Now that I am home and into an everyday routine, I wanted to update you on my life here in Michigan and what has been going on since I left England. Leaving England was very difficult. I loved my ministry there, the people, and the place. But as much as I miss it, God has given me a peace about being at home.
When I arrived at home I was able to fly out to Florida to be in my sister, Laura's, wedding. Going to Florida after being in England's summer was a little bit of a shock to my system, but I enjoyed the sunshine! The wedding was a great celebration and I am thankful that I could be a part of it.
When I came home, I was not sure what kind of job I would end up with. But I knew that God would provide. Thankfully a position opened up at Wayne County RESA, the place I worked before I went to England. So in the beginning of September I began to teach English as a Second Language in ten schools in Trenton, Grosse Ile, Dearborn Heights and Woodhaven. Needless to say, with all that commuting I have put a few miles on my car, which is another praise I have, God provided me with a car. With the help of my dad and uncle, I found a used Ford Focus to buy!
I am still looking to go to graduate school to get a masters in Intercultural Studies and Missions. I have sent in my application to Wheaton College. I hope to find out within a month whether or not I am accepted. If I am accepted I will begin classes in September 2009. I have been praying about where to go once I have graduated, but as of now, I am not sure what mission field God is leading me to.
I am enjoying being home and being able to spend time with my family. I get to see my sister, Amy, and her family about once a week. It is fun for me to see my niece and nephew so often. I love being an aunt! I'm going to visit my sister, Laura, in November and hopefully she'll be around for Christmas. So it will be great to connect with her and her husband then! Spending time with my parents has been a blessing as well.
Being able to go to my home church and get involved with the ministry there has been exciting for me. I've been volunteering with the Jr. High youth group and I have so much fun with them. It is encouraging to see the youth's excitement to learn about God. I have also been going to a couple of Bible studies and those have been very refreshing.
Thank you for all of your support, prayers, and encouragements over the past two years. I really appreciate them and know that I could not have been involved in ministry in England without you. I hope to share during the church services in late October a little more about my time in England. Although I am no longer there, I ask that you would continue to lift up Broughton and Higher Blackley in your prayers. Pray for encouragement for the Christian leaders there and that God would continue to bring workers to share His love with the people there. Thanks so much!
Sunday was our last day in the house. We spent the week before in-between ministry cleaning and packing. It is amazing to me how much a group of people can accumulate over two years. Thankfully there is a charity here called "The Mustard Tree" who helps set up homes for people who need help, and they were able to come and take away most of our furniture. Christine and I have moved into St. John's Court, which is a sheltered accomadations for elderly people (sort of like an assisted living home). We visit some people there and they have a guest apartment, so they are letting us rent it for the next couple of weeks.
Over the next two weeks there is so much to do. Drew and I are sharing the word tomorrow at the morning service and this Sunday at the evening service. We were asked to give some reflections about our time here in ministry. This Saturday we are having the Stan's Fun Day at Crab Lane school. We had one of these at the very beginning of September and it was a great success. Hopefully the day will continue to connect the community with the church. The next day we have the second Stan's service at the St. Andrew's community hall. This is a community outreach event that invites people from the church and community to learn about God in a relaxed atmosphere. Last time we had a great turnout and so we hope that the same people come and also some more. We are also ending the Beth Moore bible study next week. I have thoroughly enjoyed leading the "Jesus the One and Only Study". It has been a great time to fellowship with the women of St. Andrew's and also to learn together.
With all that I have to do, there is also an underlying sadness as I know that I will be leaving in two weeks. It's a struggle because I know that I am supposed to be leaving, but at the same time I don't want to go. There are so many great things going on here, especially with community outreach, that I want to stay and be a part of. I was thinking about how Peter reacted at the transfiguration, when he told Jesus that it was good for them to be there and they should put up shelters there. Peter didn't get the big picture, that in order for God's work to be done they had to leave the mountain, even though it was good for them to be there. I feel that I'm having that reaction now. I say to God "But God its good for me to be here... let me build a shelter." But God has a bigger picture than I can see. So I'll follow what he tells me.
Please be praying for all the events that are happening this week. That the community outreach would go well and that hearts would continue to be transformed in this place. Please also pray for me, that I would have peace during this time and that I would be able to do all that I need to before I go. Thanks for all your prayers and support!
Assemblies are one of my favorite parts of the ministry we do here, and today was my last assembly at Crab Lane Primary School. It was a pretty simple assembly that started out with a game of "Love it or hate it". We had a few different foods and asked the kids if they loved it or hated it. Some of the items were licorice, olives, marmite (a pretty disgusting English spread), candy, and marshmallows. We then talked about how we don't just love and hate food, we also have people we love and people who we don't necessarily get along with. We then told the story of the woman at the well and how Jesus paid attention to that woman and talked to her even though most people wouldn't. We talked about the differences between people but at the heart of it we're all the same, and how if we take the time to care about people like Jesus did, we can make strangers into friends. It was one of the most basic lessons we could teach, but I think that its one worth being taught throughout our lives. It gets so easy to choose friends and to not take the time to invite others into our lives because its harder to find a connection with one person than another. But if we are to follow Jesus' example we need to put forth that effort, not just because Jesus wants us to love difficult people, but also because of all that we can receive through these friendships.
Thanks for your prayers for the Where's Wally event at St. Andrew's. It was a great success! There were eighteen kids who don't normally come to church, most of which are involved with Boys and & Girls club and Jigsaw, who came. Some of those kids' parents and grandparents came as well. It was so exciting to see these kids attending this informal church service. The actual service went well. The vicar, Ian, and some of the youth group members had made a video for the service. In the video Ian dressed up as Wally, so he had the red and white striped hat, sweater, and thick glasses. He was walking around Manchester's city center, while the "Wally watchers" were trying to find him. Although Ian was right behind them, jumping around trying to get their attention, the "Wally watchers" just couldn't seem to find him.
After seeing the video, Ian explained that many times we think that God is like Wally in the "Where's Wally" or "Where's Waldo" books. We think that God is hidden and we have to search desperately to find him. But in reality, God is more like the Wally from the video, trying to get our attention, searching for us. Please pray that the people who were at the event would continue to think about how God is trying to get our attention and that it would impact their lives. We have another event like this one coming up in July. I ask for your prayers that these events would continue to have an impact on the community of Higher Blackley.
Recently I have been doing a lot of thinking about the future. I had thought that I knew what I was going to do when I came back to the states, teaching or youth work. I was telling one of my friends about applying for youth work positions, and she asked me, "Do you feel that God is telling you to go into youth work? Or are you just trying all the possible doors?" That got me thinking, I hadn't really directly asked God what He wants for my life and listened for a response, I just had kind of assumed I could do youth work and I would be fine with it. So during our team's debrief in the Lake district, I decided I needed to actually ask God for direction. Now, I have asked God for direction before, but I don't think I was really ready to hear His answer. This time, I felt clearly the call to long-term missions. I spent some time praying about this and asked God for scriptural confirmation and confirmation through other Christians, which I received. So, I will be coming home in the end of July. For the next year I will be working, I am not sure what kind of work I will be doing yet. During the year I will be applying to grad schools, and applying for scholarships. In the fall of 2009, I will start schooling to get my masters degree in missions. One of the schools that I'm looking at is Wheaton college. After I graduate with my masters, I plan to head out into the mission field long-term. I am not sure where God has called me, but I know that when I need to know, He'll tell me.
As always, thanks for your prayers and support. I know that those things are what helped me reach my decision about my next step. I ask for your continued prayers as I begin this journey. I also ask for your prayers for Broughton and Higher Blackley, that God would continue to work in the hearts of the people here to transform these communities.
During the past couple of weeks our team has faced some challenges. As most of you know, two weeks ago our house was robbed, and six team members had their laptops stolen. I was lucky not to have anything stolen. Despite the loss of their belongings, those team members really had a positive attitude. For most of them, this past week was their last week here in Salford. They could have easily lost their focus and left England with a bad attitude, but instead they continued to finish off their ministry strong and left talking about forgiveness.
Since the First Year Missionary program is a nine month program, Katie, Josh Jacobs, and Hilary had their final days in England on May 14 and 15. Chad, a staff member, also ended his time here this week. He will be getting married this summer and he and his fiancee will be continuing to work with AIM in Georgia. I have to say that it was difficult to see them go. When you live, work, and spend time with a group of people, they become your family. I have been blessed to have such a great "family" this year. I know that God has used them here, and it was great to see how God worked in them as well. It's funny how we come to be missionaries, but as we reach out to others God transforms us as well.
Although half the team is gone, Josh & Shannon, Drew, Christine and I will continue to carry on our work here for the next two months. We still have much to do and some exciting things are going on in the area. Tomorrow, St. Andrew's is having an "event". They are trying something a little different to reach out to the community. Instead of having a regular church service in the church, they are having an event down at their community hall. This event has a "Where's Wally?" theme (that's their version of "Where's Waldo?") and it has a relaxed feel with activities for children, video about finding Wally, and a sermon. It has been great to invite the community kids, and some of the people that we have been working all year at Parent Toddler group to. Please be praying that the event is a great outreach tool, and that we would be prepared to welcome and follow up with the people that come to it.
As always, thanks for your prayers and support. Please continue to be praying for our work here in Broughton and Higher Blackley!
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!
Someone once said, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Well after tonight, I think God is in the lemonade business. On my way to Boys & Girls club I found out that the room we normally use was unavailable. The roof had been leaking for a while and the ceiling had finally caved in. The only place we could meet was in the front of the sanctuary in the church. I was feeling a little unsure thinking about how it was going to work out having a bunch of teens that tend to be a little rowdy spending the evening in a sanctuary. I worried about what could possibly go wrong. But God knew what He was doing, even if I didn't. Teens who would never normally set foot in a church spent an entire evening having fun in a safe place. The things in the church sparked one of the teens interest. He kept asking questions, even asking what communion is. I overheard another leader's answers. He shared with the teen that communion reminds us of the last supper. That the wine represents Jesus' blood shed for us, and the bread his body broken for us. That Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and rose again. What an amazing opportunity! To think that a caved in ceiling presented the opportunity to share the gospel, now that's lemonade!
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!
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.
