Being Cultural

Walking to see cultural places

The last couple of weeks have been filled with cultural events. 8th February is a national holiday here in Slovenia and is their official day of culture. I went with a group of people from church on a long walk to see the birthplaces of some of the most famous writers. To be honest I'd only heard of one of them, France Prešeren, who wrote the national anthem. For me, it was more of an opportunity to spend time with people, although I did learn some new things.

Many of you will know that I'm part of an international choir here in Ljubljana. In the last week we've had two concerts, one at an art show and one at the women's prison. The concert in the prison was especially interesting since it looked nothing like prisons on tv. The Slovene government is making good use of their many castles and so the only women's prison in the country is in a castle (think more like a chateau) that was built in 1694. I obviously don't know what any of these women did to end up there but many of them looked very, very young. Although we didn't really get to speak to any of the prisoners, it was a good opportunity to bring a little bit of joy to a dark place. Although my choir is not Christian by any means, one of our favourite songs to sing is called Siyahamba (We are marching in the light of God). We regularly end our concerts with this song, singing in both Zulu and English. My prayer is that someone will hear these lyrics, wonder what they mean and maybe try to find out.

Over the past couple of weeks, members of my family and I have continued to face challenges and difficulties. Since the beginning of the year it's felt like one thing after another. In many ways it's been hard, but in others it has been good. Time and again I've been reminded that God is still in control of everything and all I can do is cling to him and do things in his strength, not my own. I'm reminded of the words Peter spoke to Jesus when asked if they wanted to leave him too. "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." When times are difficult, the place to go is back to Jesus. I know that he is giving me the strength to carry on when I feel weak and weary. Thank you all for your prayers and please carry on praying for us. It is greatly appreciated.

The next month is looking quite busy as I write Bible studies, a Bible talk and a seminar, alongside all my usual activities and meetings. Please pray that I would have the energy to do all that I need to and that I would be trusting God with it all.

Happiness at Seeing Mountains...

I just want to start by saying thank you to all of you after my last blog post. It was encouraging to receive so many messages of support. I'm pleased to say that most of the issues and challenges my family has been facing have now been dealt with. I am so grateful for the support that I, and they, have received over the past few weeks.

Winter can be a difficult time for many people. Here in Slovenia, it can be downright depressing. The city of Ljubljana is surrounded by hills which means that many days are just grey. Weeks upon end with just grey cloudy skies! It means that the days when we can actually see the mountains in the distance are that much more special. It's hard to capture in a photo but I've tried in this picture taken at a junction I cross several times a week. When you can see the mountains, it's hard to imagine that they would ever be invisible. Then you go weeks without seeing them and you can start to forget that they even exist. I've always thought that this is quite a good analogy for God. Just because we can't see Him, doesn't mean that he's not working behind the scenes. Even if we forget about him, doesn't mean that he's not there.

Events in the last couple of weeks have led me to think and pray a lot about some of my work and ministry. Firstly I have been asked to increase my involvement with ECM International. I have accepted the role but obviously I will have to see what effect it has on my workload and ministry here in Slovenia. Secondly, most of you know that this school year I've set up a group for English speaking children. Unfortunately it's not really working for the families involved for a number of practical reasons (nothing to do with the group itself). I've been praying about how we can overcome some of the issues and be serving the families rather than being a burden for them. We're going to try meeting once a month rather than weekly. Please be praying for this ministry, that I would be trusting God with it and that He would be glorified by the work and whatever decisions are made.

It may still only be February but it's time to start thinking about our summer activities and the plans for that. We're hoping to be able to bring a group of teenagers over to the UK at the end of August. Please be praying for our plans and all the organisation that needs to take place between now and summer.