England was wonderful. Our three weeks in Blackpool were very formative. God gave us more vision for our future, we were incredibly blessed by the investment of the church leaders, we experienced many different types of ministry including soup kitchens, moms and toddlers programs, nightlife initiatives, discipleship groups and debt counseling and we had a substantial amount of time to walk, talk and think through different questions to help debrief and clarify our thoughts.
Blackpool was a beautiful town to stay in. Although it's the most deprived town in all of England, we really enjoyed walking around and we had many good conversations because the people were very open. We built friendships through going to the many soup kitchens in the area and were able to witness the beautiful family God is building there. Here are two quick testimonies of how God used us in England: We met a single mother and her two children at one of the soup kitchens towards the beginning of our stay. We sat at the table next to them and began to chat. That evening we were able to pray for the daughter and she was beautifully touched and baptized in the Holy Spirit. When she opened her eyes after praying, her complexion had changed and she looked much more hope-filled than she did before. The following Sunday we invited them out to lunch and treated them to Chinese, thier favorite food. Then we walked around with them for the whole afternoon as they shopped (mostly window shopped) and we took part in their lives. They were so, so blessed by the time we spent with them and we became fast friends. When the time came to say goodbye, tears were shed and lots of hugs were given. We know we left them more encouraged and built up than they were before, each of them had a new joy and lightness because of the precious touch of the Holy Spirit. We met a sweet woman at a soup kitchen one Monday evening. She had come to volunteer but didn't yet have a relationship with Jesus. That evening she so kindly offered to drop us off at our house and on the way home we were able to share about Jesus. She was very curious and we prayed for her before we stepped out of the car. The following Thursday she was at a church event and gave her life to Jesus! Two days later we saw her at a soup kitchen again and during the service she was so incredibly touched by the Holy Spirit. She has such a hunger for more of God and desire to serve and be with the family of God. We are so exctied for what God has in store for her and her family! Some more highlights: Alex gave a message at youth group and two girls in particular were so touched to the point of tears as they encountered the love of Jesus. I gave a message at the evening church service on Sunday and two ladies in particular were brought into a deeper place of freedom as the Holy Spirit enabled them to identify lies in their past that were keeping them in bondage. We were able to share about Jesus for one and a half hours with a curious Kurdish woman from Iraq. We were so blessed by the pastors investment into our lives. We were so loved and cared for by our amazingly generous house parents. We were encouraged through prayers and prophetic words from the church and we were beautifully welcomed into the family there. It's incredible how big of an impact we were able to have on people in such a short time! It makes us so thankful to be on God’s side and be able to impact people for eternity...what a privilege!!! ------ One question the pastor prompted us to ask during our time in Blackpool was, “What does it look like for the wisdom of God to be made manifest through the church?” (Ephesians 3) In studying this I began to understand a little more deeply what God is talking about. It's unity, it's oneness, it's Jew and gentile coming together as one, it's rich and poor, foreigner and citizen. It's what God has always been after- the union of God and man. The oneness of all people in His name and IN HIM. Where else, other than the body of Christ, do you see rich and poor, foreigner and citizen, old and young, educated and uneducated...coming together in love and unity? It happens in Jesus’ church. Or at least it's supposed to happen… The beauty of Jesus is that He is love unending and overflowing, He is grace boundless and wisdom in perfection...through Him and only through Him can we love unconditionally, have grace for one another's differences and the wisdom to handle them. Only through Him can we forgive again and again and lay down our rights at His feet. Only through Him can we see the glorious beauty in each person He created and call out their destiny. Because “Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,” Doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, Doesn’t revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end. Love never dies. ... Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. " 1 Cor. 13 [MSG] Somehow this love and unity manifests the wisdom and glory of God in a magnificent way. We must be about this unity, we must be all about this community of deep love. We must welcome the foreigner, seek to understand the marginalized, care for the widow and orphan and do good to everyone so that all the world sees the wisdom and glory of God as he calls people into family. Let's get a hold of this idea and create family and community wherever we go. One day we'll see with our very own eyes the biggest, best, most loving family there ever was and will be...it’s His goal. It’s His love. Well, friends, we just arrived in Holland. As usual, we don’t really know what we're doing but we’re excited for what our Father has here for us, too. He certainly didn't let us down in England!!
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Oh the sweet, sweet love of Jesus. He goes after His kids.
Alex and I have had quite a few beautiful opportunities to share the incredibly good news of Jesus with precious men and woman here in Blackpool, England. Every person we talked to believed in a ‘higher power’ but they had trouble defining who or what that higher power was. None of them had any certainty or assurance of where they are going when they die. All of them were hoping they've done enough good to get by, but not many of them had given much thought to their eternal existence. When we prompted them to think about it, they all agreed that eternity it is pretty important to ponder since our life here is but a breath compared to what's coming. Oh the strong love of Jesus. He goes after His kids. As we shared with these individuals, we explained about our sin problem and God's solution, we shared about the life we can have in Jesus, we explained how Jesus has transformed our lives...but we couldn't change their minds, we couldn't make them believe. That's not our job. But we can and do share with confidence and courage because Holy Spirit will confirm everything we share about Jesus…Holy Spirit will continue His work of revealing Jesus. Oh the strong love of Jesus. He goes after His kids. And He uses us to speak the good news of Jesus. He uses our testimony. He uses our joy and our smiles. If you've made Jesus your king, the very spirit of God dwells in you. Let Him consume you. Sit in His presence. Let His love overwhelm you. He wants to love and be loved by you. He wants to use your life for His glory! He wants to use you to bring His other lost children home! Be still and quiet enough to let Him transform you in the light of His presence. Oh the sweet love of Jesus. Give Him your all. He's not a taker, He's a giver. He doesn't want to take your life, He wants to give you life. And through your life give others life too. You KNOW Jesus! The only one that gives eternal life. The world desperately needs what you have. Let Him transform you and use your life for His kingdom. You are precious. His. Loved. Wanted. Delighted in. Uniquely designed to carry His life into the world. No matter how ’small’ your life may feel, when you give yourself to Him, there's NO limits. May the peace of Christ dwell in your hearts and quiet your souls. Go forth into your worlds with the sweet, sweet love of Jesus & know your are His treasure. Always & forever. We've made it to England! We arrived here in Blackpool yesterday and have already made ourselves at home. But let me backtrack to share a bit more about Germany before I move on...
We had a beautiful time in Germany. God sent us there at that time for a reason. We were able to be a blessing to many and encourage people in their walks with Jesus. We were also extremely blessed by people investing in our lives and also financially supporting us above what we could have imagined. We were blessed to have the support of Alex's dad (and pastor of the church) to do whatever God put in our hearts for the church so in our last two weeks in Germany we had another soaking night, led youth group again, Alex led both Sunday morning services, we had a prayer night, evangelism and lots and lots of time spent encouraging and investing in people. For me, it was a very restful time (not as much for Alex because he was more in charge of the planning due to being able to communicate far better than me!) But God is teaching me to rest in Him...even though I had to physically rest and give up my desire to plan and know what was going on, my spirit was also more at rest. I don't really know what the balance is between resting and pressing in, between trusting God's sovereignty and banging on heavens door...but I'm trusting Holy Spirit to show me, to reveal his perfect way and to lead me in it. From that place of rest, we had so many opportunities to minister, love people and speak into their lives and it was so natural. Our desire for our time in England is to really grow in hearing God’s voice, responding right away and absolutely radiating Jesus everywhere we go! We love walking around the city and so we want to stop and talk to people, pray for them and see God touch individuals every single time we walk. Why not? The very spirit of God is in us! What's impossible?? (For an incredibleeeee testimony, watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsxUZEqdKYw) Last night we were already able to love and pray for a sweet woman who was hard of hearing, after we prayed for her, she said, "that was nice, no one ever did that before, but that was nice!" She had a doctor's appointment for her ears today and said she would email us if the doctor said they were better...we're waiting for that email or to see her again and hear what God did. I know he wants to use us and love people through us, he's just looking for our "yes!" Yet so often I don't respond in obedience because I'm fearful--fearful of what other people will think of say. Seriously?! I am (& all of you who are disciples of Jesus) the hope of the world, we are Jesus to this lost and dying world...oh God give us such love and boldness! I'm excited to share more and more testimonies of God working through us, breaking down our fear and giving us His faith to see the sick healed, the lost saved, the dead raised...it's all so, so possible and should be so "normal" if only we'd believe! We're saying, "start with us, God!" Yes, so we're in England as I mentioned...we're staying at a home for missionaries and we'll be serving with a church here in Blackpool. Blackpool is the most deprived city in England--there's a lot of homelessness, addiction and poverty...so we get the awesome privilege of loving people here in this city! Today we went to a soup kitchen and sat with homeless/struggling individuals and listened to their stories. Then there was a wonderful gospel presentation and Alex got to share his testimony. Tomorrow we will find out what our schedule will look like for our time here, but whatever it is, we're expectant and we'll enjoy whatever we get to do:) Thanks for stopping by, friends! May you tune into the sound of heaven and let his voice and perspective determine yours. Lots of love from England! ❤️ |
AuthorA & E. Currently living in the USA but called to the nations for this season of our lives. Devoting our lives to His Kingdom Come... Archives
April 2017
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