Entering the Christmas Season...

We are definitely heading towards Christmas season here in Ljubljana. Whilst most days are grey and miserable, we do still get the occasional bright blue skies. On those days it still amazes me that I can look down the street and see mountains so close!

Things are getting busy as we prepare for our Christmas activities. One role I have taken on this year is that of Nativity Play co-ordinator. This is even more complicated than it would be under normal circumstances (which is probably why we haven't had a Nativity for a few years). In church we have a number of children who are English speaking. However, we are a Slovene speaking church. We therefore want to be able to produce a play where the children can understand what they're supposed to be doing, and it needs to be understandable for the congregation. The solution we have come up with is to have one of the Slovene teenagers act as a narrator and have all the children mime and act out what is happening, without having to say anything themselves. We had our first rehearsal on Sunday, with the aim of performing it twice, once on 21st December and once on Christmas Day itself. Whilst I'll be there for the Sunday performance, I will be back in the UK for Christmas. Fortunately I have several people willing to help out and to take over when I'm not there. Please pray for this event, and especially for the children. One boy in particular has the most to do and is quite nervous about his role.

Another aspect of Christmas prep is the music in church. In previous years one lovely lady has had all the responsibility of organising it all since no one else had the ability to lead. This year we are blessed by people who are able to play the piano and are willing and able to help out. I have been involved in choosing the songs for the next month and I will help with leading the singing in church.

Of course there are all the fun things that come with this season (of course I'm not implying that the things above aren't fun!) We will have a trip to the Christmas market in Salzburg, I'm involved in Christmas concerts with my choir, and of course the youth group will have a Christmas party!

As you can see, this next month will be full of extra activities on top of my normal ministries. Please be praying for all these events, and most of all, please pray that we wouldn't lose sight of the real meaning of Christmas - celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ!

It's A Bit Early For Snow...

I know it's been far too long since I last wrote, but if I'm completely, not a huge amount has happened in the last couple of months.

This morning I had a little bit of a surprise when I looked outside and there had been a sprinkling of snow overnight, it still feels too early for snow!

It's hard to believe that it's nearly the end of November and soon the run up to Christmas begins. In fact, it's already started. In my choir we've started practicing carols and I've started to prepare for a Nativity Play for our Sunday School to perform in church. This term is certainly passing by very quickly!

In youth group this term we have been looking at the book of Ephesians, which has been a great encouragement. I've continued meeting with two of the teenage girls one to one. Because of their other commitments (and constant tests in school) we can't meet every week, but we meet as often as possible. With one girl we have been working through a Bible Overview for the past year (with stops in Ruth and Esther) and this week we finally reached the New Testament! With the other girl we have been looking at the book of Romans. It is a great book but it is certainly challenging and so we've had good discussions about the great truths Paul teaches.

Since summer a small group of us involved in ministry have been meeting every two weeks to talk about ministry in Slovenia and what that looks like. We have been reading the Bible together as well as reading through some Christian books. I've realised that it is very easy to become blind to a lot of the things around us. It's been challenging but good to have new people come in and ask questions about why things are as they are. My church is definitely going through a time of transition and so it's helpful to think through a lot of the questions that are coming up. It's important to ask the question - is this Biblical or cultural - do things need to be changed, and if so why, and what to? Please be praying for the church as we work through these kinds of questions.

In other news, my arm is an ongoing saga. I am still seeing the physio regularly and still experience pain. I know I have some chronic issues, but I don't yet quite know whether this is just something I will have to live with, or whether it will actually recover. Please pray for me regarding this - it's draining to be in pain, and although it's not specifically affecting my work, it is affecting my everyday life and ability to do things I enjoy such as crochet and pilates. Of course I would love for God to take away the pain, but if that's not his will, please pray that I would have patience and to keep trusting God through the pain and frustration.

Starting a New Term...

I realise that a while has passed since I last wrote, and I apologise for that. Summer is always a weird time for me, and this year has been more so than usual. Summer is usually a time of extremes - I'm either incredibly busy, or it's incredibly quiet (whilst I recover!) This year has had the added complication of continued recovery from surgery.
After my surgery in early May I had to wear that large brace on my arm for 10 weeks 24/7 and then overnight for an additional 2 weeks. I've struggled most with my energy levels, but since it's been summer, thankfully this hasn't affected my work too much. I have also been seeing a physio twice a week for the past 6 weeks. My arm is now starting to look reasonably normal, and whilst it's still not completely pain free, it is definitely a lot better than it was. I am incredibly grateful to all the medical professionals who have been helping me over the past 9 months!

Despite the additional difficulties I've been facing, God has not stopped working here. Summer was a great time to build friendships and relationships with people. It was also a chance to explore some new parts of Slovenia I had never been to before. The picture is from Velika Planina, a beautiful shepherd's village in the mountains nearby.

Another joy of the summer was leading a small team to help with a Holiday Bible Club in Suffolk in the UK. This is the third time a team of us has gone, and it was a real joy and encouragement to rebuild relationships with the people there. For me it was a chance to remember how to work with 4 year olds - a little bit different to my normal work with teenagers. It was also great to see the Slovenes getting involved and helping out. There had been a few nerves on the journey there, but God answered our prayers and by the end of it, they didn't want to leave.

We're now starting what will sadly be the last year of our youth group. Three of the five teenagers will be graduating high school and so as it stands we don't have the numbers to continue. Please pray for me as I lead and make plans for the future. Please especially be praying for these young people as we study God's word together, that they would be growing in theit knowledge and faith, and that God would be glorified here in Slovenia.

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!