Lebanon Reflections

Here are the reports from some of the team we took to Lebanon.

Rebekah - My time at Lebanon Evangelical school for boys and girls was definitely one of the most amazing weeks of my life and one that I will never forget. We just saw God work in us and through us and in the lives of the students in so many different ways that I just couldn't have imagined before going. For me the highlight was probably getting to know the younger children a little better out in the playground during their break times and building on the tings we had talked to them about in their lessons and assemblies. At first this was hard because they all wanted to talk to you and sit next to you and hold your hand (which was lovely but exhausting) but as the week went on, stronger relationships with a few children began to develop and I had the opportunity to pray with a few of them in the corner of the playground. Some had really tough situations at home, others had sick relatives and others struggled with school work and it was lovely to see them wanting to come and pray to their heavenly Father about these things. There was one little girl I will never forget who had a really tough family background and all she wanted to do with me was pray, she wasn't interested in any kind of small talk and I was encouraged and challenged by her desire and belief that God could change her situation. I think personally I grew and changed a lot from this experience. I was forced out of my comfort zone constantly and had to learn to say 'God help me' or 'God give me the words to speak I don't know what to say' and I soon discovered that when you ask God to help you, He never fails you. I think I discovered how when you have confidence in the Lord, you have confidence indeed! I will never forget my time there and am thinking and praying about the possibility of going to work there as a volunteer for a year or more some time in the near future.

Josh - The Lebanon trip was absolutely incredible, and was no doubt one of the best weeks of my life, I had no idea it was going to be that good. My Lebanon journey started out with me not wanting to go, as £550 and 10 days was a lot of time and money that I thought would be better spent in London, as there was already a team of 9 people going out to Lebanon, I figured one guy missing wouldn’t make a difference for Lebanon but would make a difference back home. But after I felt God (and Andie Frost haha) pushing me towards Lebanon I decided to go for it and start my fundraising full on. After a simple instruction from God I had my money pretty much collected in a week! When we arrived there the country was a real culture shock from England, the driving is absolutely insane, and I'm sure a lot of boy racers from Enfield would feel right at home there! Because we all had purple T shirts on all week at the school, we stood out and people knew were from another country, and the genuine interest and friendliness shown from the school was what really affected me the most. For them it didn’t matter if you were rich or poor, popular or smelly, they were just happy that we were there, and continued to flood with us attention for the whole 10 days. The kids were incredible, so funny and had so much life in them, it really is an amazing country, and an amazing school. The Principal Steve has done an incredible job with the school, and the general atmosphere of the school was amazing compared to English schools. All years groups hang out with each other, and students and teachers get on and have fun just as if they were in the same class. So much respect for each other out there… I really hope I get to visit again, and I would love to take more people out there. You go on mission to give to the people you visit, to serve and to be Jesus to them, but Gods grace is so incredible that you get so much back and forget that you went to serve THEM. I wonder if that’s how Jesus felt on his 33 year long physical mission trip to earth, he definitely came to serve us, but I reckon his trip changed him too, might be bordering on heresy here, but I gotta hunch! Absolutely incredible trip, its so amazing to see that Gods the same and works halfway across the world!

Nick - In the run up to the Lebanon mission I was a little slow in engaging with it all. I had been having second thoughts of short term mission trips, and also was really seeking clarity from God on whether to go or not. At the prayer meeting just before leaving I saw Jesus standing at the other side of the room and pointing to me. I knew He was sending me to Lebanon. The trip exceeded all my expectation. I absolutely love Jesus and love to walk alongside Him. Everything about the trip was blessed with such a sense of God’s presence and strength. As soon as we all met the team just bonded, and there seemed to be a determination to just love the Lord and each other, and see what happens. I was so blessed by the team’s hunger for the Lord. This was the note playing throughout the mission. It was refreshing. I think for each team member there was a sense of God’s leading and prompting in each moment, whether that meant sitting and praying with someone, talking to a student, or just chilling out in the middle of the day. I had never done schools work before, but I found that the Lord seemed to give me the option to move in His wisdom in each situation, or in my own. It was amazing to see how as a team we really listened to the Lord for the ‘fresh thing from heaven’. For me the highlights were quite hard to define. I found every moment to be incredible, generally for different reasons. I loved worshipping with friends each day and seeking the Lord. I loved talking to the kids, each one so wonderful and with a story to tell; I could see so clearly how God wouldn’t have trouble loving them. I really enjoyed the diversity of people and the culture, and seeing how the Holy Spirit wanted to use us to bless them. By the end of the first week I felt so near to the Lord, and could almost feel His movements. It was an awesome experience. And for me, meeting and worshipping with believers from a totally different culture was priceless, God loves us being one in Him. It was amazing to see God healing people, not just physically but emotionally and also relationally. On the last day there were 2 people I wanted to pray for, and the Lord gave me the opportunity to pray for both. If nothing else, this made the whole trip worth it. There was such love and power, our Lord is so wonderful. It’s hard to sum it up with any words that really capture the Lebanon mission. An amazing team, in an amazing place, with amazing people, doing amazing things, all because of an amazing God. Thank you Jesus.

Ruth - Lebanon was an amazing time. I went out not quite knowing what it would be like and how I would fit in and serve. I will attempt to do anything within my ability and God used me in the junior school. A place way out of my comfort zone. Leading actions songs in front of 100s of small children isn’t in my first choice of fun. But I loved it! (I even found myself this week voluntarily doing an action song from my pew on Sunday morning!!) It was so good to get alongside the children and spend time with them. It was nice to have an agenda of ‘just hang out with the children’. The lessons were so much fun and I enjoyed the questions time at the end, as we got to see how much kids had taken on board and were running through in their heads. We got to be so open about Jesus and it was fab! I felt at home very quickly in the school and after day one the junior kids would shout hello Ms Ruth/Mrs n:flame at me in the corridors. There is such a good network of Christians in the school and it was good to know that there would be decent follow up where required and that we weren’t leaving the pupils with no one to turn to once we had gone back to London. The team were great too, we all got along so well and it made such a difference I think.

Georgia - Lebanon was an excellent missions trip. It was my first trip and I was so excited to go and started praying about it regularly two months before we left. I got off the plane and left the airport and fell in love with Beirut immediately. It is so beautiful there and meeting the people, I loved it even more. Everyone is so friendly there. They want to know you and talk to you. In the school(LES) sharing with the students wasn't difficult because they are all so open to hear about what you believe in. The problem I found was that the lines were so blurred between Islam and Drue(or however its spelled), Christianity and all other religions. We had to break them down with each student we spoke to. However, the school was so open, we were allowed to have the senior school chapel open for prayer and worship on breaks, which brought so many opportunities to pray with people. I think we all saw students becoming Christians that week. It was brilliant. I personally was brought far in a few different ways. I realised that I loved working in the junior school even though I had been so adamant before the trip that I would spend as little time as possible there. I loved learning from them and teaching them, they really were a joy to work with and so much fun! I also had an excellent time in worship those 10 days. Just jamming in the evenings and prepping for assemblies/chapels tended to turn into full on times with Jesus which was brilliant. It was excellent to get lost in worship. It even attracted some students a couple of evenings. Its great how simply praising and enjoying God's presence is so attractive to people! Working with the local church was a lot of fun. I felt really stretched when we did street work on the Saturday night. Singing and dancing and praying with people on a boulevard definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone. Especially when you're so exhausted at the end of a week you rely completely on the Spirit to carry you through and He does! Finally our team was fantastic! God picked us all definitely for that mission. All of our gifts were so valued on the team. We all had different strengths and weaknesess and God really worked it so we could support, balance and build each other up. It was great getting to know the team better, even the other gappies, just spending 10 days with them was really great. All of the girls were in a room together and we just fell into the habit of debriefing and praying each night. All in all the mission was amazing and God will use all aspects of a mission to get work done. I left with such a heart for missions and a mass of new doors open for me to explore!

Lebanon Mission - email Update 4

A Big thank you for all your prayers. As a team we were very conscious of your prayers and support during the week. Thanks for all of you who sent messages back and for the calls and emails we’ve received since returning

The team had a great day out in Byblos on Saturday and then worked with the church doing some outreach on the seafront in Beirut, worshipping, talking and praying with people, teaching some dances and inspiring the young Christians we were working with who now want to try it themselves next weekend. After another late night it was another relatively late start (8.30am meeting) to prepare the drama for the Jesus Prince of Peace Service. The journey down was remarkably quick and easy compared to Friday when we got caught up in an impromptu fireworks display (ask one of the team if you want a fuller story).

The service went well. Rebekah and Nick gave testimonies, Sola and Rowina did a drama and then at the end some of the team lead worship and a dance!

The visit to Zhale had to be cancelled due to elections – yes there were more on the second weekend, the Lebanese like their elections – so after lunch with a load of people from church we headed back to the school for supper with all the staff who live on site!

On Monday we were not leading any Chapels or lessons but spent the whole day at the school from Staff Prayers to the after school conversations. In the first two lessons we did some worship and intercession in the Junior playground and did some more in the Senior Chapel after second break. In between it was a case of talking and praying with students in breaks and getting involved with some lessons. It was great to see the team following God’s leading too and praying with some staff as well. It was a very hot and humid day with the temperature in the mid 30’s Celsius so people were grateful that we could all work at a comfortable pace.

We finished the day off with a ‘Thank you’ meal for Steve and Grace and exchanging gifts. Steve commented that the team had made a great impression on the staff and it had been noted how they had been tireless in connecting with the students. We finished off the day by praying for the family with whom we shared the senior apartment and for the night watchman – Robbie – who we all got to know and love. A final game of basketball in the cool (mid 20’s) and it was time for a few hours sleep before flying out.

The journey back was not without its moments. The bus ride to the airport was straightforward, arriving at about 5.45am, but once there we switched to a later BMI flight which meant alot of waiting around which was not helpful as people were now rather tired. Once again the in-flight food was out to get us and Ruth and Rowina suffered later in the evening but are both recovering okay.

Before leaving God gave us some stuff to aim at: to serve the school and local church, share the gospel however we could, be a blessing and encouragement especially to the believers and pray for the sick and intercede as God led. Alongside that I wanted the team to have the time of their lives. In all that unfolded we saw this happen before our eyes and it’s been so good.

Thank you for your faithfulness and support – you’re as much a part of the success as the team themselves.

Andie

Lebanon Mission - email Update 3

Well we’re having a great time here in Lebanon. It’s great to see God at work not only in the lives of the young people we’ve met but also in the lives of the team.

The talks at Staff prayers on Thursday and Friday were well received and we were able to teach a new song too which sounded really good on the second morning. Thursday was a lighter day as far as doing lessons was concerned but it enabled the team to step up in the breaks and after school. We’ve been using the Senior Chapel (assembly hall) as our base and we invited any students who wanted to pray to come and find us. Over the last two days there was a steady stream of young people with a variety of requests and it has been good to see them respond and heartening that we’ve been able to pass on names to the staff who will be able to follow up these breakthroughs in the weeks to come. Josh has been particularly good at tracking down people who indicated a response on the Thursday chapel when he gave his testimony and Rowina has had plenty of deep one–to-one conversations.

On Thursday evening Steve took us out to bakery which would be the UK equivalent of a harvester but with traditional Lebanese food. We had a mezee which was a wonderful introduction to Lebanese cuisine and a great time to relax and chat.

On Thursday the team also decided they would rather spend another day working in the school than have a day off on the Monday. Instead the sight-seeing would be packed in on Saturday before doing some street evangelism in the evening!

Friday was a full on day with Chapels and lessons in both schools right the way through. It was a case of being resolute and going for it but we’ve had some wonderful conversations both in the lessons and in the breaks as a consequence. The team have been challenged by the task but encouraged by the way God has been working.

One of the most gratifying aspects of the mission is to see the way in which the team have spontaneously got alongside each other, prayed and worshipped together and supported one another, it’s been great.

On Friday night we went to Jesus the Prince of Peace Church to lead a youth outreach event. It was great to see the premises that Fouad and Julie’s church is using as its base after many years of being confined to a tiny lounge. It’s on the first floor of an apartment block with a cafe underneath. The main hall can hold about 100 but around that is a great balcony which is about the same size! Their youth band started the event which was followed by the n:flamers with some dance, some crazy games, worship a drama sketch and an evangelistic talk. We prayed with most of the young people as they responded to various aspects of the presentations and the evening was finished off by an amazing BBQ on the balcony. A very tired team eventually got back at midnight (after starting work at 7am).

Today the team have been in Byblos seeing some of the amazing Phoenician ruins and have then gone back to the church for a tram meeting and prep before some street evangelism tonight. They’ve had a great time. Unfortunately I’m not with them. Since arriving I’ve not felt very well. I put it down to nerves but on reflection it may well have been the in-flight meal! Anyway I’ve kept going but last night I felt really bad. My night was spent going to the toilet for d or v, not very pleasant. I’ve spent the day in bed resting and drinking water and feeling much better. Grace has just brought some medication too so I’m hoping to be fine for tomorrow but more disappointed at missing a complete day.

Please pray for the team tonight and then as we take part in the service tomorrow in Beirut as well as for the three who will travel over to Zhale in the evening, probably Ruth, Nick and Rowina. The rest of us will have supper at Steve’s with the volunteer workers based here – mainly from the USA.

Monday will be a day in the school just being around. Talking and praying with students in the breaks, going to chapels and joining in with a few PE lessons too! Please pray that the team will stay focused to the end; listening to God’s direction, looking out for one another and making the most of every opportunity to share the good news.

We fly back early Tuesday morning – taking off at 0810 local time, that’s 0610 BST - and hopefully arriving at Heathrow at 11.15.

Please keep praying and also for the team as they arrive back. It’s been and intense and exciting mission and returning to the familiar might seem a bit flat. Please pray that each team member will not stumble as they return but will stay strong in Christ. Let’s pray that this extraordinary 10 days will be an inspiration for their own Christian lives and ministries as they return.

Andie

Lebanon Mission - email Update 2

It’s been wonderful to know that you’re praying for us here. Thanks to those of you who have replied back. The email here is painfully slow (on purpose, to stop people downloading music and videos I’m told) but we are grateful for having it to send emails.

After a very hectic Monday, Tuesday was alot easier in terms of work load but more difficult in other areas. We heard late on Monday about a near fatal accident to the little son of some dear friends back home. Pippa and Gary Cant are old friends. Pippa used to work with n:flame, now works for Pathway (who do primary schools work in N London) and they worship at Chase Family Church. They have three kids and as we understand it their youngest, Toby whose just a toddler, fell into the garden pond at their new home. As far as we know he was saved just in time for the paramedic to find a weak pulse Toby is now in Great Ormond Street Hospital and there are concerns over whether this accident has caused brain damage. It was a tough call but we decided to tell the team, who were naturally shaken up by the news but Lucy (who goes to Chase) and Rebekah (who is a Gappie with Pathway) were particularly affected.

In addition our Senior lesson caused a few concerns among some of the staff. In London you often need to provoke a response to get students talking. In Lebanon you don’t have to try so hard and we needed to take our foot off the gas a bit.

Fortunately both situations are much better. Rowina and Andie talked the lesson through with Steve White and a few modifications have made it fit the school culture better. Lucy seemed to struggle more with the news about Toby at first but it has taken Rebekah a little longer to work it through. However, neither backed down form ministry and although the Cants are never far from their minds they continue to be very effective in the work they are doing. Please hold up the girls and Toby back home in your prayers.

Today was full on again with lessons and chapel meetings from the start of the day. At one point we were doing three lessons simultaneously which was a much an organisational challenge as much a delivering them. We spoke about healing in the Junior chapel and this has yielded several positive conversations including one Rebekah had with a girl whose uncle is in a coma. Rebekah was able to talk about the situation and pray with her about what was happening. The lessons have also generated plenty of conversations, particularly for Rowina who has been able to talk in depth with several students about following Jesus today. Please pray that these bear fruit. Sola, Lucy and Friede also had the opportunity to meet up with a small group of ‘on fire’ Christian students who meet every Wednesday lunchtime They led their meeting and prayed for them – it was a special time, but please pray for these young believers.

Yesterday evening Steve took us into Beirut to see the city centre, sample some ice cream and buy some presents. It was a welcome break for the team. This evening we joined a weekly prayer meeting for the school. The number of volunteer staff from overseas has swelled to about ten (i should have counted but forgot). They share a meal and pray together and it was a wonderful time. These teachers have been particularly supportive to the team with advice, feedback and practical help. It was good to double their meeting and to see the team bless them by worshipping enthusiastically, by bringing words of encouragement, and praying for these volunteers. It was great evening with some wonderful cake.

Tomorrow we have fewer lessons again but will be leading the staff prayers at 7.25 (that’s 5.25am if you’re up early enough to pray) and later planning for an evangelistic presentation at a youth BBQ for Friday evening. This event will be at Fouad and Julie’s Church, now called Jesus Friends of Peace and relocated to a building near Dekwaeh Circle.

On Friday we have an extremely packed day. We lead staff prayers again followed by Chapels and then a day full of lessons with the BBQ to finish. On Saturday we should fit in a later start. Hopefully I can send you some more news then and give you some more feedback plus an idea of what the weekend holds.

So please pray for the whole team. Heads are spinning with the numbers of different students we are linking up with and at the same time there is the struggle to keep lessons fresh when we have already done them so many times.

The team continue to work tirelessly but are tired. Although there is time to chill there is still plenty to do. Today was a much hotter day and the nearby roadway works seem to have caused on increase in the mosquito population so please pray for energy and for good health.

Andie

Lebanon Mission - email Update 1

Thank fully our journey here was very smooth. We all met up at Turnpike Lane on time, got to Heathrow by tube without a hitch and set off slightly late and in pouring rain. The flight was fine, as was our passage through passport control and customs and Steve White was waiting for us as we emerged into the arrivals waiting area.

Beirut was busy and noisy. They are in the middle of an election here and the roads were packed and along the route we regularly saw fireworks lighting up the night sky. We stopped at a 24 hour bakery for supper and already the team were getting to love Lebanon. Arriving at the school it was great to meet Robbie the night watchmen and other old friends from previous visits – it’s been like that throughout the day. They all send their best wishes to previous team members, especially to those who worked in the Junior School, from young men and women who are in Year 12 and ten days away from graduation!

We did a tour of the school, and after worshipping and praying, we set about preparing for Monday morning. This would involve the team being split three ways doing chapels (assemblies in the Senior and Junior Schools and doing a lesson in the Senior School simultaneously. The team worked really hard to get things right and we finally got to our beds at about 1am (11am UK time). No sooner had I turned my light out but someone set off a volley of fireworks that went on for what felt like forever – elections eh?

Five hours later and we were up. The day’s action started at 7pm with team prayers, set up in our various locations and then staff prayers with the school’s teachers and administrators. From there on it was virtually full on. There was time to grab breakfast from the student snack bar but not a lot else as we went from assemblies to lessons to meeting students at break time and so on. Come 3pm some people look a long nap before dinner.

This evening we watched the school basketball team winning again before having our team meeting and prep time. It’s been a full on day but everyone has worked so hard, throwing themselves into whatever they’ve been asked to do and doing it well. There was some reticence about working in the Juniors from some of the team but everyone has loved it. In addition break time conversations have been far easier than people had been expecting and the team are feeling far bolder about talking about the gospel.

Tonight we worshipped in the playground asking God to come and move in the lives of the students. Pray that everything we do – in assemblies, lessons and conversations – will combine with the Holy Spirits ongoing work and that we will see breakthrough and lives saved. It’s also good to have met several new staff full of zeal and active in discipling new Christians – please pray for Sola who will be helping a history teacher called Chris at a lunchtime Bible Study on Wednesday.

Tomorrow (Tuesday we work with the oldest students and then Wednesday is a very busy day with a crazy start just like today. My advice to the team of getting an early night tonight was greeted with scepticism yesterday morning but now seems to be the highest wisdom. Pray that the team stay disciplined, get the sleep they need, continue to excel and also have the time of their lives. Pray too that we all get used to listening to God’s voice and are flexible enough to go with all He is wanting us to do.

Andie

2009/10 Gap Year Team

Its been a while since anyone has blogged on here, many apologies! However, here is the first picture of this years gap team.

Friedemann (Germany) - Josh (UK) - Lucy (UK) - Rebekah (UK) - Georgia (UK)

The GO Fest/Serve

Where to start? If I wanted to sum Go up in a word it would be AWESOME!!!!!

For me Go was an absolutely amazing experience. The festival was stellar. I really felt the meetings hit the right spot. The speakers gave talks that were relevant not only to me but to the youth that were at the Go festival. Through out the weekend there were amazing times of worship and amazing times of learning and being in God's presence.
However, the camping which i absolutely abhor was surprisingly not too bad. For me that is an amazing feat something of fairy tales. All in all the weekend was an absolute blast and i meet a lot of cool people who were totally on fire for God and ready to serve, whether as a steward, as a security guard, as a team leader on GO serve. The young people who were ready and charged up after the preparation festival were also fantastic.

For me my team were fantastic and were so willing to serve. I was co-team leading with Josh Frost and Anthony Heyns. We were working in Barnet with the Stable Church. Over the GO serve week we worked in two estates and on the Barnet High Street. We worked on the Meads and in the Dollis Valley. Throughout the week we ran many activities in both estates.

Firstly, though i want to take about what a fantastic team we had and all that they were willing to do. The first day was spent prayer walking and hearing from God. That was an amazing time of being in God's presence and hearing what He had to say about the areas we were going to be working in. The second day was spent leaf letting both areas, about 900 homes, this included going from door to door and knocking and talking to people. The team that was working with us were amazing going from door to door and keeping happy and excited in site of not always receptive residents. The strengths of the team really showed when we got to the Dollis. When we got there it had started to rain, nevertheless the team carried on in the rain going up into flats and distributing leaflets and talking to people. This was an amazing feat and really showed us all and probably the people around us how Jesus was working through us.

Under Steve Neale and Nick Moeke's leadership the entire group really spent quality time in God's presence getting filled with the Holy Spirit and getting fully equipped to go out and fight. From these times in worship to God many things came out some of the team got the gift of tongues others started to prophesy and bring words of knowledge.

Anyways the stuff continued happening while this was going on. There were football clubs going on at the Meads as well as having a clean up of the green area. One day we had a Brazilian football school come and teach some football skills. The third day we had an amazing bar-be-que on the Dollis. Loads of people turned up and there was a real community spirit and a sense of there being a place to relax and get to know there neighbours. There were loads of kids enjoying themselves and eating till they were stuffed. At one point some of the kids from the estate started doing some entertainment and there was this amazing little girl singing her heart out beautifully. On the Dollis the team were really serving the community. Some of the team helped a woman move furniture into her house, while others helped one of the residents to cut back his hedge. That bbq for me was the highlight. We had another bbq this time on the Meads. The amazing Crown Jewels came and danced and performed for the residents. Some of the team started a kick about with the kids that were from the surrounding area.

After that the crown Jewels came and stayed at the Stable. As a then tripled group we had an amazing time of worship and being in God's presence. The next morning Sunday the last day of GO we as a team ran the service at the stable. The service included dances from Sola Ayodeji and the Crown Jewels a talk from Josh and Anthony as well as testimonies from the team about the week.

That evening we all went back to the campsite for a closing celebration were there was an amazing Worship time of thanking God for all he had done not only were I was but for everywhere people were placed. There were also testimonies to tell of the amazing things Gd had done.

Overall, the week was fantastic and a joy to be part of. So, for the week I give God thanks for all he has done and still has to do in the places the GO Fest/ Serve landed.

Tracey White

GAP Weekend in Wales

Here is a shot of us at the top of Tryfan, a mountain in North Wales. It was hard work, but we all enjoyed ourselves and had a fun weekend.

Wednesday Training 11th March 09

On wednesday we had a talk by Sharon Ansan on Evangelism. Evangelism is about giving or offering Jesus to people. Some references for evangelism are Acts 1 and Acts 4:13. From these verses we can gather that the key to effective evangelism is being with Jesus and having Jesus by your side. We then focused on what is an evangelist. In Ephesians 4:10-13 10He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. 11And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.


Sharon also encouraged us that in order to reach out in our own communities we need to cater to their needs and that we need to find out what it is that the community needs and what would help them.

We then went out for a walk down the high street talking to shopkeepers to find out what they would want the church to do for them to help them in whatever way or how we could help to make the community better.

A few images from the STOP Bullying Workshop dress rehearsal last Tuesday.

Wednesday Training 4th March 09

We had our talk on conflict on Wednesday, it was conducted by Doug and Sue Barnet. It was a fun and enjoyable training. We did a lot of team excercises and looking at conflict around us and in the bible. We focused on 5 main topics.

The first 'Conflict is a fact of Universal Life' looked at conflict as being part of the world and all thats around us. For example it was estimated that in the past 4000 years there have been less than 300 years without a mojor conflict. The bible speaks of violence even in the begining with Cain and Abel.

This leads to the next topic ' Conflict is a fact of biblical life' with a lot of examples. David and Saul, Nehemiah and Sanballat, Jeremiah and Shephatiah, Euodia and Syntche, Paul and Barnabas and the ultimate conflict God and satan.

It also came up that 'Conflict is a fact of Personal Life' basically we have a conflict in us to get our own ways, but the peace of the trinity overcomes that. That is becauseGod is the God of peace and Jesus leaves us his peace and the fruit of the Holy Spirit is peace.

We also focused on 'Conflict being a fact of Team Life' and that basically in teams conflict is almost unevitable because of the differences between people and the different cultures and backgrounds that members of the team have.

However, 'Conflict can have positive results'. When it is resolved it can increase understanding of each other and respect for each other. It can help to increase team cohesion and effectivenes and teach how to forgive and to recieve forgiveness.

March n:vison Blurb

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS! A guest writer for you this month – Caroline Kingham.

If you know me, you’ll know that I love to stand up for my rights. I adore getting cross about women’s rights - I even cried last night during a piece on TV about the Countess de Markievicz, our first female MP. I get positively evangelistic about people claiming all the benefits due to them – "It’s your right, you may as well have it". I’m passionate about democracy – our right to vote and have a say in government. Woe betide anyone crossing my path who can’t be bothered to turn up at the polling station. I love the fact that the Council legally has to listen to resident’s opinions – I ring up to complain about pavements, parks and lampposts so often that I have their number on speed dial.

When I try this with God however, I seem to hit a bit of a brick wall. However grumpy I get with Him, there doesn’t seem to be a politically correct button to press when I talk to him. How dare He? Surely God knows my rights doesn’t he? The gospel doesn’t change – Jesus died for me, and therefore I receive eternal life. (And quite frankly, given the pressures of modern life, it’s jolly decent of me to go on believing).

Complacency can kill our view of God’s love. The cross and God’s phenomenal gift of life, becomes a human right, rather than an outrageous gift of grace. The Romans 9 quote "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy" is not a popular train of thought these days. Some of us can even catch ourselves thinking "well it’s very reasonable for God to save me – He must have realised I’m worth it." As we live in the benefits of the gospel, sometimes we forget that we are dealing with a real living awesome GOD who could after all just wipe us all away if he chose to. We are utterly dependent on his mercy and grace to keep us breathing each day, for the world to even go on turning. How can we say we deserve it?

How can we demand any rights at all with God, especially a right to our own salvation? He makes the rules and we lost our rights when we broke them. It is grace alone that gives us access to His love and kindness. It is grace that has marked us as His children, that allows us to TRUST God and lean on Him as a Father. He owes us NOTHING and we owe Him EVERYTHING. This realisation is the one that usually prompts the most gracious response from Him.

Look at the life of Jesus. He never stood up for his own rights - the cross would never have happened if he had. He didn’t even seem to stand up for the rights of others (not in the way that we would anyway, which so often involves bitterness). He showed us how to serve others - to wash their feet and care enough to pray out demons and heal the sick. The only time he seemed to get angry about rights, was to do with the honour due to His Father - to swing the spotlight away from us, and onto Him. Philippians 2 asks us to let this attitude seep through to our daily lives. Stop fighting for your rights, but give yourself on behalf of others and aim only for the honour and glory of God. After all, He is the only One who can lay claim to any of it.

3 W's

so.. i suck at doing blogs on here regularly.. i'm sorry.

On Monday, Andie showed 1 Corinthians 13 in a light that I hadn't really realised before. Everyone just associates it with love, marriage, romance etc... but it's actually all about evangelism. In the first 3 verses, it talks about the 3 W's... Words, Works and Wonders.

"1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,but have not love, I gain nothing."

can you spot which ones are which?

Wednesday Training 25.2.09

On Wednesday Kathy Goddard came in to give a talk about Forgiveness, Mercy and Judgement. We went through the 3 topics in a concise manner. Kathy provided clear explanations and meaning using the bible to back up what she said. For example, when she spoke on forgiveness she stated that if you don't forgive others you cant receive forgiveness from God which correlates with Matthew 5:23-24.

One of the phrases that really stood out to me was that God's love is unconditional but God's forgiveness is conditional - we must ask for redemption. This really stood out to me cause its so simple yet something people find really difficult myself included. We need to be able to forgive others as an extension of God's love through us and then because of God's love we will be forgiven as well.

March Tour Flyers

Video Antics

A video from the recent LET weekend away.

parable of the sower

today we were discussing the parable of the sower (Matthew 13v1-23) at our morning meeting. something to think about...

who has planted seed in you over the years?

what were those people like/what did they do?

who are you planting seeds in?

Snowy Times

Here we all are in the snow after training on Wednesday, minus Jan who is currently in Germany.

February n:vision Blurb

One of the embarrassing problems of growing old is those haunting photos that tend to surface of you wearing ridiculous clothes in the past. Now I tend to be past embarrassment when it comes to clothes but even I have felt the odd twinge when remember how cool I thought some of my clothes were 25 years ago. Imagine what it would be like if we never actually took our old clothes off. Imagine going on the January shopping spree but simply putting on your funky new gear over the top of what you’re wearing now. I guess drainpipes don’t fit well over flairs so one way and another we’d all start to look (and probably smell) a bit weird.

Bart sat by the side of the road. Nothing new there really – he’d sat in the same spot every day for forty odd years. Bart’s clothes were a bit tatty, even smelly, but they did have a purpose. His brown beggars cloak marked him out for what he was – a poor blind man. They said to the people passing by, "Hey, please look out for me, cos I can’t look out for myself". I suppose forty years of begging does something to a man? Forty years of disrespect, forty years of people assuming you must have done something terrible for God to have taken your sight away. I suppose Bart ought to gotten used to it, accepted his place in the ‘food chain’ of Jewish hierarchy, but there was something in the air that day, a name buzzing in atmosphere of the passing crowd, that set a spark in his lifeless eyes.

"Jesus!! Hey JESUS!!!!" His hoarse cries rose above the general chaos.

"Shut up old man!" the repercussions were sharp and blunt at the same time - "what would the teacher want with you?!!"

"JESUS!!"

The crowd stopped – mostly because Jesus had. Bart felt rough arms grab him. "Come on old timer, He’s calling you, get to your feet!"

I don’t know what it was that made Bart pause, but pause he did. He stopped long enough to peel off his old cloak. "I guess I won’t be needing you anymore" he whispered as it slid off into the gutter. " I have a feeling that ‘Old Bart’ is about to stop being a blind beggar". And so it was that Bartimaeus left something behind that he’d lived with for most of his life - an old set of clothes. An old uniform you could call it – something that told him and everyone else his place in this world.

Sometimes it’s hard to let go of our old uniforms. Sometimes we struggle to let go of the things that identify us because, while they may well be smelly and tatty around the edges, they still feel safe. We know who we are with them. The problem is that Jesus has a new identity for those who follow him and news clothes don’t fit well on top of the old.

Who you were, is part of your History – nothing changes that. But now Jesus is calling you. Don’t let your history continue to shape your future. Peel of your old clothes (a layer at a time if necessary) and step forward. It’s time to let the One who has made all things new tell you who you are. He has promised to redefine your Future.

Phil Kingham

February Tour Flyers