Christmas Events...

I know I'm fairly late in writing this tonight (if you've even noticed) but I wanted to wait until I came home from the youth group Christmas party which was tonight. I was in charge of organising it all and I think it was fairly successful. Activities ranged from making antlers from balloons and tights to making a trailer for a Christmas film. We also had a talk on why we celebrate Christmas and we ended the evening with a Secret Santa type game. Although it was a lot of work to organise it all, I had great fun doing it and I hope the teenagers also had fun.

The last two weeks have been fairly busy for me in the run up to Christmas. Just after I wrote my last blog we had a Ladies Christmas Craft Evening where we sewed these lovely tree decorations. I also gave my first talk entirely in Slovene. Granted I had to read it from a piece of paper but I still think it's a step in the right direction. We sang carols together and generally had a good time of fellowship.

In Ljubljana we've also had our first snow of the season. It came down very heavily for two days but didn't last too long. Strangely enough, two days later it was 15 degrees and the snow pretty much disappeared. It's been too warm since then for any more. I can't say I'm too disappointed. Whilst I like the idea of snow and it all looks very pretty, the reality is that it is cold and wet and get absolutely everywhere when you have to get on with your normal life. Unlike in Britain where a small dusting means that schools are closed and the trains all stop working, people here are prepared for winter and just carry on.


Well I'm nearly at the end of my year's work. I just have a few more things to do on Sunday, including meeting up with a French girl who only became a Christian a few weeks ago! After that I'm on holiday and back in the UK for 10 days. I think I'm managing to meet up with most people and all my family. I will be in Swindon for the whole day on 29th December so I'm hoping I'll be able to see many of you then.

This will be my last post of the year so I would like to take the opportunity to thank all of you for your continued support and prayers for me during this time in Slovenia. I hope I will soon be able to announce what my plans are for the next year. In the meantime, please be praying for safe travels and a good and fruitful time when I'm back in England.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone!

Decorating for Christmas...

Lights in the centre of Ljubljana

I am so thankful that the month of November is finally behind me and I can look forward to all the excitement that this time of year brings. Yes I admit it, I love Christmas. Not quite so much as my sister though. I'm going to embarrass her here by mentioning that she texted me very excitedly to let me know she'd found a Home Alone t-shirt in a charity shop and that she was going to wear it whilst we watch the film together (this is something we do every year). When I told her I wasn't going to do the same - mainly because I don't want to, but also because it would be pretty much impossible for me to find one here - she told me that I just wasn't committed enough.

That being said, the flat was decorated as soon as I possibly could after the 1st December. This, however, has led to a series of harmless pranks between myself and my housemates. It started because 2 of us were doing the decorating and the 3rd was out. We didn't quite know what to do with the last few pieces of tinsel so we decorated the 3rd girl's door... She then got her own back... I'm sorry for the quality of the photo, I hadn't even realised the tinsel was there until I switched the TV on. My other housemate then moved it back to the door and then mysteriously it disappeared until I came home this morning to find it in my doorway. Now magically it has moved to the other housemate's door. I don't know how it could have got there... (she's not actually home yet so I'm hoping she doesn't read this before she sees it!)
It may only be a small thing but I suspect that this moving tinsel will keep us all amused for the rest of the month!

I also enjoyed going to see the lights being turned on in the centre of Ljubljana last week. It makes such a difference to the atmosphere here. I have been told that the month of December is when Slovenes will make the effort to be happy and enjoy themselves. It is very easy to be affected by the winter months here. It's been so grey for the last month that I was genuinely surprised to see mountains when it became clear again this week. I had actually forgotten that they were there and usually visible from my road.

I am thankful to God that many of the trials that I was facing last month have started fading away. For those of you who were wondering, my thumb is slowly getting better with very little help from the doctors. Feel free to ask me if you want to hear the end of the saga. My new(ish) bike is working well and although I used it last night, when I came back to it there was a layer of frost on the saddle so I think it is now time to put it to bed for winter!
Not everything is perfect and not everything has a simple solution but I am thankful for those of you who have bee remembering me in prayer.

To finish, I have some very exciting news. God has been working in such a great way in Slovenia over the last few weeks. 5 people have accepted Christ as their Saviour within the space of two weeks. This is almost unheard of here. Firstly, praise God for the work he is doing! Please also be praying for these new believers and the people around them, that they would be growing and would be supported in their faith. It would also be great if God continued to work in the same way and more people came to know him. Thank you for your prayers, please keep praying for the people and country of Slovenia. For all the fun I have here, my main reason for being here is to help people get to know God better. Please pray for my work but also the work of all the churches and missionaries here.