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!

A Busy Start to the Year...

 

Happy New Year everyone! OK, I know I'm very late with that. The weather in Ljubljana continues to be grey and cold but we do have occasional glimpses of sun/ light, for which I'm very grateful.

By the late nature of this post, you may be able to tell that I've had an incredibly busy start to the year. Firstly, I was in the UK for a lot longer than usual. This was a real blessing to be able to spend more time with my family and friends. I then travelled to the Growing Young Disciples conference in Staffordshire. I wasn't really sure what to expect from it, but it was such a blessing and encouragement. I had had a few difficult weeks in the run up to Christmas (and then managed to get ill over the New Year!) and this was such a time of refreshment and preparation to go back to Slovenia. It was amazing how many people I bumped into that I knew, including my dorm leader from camp 20 years ago!

In a slightly crazy move, my journey back to Slovenia included a 6am flight and youth group the same evening. I was present in body, I'm not so sure how much I was in mind! It's hard to believe that I've only been back for two weeks. I have been so busy with meetings and extra responsibilities that I'm almost ready for another holiday. Lots of this work has been related to ECM and especially with planning for our Biennial conference which is now only a few months away. Please be praying for us as we prepare and help to lead and serve those in our organisation from across Europe and the world.

After all the extra meetings I've had in the last two weeks, things should start to calm down a bit now, for which I'm very grateful. My normal work keeps on going and soon we will be starting to prepare for our youth away day in March and for our youth camp in July, as well as a possible trip to England to help with an HBC again in August.

Finally, please pray for my health as I currently have a couple of little niggles. Some of you will know that I needed to have surgery on my elbow 7 years ago. Well I managed to reinjure it over Christmas and it is still sore. Please pray for wisdom as to know what to do with it.

I also had a minor bike crash last night. I was in the cycle lane and someone walked right in front of me without looking and it was too late for me to do anything about it. I am very grateful that neither of us were seriously injured, but I am a bit sore today after the fall. Praise God that it wasn't serious, but please pray that I would ache less very soon!

Thank you as always for all your support and your prayers!

December and Christmas Activities...

I know everyone always says it, but I can't believe that it is Christmas next week!  Ljubljana is always beautiful at this time of year with all the lights, but somehow this year it feels more magical than usual. This week some of the ladies from the Bible study group went for a walk to see the lights around the centre and it really was lovely - both the company and the lights.

The last few weeks have been pretty busy. With my choir we've had two concerts this month and in each one we were singing for an hour. I'm glad I still have a voice left! I've also been fairly busy preparing for the youth group Christmas party which we had last night (20th). We joined again with the church from Domžale and had 15 young people. They were split into groups and had a series of activities to complete in as short a time as possible. We then had food together whilst the pastor of the chuch in Domžale gave his testimony. It's a pretty incredible story and goes to show that God can reach anybody and work miracles in their lives. We then played White Elephant Secret Santa so that everyone was able to go home with a gift. Please pray for the teenagers who came and heard how God worked in Goran's life. Please pray that God would be working in their lives too.

After a busy term, I am looking forward to having a break before the work starts again next year. Please pray for me and the work here as we seek to glorify God and to help young Slovenes learn more about Him.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a good time celebrating the birth of our Lord!

Well into Autumn...

 

Ok, so that's a photo from last year, but we have had a little bit of snow this year... I just didn't get a photo of it.

Things here in Ljubljana seem to have settled down into some sort of regular rhythm. It's definitely getting colder and greyer so everyone is looking forward to the holiday season. For most of the young people, this is a very stressful time of year. They tend to start having tests in all their subjects on everything they've learnt since the beginning of the year. This has affected my one to ones a little bit since they need more time to revise and prepare. Please pray for these teenagers as they face all this stress! They also have to go to school everyday until Christmas Eve - it's so different from the UK and I always feel so sorry for them when I remember what the Christmas season was like for me when I was in school.

Since half term we have been looking at the Solas from the Reformation in our weekly youth group. This has been a good opportunity to cement in the ideas of Scripture alone, Christ alone, by grace and through faith alone. Last week we had our second meeting in Domžale. It was a bit stressful to prepare for since we didn't know how many young people would turn up since we'd had 20 last time. This time it was definitely advertised as a Bible study rather than a social which we'd had last time. In the end we only had one extra girl. It was a little bit disappointing but I know that a few people cancelled last minute and some were affected by the snow. We have another Bible study there next month. Please pray for us as we prepare since once again we will have no idea how many people will come. Please pray for the young people in Domžale, that they would want to hear the gospel and learn more about God.

I continue to be kept busy with my work for ECM. Thankfully this should quieten down until next year. As you may be aware, I am leading the group that is organising the seminars for our conference next year. I am very grateful that we have now finalised the seminars and the speakers. Please pray for the continued planning and preparation for next year, that it would be a blessing to the people who will come and that it would be a good chance for fellowship and rest.

Thank you so much, as always, for your continued prayers and support for my work here in Slovenia!

Working Together...

Last Friday, 25th October, we had a very exciting event. It was our first joint youth meeting with the church in Domžale. On a usual Friday evening we get about 6 or 7 teenagers regularly coming to our youth group in Ljubljana. I was expecting that maybe we would have 3 or maybe 4 young people from Domžale come join us for a social evening. Amazingly we had 20(!) young people turn up, plus leaders. It was more than any of us had expected. We quickly ordered more pizza, bought more drinks and just enjoyed the time together. It was just a social evening and by no means do I expect all 20 of these young people to start attending our youth group, but it does show the need for something for the young people in Domžale. We used it more as an opportunity to hang out with them and to tell them about our regular meetings. Please pray that some, if not all, would be interested in coming and learning more about the gospel. Many of the people who came were non-Christians and so it was a good opportunity for our youth to spend time with other teenagers. Thank God for this amazing answer to prayer and how the young people responded. Please continue to pray for this opportunity, and especially for the next meeting in Domžale on 22nd November. This time it will be a Bible study so we'll see what difference that makes to the numbers.

This last week has been half term here in Slovenia. My parents came to visit for the first time in a couple of years, so it was lovely to spend time with them and to explore more of the country. We especially enjoyed the good weather and a trip to the coast. It's hard to believe, sometimes, that this is still Slovenia!

My normal activities start again next week. Things have felt very busy for me over the past month or so, please pray that I would have the energy and the brain space to do everything that I need to. Please continue to pray for the work here and for all the young people I work with. Please pray that God would be working in their lives and that his name would be glorified here in Slovenia.