Still asking: What is a missionary??

Chris writes: having a really busy time at mo....currently on an OM course from last Tuesday until next Wednesday...really intense and long days...I really struggled with doing the course leaving Lorraine for so long on her own but she has supported me in it...am really glad that I did it and yes it is stretching me in all sorts of ways...really appreciate your prayers for me and for Lorraine on her own at home...pray that i can give and get the max out of it for the last three days.....really hope and pray that this will equip me further in my role at Lifehope as Team Life and Missions Coordinator....sounds very grand!

From previous blogs you will have read my thoughts regarding missionaries so this was a great quote some of you might know:

'A Missionary is not one who Crosses the seas but one who sees the Cross.'

Be blessed as you work out what that means for you!!  xx

Relentless love

Chris writes: over the summer have been (and indeed still am I'm afraid!) reading a  potentially life changing book. The book is by Brennan Manning who died earlier this year. The book is entitled: 'The Relentless Love of Jesus'.

For those that have not read it here are just a few of his words that I wanted to share with you:

'Jesus Says "You did not choose me; no, I chose you." These are phenomenal statements! What deity of any great world religion has ever spoken with such breathtaking tenderness, incredible familiarity, indomitable confidence, and spellbinding power!'

He writes that the Gospel is 'Scandalous'

He says: 'What Christian in his right mind would dare to speak of God in such human, earthly terms unless God Himself had used them first?'

'...God who cherishes and graces all people without qualification, a God whose whole and only desire is our happiness and fulfillment....our awareness of God is so flawed'

'Open yourself to my God whose passionate love is unreasonable and trust Him wholeheartedly.'

'Our life in Christ is not an easy thing to grasp. Maybe you only understand it by living it'.

And finally

'....B.C. 'Before Christ' and A.D. 'Anno Domini' - the year of the Lord - expresses a truth: the life of Jesus is the central event in human history according to which that entire history must be evaluated and judged.
The truth of Christianity is not a doctrine but a person. It is the reality of Jesus Christ......'

Do you know Him?

Be Blessed

..........not Missionaries!!??!!!

Chris writes: we have now been at Lifehope for almost two months and we are settling in and enjoying life being back in the UK and also being part of a larger team....Lifehope is one happy family (usually!) of people gathered from all over the world and with the different languages, people groups and cultures it represents it is amazing just how happy it is......that can only be God bringing all these people together........

.............. it seems that there is one word which is unhelpful for us to use however in our new stage of our journey: missionary!!  what is a missionary? Well, according to google: 'someone sent on a religious mission' especially 'one sent to promote Christianity in a foreign country' or another one: 'someone sent by Jesus'....hopefully that rings true to many of you.....no? then look at the end of at least the first three Gospels...the last words spoken by Jesus was to send His disciples....so....the truth is we are all called to be missionaries...over the garden fence, in our homes, in our schools, in our places of work, on the street...infact wherever we are.......

Understandably therefore it is hard for people to get the picture when we use this word to describe our role now that we feel we have been called back to the UK.....some people have asked when we will be getting a job..??...a paid job.....but the truth is we do have jobs....so what are we doing in Halesowen with OM???

I am working with the International Students who are in Halesowen to improve their English and am involved in the outreach side of their programme....facilitating the missionaries of the future... and yes it is a privilege!!

I hope to show you more pictures in the future but for now meet Ginny:

http://news.om.org/feature-article/r37944

..........this week we were on the streets in the centre of Birmingham doing outreach and evangelism with the students...now I am really out of my comfort zone ....how do our students feel!!

.....and Kosova...we are still praying and supporting and this month was given £1000 from a trust                  Praise God!!!

Lorraine will fill you all in on what she is up to in a later blog.......

...and to the future....we are looking firstly to change the name above to reflect that we still have Kosova in our hearts and yet are now continuing our adventures in UK.....we are also praying about our future in UK

..........please, please do pray and share any thoughts you have with us on any of the above......the ministry we have established in Kosova during our time there is built on your prayers and support...it is no different now we are back in UK....

Many blessings and thanks for praying and supporting us as we support and invest in what God is doing in Kosova and the UK

In Him

the Future....Missionaries in UK??

Chris writes: Port Issac is now a distant memory...we are in North Wales this weekend for a few days break visiting Lorraine's Father. We have had such a fantastic summer and have visited so many of our family, friends/supporters....but not all of them yet!! We have traveled from one side of UK to the other and back again.......to OM Birmingham, Halesowen....or the West Midlands (!!)..so we are now praying and trying to work out how our future is going to look here....of course only God knows the real answer to that one!!

We have now been in Halesowen for 2 weeks and are currently on an induction programme with a number of other singles and families joining at the same time....once again we have amazing provision...a house we can live in rent free....but that is a much longer story we will tell you sometime.

Meanwhile back in Kosova at Lighthouse we are hearing amazing stories of how God is blessing the work their...of kids clubs, movie nights and most excitingly of people becoming Christians!! WOW!!

So what of the future for us??? This is something we are praying about this weekend....can we both continue to work with OM as missionaries and be based in UK??? It seems that this is the path God is pointing us too....but more about that later .....hope you enjoy this from Rend Collective...MY Lighthouse........that is certainly our testimony....thanks for listening and praying....please do keep us up to date with what God is doing in your life

God Bless you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fiE5J_wwmY

Holiday in Port Isaac xx

Chris writes: we are just finishing a wonderful 10 days holiday in Port Isaac, Cornwall...we have had such an amazing time and have felt so blessed and de-stressed. Since we arrived back in UK 6 weeks ago we have had so many answers to prayer...spoken and unspoken...so many people have blessed us beyond our dreams with food, finances, friendship, accommodation and much more besides....in addition our hire vehicle was miraculously made available on the exact day we needed it....it all has just overwhelmed us.....our time in Port Isaac has been no exception and we leave here feeling very relaxed and loved and with so many photos recording so many happy memories.......God has used so many of you to pray for and bless us and we are so grateful to Him for the prompting and to you for the generosity and love expressed.

Here is a view from our front window:

We are now heading to London for some more debriefing then to New Wine for the second week.

And the future........we know that God is in control...He has not let us go without or let us down.....so we have to trust Him and let Him deal with the details......more to follow.....

Much love, in Him

Chris  xx

Wimbledon!!.....ah...GB summer!!

Chris writes: Hi all......hope you are well and having a good summer....we are keeping as busy as ever....we spent some time in Worthing acclimatizing and catching up with friends and some of my family...then we moved to Bournemouth for the appointment Lorraine has been waiting for for a long time and many of you have been praying for...thanks!...we also got to see the first guy from GB in 77 years winning Wimbledon......interesting to note that GB has still won the title more than any other country...trivia fact for you!......then last week we hired a vehicle and drove north to have some meetings at the OM base near Oswestry and then visited another OM base in Birmingham before returning the vehicle back to Bournemouth.....we have been blessed with meals, money, accommodation, people prayed over us and caught up with so many good friends.....it is hard to believe we have only been back for one month!!

This week we have further blessings and answers to prayer as a vehicle from a Christian hire co has suddenly been made available to us for the same price for a month, as we pay from a regular co for a week!! Praise God!

We then head off to Cornwall on Wednesday for a rest....time to pray and reflect and be still before God as we seek Him over our future.....so really appreciate your prayers.....more later!!

After that we have more debriefs and will be at New Wine for the second week......hope to see as many of you as possible....somewhere over the summer....but do feel free to call or skype...

Have a great summer....

In Him

Chris

Back in the UK??

Chris writes: very early on last Monday morning we returned to the UK.....leaving Kosova, the Lighthouse and many friends and happy memories behind us. It is hard to imagine that in a few weeks/months time we have no commitment to return to Kosova, that we will not be getting back onto an aeroplane and returning back to a tiny country, a place in the Balkans that for the last 4 1/2 years we have called home. For the last 4 1/2 years every time we have left Kosova we have always had a return ticket with us...a ticket that has returned us to our home...to Kosova...on Sunday we boarded the plane with just a single ticket each.....to return us back to our home in UK....

Change comes to us all at sometimes in our life and it is important that we embrace it and face it head on and not try to hide from it or grow resentful that it is happening. Since 10th November 2008...it has been an exciting and roller coaster ride for us in Kosova...well to be honest as you can imagine it actually goes back before that....but if you have not been with us since the beginning of our adventures you can read it all yourself....we started this blog.....this adventure..on 25th October 2008....I think it makes good reading....but not about us.......but is a testimony to the God who took us to Kosova and the God that we believe has now returned us safely back here to the UK.

There are many thoughts and emotions and decisions we need to work through in the coming weeks and months and while we do not plan to rush, but take time to rest and pray, we will try to share some of them with you, but please do feel free to contact us if you have anything to share with us.....eventually we will probably need to close this blog and start a new one but for now during this transition stage, and until we know the title of our new blog we will continue this one.

For those of you that have been here and standing and praying with us since October 2008 and for those that have joined since 2008 thank-you, for believing not in us, but in the God we serve.....for He is the reason why we have been in Kosova for the last 4 1/2 years and to Him must be the glory.

Amen!!

With love and blessings to you all  xx