The past couple of months have been a flurry of activity! 

The beginning of March brought a much welcomed visit of my parents.  They came for ten days and I was able to show them some of my ministry sites and introduced them to my life here in England.  I really enjoyed seeing my two different worlds connect!  I went with them on a short vacation to London and Edinburgh. 

As most of you know, in mid-March I made my decision to return to the states at the end of July.  It is one of the most difficult decisions I've had to make, but I trust that God has a plan for my life and for the lives of the people of Broughton and Blackley.  I'm thankful that I still have three months left and I look forward to continuing my work in the next few months. 

Easter week was busy with services and a Good Friday kids club.  During that week our teammate from last year, Rachel, had her spring break so she came to visit.   The highlight of ministry for me that week was the kids club we had on Good Friday.  We had over 20 kids come to St. Andrew's church hall for an afternoon of Bible stories, activities, songs, games and crafts. 

After Easter I went with some friends from St. Andrew's to a conference called Spring Harvest.  We spent five days in Skegness hearing speakers, having great worship, and spending time in fellowship.  It was really refreshing for me.

During April after all the school holidays, we've been back to ministry as normal.  I have been glad to get back into the routine.  The Beth Moore Bible study we are doing at St. Andrew's is going very well.  We are discovering more about who Jesus is and who we are in him.

Last week we had holiday fun days (vbs) at St. James church.  We had about 24 kids come every day.  It is so exciting to see how the fun days have grown throughout the year.  Not only are the church kids coming but some of the kids from the community are coming as well. 

Thanks for all of your prayers and support.  Please continue that our team will keep God as our focus and that we would be able to do ministry with our whole selves.  Thanks!

The past few weeks have been filled with new adventures. 

A couple of weeks ago I went with one of the leaders of St. Andrew's church to help with a homeless ministry called Barnabus.  I met a great team of workers who provided tea, coffee and toast to some of the homeless in Manchester.  I was really impressed with how Barnabus meets felt needs of the community.  Not only do they offer times for meals, or tea and toast, but they also have a place where the homeless can shower, get much needed clothes and toiletries, and the staff are really interested in helping them get off the streets.  I look forward to going back this week.

We had holiday fun days (vbs) at St. James chuch last week.  One of the great things about the English school system is how many breaks the kids get.  They may not have quite as long of a summer, but every other month they have at least a week off.  And that is our opportunity to hold shorter vacation bible schools.  This time we had a detective themed study, where the kids had to help the "detectives" figure out clues for the word of the day:  love, trust, and forgive.  I really enjoyed the fun days.  We had some kids from the church come, and the rest were either from Brownies or Lunch Clubs that our team help with.  My favorite part of the fun days was watching the kids get excited about singing songs about God.  I pray that the faith that they are being taught now will take root and grow.

We are starting a women's Bible study at St. Andrew's church in the beginning of March.  We will be doing the Beth Moore Bible study: Jesus, the One and Only.  I am excited to share this study with St. Andrew's.  I know that Beth Moore's studies have really helped me grow in my faith and I hope it will be an encouragement to the women here.  Please be praying for the study. 

Thanks for your continued prayers and support!  God bless!

The team has returned to England and is getting back into ministry.  We have a smaller team since Christmas because two of the First Year Missionaries feel that England is not where they need to be at this time, so they have decided not to stay for the second semester.  It is sad for our team to be losing these two valuable members, but it will be good to hear how God uses them elsewhere. 

I am enjoying being back in England.  It has been an exciting time of planning for the upcoming semester.  Yesterday we had a personal ministry planning session and wrote out some goals for the year and the steps we need to take to accomplish these goals.  Today we've been planning the upcoming Holiday Club for St. James. 

We have been discussing bullying in Jigsaw.  During last week's session, we talked about how Jesus was bullied, by playing a game.  What was so great about the game was that it opened up opportunities for the kids to ask really direct questions about Jesus.  Some of the questions asked were: Why was Jesus bullied?  Who betrayed Jesus?  How do we know that Jesus really went through all this?  I was glad I could help answer these questions for them. 

Another exciting event that occurred this past week, was the birth of my nephew Ryan Micah!  He was having some trouble breathing at first, but is now fine and is at home with the family.  I have seen pictures, and I have to say, he is adorable. 

Thanks for all your prayers and support.  Please continue to pray for our ministry here in Broughton and Higher Blackley.  Please pray that God would guide us as we put our plans into actions.  God Bless!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

In reflecting over the past few months, I have realized that there are so many things that I am thankful for.  I wanted to share some of these with you. 

I thank God for:

*The provision of support to return to England as staff.

*The opportunity to spend the summer in Trenton with friends and family.

*The London mission trip with the youth group.

*Being able to continue to build on past relationships in Broughton while beginning new ones in Higher Blackley.

*The opportunity to step out of my comfort zone in leadership.

*What I have learned through friendships this year. 

*Giving me a great team of staff to work with.

*Having first year missionaries who rise to the challenge of hard work in England.

*Heaters

*The encouragement I receive when I see the hearts of Christian leaders as they reach out to the community.

*My sister, Laura, being able to spend Thanksgiving with us.

*The split of jigsaw going so well.

*Being home for Christmas.

And, I thank God for your continual support and encouragement, and most of all your prayers. 

  Katie, Jarred and I are enjoying our work with St. Andrew's Church in Blackley.  One of the groups we work with is Jigsaw which is a Monday night program at the church for kids ages 6-12.  During the time they are there, we do a Bible study, learn a Bible verse and play some games.  Right now there are about 20 kids who come and they meet as one large group.  In the next couple of weeks we will be splitting the group into two smaller age groups.  Please be praying for the split, that it would help them to be able to learn more and that we would be able to show them more individual attention.

  A couple of weeks ago we decided we needed to get to know our neighbors.  We baked them cookies and set out to meet some of them.  We were able to meet almost everyone in the houses that surround us.  We wanted to let them know who we are and that if they ever needed anything to come on by.  One of the neighbors had just had a family member pass away that day, so we were able to pray with them.  This past week, we did some follow ups and we are continuing to build relationships in our neighborhood. 

  Last week, I took the day off and went to a city called Buxton.  I had really needed some time away and it turned out to be a great day for it.  I really enjoyed hiking through the woods and exploring the hills around Buxton. I found a second-hand bookshop and spent a while there.  I went to a café and read and I spent some time praying in the park.  I came back feeling refreshed.  All in all, it was a terrific day.  

  Thank you for your continued prayers for our ministry here in Broughton and Blackley.  Please pray that God would open our eyes for new opportunities to serve and that He would bless the relationships that we are building in the community.  Thanks again!

This morning we started off the day with a time of praise and worship.  We sang a song called "Rejoice" and it reminded me of how much I have to rejoice about.  So, I wanted to share a little bit about what God has been doing here.

The past couple of weeks have been great!  With the new team here we are well underway in our ministries.  We had a big answer to prayer with the new team.  Before they came, Christine and I were talking about how we weren't sure how we could minister to the girls in the community when there were only three of us girls to do it.  We then prayed about it and said "God, you know our needs, and we don't know how you're going to do it, but please help us to be able to minister to all the girls you want us to this year."  The next day we found out that another girl, Hilary, joined the England team.  It was amazing to see how God was working in our hearts and her heart at the same time. 

Last week, I was introduced to some of the ministry in Higher Blackley.  A week ago Saturday, we had a youth work fundraiser for St. Andrew's at Sainsbury's, the local grocery store.  We bagged groceries and were able to raise £400 for youth work.  It was a really great opportunity to meet some of the youth group and spend time getting to know them.  I went to my first service at St. Andrew's that Sunday and in the afternoon helped out with the Commemoration service.  Monday, I had the chance to go to Parent and Toddler group.  I really enjoyed meeting some moms and playing with the toddlers. 

On Tuesday, I helped out with my first assembly at Crab Lane, the elementary school in Higher Blackley.  Our theme for the semester is Jesus's promises.  We started out with the promise "I will be with you always".  We had the kids name things that people want in life... fame, money, health, family, things like that... and wrote them on balloons.  We then read about the disciples being called by Jesus, and talked about why they would leave everything they had to follow him.  We talked a little bit about why I left Michigan to spend another year in England.  Then we said that we won't always have our health, or be famous, or have money (as we were doing this we popped the balloons).  Then the kids thought there was nothing left but popped balloons... but actually each balloon had a word in it, and when put together it was Jesus's promise "I will be with you always."  So even when we have nothing, Jesus is always with us. 

The team arrived last Thursday and Friday.  We have five new First Year Missionaries this year:  Katie, Hilary, Jarred, Robby, and Joshua.  Since they have arrived we have been doing orientation sessions, trying to get them to know the area a little better, and acquainting them with the ministry here.  They are a great group, and I'm excited to see how God uses our team this year.

Please be praying for us as we are finishing the orientation and beginning ministry in Broughton and Higher Blackley.  Thanks!