He is Faithful

The sun is shining! It's a beautiful day! And I am ill and stuck inside :(

As much as that stinks, I have still been able to do some work from home (Thank you so much Google Drive), so I haven't completely abandoned my team for the day. And I have enough (not much though) brain power to be somewhat effective as I sit here on my bed and work between episodes of one of my favorite sitcoms.

This morning, as I was ill, I was reminiscing about a time I lived with some awesome friends. It was not uncommon for me to wake up to an amazing cup of coffee and lounge around the house in my pj's during that time (I had a job that made that quite easy). It was calm and peaceful and I am grateful for the time I got to live with them. It would be easy for me to compare my situation now with my situation then, the challenge that I have now with the ease of that time. But I will not.

Because yesterday, Abba gave us this:

Sarah and a reminder that He who has promised is faithful!

At the moment, He is challenging me to believe that He is faithful. Of course I know in my head that He is, but sometimes, in the difficult moments, it takes effort to really believe it. He has blessed me so much, as He reminded me this morning with sweet memories of a former era of my life, and I know He will provide exactly what I need in the days to come. I am thankful for all He has given me, and He is, even at this very moment, stirring up faith within me to believe for even greater things. I believe; Lord, help my unbelief.

 

For those who have been praying for me, my team, Pais GB and the kids we encounter, thank you! Please keep praying. The spiritual warfare is evident in teams across the nation, but greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world and our weapons are mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds! There is much work to do. Pray He strengthens us, gives us wisdom and sends more laborers into the harvest! It is His desire and I believe He will do it. Amen!

 

Weekly Wrap 7

Wow, that week went by fast! I can hardly believe it's time for this week's wrap.

Well, my team and I went to SWAP 2014, which is a conference held by Pais in Burnley (about an hour away) in order to encourage and give opportunity for Pais apprentices to share ideas regarding youth work. All of Pais GB and Pais Ireland were there and some from Pais Germany were there as well. I must admit, getting to meet the other Pais apprentices was the highlight for me.

There are 11 teams spread throughout Great Britain and one team in Ireland, each team having between 3 and 5 members, so that's a good number of people, especially considering we spent allllll day and alllll night together. It's one thing to sit/work through a week-long conference with people; it's an entirely different thing to then sleep on a church floor together every night as well. You get to know people better that way, I think. And although there wasn't enough time to talk to everyone, deep conversations rarely taking place, still, it was great to meet everyone and spend time together.


One of the best things for me was to be with my Januaries again! We are so blessed and encouraged by each other. On Thursday night our January hosts invited us over for tea (aka supper) and prayed for us. This truly is a special group of people and I am so thankful for them all!

This is Paul Gibbs, the founder of the Pais Project, talking about the Kingdom of Heaven in one of his keynote sessions. Every morning began with a time of worship followed by a session with Paul, specifically discussing the three distinctives of Pais: mission, discipleship and study.

The keynote session was then followed by three one-hour sessions, each with a 20-minute presentation and a 40-minute round-table "swap" session for us to share ideas. That's the back of my curly head next to the blonde girl in the green hat (who is also from America).



This is the SWAP 2014 Welcome Team. I was on "Resources" and got to man the "bookshop," which consisted of three books all written by Paul Gibbs. To be fair, they are awesome books!

Relaxing during lunch, sitting with Trey, David and Adam. Adam is from Southport but is currently working with Pais Germany.

 

 

Well, that was most of my week. I came home yesterday and took a much-needed 2 1/2 hour nap. I then chose to do absolutely nothing last night. Today I slept in till 11am and finally went to my Saturday hiding place, where I bumped into the youth worker from Christ Church. Tonight, instead of meeting with friends, I am staying home to chill and do ministry prep for tomorrow. I must say, I really enjoyed this week and this conference, but this introverted girl is plain tuckered out!

Weekly Wrap 6

This week was super busy and really looooooooong. My birthday was in there, there was a lot of cake. That's most of what I remember. Now it's half-term, which means the kids are out of school for a week. But we are going to Burnley until Friday because Pais GB is having a training conference called SWAP (in order to "swap" ideas!) with Paul Gibbs, the founder of the Pais Project. So, since I'm having trouble remembering all of what happened last week, because there was so much of it, and because I have to leave for Lancashire in half an hour, I will just share with you my highlight of the week.

On Monday my team and I went to Holy Trinity to do a workshop with the year 6 kids about the Eucharist, specifically focusing on the Passover. Not only did we have a fun time planning and executing this creative workshop which included re-enactments and Passover food, but the kids loved it! David clearly shared the Gospel with them, which was awesome, and we got very encouraging feedback from the teachers as well, who said it was "brilliant and couldn't have been better!" Praise God :)

The Passover Seder: David distributing the salt water, representative of the tears of the Israelites, for the students to dip their bitter herbs into, symbolic of the sorrow they endured while in slavery.

 

 David interviewing the apostle Matthew about Jesus. The kids were interested in "his" (Luisa played Matthew) mode of time travel--how did he get here from Biblical times??

Happy Love Day!

 

 

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us!
1 John 3:16

 

Arms Wide Open by Misty Edwards

Four Cakes!

I must admit that before today, when I thought about my upcoming birthday, I didn't do it with much expectation. I wasn't excited at all. 29 is just not an exciting number to begin with, and being in a new and different place, so far from friends and family, with people who don't really know me well...well, I honestly figured it would kinda stink.

But it didn't!!

Let me just tell you, God has put some awesome people into my life, or rather, He has set me in the midst of their lives. I came down to breakfast to presents waiting at the table for me from my hosts--a beautiful butterfly journal and a box of chocolate truffles! My teammates sang to me and presented me with birthday cards this morning, praying for and encouraging me as well, and then surprised me with a cake (cake #1) and a small party this afternoon. This evening I went to kids club where Gabriel and Hannah had cupcakes (cake #2)  for us all to celebrate. And this evening the three of us were invited round to the G-rings' (as they are now affectionately known) for supper. Liliana (Mama G-ring) had made me a cake to share with the kids at kids club (cake #3) (but they didn't really get any...shhhh!!) and then made an additional cake (cake #4) to celebrate with the G-ring fam. My goodness, I am blessed! Here are a few pics!

This is what I found when I opened the door upon returning from our girls planning meeting--Tabz & Trey with a pink butterfly cake! It was such a surprise!

With my beautiful team!



The cupcakes that Hannah made

One of the cakes Liliana made (Yes, those are gummy bears in the center!)

The other cake Liliana made. It was massive and delicious!  



 

My cards and presents! Everything was perfect :)

Me with my girls :D

Weekly Wrap 5

Wow, I can't believe I have come to the end of my third week here in Southport! Time is flying by. My days are so long and full. I can't tell you how many days this past week it was 8:30pm and I really just wanted to crawl into bed. I mean, I know I am getting old, but my goodness! :)

On Monday, my team and I went into Scarisbrick Hall and did an assembly (the same assembly mentioned in the previous Weekly Wrap) and spent the rest of the day in the office working on upcoming ministry.

Sarah and Trey working hard!

That evening I had a delightful coffee and a very large scone with my vicar (and line manager) Sonya.

Tuesday, our long day, we went into two primary schools to do a lunch club and an after-school club. In all the primary schools we visit we are talking about the Fruit of the Spirit. Some are easier to define and understand than others. For example, these kids get patience (they understand having to wait!) but kindness and goodness are a bit more challenging to explain and discuss...Also, that evening I met up with Hannah and Gabriel to talk about New Generation, our kids club. I really enjoy them and their heart for these kids!

Wednesday Sarah and I went to Greenbank, an all-girls secondary school (high school) and the boys went to Birkdale, an all-boys secondary school. At the girls' school Sarah led a discussion about Heaven. We asked the girls if they thought there was a Heaven and if so, who gets to go. Their answers were interesting, and slightly heartbreaking. The girls in my group said that "good" people get to go to Heaven. "Well then," I asked them, "how do you define 'good?'" Their answers got a bit gray then. But they were all in agreement that God decides who gets to go to Heaven. Sarah clearly presented the Gospel then and 15 of the 23 girls in the room raised their hands to either give their lives to the Lord for the first time or recommit their lives to Him again. Praise the Lord and Hallelujah!! God is good! By the way, the enemy hated that and Sarah got spiritually stomped on a couple days later. That was a good reminder to me that we really are fighting a spiritual battle and as Pais workers, in the schools, we are on the front lines. This is serious stuff! But greater is He who is in us than He who is in the world!! After that, we met with the owner of the only Christian bookstore/café in town (Café Delight!!) to discuss youth work and supporting each other as Christian organizations in our community. He was really encouraging and I got to have some gooooood coffee :) That evening I got to go to New Generation, my awesome kids club. I love these kids!!

This is Hannah's almost-70-year-old father at the kids club portraying Goliath after David defeated him.

Thursday was another day of clubs, half of my team went to Meols Cop (a secondary school) and talked with them about "Where your heart is, there your treasure is also," and the other half went to a Catholic primary school to talk with them about the Fruit of the Spirit. Then we met back up to do an after-school club at a different primary school, where we will be doing a workshop tomorrow morning!

Sarah, Luisa, and David at our Thursday after-school club talking with the kids about Patience

That evening Sarah and I got to go to "tea" (aka supper) at the home of the leaders of Open Well, the church that meets at 3pm on Sundays. John and Tracey are so sweet and it was a blessing eating and fellowshipping with them!

Friday my team and I agreed to hit KFC for lunch, which I think was a good idea. Every week we work really hard Monday-Thursday doing ministry prep in the office while at the same time hitting these schools to actually do the ministry.


At this point, Trey needed a break. I think we all did!

Friday is our admin day (so precious to me!) where we catch up, debrief, and plan for the week ahead, and to take some time to get out of the office and eat some goooooood food together was a good idea, I think. That night Sarah and I went to Shoreline, a local church, to talk to their youth group about Pais and what the apprenticeship looks like, should they be interested in joining in the future.

Saturday, my one day to sleep in! And I did. Actually, we all did. I refused to set my alarm clock but when I woke up I made my way to my Saturday morning hide-out for some gooooood coffee and some Bible time! :) I also went shopping because Chapel street, the pedestrian street with all the stores, was on my way home ;) So I bought myself a birthday present. Saturday evening I hung out with my team, plus a couple others. We ate, fellowshipped and they played a bored game (no, that is not a typo).

Today, Sunday, I again went to three services. I was with "my girls" this morning, and we are beginning a series discussing how God sees us, which I am very excited about. Following that, I went home, took a little nap, and then went back for church at Open Well. If I were to say which church in Southport is "my" church, this would be it. This is where Holy Spirit encounters and refreshes me. This is where I feel I belong and can worship freely. I love this place so far! Following that, we had Resolute Youth at the church where our Pais office is located, which is a once-a-month meeting of youth groups from around Southport. I thought it was great and I am really encouraged to see the young people in the church coming together to worship and fellowship!

Well, that was my week. And that is typically what it looks like. In the office and in schools Monday-Friday, church work in the evenings and on the weekends with Saturday normally free to rest and do what I enjoy! I know it was a lot, but now you kind of know what my life is like week in and week out--busy! :) But it's good and I am loving it!

God of this City

I was just thinking...

I love that I am in Southport. I love that over the summer I was able to say to the Lord, "Put me anywhere. Put me in the best place for me. Put me where You want me." He enabled me to surrender control of my life to Him and allow Him to place me where He wanted me. And there was a lot of prayer that went into it all. I prayed (a lot!). My family prayed. My friends prayed. Pais prayed. And the leaders of my (3) churches here in Southport prayed. I can't tell you how many times I have been told that my presence here is an answer to prayer.

God has been so gracious in putting me back in the UK and I truly believe He has put me here at such a time as this, with these amazing people I work with everyday, with my host family, with my church leaders, with the young people I encounter weekly, with the congregations of Southport. We are all here for a purpose--it is no accident, it is no coincidence, and God has great things planned for us and for this city!

God of This City, by Chris Tomlin

Weekly Wrap 4

Well, it's a day late, but here it is! I could make up some silly excuse as to my lateness, but I will just be honest and tell you that last night I went to McDonald's with friends instead of coming home to do my blog. However, that was following a day of three, count them, three church services, the first of which was the youth meeting at All Saints led by moi. The second was at a small church plant called Open Well that meets in the back hall of All Saints at 3pm. And the third was at Christ Church (my host church) in the evening and was led by Archie, a Scottish charismatic Catholic worship leader. And it was good! McDonald's was after that, and yeah, we hung out for a few hours, but it was a good time of fellowship, even though I got back late and had to get up early this morning for an assembly...

 

 ...at this place! This is Scarisbrick Hall (click on the link if you'd like to read the history!) where my team and I are on Mondays, usually for a lunch club but today was a special assembly in the morning with at least one hundred students. We talked about materialism with our theme being, "Where your heart is, there your treasure is also." It was great!

These are the kids from my Wednesday night kids club, "New Generation" with Hannah. This was game/craft time!

This is Hannah and Gabriel leading the lesson about Jesus feeding the 4,000. I was shocked at how well the kids listened. They are (in general) very well-behaved!

 

Sarah and I visited Trey at Christ Church's Friday night "Youth Café" which is mostly a time of fun for the youth. It gives them a safe place to hang out with friends and have a good time on a Friday night. We had a good time too!

 

This is my new designated hang-out. Don't tell anyone in Southport, but when I need a break and cannot be found, this is where I will be. It's the only Christian bookshop/café in town and I love it!!

 

This is my hosts' youngest grand-daughter who I see on a weekly basis. She has a lot of energy and I very much enjoy her!

 

Well, week two was a success. Honestly, I don't remember it incredibly well. There were several meetings, and there are lots of things to pray about, because there is a lot of work to be done. But that is why I am here! I am enjoying the work here and still feel SO privileged to be able to serve the Lord in this place. I know He has me here for a reason. Even in the times of tears, because I am sure there will be more in the many days ahead, I know He is on the throne and I have surrendered my life to Him. He is excellent in His leadership and I trust Him completely. I know He is good and I know He works all things together for good for those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose. Therefore, He has good for me! And I am excited about the work He is doing in Southport, in the churches as well as in the schools, with Pais and with the SASWT with whom we work.

 

Thank you to everyone who recently sent me encouraging messages. I love that people actually read this thing and I value you all! I could not do this work without your support!! 

Still Adjusting

Tears. I knew they were coming. I could feel the emotional pressure building up and knew it was only a matter of time before something unlocked the floodgate. And today was the day.

The thing is, you don't start a brand new life without tears. Saying goodbye is difficult (and I have had to do that way too many times in the last year and a half), and meeting new people, for me, is a challenge (but I have had to do that a ton lately as well). Then there's adjustment to life in general, in a new and different place, as well as all the work that has been placed before me. I am not complaining--I am here for a reason and I know God has specifically placed me here, in Southport, in these churches, at this house, on this team, etc.--but I am still adjusting. I think I really do need to give myself grace during the process. I don't have it all together, I am still learning, I am still healing, I am doing my best. And that has to be enough.