Remembering Who Jesus Is...

Yesterday we got home after spending 4 days in this beautiful location on youth camp. As many of you will know, camp is my biggest event of the year, and work on it starts in January. This was my third year organising camp, and I feel like I've finally got into the rhythm of how it goes. My first year, I was so stressed trying to make every thing perfect, and then got upset when things didn't go to plan. Last year, I was in the sad situation of dealing with grief and a trip to the UK for two funerals directly before camp started. I didn't have the time or energy to micromanage everything, and so I was forced to let go and just trust that things would work out. In his great mercy, God blessed our time last year, and I learnt that I didn't need to hold on to things quite so tightly. I also faced additional challenges this year with the surgery on my elbow, but I learnt from last year, and worried about the things I could control, and didn't stress about the things I couldn't.

I am so thankful for all that God did at camp this year. We were looking at the I Am statements from John's gospel, and it was such a great reminder of what Jesus says about himself. It was such a great encouragement to me as I was preparing the Bible studies, to see what Jesus says, and how he proves it with his actions. It was also really encouraging to see the young people, listening and getting stuck into the Bible. In total 27 people went to camp, including 14 teenagers (aged 11-20), 3 languages, 6 nationalities and 3 churches. We had a couple of new teenagers come this year and they settled in really quickly. In a small country like Slovenia, these young people don't know many other Christian teenagers and so camp is a really good time for them to come together and encourage one another. Please pray for all the young people who came, that they would remember what they learnt and that they would keep looking Jesus - the bread of life; the light of the world; the gate; the good shepherd; the resurrection and the life; the way, the truth and the life; and the true vine.
 

Preparing for Camp...

This year has gone so quickly, it's hard to believe that school has finished, holidays have started and there's only a week until camp starts!

The end of the school year went well, although many of the young people had tests and exams, which of course was very stressful. The last couple of sessions were led by the church intern. When I first moved to Slovenia I was meeting her one to one every week. It's great to see how God has been working in her life and leading her into ministry, at least in the short term.

My recovery from my surgery seems to be progressing but it feels very slow. I still have to wear the robotic looking brace on my arm, and as the weather has been getting almost unbearably hot (30+ degrees every day!), it's been more and more uncomfortable. I should only have to wear it for another couple of weeks but then the physio and rehab will begin. Please pray that I would continue to have patience with this process, especially when it's painful and uncomfortable.

Once school ended, I took the opportunity to have a holiday with some of my family in Albania. It's a very beautiful but needy country. It was lovely to see my family and enjoy quality time with them. It was also really nice to have a break before the next few weeks of crazy busyness.

Now that I'm back from holiday I'm straight back into work and preparation for camp. We have 14 young people signed up and this year we will have people from six different countries (leaders included). These young people are from two different churches and are aged between 11 and 20. We will be looking at the I am statements from John's gospel. I have already prepared and translated four Bible studies and now I need to work on a talk. Please pray for me and for the other leaders as we finish our final preparations for camp. Please also pray for us at camp. We will be at a new location this year (and I personally have not been able to visit the site) so it will be interesting to see how it will all go. Please pray for our safety and for everyone to have a good time. Most of all, please pray that the young people would be learning more about God and wanting to have a personal relationship with him. It's been really encouraging for me as I've been digging deeper into these passages and seeing how Jesus' words completely line up with his actions. Please pray that we would all be encouraged as we see how Jesus is the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, the Gate, the Good Shepherd, the Resurrection and the Life, the Way, the Truth and the Life,  and the Vine.

Learning to Live with Limitations

Almost a month ago I had surgery on my elbow. As it was the second time I had torn the ligament in my elbow, this time they had to take a tendon from my knee and graft it in. A month later I am still, unsurprisingly, still dealing with the ramifications of this. I still get tired easily, I can't stand for too long or walk long distances, it's painful to use the stairs. And that's without the fact that the surgery was on my right elbow (I'm right-handed!). I have to wear this terminator looking like brace for at least another month, and yes, I have to sleep with it on!

Despite all of this, I have been so grateful for the prayers and support of so many people and it has been a good exercise in patience for me! There's so much to be thankful for, not least skilled and caring health care professionals and a loving and supportive church!

Last week I started slowly to get back to work. I am by no means at full capacity and I doubt I will be for a while. I am grateful that all this happened towards the end of term when things are starting to slow down for summer. However, I do have a lot of work to do to prepare for youth camp. It's actually happening a week later than it has been for the last few years, and I'm grateful for the extra time for preparation.

This year camp will be from 14th-17th July and once again we will be in a new location. We will be looking at the I Am statements of Jesus from John's gospel thinking about what Jesus claims for himself. Please be praying for all the preparations and for the young people who will come. Please also be praying for me and my continued recovery, that I would have wisdom how to use my time and that I would get everything done that I need to. Please also be praying for me as I write one talk and 4 Bible studies, that God would be glorified by all that we do and say as we seek to teach these young people more about him!

In God's Garden

The last few weeks have been fairly busy and stressful. In the middle of April I flew to Spain for the ECM Biennial, which had the theme of In God's Garden. We got to stay in this beautiful hotel right on the beach, we just had to be careful that we weren't blown away by the wind. As I was on the planning team for the Biennial, it was not exactly a restful holiday! It was great to see friends and spend time with people, but I did also spend a lot of my time on the info desk or running around making sure that everything related to the seminars was going to plan (which it didn't, but God was gracious and it all worked out anyway!) During my time there, I was reminded that this is God's world. We don't proclaim a message that Jesus is missing, but that Jesus has risen. When things seem hard, he is still Lord and has power over all. Despite the busyness and running around, I was really encouraged by the teaching through the week.

When I returned to Slovenia it was back to work for a week before the school holidays. I also had lots of communication with the hospital about having surgery on my elbow. I am due to have this surgery this week - 8th May, to repair a torn ligament. Since I will have to take time off work, I have been trying to get things as prepared as possible. I have also almost filled my freezer with meals since I don't know when I'll be able to cook for myself again.

It's been a very strange period of time for me - times of stress followed by times of rest and quiet. It's also been strange since my life hasn't been following its normal pattern for about a month due to my time away and then the holidays. I know that it will be quite some time before things feel normal again

I am very grateful for all the love, prayers and support I have received from so many different people at this time. Thank you to all of you who are, or will be praying for me this week. I know that the surgery is in God's hands and I know that I have many people here who are willing to look after me and help me. Please continue praying for the work that is being done here - for the weekly youth meeting and the start of preparation for camp. Please pray that I especially will remember that it is God's work and that even when I have to step back for a bit, God is still working here!

Who is This Man?

Recording Jesus calming the storm in lego

Last weekend we had a very exciting event. For a second year we had a youth away day and invited young people from different churches around the country to come join with us. This year we had 24 young people, from 4 different churches, aged between 11 and 20. (We also had 5 different nationalities when leaders were included). The theme of the day was Who is This Man? We looked at Mark's gospel and thought about how Jesus shows that he has power over every aspect of life.

The young people were split into 5 different groups, and each group were given stories from Mark, and they recreated them, using whichever medium they preferred. Amazingly each groups chose something different. We had lego, shadow puppets, a comic strip, playing cards and a traditional drama. Each group filmed their work and at the end of the day we all sat down and watched the full production. I then closed the day with a short talk reminding them that Jesus is the Son of God, the one with power to save us from our sins.

It was such an encouraging event. It was great to see the young people coming together and working on their different projects. Not one person knew everyone there so it was a good chance to meet new people and to encourage existing friendships. Of course I could not have organised this without the help of a great team of leaders, and of course, all credit should go to our great God and Saviour.

Thank you to all of you who were praying for this event. Praise God that we had so many young people there - I was starting to worry that we wouldn't actually fit in the building! Praise God that they were all engaged and listened well at the end of the day. Please pray for these young people, for those who do not yet know God, and for those that do, that they would all be growing in their relationship with him, and that they would continue to want to know more about him.

Now that we've had this away day, my focus has now shifted to the ECM Biennial which will be in Spain in 2 weeks time. Please pray for all the last minute arrangements and details that need to be sorted. Please also pray for safe travels for the 600 or so people who will be joining us there.

Thinking about the Shepherd-King...

Sheep blocking the road in north Wales

As you may be aware, since Christmas we've been studying the book of Zechariah in youth group. It's been a really encouraging series as they've been learning and thinking about how the Old Testament points towards the New Testament and to Jesus. This was very clear in the study we had tonight. We were looking at chapters 9-11 and it's amazing just how clearly it points forward to Jesus. There were audible moments of realisation when they started to understand the links, firstly between Jesus as the true shepherd - the leader who will care for his people in the right way, and secondly between Zechariah throwing 30 pieces of silver to the potter and Judas' blood money being returned to the priests and them using it to buy land from a potter.

Tonight was such an encouraging study. Sometimes youth work can feel like a lot of hard work. They're all really tired from long weeks at school and sometimes they just don't want to be in a Bible study. Tonight they were all really engaged and happy to read the Bible. After thinking about the fact that Jesus is the shepherd-king, we then thought about what it means for us. It was so great to see them thinking about what it meant for them personally. We all know that sheep can be stupid, can be led in the wrong direction, or can just be really stubborn. I'm not surpised that the Bible chooses this picture to talk about us. We need a leader who cares for us but who will lead us in the right way so that we can live in peace with him forever. This is the great picture that Zechariah gives us, and I'm just so encouraged that the young people understood this tonight!

Nex Saturday we will have our youth away day. We currently have 14 young people signed up aged from 12-19. Please pray for this day as we think about who Jesus is. Please pray for me as I finish the final preparations and practice my talk in Slovene. Most of all, please pray that the young people would grow in their relationships with God as they learn more about him.

Is that a potato temple?

You may be wondering why I chose to use a picture of potatoes in my blog. Well, if you can't tell, this is a potato model of the temple! Over the last few weeks we've been looking at the book of Zechariah in youth group. Last week we were thinking about the idea of the temple being rebuilt and God crowning a priest as king. I can't claim credit for either the idea or the execution of the potato temple (and also potato priestly clothes), but it's been great to see the young people start to get to grips with an unfamiliar part of the Bible, how it points forward to Jesus and how it affects their lives.

The last few weeks have been reasonably busy, but thankfully a bit quieter than January! The major piece of news for me this week is that I received my residency permit. This is a massive answer to prayer and means that I am now able to live and work in Slovenia until February 2027. Thank you all of you who have been praying about this. It didn't quite take the 6 months that was predicted, but the wait was still reasonably long.

Life here has been continuing pretty much as normal. We have started seriously thinking about and planning both our youth away day and our summer camp. Unfortunately for a variety of reasons we are unable to go back to the location we were at last year. This is a real shame as I really liked that centre, and I'd hoped we wouldn't have to do the search all over again. Fortunately we seem to have several options and it looks like we'll be able to go to one of our other favourite options from last year. We're hoping to book this next week so please pray that it will still be available and that the process will go smoothly. Please be praying for all of our plans in general. After last year, when many things happened that were out of my control, I have learnt to hold things loosely, and to remember that God is the one who is in control, not me. Please pray that I would continue to remember this!

 Next week is half term and I am looking forward to the break and the chance to rest. This half term has definitely had its ups and downs, its joys and its challenges. I know that the next few months will be increasingly busy with the youth day in March, the ECM Biennial in April and camp in July, alongside all of my weekly ministry responsibilities. Please pray for energy and as I've already said, that I would remember who really has it all under control!