Good day!!!

Chris writes: on the face of it not a good day business wise...very slow and not so many paying customers so could be a cause for some depression but..............

..................just as I was getting sad about our lack of customers...and even very few children.....and we were thinking about closing up..........

.........one little boy came in on his own...despite his friends encouraging him to join them he stayed and asked me to help him build something...and then helped me as we went round to deliver some cakes to our neighbours....... I knew this was very important and meant a lot to him as this was the same little boy who once before had said to one of the team to not break a promise to him as that is what his father did.......wow!!....

......I am reminded of what Jesus said: 'Whatever you did to one of the least of these you did to Me'.

What an honour!! Who said today was a waste of time......!!!!


Tomorrow we travel to UK for three weeks....so hopefully will see some of you!!

Thanks so much for your support and prayers for this ministry...without you we could not do what we do!!

Yeh for the Transit...ers!!

Chris writes: really busy at the moment...we have a team of five young people who are travelling over Europe  with OM...they are the Transit team...they come from Australia (2); from South Korea; from USA; and from South Africa.
Was really nervous about them coming...were we prepared?..were we ready for them? both of us pretty tired and just had two lovely ladies from UK visiting who left in the morning... so wanted to leave it in God's hands...(good idea!!) (at the last minute I realized they would probably not be able to get in as they did not have the paperwork we needed for our other visitor this summer...over to you God!!)

.......they got in that evening!!

Wow!!....what a time we have had and so many people they have witnessed to and encouraged!!..so many stories I could share!

Sometimes we just have to step out and trust God!!

They leave on Monday for Italy.....but we still have:

• Night of Prayer at Lighthouse tonight....7pm 

• Evangelistic meeting tomorrow night @ 7pm

Please do keep praying for for us; Lighthouse and for these guys as they continue their trail of blessing and encouragement!!

Our Labour is (still) NOT in vain

Chris writes....sorry for the repetition of the above Scripture...why apologize ...for repeating God's word!!...but I really have nothing else that God has laid on my heart at the moment....we are now open four days/week Tuesday until Friday from 8.30 until 6pm so we opened today at 8.30am and we have had........one sale and that was from our worker!!

So it is hard not to get discouraged...but we must not.......

....but seven boys just left who all played puzzles...showed me their coloring and enjoyed being the Lighthouse in a safe environment and listened to worship songs...they did not spend any money but................

.......my encouragement is that maybe I will never know the impact the hour they spent with us had on them and maybe will have eternal significance.......

Why am I discouraged!!!

Trials!!!!

Chris writes: we have now been open for around one month though only still for three days/week......and business has been steadily growing with more and more new customers coming in. Our two volunteers from UK returned home on Friday and we have now almost finished the work we were doing in the prayer room and around 2/3rds completed making the basement into a kitchen.....thanks Allan + Lynne!

................now we seem to have hit a wall...on Friday the coffee co called to say they had to take our machine away as we have not been selling enough coffee...not a surprise but we told them we were starting small.and this is the Kosovan way...step by step.......now today our young volunteer working as his work experience with us has been recalled by the school and told he must go to another placement as we are not giving him enough hours....now I am not one to see demons on every street corner but I know we are in a spiritual battle and I thought of the Scripture in Ephesians 6:12: "...our struggle is not against flesh and blood...."......please do pray for us as we know this is a work of God and He will not allow us to stumble.

Can't wait for tomorrow!!!

Thanks for your prayers and support, In Him

Ne jemi të hapur!!.....We are open!!

Chris writes: hello from Gjakova's newest cafe!! So we have stepped out of the boat and we are open at last! It has been a long road to get here...and in reality we are not 'here' yet but we are certainly getting there!!

Business is slow but the doors are open now at least!!

We have now been open for nine days and this is our third week as we can only manage to open for three days a week at the moment owing to our other commitments. We have a great team here volunteering with us.....one of the young people from our church, he has been with me making the coffees and serving customers. We also have a lady from the USA who has been with us for a month who has been a great support, especially to Lorraine. In addition we have a couple from the UK here for a few weeks who have been helping with some plumbing and joinery and other jobs around.....we have many more people helping us but these are the main helpers for this stage of our adventure....

..................I have been thinking how amazing God is and how His timing is perfect...not just a recent revelation {!}....all these people have come at the perfect time in order to fulfill their God given task in the Lighthouse..not sooner or later but at the right time....but we must keep trusting God more than ever as in a week we will be on our own again here as all these people return to where they came from and our yp to school...God is so great..He is Awesome!!

Thanks so much for your support and prayers for this ministry.

In Him

The culmination:.'...desires...' Ps 37:4

Chris writes: when we first came to Kosova as a couple in 2008 we realised there was not such a big drug problem as the majority of people were under 30, so there was more of potential for a big problem in the future..we realised this was a lost generation...a generation who had largely lost hope and wanted to leave the country...the main drug was tobacco, usually with a macciato...thus a generation that needed education... ......when we joined OM in 2010 I had a vision for a cafe. We started off visiting the schools doing drug education but despite building some great relationships with young people this was shortlived and of course we know anyway that the best way to educate is by example...thus the vision was birthing.

                                  Tonight, two years on, that vision became a reality as we opened the doors on Hope Inn Cafe at Lighthouse.

There is so much more I could write but it is late and as a picture speaks a thousand words...here are two thousand........

Thanks so much to everyone who has contributed to make this become a reality and to Lorraine of course who believed in this vision......Ps 37:4...xx

The end of a long week!!

Chris writes: the week is almost over now for our team of four girls working with us and the local missionaries, with CEF. Tonight we finish with a party. It has been a full week...maybe too full...but nonetheless lots of children have been loved on and heard the Gospel and heard that Jesus wants to be their special friend, a hot week, a week of challenges, of ups and downs, a week in which we have seen the girls step out of thier comfort zones and blossom, a tiring week, but a week where we have planted many seeds....now it is the work of the Holy Spirit.....who prompted us in the first place......to water the seeds and we pray that fruit will come in the future.

It was also a week in which we had the chance to say goodbye to a special man of God....Randy Harvey who is now in the presence of Jesus

Thanks for your prayers....the children also met a new friend of mine....kalter....thanks Hilary!!

Back home!!

Chris writes: so good to be safely back home in Kosova now from Rome...arrived back around 10pm in Albania last night, with some of the Albania team and back home in Gjakove around 2.30am this morning.

We now have four people from all over the world working here for one week as we put the words of John 10:10 in practice.......

Please pray for an annointing for all the team, both locals and internationals....and for those we will ministering to.

Blessings

Chris

Still Roming!!!

Chris writes: what an exhausting but fantastic day!! Have been in Rome all day in the centre sightseeing and meeting people on the streets and chatting and praying with them...was really tiring and really hot...but really rewarding...even made it to the Vatican....

You may have heard about all the work we (mainly Lorraine) had to do with getting the permission for the SAs to come to Kosova....two of them leave here tomorrow at 6.30am.......usually this take around two weeks to get the permission....well this evening a few hours before they are due to leave and a little over a weeek after we submitted them I was able to put them in the girls hands...they now have permission to come to Kosova....this is just amazing and such a miracle!!!! What an end to the day!!

I now know that God has got something planned for this team when we are all in Kosova...can't wait what for!!

Now I need some sleep!!

Thanks so much for all your prayers      xx

still in Rome!!

Chris writes...quite a tiring week...lots to see and do..trying to maintain contact with Kosova and Lorraine...and she is very stressed (please pray for her) is hard as I feel so far away and so helpless...so hard to concentrate and find some place to be alone....the internet is a slow connection...quite a tough and busy week....on the plus is a lovely hotel...a great group of people with great energy and vision...great to be a small part of this organisation...it is not so hot here so am actually sleeping loads....it is so busy here then straight back to Kosova and into our outreach...would appreciate prayers for me and for Lorraine!!

Meeting so many people and they are just so encouraging...Praise God!!!

Tomorrow we hit Rome for a day for some outreach...I have been asked to lead a small team...would appreciate prayers for energy and wisdom as we go and that lives will be Transformed through our witness

Blessings

in Rome...being Transformed!!

Chris writes:...O.M. is maybe most well known to many for its short-term summer programmes... O.M. Transform is one and is an enriching and uplifting week of training and preperation (I hope!!)  followed by week or so outreach in a chosen country..naturally there is loads of preperation to do to make this all come together so it might seem crazing with all we have going on in Gjakove for us to stick our necks out and submit an application for a team to come to Kosova...but we did it trusting God if it was meant for us or not...well to cut a long story short we have three people coming to Gjakove...if we can get all the visas approved this week.....so I have just arrived here in Rome...looks like a lovely hotel...have already met loads of people we have been talking and sharing with....this could be an amazing 5 days and I am not just praying for our communities which we get sent out to, from here, to be transformed, but for me and each of us here to be transformed ourselves...Please pray.....Blessings  xx

Hotter than ever!!

Chris writes: has been a tiring few weeks and we have all been melting in the heat...but work has gone really well on the cafe/centre. The two Dave's from the UK have been great and so inspirational and encouraging.

We have now completed most of the painting inside, almost tiled the floor in the basement...er...kitchen, put up a dado rail...and started painting outside.

Main jobs now are the counter unit and the kitchen.

Really apprecaite all your prayers and support..please keep on!!

Watch this space for some pictures to demonstrate our progress!!

Blessings

Hotting up!!

Chris writes....been a great week or so...we have a fantastic team of people with our church here from London, UK...they have been meeting with people on the street/in their homes...praying for them...seeing healings and God working so powerfully...so many seeds have been planted...we both had a chance to go with them a few times and witness some of it...so exciting...they have really blessed us more than they will know...

We also found out that after almost giving up....we have at least six people who want to come to Gjakova and join our team in July as part of the OM Transform programme....exciting but daunting...our 2nd actual team we are hosting!....it is looking like such a busy summer...so many people are planning to come here...it is so exciting that so many people are catching the vision....give God the Glory!!

On Monday we have our 1st actual team here...two guys coming from the UK to help get the work on the House of Hope going...they have given so much and it is so encouraging!!

How amazing!!........It is certainly getting hot here now!!

...............be the miracle!!

How is your week so far??

Chris writes: what a week it has been...I went to find out some of the requirements to be a business here and felt overwhelmed and vulnerable.....I have never even started a business in UK before....difficult enough but then with the language...or lack of!!

Then yesterday arranging for the contract almost felt like I was signing my life away...and a feeling of we are under pressure now to get on.....It is so tempting to think that we are not adequate enough to do this...that we do not have the skills......that sounds familiar!!....when we are weak...we stand aside (hopefully) and allow Him...and the truth is....He is making this vision happen..........which is why it is so exciting....on the face of it maybe it seems crazy.....why don't we just settle for a simple life instead of this??...but He IS in control so what do we have to fear!!


The day ended yesterday with hearing about three generous donations........WOW!!

HE IS in control!!......and we are only half way through the week!!



In the words of a favourite film we watched with a friend last night:


Don't pray for a miracle....be the miracle!!



Have a great day!!

Back Home...God is so Good!!

Chris writes...We have such a faithful God and He never lets us down.....never lets our feet slip..(Psalm 121:3). Yes had a great time at the ISAAC conference in Prague...met some amazing and humble people for the first time........and rekindled some relationships with some amazing and humble people as well! Really was envisioning and inspiring!

Sadly, at times during the conference, I must admit I was distracted and more concerned about my journey home......about the buses I would be travelling on and where I would be staying...and getting back to Kosova.....why??

We have the verse above from Psalms and many others but also as someone reminded me this morning.....God has invested a great deal in us...not just gold and silver....(what are they worth at the end of things?) but the blood of His very Son (1 Peter 1 v 18 & 19)...and He will not let our foot slip.....!!

That is not to say that we will not have problems or trials!!......well my journey home was like clockwork and why did I need to worry or fret??

Yes God is in control of everything and He wants the best for us...why worry!!

God Bless you

Prague!

Chris writes:....after leaving Vienna this morning around 8am on the train to Prague I have now arrived very thankfully at the ISAAC hotel. The journey was ok until I got to Prague....well I know what it feels like to be a foreigner in a foreign country.......but it is great to think that Kosova is not that anymore....Prague is now!

Off the train and trying to locate the underground...where to get a ticket? How much? Which station? Which platform? Which direction?

I am grateful to everyone who made getting to the hotel possible...most of the people who did not speak English very well and I will not probably not see again...even the ones who misdirected me! But especiallyto Robert for his help in Vienna....thanks!

So having managed to unpack shower and to work out the internet which is very very slow...it is almost time for dinner....thanks for your prayers for this trip and I hope this conference will be a blessing to all that attend....

From Prague xx

Istanbul!!!

Chris writes: Up at 4am and having.......left home in the pouring rain, with my winter clothes on, later than planned, arrived at the bus station breathless, bus to airport, got into a taxi close to airport, ripped off (3 euros!) very very early...first into airport lounge......get on plane and sit next to mutual friend...Kosova is such a small place!!.

......I have now arrived in the heat of Istanbul.....after managing to navigate bathrooms and buying an actual Starbucks (my 2nd in two days!) and a cookie (don't tell Rainie!....research!!)..I have now finally managed to navigate the internet......why is it I seem to be the only one here having problems!!....

They say that Istanbul (formerly Constantinople I am told) is a very beautiful city...sadly I won't get to see much more of it than this...aside from the time to get into town.........20 dollars for a visa just to walk around seemed a bit excessive!

It is so interesting walking around listenning to all the different languages being spoken...not just Kosovan...this place is truely international...not at all as I had expected....

....................and now have about four hours for my connection to Vienna...onto Prague in a few days.....I hope this conference is worth it!!

Still Praising!!!

Chris writes: life continues to race by with great excitement...had a great time in Albania with the OM Kosova team...we have one person who is booking his flight to come here in June for our working party...

..........had a great time last week with OM founder and envisioner George Verwer who came to Kosova......still going strong at 73!!

......last night I posted a message on facebook saying that we needed a laptop....within a minute and before had even had time to pray someone said they had one!!!! how amazing....give God the glory...He is making this happen not us!!

off to Prague for a conference tomorrow with ISAAC...please pray all goes well....

FA cup over....onto Champions final on Saturday.....!!!!

still Keeping on...keeping on!!

Chris writes...life continues at such a pace....both the drug education sessions went well....we had a good friend from UK here for a week who kept us busy and we kept her busy!!!

Last week we met with the landlord of 'House of Hope' to put some furniture inside and he gave us a key!!!! We start renting from June.

Feels like it is really happening!!

We have had a few people saying they want to come and help us in June to get the place open...we still could do with a few more!!

Tomorrow we are off to Albania for a retreat...pray that we get refreshed and renewed to prepare us for what is looking like a busy summer!!!

And Chelsea are in the cup final on Saturday.....does life get any better!!

............oh and we have had the fridge repaired....Praise God!!!


....................but the week was not without pain as we learnt of a friend who has borrowed money from loan sharks over here and is now on the run and seperated from his family...please do pray about this with us

Thanks so much for your support and prayers xx

keeping on keeping up!!

Chris writes...do you find it hard to keep up with life sometimes? Feel like it is just racing past you in a blur??


Things are going so well and God is just blessing us amazingly....settling into our new home...made some bookcases!!...talking and praying about our plans for the centre...talking and praying about our other exciting plans for the summer....(young/at heart people have you heard about OM Transform...come to Kosova!!)... other new ministry opportunities.....held a drug education talk which was supported and appreciated by our church....part two is next week....!! Wow!!

But not all is perfect...still problems with our fridge...our van could be on it last wheels..!!

.................and it is still raining today!!!

..................................................there is an air of expectation around here!!

Please pray that I can keep both feet on the ground and my eyes fixed on Him!!

God You are still amazing!!!...Part two!!!!

Chris writes: so we had a really good meeting with the landlord....

Our friends even had a Scripture, Romans 5: 1-5, which we shared with him.

We have agreed to start renting the premises from June, and from 11th - 25th June plan to have a working party here in Gjakova...... for anyone willing to come and help us get the place fitted out with decorating, kitchen etc....more news in our newsletter....but do check your diaries now!!













Now we need your prayers and support more than ever!!!

Happy Easter!!

God You are still........amazing!!!

Chris writes: doesn't God just constantly amaze you?

We are now feeling quite settled in our new home and have even had two seperate people staying in my office/our spare room.

We are looking at the ministry now and our vision to open a 'lighthouse' in the community.

We have not really even had time to worry where the finances and people power was going to come from to make this vision a reality...God has not stopped blessing us!!

We have had people giving financially and very generously over the last few weeks and also news of a new team member who will be joining us in September!!

We also met with a couple who have given us some wise council and the confirmation to step out in faith......we do not have everything we need but feel we need to arrange to have a working party come out here in June and help us make this dream become a reality.

We also have a couple from the UK here at the moment...some of our supporters but so much more......friends..parents!! who have just so encouraged and blessed us......

So it is time to step out...we meet with the landlord tonight!!

Praise The Lord.......forget not all His benefits!!

How easy we can forget....!!

Chris writes: we are now settling into our new apartment and can call it our home!! We moved here last Monday, 19th, so just over a week ago. One week to the day we had most of the furniture and carpets we need and even had the wachine machine plugged in!! Lorraine was so happy and we have done about five loads in two days!!! We have also been unpacking boxes, some of the things, such as our wedding crockery....the Denby.......was last seen about 4 years ago when we first moved here!!

GOD is so GOOD!! But how quickly we can forget!

We have not had a proper home of our own since last May and so as you can imagine are soooo enjoying it at the moment! We can however quickly start to take things for granted.

Am reading in Deuteronomy at the moment and as the Children of Israel stood listenning to Moses while standing on the banks of the Jordan, it had been 40 years since they had their own homes.....they had grown up being NFA (No Fixed Abode). Yet when they settled how quickly they forgot!!

"Help us not to forget Your Blessings Lord!! Amen!"

Thanks for your support and prayers for our ministry in Kosova xx

Yeh...Praise God!!!

Chris writes....well after six weeks here and being almost literally up to our neck in snow...at last the snow has gone and.........we have found a new home!! Praise God!!

It has been tough for us both being in this 'waiting pattern'......I tend to internalise things and so have become depressed......while Lorraine shares her worries with me! We know it has been for a reason and I believe (and pray) that we will come out of it stronger. We have learnt more about ourselves, about each other and most importantly about the God we serve.

The apartment only has some sofas and chairs and today we have (almost) got a bed and also a wardrobe!!

Praise God...He is so Good!!

Long time not here!!.....

.......Lots to update and share..Chris writes: it has been a long time since we have been here! Sorry that we have neglected this way to update you but thanks so much that you are still with us!!
So where have we been and what is going on now??

Well, we had a great time in the UK and it was so good to see some of you and share our vision personally. We travelled up and down the UK seeing our families and spent Christmas and New Year celebrating with them. Then we had three weeks seeing some of you guys and it was great to have so much love and support from you...thankyou from us both!!

We returned here on 25th January and most of the country was covered in a blanket of snow..we could not even land for 15 minutes! The snow and the amount that we have had has dominated most of the last month! Some days we could not even get our vehicle out of the place where we have been staying and so had to walk into town. A meeting in town or a trip to the bank took up most of the day! Praise God for computers and internet!

We then took some time out, while we waited for the snow to go, so we went to stay with some friends for a few days and then had some much needed time on our own, the first quality time since November!

So now the snow is disappearing and it is so good to see some green grass appearing at last! We are able to use our vehicle again, and most of the roads are clear of snow.

Naturally a permanent place to live is our priority and we must find somewhere before we can stride ahead with the vision we believe God has for us here that we shared with many of you during our time in UK.

It is interesting but we launched our vision for Gjakove, for us to be a lighthouse to the community, with a certian amount of hesitancy, bearing in mind the financial crisis affecting most of the world. On the other hand we did not expect to have any problems finding a place to live here in Gjakove. Everywhere you look there are five or six storey plus, blocks of flats appearing. But God is a God of the miraculous and He often turns things upside down and reminds us that He is in control............so.......we have had hundreds of pounds given to us while in UK and even since we have come back here.....we have obviously inspired so many of you with our vision.....and....we have not managed to find a place to live yet!! God likes to surprise us sometimes...making sure we do not forget who is God......who is the creator.....not just of us but of our hopes and dreams and who is the created beings!!

It has been a testing time for us as I am sure for many of you....but I read this just today which we have put into our praise and prayer letter...let us know if you don't get it......

‘….We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next’. Romans 3 & 4 TM

Thanks for your support and for reading this and I promise the next one will not be as long!!

God Bless