wow...blown away!!

Chris writes......well thanks all of you so much for your prayers and it was an extremely profitable and envisioning time!!...there were so many divine appointments...please pray that I can recall them and share the pictures and stories with you in due course!!

Watch this space!!

GOD is good ALL the Time!!

Chris writes: hi all and hope you are enjoying the early signs of spring....so lovely to walk around and see the daffodils coming up and the trees with the spring blossom on them....spring comes every year to remind us of the new start Jesus wants to make in our lives...no matter what happened yesterday whether we did well or not today is a new day!! If we come back to God and are truly sorry He will give us a fresh start...just like a new day.....Wow what an amazing God we have!!

• The last few weeks have been challenging...sadly the guy who was going to buy our flat down south...our perfect answer to prayer...or so we thought...changed his mind and pulled out of the sale...we had some other people look at it but they offered a price under our asking price....at this stage we don't have a mortgage so don't know how much we need to realize from the flat so it seems premature to blindly accept a lower offer...so we are holding on and waiting it out...

• On the Kosova front...we have heard that the cafe is moving to another location...and on Wednesday I will be travelling there!! for the first time since we left last June....am really excited to be able to go back for 8 days...sadly just me...but please pray it will be a profitable and envisioning time...I will also be travelling to Albania and meeting our first student and his family from Albania that will be joining us on the ELCO programme in May....pray that we can inspire and raise up other missionaries from the Balkans....more to follow....watch this space!!

A few pictures from the current ELCO programme...our evangelism day on the streets in Birmingham..I was able to share a short message....and the rain did not stop us!!..and Lorraine with one of our good friends on the base from Holland taking the students bowling....

Thanks so much for your prayers....we love you guys!!

Our God is greater...our God is Stronger.....

Chris writes: we serve an Awesome God!!!.....as my friend says 'never use the word awesome unless you are talking about God!!' God never leaves us and is always there for us. Have been facing our 'Jericho' this week...trudging around 'knocking on doors' to get the mortgage so that we can have our own home back here in UK and settle down into our next step....we also needed to sell the flat in Christchurch....we had been blown away with the valuation but there still seemed so much we needed to do so that we could move forward.....someone who I had been told would be able to help us with the mortgage told me to forget it and we need to just rent...this sent me into a depression.......our 'Jericho' just seemed too big...too overwhelming

Why do we place so much trust in other men?? Why do we wait and try to chase them more than we do God???......surely......He is stronger...He is greater....'what could stand against'???   as someone once said!!

The next day God woke me very early in the morning and my next reading was Psalm 13:

"How long, Lord? Will You forget me forever?" Like David I was feeling pretty low but how does the Psalm end?

"I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the LORD'S praise for He has been good to me".

Whatever happens to us....God has saved us and died for us and offers us an eternity with Him as opposed to an eternity without. He offers us a new, rich and fulfilling life....what more could we ask for!!

Do the problems just disappear?? Sometimes and sometimes not....but suddenly we are viewing them standing on God, our Father's shoulders rather than on other peoples shoulders.........and then they seem much smaller and we can see over them.

No mortgage yet.

.................and the flat....went on the market on Friday after we signed and returned the particulars...two viewings on Saturday.....the first person offered £10,000 under and the second person.............................

...............................................offered the asking price and wants to keep the tenant!!!!!!!!

This morning in church we sung the Chris Tomlin song.........and it is true!!!!!!


http://vimeo.com/43594965

......................maybe you need to be reminded of that fact today as you face your 'Jericho'???

Be blessed and be a blessing

who was/is Jesus?? How much does God love us??...please read on........

Chris writes: lots going on at the moment, the new intake of our international students (ELCO) have now arrived...the last one a girl from Russia had visa problems but is now with us...they are settling in and I am enjoying leading the missional part of their programme.

We have just sent out our monthly prayer letter with some big prayer requests for us as a couple what we are praying to achieve for 2014.....if you have not received it/would like to please let me know and we will send it to you......we would really appreciate your prayers in these coming months!!

Someone once said: 'Faith is not believing that God can. It's knowing that He will'

We believe that God will.

Am still reading the wonderful book  'The Relentless Love Of Jesus' by Brennan Manning

Some people are happy to believe the lie that Jesus was a only prophet and nothing more. Or that He was merely a good guy. Look at the evidence.

We all know and believe He existed and walked this earth.......there is more evidence to prove that than many other people from history.

the Bible says that Jesus points us to God.......He is Son of God??

.....some people say that I look like my dad...no-one else does, I am in direct relationship with him...

Jesus said: "Anyone who has seen me has seen The Father"... i.e. God...in John 14:9 so Jesus is saying He is in direct relationship with God......so not just another guy or even a prophet then....and as CS Lewis says a good guy would not make claims like that anyway.

....and how do we know that The Father loves us..how much does He love us??......as the beautiful song by David Crowder band says oh how He loves us:

The truth is as Manning says:  

"...the torn, broken, lacerated, spit covered, blood drenched body of Jesus is only a hint of the Father's love."

How amazing!! Let those words go deep!!

God bless you

New Year...new start

Chris writes...well only 23 days into the new year and has been such a busy time We have now graduated our international students (ELCO programme).... and the new students are literally on their way....one from Bosnia just arrived this evening.....over an hour late!...the new term/intake starts on Monday....we also have a new church and I have some ideas for developing the ministry programme further......the prayer meeting for the night shelters which are going to be run every night in different churches around Birmingham was great and It was so good to see the churches across Birmingham from diverse physical locations and with equally diverse theologies meeting and sharing together. There was involvement from the URC Church, The Baptist Church and the Anglican Church. it was so exciting and inspiring to see all these people and churches praying together in unity!!

The night shelter itself has now started and the churches are impacting their communities.....people who last week slept rough now have a warm accommodation if they wish.

We had a great week off and felt really blessed, refreshed and strengthened for the busy few months ahead!!

We have been praying much about our future and feel God is saying to enjoy what we have and trust Him for the rest......

...........thanks so much for your prayers and support and hope you can keep up with us in 2014!!

....and so this in Christmas.....2013 into 2014........

Chris writes: so this is Christmas and as the song says 'another year over and a new one to begin'  so how was 2013 for you? What has changed in your life? What will change in 2014 for you?

For us this time last year it would have been hard to imagine that as a couple we would be celebrating Christmas back in the UK, having been living in the Midlands, still with OM and working for Lifehope for 4 months. We felt God was calling us back last winter; we took some time out to pray and fast; pack and close our home in Gjakova, say all our goodbyes; put the Lighthouse and our vision into the hands of the locals: it is now run by a local young guy who we employ and we also have a treasurer; we returned here in mid June and spent 2 1/2 months travelling, praying and resting before finally moving here.

Since we have been here and in such a short space of time it really feels like home, even though we do not have our own home. We have been house sitting so have been paying minimal rent which we are sooo grateful for! Lorraine has had a major operation and is recovering well. We are now part of both a global family of people who are based here from all over the world and a local family who have cooked and cleaned for us for three weeks. I have also completed training sessions in mentoring and training trainers.

I now have a job at Lifehope and am able to train and equip internationals who come here to improve their English in church life and mission work. I am also involved in a night shelter which the churches in Birmingham are running for 8 weeks from January. Last week my two roles came together when i was asked to provide some entertainment at a meal which was being put on for the homeless & vulnerable in Birmingham. The students loved it and gave a powerful message in the drama which really spoke to some people.

Lorraine has just returned to work after her rehabilitation so is open to her next direction.

Phew what a year!!

We cannot take credit for this, the transition and the journey, what we have achieved and how peaceful and rested we feel can only be down to the peace and  grace of the Lord God Almighty, whose earthly arrival and birth among us that we celebrate tomorrow. It is to Him that all the glory must go. Amen.

From us both and from the bottom of our hearts we are so grateful to Him for that and to you for journeying with us and for your support and prayers.

...and to 2014....we know it presents more challenges as we need to increase our finances, find our own home and look further into family and further transition into life back here in the UK...we know it won't be easy but we have our journey thus far to look back on and nothing to make us think He will not be with us every step of the way as He has been so far.

I hope like us you also can celebrate Christmas having that special relationship as we have and seeing Him work in your life. I hope this Christmas will for you, be a truly Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

With Much love from us both xx

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