Persevere

          Sorry I haven't written in a while. Life has been crazy. I've been sick this week, and last week the kids were off school so we didn't have youth groups. The weekend before that, I went to Scotland with some of the other Gap Yearers. We made the long drive to northern Scotland in hopes of seeing the Northern Lights, but the clouds covered our view. It was still a fun trip though! 

Here's our video from the trip:

In Scotland waiting for Northern Lights

     These past few weeks have been difficult regarding youth groups and church ministry. I feel like it's been a one-step-forward-two-steps-back kind of deal. After my last blog "Truth" I've noticed so many more issues with the church and its leaders that no one is ready to address, much less fix. Besides the lack of community in the faith family, (which I wrote about early on) many of the church leaders have admitted that they don't spend time in the Word of God during the week. I'm sure this comes from the fact that they are uncertain of the Bible's absolute authority. And it makes sense, if they don't believe the Bible is true or can be trusted, why would they read it? So the problems arise because they are relying on their own opinions. Bible studies (we started a Lent course) are filled with discussion about our opinions on popular issues, not rooted in Biblical truth. Life choices are based on justifying what they think should be right, bending the rules. And because of this, there's no urgency or priority placed on ministry. No one wants to "offend" anyone with their beliefs so they just keep quiet, or talk about "safe" issues. I've been super discouraged lately, feeling like I'm getting no where.

    
      So I read Luke 18:1-8. "One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show them that they should always pray and never give up" (verse 1). He goes on to tell the story of the persistent widow who gets justice for her cause, even though she goes to the judge who neither "fears God or loves people." Her faith and persistence compelled even a self-proclaimed pagan to do the right thing. God's sovereignty and control isn't reliant on the people who are involved. Our job is to trust and obey. Such an encouragement to continue! 

     But then I read through the book of Acts. Paul and other believers preach God's gift of Jesus to everyone. But many, including God's people the Jews, reject it. So Paul, unwavering, "shakes the dust off his feet as a sign of rejection," and leaves (Acts 13:51). Even in the gospels, Jesus instructs his followers to do this as well. 

Gap Yearers in Scotland in front of Edinburgh Castle

     In Acts 16, the Holy Spirit actually prevents Paul and Silas from preaching the Word in certain towns, in order to guide them to areas that are begging and pleading for the truth. Acts 28 quotes Isaiah by saying that 

"the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes - so their eyes cannot see and their ears cannot hear and their hearts cannon understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them" (verse 27). 

     So my question is, when do you persevere and when do you shake the dust off and leave? I think about William Carey and other missionaries who have stayed in a location for over 7 or 8 years before they saw one convert. And even if you don't experience extreme persecution or rejection - just a lack of interest and hardened hearts - how long do you stick with it before shaking the dust off and leaving for places where hearts are ready? 

     When I think about the countless people who still haven't heard of Jesus or experienced His story of sacrifice and love, I struggle to have motivation to remain in a town of hardened hearts. I know God has brought me here for "such a time as this" and I pray that I can be as persistant as the widow in the parable. So I ask that you pray for me to have joy and strength to continue serving where I am while God has me here. And I ask that you pray for direction for where God would have me serve in the future. I'm excited about the possibilities to again step out of my comfort zone and share His story! 

Truth, as the Snow Falls

my road after the snow

     What is truth? How would you define it? And what things are absolute and what things could possibly have a little "wiggle room?" Can we really know if something is actually, 100% completely, without-a-doubt, true? This past week, I got in trouble with one of the church leaders/temporary vicar in the church here. As I always do before sharing a story from the Bible, I explained to my group of 4-8 year olds that the Bible is God's word. He inspired and told people what to write and it's 100% true and can be trusted. But later I was told by this church leader that I couldn't tell the kids this, because apparently it isn't true. Isn't true? 

     Sorry I'm not sorry, but if the Bible can't be trusted, what am I doing here? What are we all doing? Preaching from a word of make-believe and feel-good stories of the past? People, I'm not being a "naive, conservative, evangelical American," as some here have said. Unfortunately, this view of "taking the Bible at your own word" can be a pretty common practice in some Anglican churches. American churches are good at avoiding tough questions as we're often spoon-fed the Gospel and the Bible. But we can't take it in the complete opposite direction and ignore it! The Bible is relevant today, "living and active," Hebrews 4:12 tells us. But they say that Paul's letters and much of New Testament church doctrine can't be trusted. Excuse me? Let's look at that from another angle. We believe God is Sovereign, right? (If we don't, that's a whole other sad issue for another time) But if God is truly sovereign, would He really allow His Word to float around through the centuries with, not only a few typos - but huge theological errors such as this one, that only people with proper training and study could hope to understand? Did God pull a Brian Regan and say, "oops, I just meant it as a joke, but now they're all going out like that... oh well?" Doubt it. 

     2 Timothy 3:16 says that "all Scripture is God-breathed or inspired by God." Yes, all authority on Heaven and earth is given to Jesus, (Matthew 28:18) not Paul or any other apostle who wrote books in the New Testament. But even the four Gospels (including this verse) were written by Jesus' followers and not Jesus himself! So based on that premise, we couldn't even trust the Gospels! What's left that we can actually believe in and teach to others? 

     We're not meant to figure out God. Or understand His ways. We can't undercut the Bible just because it says things that don't make sense to us, are hard to believe, or that place boundaries and convictions in our lives. It's called #FAITH. If we only believe the part of the Bible we can understand, then we're pulling the majesty of God down to our level, a level humans can "get" so no one feels uncomfortable and we can all live happy lives of bliss in our own man-made religion. So we can worship ourselves. We can't just "pick and choose" the parts we want to believe and the parts we want to be true and then just disregard the rest! How arrogant to think we can know and understand the mind of God! 

     Needless to say, it's been a rather discouraging week but God has continuously reminded me of Matthew 10:

St Mary's Church in Nunthorpe

     "If any household or town refuses to welcome you or listen to your message, shake its dust from your feet as you leave. I tell you the truth, the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah will be better off than such a town on the judgment day. Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves. But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues. You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me. When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time. For it is not you who will be speaking—it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you." 

-Matthew 10:14-20

     This may sound a bit over-dramatic, I mean, these people are in the church. They're not really going to do anything to persecute me! And no, my safety isn't threatened. But I've been reminded this week of how Satan loves to screw things up, and loves starting inside the church. 

     I love the kids in the youth group, and I believe God will be calling many of them to Himself sometime in the future and I can't wait to see that unfold. But if this church (and other faith families around the world) aren't willing to change and actually stand for something...then man, judgment day is gonna be super rough. I know only God can melt their hearts. There's nothing I can say or no Bible verse I can throw at them to make them change their minds. Please pray for God to bring a hunger for His word and a longing for Him. Everything else is meaningless. And that's TRUTH. 

Constant Through the Trials and the Change.

Wow, it's been a while since I blogged. Like, I haven't written since last year! 

The London Eye

Ice Bar with Lindsey and Travis

     December was such a blessing. As the youth group term came to a close, I found myself going from super-incredibly-busy-i-just-want-to-cry, to having a lot a refreshing and rejuvenating time to spend out of Nunthorpe. I went to 

London for a few days with a friend, a very welcome birthday gift from my parents. I had a wonderful time, enjoying London with all its Christmas festivities. We went ice skating, walked around Camden (my favorite part of London), and enjoyed a seasonal Winter Wonderland theme park in Hyde Park. My favorite part had to be visiting an ice bar, completely made out of ice! It was sooo cold!

Boxing Day Dip in Redcar (Alan is in black)

     On Christmas day, I spent the night with the family who hosted me when I came on a short-term trip here, two years ago. What a blessing it was to spend Christmas with my English family; I'm so thankful they were willing to expand their family for a day! On Boxing Day (December 26th) we stepped outside to the beach for the annual Boxing Day Dip to help raise money for different charities. Although Alan (my host dad) was the only one in our group willing to brave the English Channel's cold, it was fun to watch hundreds of crazy people jump in the water to help support others. 

Susan and I in Warsaw

     God also sent me on a quite unexpected journey to Warsaw, Poland for New Years. My mom's college roommate has been a missionary there for the past 16 years and invited me to visit and see what God's doing in Eastern Europe. It was such an unexpected blessing to spend a week there be able to talk with her about what being a career missionary is like. 

Our group going to see The Hobbit

    Not only did I enjoy experiencing an entirely new culture and language, I got to spend a lot of time with some Americans, and it felt like home! We spent New Years watching people set off fireworks in the streets. And a few days later we went to see The Hobbit (my 3rd time) with Polish subtitles. I got to meet some new Polish Believers, and hear their stories of coming to Christ. What an incredible adventure!

     To start off this new year, our YFC team attended the Youth for Christ staff conference in Coventry, England. It was a great opportunity to grow closer as a team, worship God through music, and get some amazing spiritual insight from some wonderful speakers from around the UK and the world. I loved getting to socialize with so many different people my age who are passionate about you and passionate about taking Christ to the nations; it was such an encouragement! I learned so much from the different Bible studies and seminars they had available: 

Tees Valley Youth for Christ 2012-2013 at YFC Conference in Coventry

1. Tell Stories. Our culture is moving from left-brain society of text and verses to right-brain society. As the church, we need to recognize that the way to reach our generation is to speak in narrative, metaphors, stories, and examples. People don't really care what you're selling, they want to hear your story and know who you are. And our we just telling the story of freedom, love, hope, and justice? Or are we proclaiming the story of Christ and Him crucified? (1 Corinthians 2:2) If we only focus on telling His story and stop getting so caught up in figuring out how do "draw people to Him" we will rely on him and trust that He will do the drawing! Which leads to the next point I learned...

2. Let the Holy Spirit Guide. Our culture is always changing, and the only constant is the Spirit and His work in our lives. The Holy Spirit should be the director of the church, and we should do our best to follow. "Mission is seeing what God is doing and joining Him there" (John Taylor). The Spirit is a reliable presence, but completely unpredictable, and He is in the business of seeing the completion of things, the urgency of it all. Move from ministry strategies and what makes sense to discerning what the Spirit is headed. That's where the real fun begins and God works in crazy ways! Be weary/cautious if you thing God is calling you to something safe or comfortable or without risk. 

3. Adolescence is slowly shifting to the range of 11-27 year olds. Wow! So youth ministry really could last until the late 20s. Our generation is so focused on friendships. Because of broken homes, we've abandoned hope in family, and we're waiting longer to be involved in serious romantic relationships, so that leaves us with friends. Watch any current-running TV show to see this. Our friends become our family, because they're the only ones we can truly trust. Because of this, and so many other issues, our style of reaching out to this group must adjust. I'm inspired and encourage to not stop at 18 years, hoping that "they've got it," but to continue pouring into people well into their 20s. God's really put this age group on my heart recently, and I feel He may be calling me to this somewhere down the road in my life. 

4. One night we sung, "One Thing Remains," by Jesus Culture. A line in the song says that Jesus' love is "constant through the trials and the change." It's a great reminder because lately I've been distracted by the fact that my parents are moving to India to do full-time missions. I'm so glad they're going and couldn't be more excited for them, but I think it just hit me that their move signifies the closing of a chapter in my life. My family is transitioning to the next stage of life and I'm not a part of it. But God is constant in the midst of change. What a promise! 

   Anyway, I'm excited for what the future holds here in Nunthorpe and ready to take a step of faith by letting the Holy Spirit direct our steps!

An Unexpected Journey

     It's no secret. I love The Lord of the Rings trilogy film. Who doesn't? But The Hobbit - even better, in my opinion. I love Bilbo Baggins' story. Here's a guy who represents the average human being: living a quiet, comfortable, and somewhat uneventful life. But then Gandalf (much like the character of God) comes along. "I'm looking for someone to share in an adventure..." he says. He invites Bilbo on an incredible journey. Bilbo's life is suddenly bombarded with chaos, discomfort, but a little sense of mystery - and he gets a little curious. 
     Gandalf and the dwarves offer him the opportunity to join them on their quest. Bilbo counts the cost of such an endeavor and Gandalf tells him, "you'll have a tale or two to tell when you come back." 
     To which Bilbo responds, "can you promise that I will come back?"
     "No," Gandalf replies, "and if you do, you will not be the same." 
     Bilbo is hesitant, much like we are when God calls us to an uncomfortable journey. He actually declines the offer at first, but imagine what a boring story the Hobbit would be had he stayed at home! The story and the excitement of life begin when we step outside our door. 

Bilbo leaving his home in the Shire: "No time to talk. I'm going on an adventure!"

What an amazing opportunity God gives us to be involved in His ADVENTURE! Don't miss out! Stop just wondering what's on the other side...and GET OUT THERE! 

"Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together! To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance."

     Christmas was fun with my host parents from when I was here a few years ago. Such a blessing to get to spend the day and night with them! And I got to Skype my family at 2am on Christmas morning. YAY! And tomorrow morning I'm travelling to Poland for a week to visit my mom's college roommate and possibly learn more about Eastern European culture and human trafficking. Kind of a last minute plan, but when God invites us for an adventure, don't say "no!" :) 

     Merry Christmas and Feliz Navidad and Happy New Year to you and yours. May 2013 be a year of blessing and expected journeys! 

Taking the Backseat AKA the "be still and know" part

     FIRST CHRISTMAS SNOW! What a wonderful day-after-my-birthday present! So beautiful to wake up to a world in white and I can't wait until it snows again! Really puts you in the Christmas spirit! 
     Last week we had a Christmas dinner with all the leaders from Firecrackers (4-8 year olds). It was good to spend time and get to know them outside of youth groups. 

Firecrackers Leaders

      Last week I also hosted a girls Christmas craft and movie (Elf) night for the middle and high school-aged girls. It was fun to just hang out with them, make puppy chow and apple cider, and watch them get to know each other outside of their normal friend groups. A lady who helps with Firecrackers, Jane, took me to buy supplies for crafts and stayed for the event to help the girls with their crafts. So thankful and blessed to have her! And she made a Christmas wreath for my house! We had about 12 girls come to the event. 

Jane's Christmas Wreath

      Last Thursday I went to my first primary (elementary) school assembly. We have been asked by the school to come in for 20 minutes twice a month to talk about Bible stories, what an opportunity! We talked about creation and used funny props to tell the story of what God made on each day. The kids loved it and got really involved, listening and answering questions about the story. You gotta love 100 little kids saying "Good afternoon, Rachel" in unison, and in English accents. So precious! After we told our story and prayed for the children (imagine, praying in a public school!) we stayed and listened to them sing "Silent Night" in English, French, and German, which they've been learning for Christmas this year. It really struck me as they sang the words to a very "Christian" song that they are very open to the truth and surrounded by the truth about Christmas, yet they just don't get it. To them it's equal to the story of Santa Claus or any other fairy tale. But I am thankful that they love the idea of having us come in to share with their students, so I'll trust that God will allow the truth to prevail and continue to water the seeds we plant!

Girls at Christmas Craft/Movie Night

     And on that note of planting seeds: the most exciting but also most difficult part of the last few weeks. Monday night we discussed the Christian film To Save a Life with the middle school-aged students. We've watched the film with them over the past 2 weeks and some walked away in tears last week because they saw it as depressing and hopeless. I've shown this film to literally hundreds of high school students in America but I've never seen this response. It's meant to be a challenging but hopeful movie! So this past week I've been trying to think of a way to convince them of the hope that can be found in Jesus because we don't have to live life on our own. I don't want them to just watch a character's story of pain and sorry, I want them to see it as a choice they can make in their own lives! 
     So Monday we broke into boy/girl groups to discuss their thoughts on the film. Even thought kids felt depressed about film, they really knew it. They knew all the details of the story which is sooo encouraging to know, and I pray that they'll remember it for a while so that God can bring things to their minds as they get older. This is so promising and I'm excited to see how God continues to grow seeds that were planted during the screening of the film. Towards the end of our discussion I was able to pray that the girls will begin to sense God's working and presence in their lives, even though they don't believe He exists - YET! I said that at some point they'll all have to answer the question "Is there more to life?" And I believe with all my heart that the only answer to that question is found in Jesus Christ. As God has clearly taught me, I can trust Him to water seeds! After our discussion, I asked if anyone would like a copy of the follow-up mp3 devotional used by the characters in the film. One of the girls in Lightning Bolts (who has only been coming for 3 weeks), a girl who is junior leader in the group (high school) and leader (a mom) all wanted copies! So excited to see what happens when I step back and let Him work!

     Another cool God moment: There's a high school-aged girl who's been pretty actively attending our Bible study. Half of the time I honestly don't think she gets a word I say. To her, everything in the Bible becomes about loving each other and just being nice. No matter how many times or different ways I explain the Gospel, she doesn't get it. So when we gave her the book Crazy Love I didn't know what to expect. However, she's been reading it like crazy...already to chapter 5 when the rest of us are on chapter 3. Monday she came to help out at youth groups and told me she had a question about the book. I assumed I would have to explain to her something pretty basic, assuming most of the ideas in the book would go over her head. I underestimated God, yet again. She asked about chapter 4 saying, "what does lukewarm mean?" So I explained it in literal terms and tried to simply share how God doesn't want us to be lukewarm. As expected, she probably listened to about half of my explanation, but then she asked "yeah, but what does it mean to be a lukewarm Christian?" I was humbled. God had patiently spoken to her through the reading and found the right time for her to "get it." She had finally connected literal life to a relationship with God. And me and my impatient and annoyed explanations didn't need to be a part of it. God just showing me who's boss. Then God threw another curve ball when she asked "well how do you avoid being a lukewarm Christian? What do you have to do?" 
     So, armed with this new excitement and the unexpected blessing of getting to see the fruit of my labor (er-God's labor) I'm going to be working with her a lot more in the coming months. I'm taking her to pick out a good teen study Bible this week and helping her learn how to hear from God on her own. I've learned to take a backseat, to stay out of what God's trying to do, and sit back and watch!

James Arthur

     P.S. Want a new Christmas movie to watch this year? Watch the film, Nativity. It's the English equivalent to The Christmas Story, Elf, or It's a Wonderful Life, whichever Christmas style your family is in to. I saw the sequel in cinemas for my birthday and it is so cute with lots of precious little children. And it gives a glimpse into the culture of England, Jesus is well-known, but just a story.

     Also, James Arthur won the British X-Factor this year, and he's from Saltburn/Middlesbrough, right where I live! So proud!

Give Thanks.

Thanksgiving was tough without family and close friends. I spent the day with an American, Sofia, who lives here and who I met at the church I worked for in 2010. We also had some of the other American gap year workers come over for dinner. I cooked my first turkey and helped cook the many different food options. But I struggled with truly being thankful. My family and extended family are very close so it was really hard being away from them for Thanksgiving and Black Friday (my favorite Thanksgiving family tradition). 

Thanksgiving (Sofia in green on the couch, Beth in grey)

      But as I went to bed Thursday night, God reminded me of how blessed I am to even have people to miss. I'm blessed to have a huge family to miss, traditions to miss, food to miss. I'm so blessed. And as Christmas approaches and things may get more difficult (because "I'll be Home for Christmas" is now the dumbest song ever) I will need God to remind me of this. So a big shout out to you, God, thanks for blessing me so richly! I came across this verse the other day: "But be sure to fear the Lord and faithfully serve him. Think of all the wonderful things he has done for you." -1 Samuel 12:24. God blessed me with a wonderful godly heritage, and now He's called me to risk and to sacrifice. This year I feel God has sent me to serve him in England, and the biggest sacrifice is being away from friends and family - especially during the holidays. 

     Also, there's a girl named Beth in the photo above. She was part of the youth group at the church I worked at in Eston in 2010 and now she's a recently-joined gap year worker with us! So cool to see how God works when we don't even know it! Very encouraging to remember that we are only planting seeds; we can never be sure how God will grow them in the future! 

Me with a couple of Lightning Bolts and junior leaders

Another cool story on that note: last Monday we were struggling to come up with an idea for Lightning Bolts that night. So we decided to pray for wisdom...duh. I feel like those of us in ministry can spend so much time planning and preparing that we forget to come before God, asking for discernment and guidance in teaching his people. More than often, we treat prayer as a "good luck charm," granting us blessing over the plans we've already made. After we prayed, we sat in silence for a minute and God revealed to both Ste (other youth worker) and I, the parable of the Sower. Exited about this revelation, we planned a short creative set up based on the parable, and prayer over the night. I'll admit I was expecting a huge reaction, after all, God had ordained it. However, nothing happened. It was a pretty typical, possibly even more chaotic night than usual. But I know that God was there that night, in the middle of the disrespectful kids who wanted nothing to do with the story. And the irony, that the whole parable was about planting seeds, a reminder that God is the gardener, and we may never know the impact we have this side of heaven. I feel confident that the night was a success; God was the center!

We've started reading Francis Chan's Crazy Love with the junior leaders and EQ (high school) kids. I'm super excited to see where this leads; so far they are enjoying it and learning a lot about what real religion and Christianity calls us to do - love like crazy! 
We also decorated the tree for the church on Friday with EQ. So much fun listening to Christmas music, drinking apple cider, and just hanging out! So ready for the Christmas season! On the 7th of December I'm hosting a girls Christmas craft party and watching Elf and all the girls are so excited for it!

 
     Psalm 46:10 says to "be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted in all the nations, I will be exalted in all the earth." I've always heard the beginning of this verse (the "be still and know" part). But rarely have I focused on God's promise that He will be exalted among all people throughout all of history. The human nature in me often says that God needs me. And that every now and then I need to "be still" from my busy ministry-lifestyle and remember and "know that He's God." Once I remember this truth, then I can go back and continue serving Him because, of course, He desperately needs me. However, if I focus on the 2nd part of the verse, I'll see it from an entirely different angle. It makes it all about Him, "every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord" (Philippians 2). This will happen, so we can be confident that He's in charge. We can be still and know that He's not dependent on us to make His name great throughout the world. But He does want to include us; He wants us to be a part. Lately God's been teaching me this and it's rocking my world. And will probably become a tattoo sometime while I'm here.   :) 

Decorating the Christmas Tree with EQ (high school)

P.S. MY BIRTHDAY IS IN 5 DAYS! 23, woohoo! 

Community

     And I'm actually NOT talking about the TV show. Surprise! Over the last few weeks I've realized how much the church here and the town as a whole lacks community. There's no "hey come on over for dinner," or "let's go out for coffee," or "wanna go see Twilight at the cinema?" Ok, I would have definitely turned down that last offer anyway. Most people seem content with shallow relationships so they never have to let their guard down and really get to know someone.
     But of course, I'm not used to this. I'm used to the Christian bubble of UMHB, home of hospitality and Jesus-ness. So after feeling depressed and lonely without knowing why, it suddenly dawned on me: There isn't anyone I know here who is my age. And I haven't really spent any time with any of the adults in the church, outside of church. My week consisted of preparing for youth groups, going to youth groups, hanging out with kids, and getting sleep to do it all again the next day. So I was lonely. And even before it really clicked that I was lonely, God brought some amazing people into my life. 

Amsterdam, Holland

     Half-term was wonderful. It was a much-needed break from the regular routine and I got to spend some time in Amsterdam with a friend who's also in the area doing a gap year from Texas/UMHB. It was a wonderful experience, but definitely not a city I'd ever want to visit again. Asthmatics don't do well in places where street-smoking marijuana is legal. 
     On the last Sunday of half term, I had the opportunity to spend the day in Eston, where I was located during my mission trip here 2 years ago. What a blessing! I was reunited with my English mum and dad who hosted me in 2010, and I got to see so many friends who are very passionate about reaching their city. At church we sang songs that I actually know, we prayed as a congregation for our city, the government, the world, and individual's prayer requests and praises. What a blessing to visit a very ALIVE church! I also got a few mobile numbers and people telling me to call them when I'm available to go out for coffee or a meal. I never wanted to leave. But as I returned to Nunthorpe I felt replenished, like God had given me that day to fill me up so that I could pour out everything again over the next few weeks. Like the song "Desert Song" says: "I know I'm filled to be emptied again, the seed I received I will sow!" I feel so blessed to know I have a resource of fuel when I need it. 
     God also gave me a girls craft day. Two women from the church invited me to join them for a sewing day. I made a purse/bag from scratch; so proud! It was wonderful to get away for a few hours and just build relationships these ladies. I felt like such a grown up! 

     And another blessing in Community: Saturday we had teenagers over at the house from 9am to 9pm. While I was unbelievably exhausted by the end, it was soooo much fun to just have a chill day with the kids outside of church youth groups. I laughed more that day than I think I have since I arrived! We played the Wii, Pictionary, board games (even though I usually hate board games, I had so much fun), and we watched a documentary film called 58: about global extreme poverty. We've begun to talk more and more about social justice in our groups and are seeing great responses from the kids! I also made them puppy chow with American peanut butter and they absolutely loved it! The chocolate/peanut butter combination doesn't really exist here, as peanut butter doesn't contain sugar like ours does in the USA. It was brilliant just to laugh and have fun with the kids; I feel so much closer to the group now.

Playing games at our house for the 9-9 group on Saturday

     So now I feel renewed and replenished. I'm ready to pour out again, knowing that God is on my side. He's protecting me from burn-out, ready to help when I call on Him. Last Wednesday, at a ministry meeting with the elders and leaders in the church, I admitted that I don't feel like there's any  sense of community or family-ness in our church. We shouldn't feel like we have to live this life on our own. As a faith family, we should be involved in each other's lives - giving and living with the poor, interceding for the sick, and sharing in the struggles and triumphs of all. 

The road by St. Mary's Church

The family of God should be so attractive that others want in. So God's been convicting me that I can be a part of building community in this church, even though I'm young and American. At the meeting I also suggested the idea of starting a weekly prayer group. There aren't any weekly Bible studies or prayer groups at the moment, so I feel like God is calling me to change that. An older lady at the meeting loved the idea; she's been trying to start a prayer group for years. So I'm excited to see what God wants to do in this group, and what He will do when we pray!