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| Holiday Club Win! |
Wowsers. I say that because so much has happened in the last month or so and because I will soon be in the States for my first furlough. When last we spoke, I mentioned that we were putting on our first ever Holiday Club. Even though we didn't have the 20 kids that I was hoping for, we did have five children from outside our church come to the club (10 total). We had great conversations with the children and a lot of fun. One of my favourite parts was probably the family service that we invited everyone to on the following Sunday. God is definitely moving in the hearts of the children in England, one of our girls even preached the gospel, in a sense, on the street corner. "Jesus loves you!" It has been a really good learning experience, and we look forward to running one again next summer.
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| Everybody love icebreakers |
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| Story Time Thespians |
Straight after the holiday club, the church staff and other church planters in Europe and the UK met together in Slaithwaite (pronounced 'slauwit') at a Christian retreat centre for AMI Europe. It was our first ever regional conference and a great time to connect with other church planters. The weather was lovely, and we all had a great time praying for each other and encouraging each other. One relationship that was formed there was with a couple leading a church in Musselburgh, Scotland, and our School of Transformation students are going up there for their first outreach this weekend.
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| AMI Europe kids |
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| Fun in Slaithwaite |
I'm sad not to be able to join the staff and students of the School of Transformation as they venture northward to Scotland (did you try to say it with the accent?). The school is going amazingly well, and we even have 10 people interested in signing up for the next term! We've been busy building relationships and hearing awesome teaching, which has been challenging for me as I hear some things for the second time. On our last Saturday, the students went around a local park talking with people about Jesus and asking if they'd want prayer, then we surprised them with a fun afternoon at a local lake.
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| School of Transformation FUN BOMB! |
God has brought many such encouraging times into my life over the past months. Yancy Smith, one half of my pastoral support from the U.S., came to see me on his way back to Texas from Israel. He encouraged me, asked me the questions that I needed to hear at the time, and was a brilliant speaker at our training school. I'm so grateful that Jesus hasn't made us to live our lives in solitude.
Yancy arrived at the beginning of a three week stretch of outreach with 17 training school students from Elevate in Waco, Texas. The students came to encourage, to assist, to tell people about Jesus, to pray for the sick, and to connect new people with the church. Whilst they were here, they completely cleaned our new building and helped with some of the beginning construction projects, they met and began to form relationships with over 30 people, and they saw 21 people give their lives to Jesus! We were immensly blessed and refreshed by their time here.
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| Elevate Team |
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| Some lovely ladies from Elevate |
You may have noticed that I mentioned that construction has started in our new building! In fact, we moved into the offices portion of the building last Monday. Various members of the church have gotten really involved in the process. We have three or four people that have a lot of skills and expertise in the area of construction. Plus, one of the men from the Elevate team, a bulider, will be returning at the beginning of July to stay for a month, and a team of experienced builders, plumbers, and electricians are coming over for a week at the beginning of August to help out as well. It's so exciting! My colleague Kate and I also applied for a grant of £3000 from the Sheffield City Council. We had to present for 3 minutes and win enough votes to be awarded the money. Eight groups received money, and we received the 8th highest number of votes. Praise Jesus!
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| The New Offices |
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| Sarah showing just how big our new sanctuary is |
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| Brilliant helpers in our new foyer |
I know what you're thinking, there couldn't possibly be more good news. But there is. Three church members have volunteered to cover the Children's Ministry responsibilities while I'm in the States on my furlough and two others are covering the hospitality. Please be praying for Will, Bex, and Emma as they step into a new level of leadership in the Launch Pad. And please being praying for our application to sponsor foreign workers. I recently travelled up to Leeds to visit Mosaic Church; they currently sponsor me to work in country. Thanks to all of you who prayed for my interview with the UK Border Agency! It went really well as far as I can tell.
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| Grant Presentation Winners |
Furlough Update
As I type, I'm realising this will be my last blog from Sheffield in a few months. I'll be in the States from 30 June through 20 September. It's a time to reconnect with family, friends, and supporters, to raise any additional support needed, to get some rest, to reconnect with my sending church, and to meet with other children's pastors to glean from their wisdom. As I come, I'm looking forward to seeing as many of you as I can! I do have some needs that with which you may be able to help.
- When I'm in Texas, from about 14 August til 20 Sept, I need a place to lay my head (doesn't have to be for the whole time, doesn't have to be a bed, I'm happy to housesit)
- Also in Texas, I'm in need of an automobile. If you are away on holiday, or have a car that would be free for a few days, it would significantly bless me. I am a very safe driver and will put gas in your car ;-).
- I want to see you, let me know when you are free, preferrably via e-mail.
- I'm needing to raise about 5-10% extra in support a month just to come back to my budget. If you know of people who might be interested in hearing about an opportunity to reach the children in England for the Kingdom, I would love to meet them.
- Please pray for a time of peace, rest, and hearing God anew
I love you all, am so blessed by your support in my prayers and can't wait to see you!
