(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)
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:))
