst giving us a chance to build relationships with them and find out where they are with God. The day was full of fun - we all did our own unique artwork - and more fun - we staged our own rendition of "Stomp" - and building a new relationship with a local girl. I'm believing God will do great things in her life.

(Our banner)

I think I told you that we've been going through a book by Mike Seth entitled "Here Comes Heaven" with the children in the Launch Pad. We recently created a banner with our lesson about our role as ambassadors of Heaven. Maddie took the lesson to heart and taught the actions from Launch Pad worship of "Superhero" and "Everlasting God" to two classmates. Her teacher asked the girls to perform for the class and then for the entire school. And "Superhero" doesn't mince words either. The entire population of Malin Bridge Primary heard, "Jesus, Your my superhero, You're my Star, my best friend." Beautiful!

(Alpha Weekend Away)

ACC Sheffield has been running an Alpha course with great success. Part of the course is a weekend away to build community and teach about the power and presence of the Holy Spirit then allowing the participants to experience that power and presence. It was a great success, and God totally came through. Sarah and Todd had no idea how many people would be able to attend and didn't even have a venue until a week before the event. God came through in a miraculous way. Discussion groups have changed since the weekend and one man especially is very close to giving his life to Jesus. Whoop whoop!

(Baptisms Yay!)

One of the Alpha attendees along with a woman who was saved on a previous Alpha course were baptised this month. The baptisms occurred on the same night that we installed our first set of elders as a church. We had a community meal and many visitors including a sweet family from Malaysia. As a church, we've seen many new visitors this past month, and it's exciting to see new people coming to the Gathering. One of our previous visitors and now regular church attendees, Sarah, an asylum-seeker received here indefinite leave to remain. She will now be able to seek employment. We celebrated with a party and her favourite song at church. Her testimony is awe-inspiring, and God, God has been good to her.

As we said hello to our friend Sarah, we said goodbye to our teammates the Roberts. They have embarked on a 3 month long furlough to reconnect with family and friends, raise support, and share what God is doing here in England. I miss them already, but am excited to see them in Colorado this summer for our organisation's biannual conference called ICON. I booked my plane tickets just the other day and am excited that three of our English staff members will be able to come. Please be praying with us for God's financial provision for the journey and see the instructions at the bottom of my blog if you would like to give.

(Wall entrance)

I'll leave you with some photos of a recent trip I took with some of the Uni girls to York. The day was meant to include a training session about reaching university students, but we unfortunately miscalculated the duration of the journey. Not one to waste time in a lovely city, we walked the streets. Especially impressive was the Yorkminster. It's the largest church in the north. Equally enjoyable were the walls around the city. You can walk on top and appreciate that people really are a lot taller now. Plus, I was able to visit a small shop down one of the alley-like streets and purchase some genuine American root beer. A special treat.

(Training exercise)

I pray this finds you well! Here in England we are getting used to a coalition government, hung parliaments, volcanic ash disrupting travel, and a chilly May. We've starting searching for a permanent building and are looking forward to achieving charity status. Daniel has turned in the rough draft of his thesis, and the Roberts are expecting their third baby. May we choose to walk in the love, joy, peace and righteousness from the Holy Spirit. Let's talk soon!

Uninspired, Unexpected, Undeterred

(Games in the Peaks with the Youth)

Usually, when I sit down to write my blog, I wait for something to pop into my mind that has inspired me. An event, a song, a silly saying, a picture. This month I found myself feeling a little uninspired. And I didn't think the song, "Natural Woman" was a good basis for my blog. But I digress. In its own way, my lack of inspiration became my inspiration. Don't get me wrong; many hopeful and exciting things are occurring here. I think I've just been getting down about finances. I've been needing the verse from Philippians 4:6-7 on a regular basis. Be anxious for nothing. Be thankful in everything. By prayer and petition, present your requests to God. And the peace that passes understanding will guard your heart and mind. And I say it again to myself.

I guess it's really all about faith and trust. Which is exactly what I've been teaching the children. We've been going through a book called Here Comes Heaven in the Launch Pad. It's exciting to be teaching it, and challenging to be living it. We're calling it "Catching Heaven." And as I teach it, I'm catching it as well. The kids seem to love hearing about the power of God and journaling to Jesus. Oh, there must be still more. We've been talking about believing what we see with our 'faith eyes' and praying what's in Heaven down on the earth.


(Heavenly Sheffield rainbow)

A nearby church had an exercise in that very thing. The tale is a bit sad, but hopeful. A young woman, my age, was exercising and collapsed, dying instantly. Her husband of three years asked the hospital if they could delay the postmortem so that the church could pray for her to be raised from the dead. They fasted and prayed for 4 or 5 days. The woman had an intermittent pulse and the coroner could find no obvious cause of death. Hundreds of people were in and out of the hospital praying, and everyone on staff noticed a difference in the atmosphere. The young lady did not rise from the dead, but the faith of the entire church body in the city has been raised. The Church in Sheffield was unafraid to ask for impossible things and expect them to happen. That's catching heaven.

Nello, our Italian friend and lifegroup member has caught a bit of heaven and taken it back to Torino (Turin). Before he left Sheffield to return home, he wanted to be baptised. His testimony of his faith being strengthened and meeting the Holy Spirit is amazing. Nello even wants to start a lifegroup in Italy. And Nello's younger brother Christian asked us to pray for him to encounter the Holy Spirit. All due to a meeting in a stairwell in a group of flats in Sheffield. Who can say that there won't soon be a church plant in Italy? Sometimes you find fruit in the most unexpected places...


(Nello, Julie, and I at his leaving do)

Antioch Sheffield has had other visitors from other nations. Kate, our youth pastor, invited an Afghan woman and her son to the Gathering. It was the woman's first time in a Christian church. Will she return? I don't know, but she has been introduced to worshippers of Jesus. And she told me that she thinks perhaps we are not quite so different as she once believed. May her heart be turned to the One who is Father and Love!

As a church staff, we've been asking the same for those who've come along on our Alpha course. Asking that they too would be drawn to Jesus. We've had a consistent group of 8 or 9 attendees and their hearts are soft. For some, it's a chance to ask questions, for others a chance to experience Jesus, and for the rest, a chance just to realise that Christians aren't as nutty as we're rumoured to be. At least not in the ways they think we are (wink). Coming up 23-24 April is the Alpha Weekend Away. It is usually a very pivotal point in the course. God has supernaturally provided a venue due to a last minute cancellation, and we're asking that no one would leave the weekend without experiencing God's love. Let's just see what He will do.

I'm glad that God doesn't rely on our inspiration or expectations to work. I mean, to a great extent our faith is a large part of the equation. Maybe that's why He puts us in community. Chances are slim that all of us will lack inspiration at the same time. And when we all have inspiration at the same time, amazing things can happen. I've wanted to assemble all of the children's volunteers that have want to be more involved with the children's ministry since the end of the last year. Just a fortnight ago, five of us met to discuss vision for the children of our city. The amount of vision in the room was inspiring and a bit daunting. It will definitely be Jesus that accomplishes what we dream for in our children. Little men and women who love Jesus and walk in power, passion, and purity. God help me to figure out how to walk it out with You, remaining undeterred even whilst lacking inspiration. I'll keep you posted.

(My Tea, Tots, & Thoughts Peeps)

Thankful for you, praying for you, believing with you!
xx

New: Year, Decade, Life, Nephew

The weather this Tuesday has been a mixed bag - sunshine and snow. Reminds me of the weather in Colorado. Maybe I am becoming more British; I'm starting out a conversation with a discussion about the weather. The next thing I should say is, "well, at least it's not raining!" ;) Don't get me wrong, I will take the sun however I can get it. There were a few bleak weeks in January when I stared longingly at a photo of Sheffield drenched in sunshine. Gives new meaning to the verse, the Lord is my light and my salvation. It's from one of my favourite chapters in Psalms, the twenty seventh.


(Wedding ladies)

Speaking of favourite things, I love how God works surprises into your life. My plan for the year was to return to the States for the first time in February, but God had other plans. My brother decided to get married on Boxing Day (26 December for you non-Brits), so I made a whirlwind Christmas trip home. Snow in Colorado and sunshine in California made for a lovely holiday. It was a blessing to see my family and to testify to what the Lord is doing in Sheffield. It seems that God is into redemption of the sacrament of marriage. I'm looking forward to hearing my brother and new sister-in-law's testimonies in the years to come.

(Snow in the Peaks)

Upon returning to Sheffield, it promptly snowed for a week straight. More snow than Sheffield has seen for some time. It was fun to get out and walk in the Peaks on New Year's Day and play in the snow. My friend Emma helped me see the beauty through new eyes. Her childlike enjoyment of God's creation was infectious. Much like the love of Jesus.

(Emma's enjoyment)

This was evident on 28 December as two of my teammates gathered a number of internationals for a Christmas celebration meal. Our time with the English conversation clubs for asylum seekers and refugees has garnered many friends. We are looking into more intentional time with our new friends to dialogue about the Bible. I know of one who has joined the family of God, and I expect that we will see more.



We've seen God begin to do more as we branch out into new forms of evangelism. Last Tuesday we had our very first Alpha course. For those of you who've never heard of Alpha, it's a ten week course that explores the Christian faith. Topics such as "Christianity: Boring, Irrelevant, Untrue?" and "Who is Jesus?" are explored through a short teaching and then small group discussion spins off of the topic of the video. Alpha is meant to be a safe place for people to come and ask questions, even hard ones, about God, the church, and spirituality. Tuesday saw 14 people at our taster session at the local Starbucks. That's fourteen potential new believers!

That's only slightly more exciting than the "Believing God" Bible study I've been facilitating. Our third round of equipping classes started up at the beginning of February with the continuation of the series. This week we studied the concept of "Believing God to Get You to Gilgal." The idea being that at Gilgal the Israelites came full circle and were given a 'redo' at their entrance into the promised land. It was exciting to see women set free from the labels they may have had placed on them from the past as they believe God for a victory and a new start. I pray that the last two weeks of our study will be life-giving as we look at places in our lives where God has intervened and walk out in the new truths that we are learning.

(My adorable niece and nephew)

As for the children, we just finished our recent look at our identity in Christ. I think the adult volunteers had as much fun as the kids did. One identity in particular comes to mind, "I am a Champion." This particular truth had the children and the workers dancing in the hall for 20 minutes after the service with their gold medals of victory. The foundation of identity for the children has allowed us to reach a point where we can start learning about prophecy, healing, and the power of God. Next on the agenda, taking the book Here Comes Heaven and breaking it down with the kids. We'll focus on topics such as: Our Royal Mission, Faith, The Kingdom and the Spirit, and Signs and Wonders. I'm looking forward to it.

(Fort Worth friends!)

What else am I looking forward to? Moving into our new flat. After 6 weeks of searching and much praying, we found our new home. It's a great place that has awesome views of the city and the Peaks as well as a nice lounge perfect for lifegroup and other gatherings. God was gracious to provide us with a place that is warm, comfortable, and fulfilled our wishes. Isn't He good? He's good to bring us to a place of a 40 day Negativity Fast as a church for Lent. He's good to bring me a handsome and healthy new nephew. He's G-O-O-D! Thanks all of you for your support in prayers and finances. I know it's not easy. It was lovely to see some of your faces at the grand opening of Christ Fellowship's new building and a blessing to spend time with my niece and nephew. May you be blessed in your comings and your goings.

Lots of love!

(Fun with Family:))