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| Creative Birthday |
Winter seems to have swept in rather quickly here in Sheffield. November was reasonably warm, so the freezing temperatures are a bit of a shock. I hear that the weather in Texas has been mild. I'll try to send some winter your way ;). Our flat is preparing for a Christmas in Sheffield; soon we'll have our Christmas tree decorated, and we're preparing for the Carol Service next week. The kids are doing a short funny nativity scene, and they're really hamming it up for the service. Hopefully, we'll be able to merge together the fun of children and the reverence that we reserve for the birth of Jesus!
He is coming soon! I love that Advent is about the waiting, the longing for the Saviour to arrive. But I can hardly believe Christmas is so near. It has been an eventful couple of months. In October, my friend Julie turned 30, and we celebrated with a creative arts evening. In lieu of a gift, everyone brought a performance piece or two to share with the group. What a way to discover hidden talents that people have!
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| LifeGroup |
Many of our ATS students were in attendance, and we've started incorporating monthly outreach into our curriculum. One such outreach is termed, 'Healing on the Streets.' Several churches in Sheffield join together outside a small garden in the city centre and ask passerbys if they are in need of prayer. Our first Saturday out, we saw eleven people give their hearts to Jesus! Jessica, one of the students, and I had the privilege of leading two young women to Jesus. One even asked to be baptised in the fountain! We've been back twice to help out and have seen two other people come to Jesus and a number of people healed. Sometimes, it's just an opportunity to speak the truth that Jesus loves people.
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| Integrate |
Our YoPro section has started something new as well; we're calling it Integrate. It's a chance for both Lifegroups to come together and re-up on the fundamentals. The idea being that we want to be able to chat about things like discipleship and community and apply it to our lives with accountability. Last week we even had an open and honest discussion about how we're really doing as a LifeGroup. It seems to be going well.
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| PILE-ON! |
What is going well is our Kids' LifeGroup that we started a few months ago. We've taught the kids about what it means to be a LifeGroup, and they came up with their own vision. It's GLEAM. Grow, Learn, Enjoy, (Be) Awesome, and Meet new friends. They're doing a great job of leading the group, with just a bit of help with crowd control. The first night they wrote and performed their own worship songs, and we've just done a Christmas drama for the Carol Service. They're amazing!
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| Bonfire Night |
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| 40s Party |
It hasn't been all work and no play. We took our ATS students out for a fun bomb (a surprise fun night of class) for Bonfire Night, 5 November. It's one of my favourite British holidays, with giant fires and fireworks galore. Then I attended a 40s-themed birthday party. All the ladies looked lovely, but I have to say that the hair styles are more difficult to achieve than I realise. I love the dancing from the era though. And I've been able to worship dance a few times in the Gathering. It's the fulfilment of one of the promises that God gave me before I came to the UK.
God is a keeper of promises when we walk in His Spirit! That is a paraphrase of the theme for Re:fresh, our annual church retreat, this year. Our friends from the north, the Brennans, spoke about walking in the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit, and being in God's waiting room. It was powerful. Together with Charis, a sister church that meets in our building on a Sunday morning, we had 130 people. The kids learned about being 'Empowered' and really enjoyed worshiping, especially Saturday evening and Sunday morning.
I'm really enjoying getting to know my new nephew, Ian, albeit via Skype. And my older sister is making me an auntie for the fifth time sometime in June! It has been an exciting year, and I look forward to the one coming. Thank you for all your prayers, financial support, and encouragement. These four years would not have been possible without you, and you certainly have a share in the inheritance! Happy Christmas to all of you and I look forward to chatting with you in 2013!
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| Isn't Ian a cutie? |
God is a keeper of promises when we walk in His Spirit! That is a paraphrase of the theme for Re:fresh, our annual church retreat, this year. Our friends from the north, the Brennans, spoke about walking in the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit, and being in God's waiting room. It was powerful. Together with Charis, a sister church that meets in our building on a Sunday morning, we had 130 people. The kids learned about being 'Empowered' and really enjoyed worshiping, especially Saturday evening and Sunday morning.
