Trusting God Through Difficulties...

 

The last couple of weeks have not been easy ones for my family. Several of them have had some serious concerns and worries of different kinds. It has been hard for me here in Slovenia, feeling so far away from everything. It's not as though I could have done anything even if I was in the UK, but the distance has made me feel especially helpless. Thankfully, we have a great God, who hears our prayers and knows our concerns. One night last week I awoke at 4am to find more difficult news. It's at those times, when we feel most alone and helpless, that we know we're not.

I'm thankful and happy to say that most of the difficulties have now been solved, or are being dealt with. Please be praying for my family at this time and that I, and all of us, would keep trusting the Lord with it all.

In other news, we have snow! I took this photo from my balcony at 10pm on Monday night. We had already had a fall on Sunday night and all the roads had cleared so you can see how much was coming down. Slovenia is very good at dealing with snow. There's no such thing as school or airport closures, people just get on with life. It hasn't caused too much of a problem for me. Even if I can't cycle, I can walk most places or use the bus if necessary. That being said, some of the piles of snow (where it's been cleared from pathways) are bigger than me. I had an interesting moment when I was getting off the bus and was confronted with a massive pile I just had to kind of wade through.

In terms of ministry, life is continuing as normal. We had an encouraging youth group last week where we talked about propitiation (atonement) and what it means. We have been looking at big words that end in "shun" (yes, like the Colin Buchanen song) and it's been really encouraging seeing the young people really get to grips about what the Bible says. Tonight we'll be looking at justification. Please be praying that they don't just learn head knowledge but that they'll understand how it applies to them and why it's important to learn what the Bible says about these things.

The last couple of week may not have been easy but I have had some definite encouragements and most importantly, I have known that God has been with me through it all. As the Gettys wrote in their hymn:

"When trials come no longer fear
For in the pain our God draws near
To fire a faith worth more than gold
And there His faithfulness is told
And there His faithfulness is told

Within the night I know Your peace
The breath of God brings strength to me
And new each morning mercy flows
As treasures of the darkness grow
As treasures of the darkness grow

I turn to Wisdom not my own
For every battle You have known
My confidence will rest in You
Your love endures Your ways are good
Your love endures Your ways are good

When I am weary with the cost
I see the triumph of the cross
So in its shadow I shall run
Till He completes the work begun
Till He completes the work begun

One day all things will be made new
I’ll see the hope You called me to
And in your kingdom paved with gold
I’ll praise your faithfulness of old
I’ll praise your faithfulness of old”

How Quickly Things Change...

Three weeks before Christmas I was expecting to have a rather strange holiday period. Because of residency issues I was planning to stay in Slovenia, celebrate with friends and have a short holiday by the lakes. Then covid and other illness hit the church. My plans for youth group went out of the window. I'd prepared a couple of sessions of teaching and then a Christmas party. We ended up having the first session on Zoom and it reminded me once again how much I hated it. How did we ever do that for 2 years? In the end the second session was then cancelled for a variety of reasons. I guess I still have the material for next year right? We were able to have a Christmas party though!

Then, on 20th December, I received the letter I had been eagerly waiting for. The letter that said that my residency application had been approved and I just needed to go collect the document. All my plans suddenly went out the window. I quickly got in contact with my lawyer and established that I couldn't get the document before Christmas but that he was pretty certain I was allowed to travel. That day I cancelled my holiday, apologised to my friends and booked flights back to the UK.

View from the airport

Despite border force and train strikes, my journey to the UK was reasonably smooth, well apart from the policeman at border control at Ljubljana airport spilling his coffee over my passport... It seems to have survived its dousing OK (thank God!)

The Christmas time was a lovely period of rest, seeing all my family (including a niece I had never met before) and celebrating the birth of Jesus. Whilst the build up to Christmas was a bit strange, the end result meant that I could see many people in Swindon and at Saltford Community Church. Thank you all for your kind welcomes, support and encouragement.

I flew back to Slovenia on 2nd January (my slightly coffee stained passport didn't cause any issues) and was able to collect my residency document on 3rd. I am very thankful for all yours prayers and support. I really didn't expect it to come through this quickly. (I was worrying about what I would do if it didn't come in time for the ECM Biennial in Croatia in April!) Another thing to be thanking God for is that this time it is valid for 2 years. This means that I don't need to worry about reapplying until September next year. Thank God that everything has gone smoothly and that I am able to stay and continue the work I am doing here in Ljubljana.

For now, life is slowly getting back to normal. Youth groups start again tomorrow (the older one definitely, the younger one is still TBC) and my one to ones will start again next week.

Thank you for all your prayers and praise God for the way he has so obviously answered them!

Thanksgiving, Christmas Events and a Wait for Residency...

Games at the Ladies'
Christmas Event

I know, I know. I really will get better at posting on time! The last few weeks have been quite eventful and we're now officially fully into the swing of the Christmas season. This year I joined some American friends for Thanksgiving for the first time. It was a really lovely time spent together but I really do have to address one big question - the food! Pop culture and the media has told me for a long time that Americans love their Thanksgiving meal and that they look forward to it in much the same way we Brits look forward to our Christmas Dinner. Whilst I have to say that each of the foods was delicious, I'm still not convinced that sweet potatoes topped with toasted marshmallows and green fluff (lime jelly combined with cream cheese and marshmallows) really belong on the same plate as turkey, green beans, dressing (something like stuffing) and meat sauce... Yep, Christmas Dinner still wins!

Talking of Christmas, yesterday our Ladies Bible Study Group had our annual craft evening. It was a chance to invite friends and neighbours to come along, eat good food, make crafts, sing carols together and of course hear a short Christmas message. It went really well and several guests came along. I also took the chance to teach them all the carol Once in Royal David's City (in Slovene). It surprised me that it was new to almost everyone but I was reminded recently that until independence in 1991, Christmas was not celebrated and it was just another working day. This means that many people in Slovenia just don't have long lasting Christmas traditions in the same way we do in the UK. It was a joy though to see these ladies learning and appreciating a carol I have known basically my whole life. They liked it so much that they took the music home and are now planning to practice after church each week so that we can sing it at Christmas!

All good events have amazing food!

The next couple of weeks are looking quite busy for me as I have a lot of prep that I would like to get done before I take a break for Christmas. This Wednesday (7th) I am giving my next talk for the ladies on 1 Timothy 1: 12-20. Whilst by no means is it the most controversial passage in the book of 1 Timothy, it does have some hard things in there. Please be praying that I will be sensitive to my audience but without watering down the truths of the Bible. I am also preparing 2 sessions for the youth group on Christmas. I am using the book The Weirdest Nativity by Andrew Sach and Jon Gemmell as the basis for these sessions which looks at the Christmas story through the lens of Revelation 12. I have just about finished preparing the first session for this Friday but I still need to start on the second one. Finally, I am also writing the material we are using for youth group which is looking at big Bible words. There is a great song by Colin Buchanen called Big Words That End in Shun that gives the definitions of some of these words (eg Substitution, Jesus takes our place). We have already had the first 2 sessions and whilst I have written the 3rd, I really need to get more done before Christmas. This is partly so I can have a break over Christmas but also because I have a friend checking them for me and she's going to the UK in a week...Sufficed to say, I have plenty to be getting on with!

I know that many of you are praying for me and for my residency application. I'm sad to say that it's looking increasingly unlikely that I will receive my residency in time to come back to the UK for Christmas so I'm starting to plan for what I'll do in Slovenia. I had an appointment at the government offices last week and whilst they took my fingerprints and signature, all they could say was that my application was on a big pile, that it had not yet been processed and that all I can do is wait. Whilst I am obviously sad about this, I know that I just have to keep trusting God. I know that I am here for a reason, that I can only do all these things in his strength and that my residency will be awarded at the right time for his plan. Please be praying that I will keep trusting in and depending upon God!

An American Team and Exploration...

 I realise that it's been a while since I last wrote so I apologise for that. For those of you who get my prayer letter, you will have hopefully realised that I sent out a new one yesterday. The last couple of weeks have been pretty busy but good. Last week was a holiday here. Usually the school calendar lines up with the British one for the Autumn half term but because Slovenia has national holidays on both 31st October and 1st November, the school holidays were a week later than usual. The week before the holidays some of my American friends had another team come over from Alabama. When the last team came over in the summer I had a lot more free time to help out. This time I obviously had my own work to focus on. I still managed to spend a bit of time with them. I'm not sure how much I did but I think it was an encouragement to have another person around who knew the language, the country and the church situation here. On the Friday, 4 of the group came to Ljubljana to lead the youth group for me. I tried to make it an American themed social and so we had hot dogs and brownies and played games together. I think it was a good opportunity for the Americans to meet some of our teenagers and learn a bit more about what life is like here. It was also a good chance for the teenagers to get to meet the team and maybe learn a little bit more about them.

Last week was also busy but in a completely different way. As it was the holidays, my parents came out for a visit. It was lovely to see them and spend time with them. Due to my residency application, I'm not expecting to be allowed to leave the country at Christmas (although you can be praying that I receive it before then so I can go back) and so this was a lovely chance to be with them when I don't think I'll be able to see them again in person until April. Whenever people come to visit me, it's a great chance to explore new parts of the country or at least to revisit my favourite parts. This time I had to do all the driving so it was more tiring than I'd expected it to be. We also went to see some caves which were a bit more strenuous than I'd been expecting (500 steps down into the cave, a walk of a few km and then 500 steps back up out). We were very fortunate with the weather, only one day was rainy and so we worked around that. I think my favourite place we found was Divje Jezero (picture at the top) which was truly beautiful.

It's taken a few days since they left on Monday to get back into my routine which has been difficult for me, especially since I've had quite a busy week with lots of meetings. Please be praying for me and the work I'm doing here as we start to think about Christmas and the activities and teachings we'll be doing for that.

Please do also pray for my residency situation as I am a little bit anxious about it! 

Starting New Ministries...

This week has been quite full but also quite rewarding. Today was the start of a new childrens' group called Explorers. I saw the need in our church for a group for younger children, especially in the English language. Thankfully, I think I can speak English quite well... We advertised the group on Facebook and made contact with a couple of other families that way and so we had a total of 6 children (with a couple who were either too young or too old, who stayed with their parents). Most of the children came from Christian homes but there was one little girl who came  where I'm not entirely sure what the parents believe. I felt the group went quite well and hopefully they will all come back next week. I am thankful that children came along and they seemed to enjoy themselves. Please be praying for this new ministry and for the children who come along. Please also be praying that we would be able to make good contacts with the parents. 

This week was also the first time I'd given a talk to the Ladies' Bible Study that hadn't been written as part of my studies. I have started a series on 1 Timothy and we had a good discussion afterwards. It's really encouraging to be able to engage with these ladies and to talk about issues that they are thinking through and struggling with. This group are an encouragement to me and I love being able to spend time with them.

Other than that, I have fallen into a good routine with my one-to-ones, my language learning and the youth work I am doing. So far everything seems to be going well and all that I'm doing is well received. Please be praying for all the people I'm meeting with and for the ministries that I'm involved with. Please pray that I would keep depending on God alone and remember that it is only in his strength that I can do these things.

There are still a couple of other people that I would like to meet up with reasonably regularly but for various reasons these have not worked out. Please be praying for these girls and women, that I would be able to keep encouraging them even if we can't meet regularly.

Officially Starting...

I worked out this week that it has been 5 years since I was accepted as a candidate with ECM. As most of you probably know, I applied to come to Slovenia initially for 1 year with a possible extension to 2. Despite that, I actually went through the process for a long term applicant rather than short term. 5 years later I can now say that I am officially working full time, long term in ministry here in Ljubljana. Of course much has changed over the past 5 years and I'm not sure I really knew what I was getting myself into. That being said, God has led and guided me through the whole process and I have been so blessed by it all. Of course there have been challenges but He has upheld me through it all.

I felt like I started my ministry at the beginning of summer when all my studies ended. Of course I managed to get many things done in that time but it's only in the last 2 weeks that I have actually been able to get into any kind of new routine. When I tell people all that I'm doing, it sounds like a lot but I actually find that I have quite a good work/ rest balance. So what does my ministry look like at the moment? 

I currently have 2 one-to-ones each week with some of the teenage girls in the church. One is new and one I used to meet with before. There are a couple of other people I might be meeting with regularly but this hasn't been organised yet. 

Every week we have our youth group. I have made a few slight changes to this including splitting the group into 2 each week, which means that both leaders need to prepare for the Bible study. I'm there every week whilst all the other teachers are on a rota (I've always gone every week so that's nothing new for me). 

Every other week we have a Ladies' Bible Study which I host at my flat. We're now on a rota as to who leads the study each week so I will take my turn in that. I'm also going to be putting my studies into practice and giving a talk (in Slovene) on 1 Timothy every 2 months. 

I haven't completely stopped my language studies either. I'm having lessons once a week with the private teacher I used to meet with a couple of years ago.

I'm in the process of trying to start a new group for children in English each week. We have a venue, I just need to confirm some leaders and then start to advertise. I hope that this will be an outreach opportunity both for expats who want something in English for their kids but also possibly for Slovenes who want their children to improve their English. Please be praying for this that the final things will fall into place and that we actually have children who want to come along each week.

Finally, I'm also getting slightly more involved in ECM and their work in Slovenia as a whole as well as more generally.

I'm really enjoying the varied work and the chance to get to spend time with people in all my different roles. Please keep praying that God would be working in me and through me and that his name would be glorified here in Slovenia.

5 years ago I was only dreaming of what my life would look like in Slovenia. I'm so grateful for all God has done to lead me here now.

 

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.