God saved the Queen, God save the King...

Yesterday afternoon the world once again changed irrevocably. The Queen, ruler of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, beloved by the world, entered her final rest and has now been welcomed home by her Heavenly Father. Like many other people yesterday I had the BBC news channel on in the background listening and waiting for the latest news. I had literally just started an online game of Settlers of Catan when Huw Edwards made the announcement. This meant that I was left to share my initial reaction with 3 online strangers but somehow it brought us together for that short time. As I was listening to Huw Edwards and Nicholas Witchell discuss their initial thoughts, two words kept coming up again and again - humble servant. In a world where we are beset with over the top, loud, charismatic leaders who tell us that they alone have the answers and can solve all the questions, the Queen was humble. The death of this humble servant has brought an outcrying of grief from across the world. As the President of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, said "(She) ruled the United Kingdom, but belonged to the world." It's hard to imagine this level of grief for any other world leader, and yet, she was a humble servant. She humbly served her God, her people and the world.

My life is very different to that of Elizabeth Regina but we have one main thing in common. We serve a great God. I may not rule millions of people, but God has placed me in my role in this place, to serve him as a humble servant. I don't expect outpourings of grief from around the world when I finally die, but it is my prayer that I will be welcomed home by my Heavenly Father saying "Well done, good and faithful servant."

My induction at church

I am just starting in my role - my induction at church was on Sunday. I am now officially in charge of the youth work at the church here. I pray that God will use me in my work here, that he will be glorified and that the young people will grow in their relationships with him.

This morning as I woke up and once again realised that it is unlikely that there will be another Queen in my lifetime, the hymn Lord for the Years played around in my head. The words of the third and fourth verses seemed most poignant: 

Lord, for our land in this our generation,
spirits oppressed by pleasure, wealth and care:
for young and old, for commonwealth and nation,
Lord of our land, be pleased to hear our prayer.

Lord, for our world where men disown and doubt you,
loveless in strength, and comfortless in pain,
hungry and helpless, lost indeed without you:
Lord of the world, we pray that Christ may reign.

We now have a King. God alone knows what sort of ruler he will be. God alone knows if King Charles III serves Him. The Bible calls for us to pray for our leaders. I pray for King Charles and for all the Royal Family at this time of grief. Most of all I pray that God would be glorified and that people would turn to him at this uncertain time.

Again, things just seem to happen to me...

My friends often joke that if something strange or out of the ordinary is going to happen, it will happen to me! I mean my track record speaks for itself - the time I fell in the sea complete with my bag which held my dry clothes, my purse, phone and passport; the time I was stuck on a plane on a runway in America for four hours in 40 degrees heat; the time I left my phone on the bus and managed to get it back by waiting at a bus stop for the correct bus to come after tracking it online; dislocating my knee by walking in a car park... The list does go on! This last few weeks I've managed to add another couple of things. Yesterday was by far the windiest day I've ever seen in Ljubljana. The city is surrounded by hills so we're usually well protected. Yesterday, there were claims that a funnel cloud had been spotted. Yep, that's right, we had a tornado! You can see the damage to my balcony in the picture. My sunshade was attached to a slab of marble a couple of centimetres thick. The wind caught the sunshade and the force of it broke the marble in half! I had already brought all my plants indoors but when I heard a loud noise I went outside to see the sunshade flapping very dangerously in the high winds. I managed to get out and roll up the sunshade so it didn't sustain any damage but obviously my balcony itself bore the brunt of the attack. There is another balcony directly below me and the owners were away. Their sunshade was ripped clean off! Having seen pictures of fallen trees and roofs been ripped off (including from the maternity hospital) and knowing that winds reached 102 km/h in my area of the city, I'm thankful it wasn't worse!

I also had an interesting journey last week. I'd borrowed a friend's car to have a short break away. I had to leave reasonably early to get back to Ljubljana as I had an MRI scan on my knee (the story of that is ongoing - please keep praying!) The journey itself was uneventful until I went to fill the car with petrol once I got back to Ljubljana. It wouldn't start again! My friend is currently in Wales! There I was blocking 2 pumps at a petrol station with a broken car that didn't belong to me. I was also on a fairly tight deadline as I couldn't just miss going for an MRI scan! Firstly I'm thankful my friend had roadside assistance that actually came quickly, secondly I'm thankful that my neighbour came and collected me from the garage and took me to the doctor, thirdly I'm thankful that it happened so close to home in Ljubljana rather than the place I had been staying. The car had a totally dead battery. So after a drive home, dealing with Slovene bureaucracy and garages and an MRI scan I finally made it home! Of course it had to happen to me - my friend even said so on the phone when I was explaining the situation to her! So much could have gone wrong - more so than it did.

Both of these situations had the potential to be dangerous and in one case I could have been stranded in the wrong part of the country. I'm grateful to God that he kept me safe and helped me navigate it all. Sometimes things like this happen and it's so much harder to deal with it in another country but God is faithful and I know that he was with me through it all!

Summer is now drawing to a close and the countdown to schools starting is on. One of the last activities of the summer is our church camp which will happen next weekend. Please be praying for it and for all of us who will be going. I will be teaching the young people for one of the sessions (in Slovene!) so please be praying for that. The theme of the camp is the church. Please be praying that we will have a good time together, encouraging one another and learning more about our great God!

A Challenging but Encouraging Week...

 

Lake Bohinj

As the title says, this last 2 weeks have both been challenging and encouraging. I'll start with the good news. This week I was helping with a short term team from Alabama, USA. They were from the sending church of some friends of mine. My friends will be moving from Ljubljana to help serve in a church plant in a nearby town called Domžale. This team came from America for a week to help reach people there. They did a great job handing out fliers and speaking to people on the street. Each evening on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we had an English conversation class for whoever wanted to turn up. My main role was to help facilitate conversation since I speak both languages. The first night, a woman, U, came in to say that she wasn't coming but ended up staying the whole 2 hours. The second night she came again only to drop off some biscuits but again stayed the whole 2 hours. The third night she came again but this time didn't stay the whole time but she said that her mind had been changed by some of the conversations she had had. On Monday she was calling herself an atheist. On Wednesday she said that she could no longer call herself that. This may sound small but in a country like Slovenia this is huge. It shows that God is working here in people's hearts. It may be small, it may take time but God is working. Wednesday night was also encouraging as we had several people turn up after only U and her family came on Monday and Tuesday. Please pray for the church plant and the work in Domžale that God would continue to work there and that my friends would be able to make good contacts and relationships with the people who came.

It was also encouraging to me to see a team from America come over with a heart to serve the people here. It was great to get to know them a bit and to spend time with them on some day trips to Ljubljana and Lakes Bled and Bohinj.

I now get to the challenging part of my fortnight. Many of you will know that I've had issues with my knee since 2008 (including 2 dislocations and 3 stints on crutches!) 2 weeks ago my knee started hurting for no discernable reason. I was able to see an orthopaedic specialist yesterday and was told that I need to have an MRI scan. I'm praying I will be able to organise that within the next couple of weeks. In the meantime I'm left limping around which is obviously having an impact on what I'm able to do. Please pray that I will be able to navigate both the Slovene medical system and the health insurance red tape, that the doctors would be able to find out what's wrong and that I would be able to cope with the pain and to be able to do all that I need to do. Fortunately as it's summer I can take things a bit more easily but obviously it's making life that little bit more challenging!

These next few weeks should be a bit quieter now as I start to plan and prepare for the new school year. Please pray for me as I prep and as I transition into this new role in the church.

A Conference, A Holiday, Camp and Finally Rest...

Enjoying camp next to the river

It's been a crazy month! I know that I haven't written anything in that time so I hope you'll forgive me for that. At the end of June I travelled to the UK for 2 weeks. Despite horror stories of cancelled flights, delay and strikes, it all went relatively smoothly (well, apart from a damaged suitcase on my return flight but that's a story for another time!) The main reason I travelled was to go to a conference in London called EMA (Evangelical Ministry Assembly) which is run by Proclamation Trust, who run the Cornhill training course I have just finished. It was the first time I had been to a conference in person since the pandemic so it was such a joy to be amongst so many believers and gospel workers, being trained ways to communicate the Bible and to praise our great God together. It was also a good chance to meet up with old friends and to meet new people. It was a true blessing to be there.

As I was already in the UK, I took the opportunity to spend time with my family and to go on holiday together. Although I still had a few bits of work to do, it was a chance to relax and to enjoy being with my parents, my sister and her family. We travelled back to my parents' house on Friday 8th July, I flew back to Slovenia on Saturday 9th July and was then straight to camp on Monday 11th July. Because of the tight turn around I was already a bit tired before I went to camp but despite this, it was a really good time together. We were looking at the themes of family, friendship, opponents and a Slovene word - naklonjenost. Each day a leader gave a talk and then the campers broke into groups by age to do a study based on the theme. I gave my talk yesterday morning (14th July) and it was the last talk of the camp. I was given the theme of naklonjenost which is a word that doesn't translate very well into English. This obviously meant that I had fun writitng a talk on it! As far as I can tell, it's showing love to one another in the way we act - at least that was the angle I took. I used the passage of Ephesians 4:17-5:2 which talks about putting off the old self and putting on the new self and what that looks like in practice. I gave the talk in Slovene and I think it went ok.

Giving my talk

Apart from that we were camping once again on the border of Slovenia and Croatia next to a beautiful river. I slept in a hammock and for once was not plagued by rain or mosquitos! There were about 30 of us in total including the leaders and we had a mixture of Christians and non-Christians. For the first time we also had a group for students. We had 5 students and 2 British missionaries who work with IFES to help with that work. One of the girls who has been coming for many years commented that it was really good that she felt fed rather than just being there as a babysitter. Please be praying for this group of young people as they transition into adulthood and what that means for them as they start to seek to serve God in the church in new ways.

A good time was had by all and many said that they didn't want to go home. We had lots of good talks with the young people, especially with those who are struggling with different things in their lives. Please be praying that they would be wanting and willing to put the things they have heard and learnt into practice.

For now I have a chance to rest for a few days... before I start to plan for the Autumn term next week...

Some Endings and Some Beginnings...

Enjoying the blessing of my balcony

I have now been back in Slovenia for exactly 9 months and it feels like the time has flown by. Things have changed so much, especially in the last few months when all restrictions have been lifted. It's a far cry from last Autumn with the weekly protests complete with tear gas, smoke bombs and police in riot gear walking through the centre of a usually incredibly safe city. These last two weeks have started to mark the end of my year of study and now I am in serious transition to my new role. My language course finished last week but this week has been so busy I've been glad for the extra time. I will obviously keep on studying the language even if it isn't as intensive as it has been. I have already contacted my old private tutor and arranged to have lessons once a week from September. I may be reasonably fluent in the language now but there are still many situations where I have no idea what's going on. Language is a life long study and my aim is to be as good as I can be as I aim to serve the people here in their own language rather than making them always speak mine.

I had another ending this week. I gave my last talk for Cornhill, my Bible course that I have been attending for the last 2 years. I will not be continuing with study next year so this really was quite a milestone. The passage I taught on was Isaiah 40, looking at how the incomparable, caring Lord comes with comfort for his people. Yes it's a bit of a mouthful but I quite liked the alliteration. As I have done with my previous 3 talks, I will now edit and translate it ready to give to the Ladies' Bible Study group next Thursday. It's been such a great experience giving these talks to real people. It becomes less about an academic exercise and more about how can I teach these people God's word faithfully in a way that will help them best. I hope to continue writing talks for this group and give them regularly even though I will no longer have the safety net of Cornhill.

Now that language has finished and I've prepared my last talk, I'm now looking ahead to the summer and then onto the Autumn. Whilst I don't officially take over the youth work in the church until September, there are many things that I need to prepare over the summer. We also have our youth camp in a month's time. As I will be travelling to the UK for 2 weeks immediately before the camp, I need to get all my prep done before I go. This includes writing a talk, preparing a Bible study and helping to organise the music. As I say, I'm quite happy to have the extra time now I no longer have language lessons each week!

In the meantime I've been enjoying the summer weather here in Ljubljana and taken the opportunity to work outside on my balcony as often as possible. I am still incredibly grateful to God for the gift of this flat and especially for the fact that it looks like I can stay here for the foreseeable future. It means that I'm able to make it my home and put down roots here. 

Please continue to pray for me here as I head into a busy summer and then transition into my new role. Pray that I would continue to depend on our great God and not try to do it all in my own strength!

Remembering the Glory of God

As many of you may know, last weekend I was given the opportunity to join a Slovene choir for a one off event. We sang a new composition of the Magnificat in the Philharmonic Concert Hall in Ljubljana. It was a lot of work but also an amazing opportunity. Of course it wasn't a Christian event or Christian choir but I still felt amazing joy in being able to join in Mary's song. 

This week I have also been able to lift my voice in song and praise in a different context. I'm currently sat in a small place in the North East of Slovenia called Jeruzalem. As I look across the rolling hills in the bright sunshine I am reminded of the glory of God in his creation. I am here for a few days for a conference. A group of pastors from Northern Ireland have come over to spend a time of fellowship and learning with people who are working in this region. Most, but not all, are from Slovenia. We all come from different contexts and all have different experiences but it is a real time of rest and refreshment for me. It's a lovely opportunity to hear and to share how God is working in our small areas of the world. 

Both of these events have been very different but each, in their own way have reminded me once more of the glory of God and what he has done for us! 

Seeing Hidden Gems...

 

Today I went on a trip with my language school to a place that I've wanted to visit for years. This is a hospital hidden high in the mountains. It was run by partisans (communist freedom fighters) during the Second World War and was never found by the Germans. Here they looked after wounded soldiers of all nationalities and despite being a place for the seriously wounded, only 78 of 578 patients died. It really is an amazing place to visit and I'm really glad that I got the chance to visit. 

The last month, since I last wrote, has been getting busier. In the past month I have given another talk at Cornhill which I then translated for the ladies bible study group last week. It really was an encouraging meeting thinking about the responsibilities of leadership in our church. 

I have also been asked to join a Slovene choir for a one off performance in the philharmonic concert hall next week. We are singing a new composition of the Magnificat which is an incredibly hard piece of music. I'm very excited by it but also nervous because it's quite a big deal. The last couple of weeks has been filled with practice, practice and more practice! 

Thank God for all the new opportunities I'm having and for the way that I see him working here.