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