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.