Weekly Wrap 11

Mission: Impossible has begun!!

"What is Mission: Impossible?" you say? Well, let me tell you!

Mission: Impossible is an annual Easter presentation in which the Southport and Area Schools Worker Trust, Pais Southport, and the Southport Masters Commission, along with youth workers and volunteers from around the town take over a local church and for two weeks, turn it into secret agent headquarters, to which we invite school children years 5 & 6 to come and investigate the events surrounding Jesus's trial and execution in order to discover for themselves if He actually died and rose again!

Upon entering the building, they go through a security scan, receive a passport, and are placed into teams with squad agents who lead them through the mission, presenting the facts as the kids attempt to uncover the truth about what really happened to Jesus.

They tackle questions like: Did Jesus know what was going to happen to Him and could He have stopped it? Was His trial fair? What was the crucifixion like? Did Jesus really die? Did Jesus come back to life? The kids re-enact the events that took place in the Garden of Gethsemane. They view a film about His encounters with the High Priest, Herod and Pilate. They watch a holographic reconstruction of an eye-witness's account of what happened when He died. And they talk with a doctor about what His body went through on the cross.

Their mission in all this: to discover what is true and what is false about the Easter events and thereby come to their own conclusion about if Jesus really died and if He really came back to life.

Here are some pictures!

The first thing the kids have to do is get through security. Don't they look intimidating? ;)

Squad Agents awaiting their teams 

Agent T (True) and Agent F (False) explaining the mission to the kids. 

 

The Garden zone

The doctor's surgery 

 

We are half-way through Mission: Impossible at this point and it has been so exciting! Taking school kids through this presentation is encouraging and enjoyable and they really like it. We have had a great time presenting the truth about what really happened to this real man called Jesus and what Easter is truly about!

Holiday Booked!

Well, I finally did it. I booked every aspect of my upcoming Easter holiday! And I am so excited about it! I am going to two cities in Europe to visit two very special friends of mine. That's the best part. Yes, it will be nice to travel and sightsee, but I am mostly looking forward to spending time with these awesome women of God!

If you want to know where I am going, I will give you some clues.

City #1:

 

 

City #2:

 

 





 

Well, what do you think? Any guesses??

Weekly Wrap 10

Well, last week was....interesting...it did not go at all as I planned.

You know how I was SO excited to talk about the Cross at our Wednesday lunch club? Spiritual attack--I got sick! And I mean really sick! But it wasn't just me; Tabz and Sarah were ill as well! I was really disappointed to miss that opportunity, but I wasn't surprised when the attack came. The enemy hates it when Christians talk to non-Christians about the power of the Cross. Because it scares him. That's where he lost the battle, and although he is still fighting, the victory has already been won, and his future truly terrifies him. As it should!

However, despite my illness, which dragged on for a couple days, really draining me of energy and motivation, I had the most glorious weekend! My friend/little brother Misa came to see me!! He is from Venezuela but lives in the Canary Islands, and currently works at the conference centre in East Sussex where I also lived and worked for a year. So, since this was the best part of last week, I would like to share some of it with you. Enjoy!

First of all, let me tell you what an amazing friend Misa is (which is not solely based on the following): here are two things I left behind at the conference centre last June when I had to leave. He found them and, not knowing when/if we would meet again, he kept them, and this weekend, 9 months later, he brought them to me! I was overwhelmed, and I am so happy to have them back!! This is one incredible brother!

 On Friday I got off work early and gave Misa a tour of Southport. Probably the most important thing to see in Southport is the pier. Isn't it pretty?

 

And look what we found!

That night we (and by "we" I mean Misa) made supper for my hosts: Spanish omelette and rice!

It was delicious!

On Saturday, we decided to check out Liverpool!

This is us at the World Museum.

More Liverpool

Beautiful sky

 
This was supper. He's taking a pic to make those at the conference centre jealous. I won't lie; the food there isn't so good...#Ilost30pounds

On Sunday he was adamant about attending church with me. I warned him--a bunch of 80 year olds in a very traditional Church of England service. But he came and even sat through it alone as I taught Sunday school. Seriously, this kid is gold. Then we hit Manchester. We didn't do much--the mandatory Starbucks run, of course, followed by shopping. He wanted to find me a guitar to buy because I am desperate to have one. Unfortunately, the one I liked was £500. And then, Taco Bell! I have never seen a Taco Bell in the UK before, and as he mentioned that morning that he would like Taco Bell, we found one in Manchester! The taco was lame, but the rest was great!

And then he left :(

And I cried, just like the last time I had to say goodbye to him. He truly is very special and I am blessed to know him and to have him for a brother.

 

So that was my weekend. I hope yours was great, but there ain't no way it was better than mine! :)

 

 

Talk About the Cross

Guess what! I am super excited because on Wednesday I get to go into a local secondary school and talk about the Cross! This talk has been in my diary (aka calendar) for weeks, so I knew it was coming. But it just hit me right now how amazing it is that I get to talk with 20-25 teenage girls about Jesus and what He accomplished FOR THEM on the cross! It's not every day that we get to do this; even though we go into schools Monday-Thursday as a Christian organization, we still have to be careful about what we say. But on Wednesday, I get to bring it! Woohoo!! Please pray for me that every word I speak is from Him and that He pierces hearts and changes lives with the words He gives me! And also, pray protection for me from spiritual attack. The enemy hates this so much. Thank you!!!

Weekly Wrap 9

Seriously, I cannot believe it's that time again. The last week has flown by so fast!

This week was busy! It seems all my weeks are busy. God is certainly establishing the work of my hands (and heart!) and there is always work to be done. But this week, there were some really good bits stuck in there with the norm.

I got to have coffee and chat with two teenage girls this week, one on Tuesday and one on Thursday. This is what I love to do! To hear their hearts, share their struggles and encourage them as I can. And over coffee! What could be better??

On Friday my team and I went to the Lake District. We were able to walk, talk and pray about the future of the Pais Project/Schools worker trust relationship in Southport and although there are significant changes to be made in the days ahead, we are on the journey! There is a lot of work to be done and I know it will take time, but it is progressing!

 Out at the lake

 It was quite a foggy day, but we still had a good time!

 On Friday we raced back from the Lakes to get to the March Bible study we're having with some of our young people. We are looking into the life of Noah in a very unique way, based on this book written by Paul Gibbs, the founder of the Pais Project. If you desire to go deeper in the Word of God, to really study it and wrestle with it for yourself, I suggest this book, as well as a group of friends to discuss it with!

 



On Saturday I got to go to Manchester to see some lovely friends from East Sussex! It was a pleasure spending time with them and catching up. This is me and Miru (from Spain) at the

Manchester Art Gallery.

Weekly Wrap 8

Someone is praying! I know it!

These past two weeks have been rooooouuuuuggggghhhhh! Let me tell you. The enemy has stepped up the spiritual attack--he is not happy about what is going on in the UK. The laborers are in the fields and the Harvest is already white (John 4:35)! The word of the Lord is going forth and it will not return to Him void--He will be glorified in this nation and around the world!

I have noticed that Pais members around the country have been hit with fiery darts from the evil one lately, from laptops breaking (We need our laptops! They are essential to our work!), to family issues, to team friction, to personal problems. As for me, and I'm going to be honest here, it has been in the form of team issues, self-condemnation and relational bondage. BUT God is SOOOO good!

The Lord is working out our team issues. His heart for Southport and His desire to be glorified in this city are so much bigger than Pais or the Southport and Area Schools Worker Trust. He is bringing about unity in partnerships among individual people, congregations and organizations. He knows exactly how each should function to support the others and to best honour and glorify Him. It is His work and we get to partner with Him in it--what a privilege!

Most of my life I have struggled with self-condemnation in the area of body image. But He is bringing me freedom in that arena. I will not say I am completely free, but I am growing in the knowledge that when Psalm 139 says I am fearfully and wonderfully made, that means He made me the way He wants me and how can I argue with that?? The Creator of the universe took the time to fashion me out of nothing, thinking about every aspect of my person (including the different sizes of my eyes!), and I find fault with it? Not anymore. My body is not perfect; I have many physical flaws, but God has allowed those for specific reasons and I choose to use them, to learn from them, to grow in the knowledge of His love for me despite the flaws, and to encourage others to do the same!

Relational bondage--oh, how easy it is for us to hurt each other! I've been hurt, I think that was made clear in some earlier posts, and for the past two weeks have been mourning over that relational hurt more than usual. However, just in the last few days, the Lord has really brought me freedom. He has given me the strength to just say "no" and walk away from something, or rather, someone, that had been holding me back. Closure was needed, and I have finally found the strength in Him to say goodbye. I haven't burned the bridge, but with honesty and respect, have said, "This is the end (A thousand miles and poles apart)." There is room in my life for that person in the future, should God decide to put us back in each other's lives, but for now, bring on the freedom, and let the healing continue.

This weekly wrap is obviously a lot different than the previous ones, but the last two weeks have been quite different as well. I want to thank everyone who has been praying for me and Pais GB. Your prayers make a difference--that is absolutely certain!--so keep on praying! You and your prayers are vital to our ministry and I am thankful you are partnering with us in this way!

A Glimpse into a Lunch Club

I know, I know! Sunday came and went. Then Monday came and went. And all my loyal readers are wondering: where is the Weekly Wrap?? Well, sorry to disappoint, but that's going to have to wait until next week! Last week was a tough week, and being ill in the middle of it did not help. However, God is good and I take comfort and rejoice in the fact that He is in control! He knows what He is doing and He will be glorified in Southport, in the UK, in Europe and in all the world. Amen??

Today I thought I would give you a little glimpse into the world of "lunch clubs." This is one of our weekly lunch clubs at a secondary school. This particular week we brought marshmallows and raw spaghetti to the club, divided the kids into two groups and gave them the assignment to build the tallest, most stable tower they could, using just those two items. It was an exercise to see who brought what to the team and to talk about our gifts--that they are not just for us individually, but for us to use and share!

David working with the boys

 

The girls working together

 

The girls' tower.
I really enjoyed their teamwork!

 

The boys' tower (mostly built by David who has a degree in civil engineering--cheat much?? :D)