Remembering to Live By Faith...

Many of you will know that it has not been an easy time recently for my family. Sadly, things have only got worse over the past couple of weeks. Please be praying for me and my family, that we would be trusting in God and knowing that he has everything in his hands.

Despite these challenges, life and work continues here in Slovenia. The next big event for us is our summer camp in July. A few of us were able to go and visit the new site last week. This is a picture of the lake next to the centre we will be staying in (the water stays at a constant 8° so I'm not sure there will be much swimming!). I was so encouraged by this visit, and I'm so thankful to God that he answered our prayers to find a new suitable location. The staff were so friendly and welcoming and I have every confidence that it will be a great place for us.

The theme of the camp this year is "By Faith", looking at Hebrews 11 and how people through history have trusted God and how he has been faithful to them. If you know anything about this chapter, you'll remember that it mentions heros of the faith like Abraham, Moses, David, Daniel and many others. This week as part of my preparation I was listening to a talk by Rico Tice about the end of the chapter, the part that many people forget about because the list of people has ended. Through the chapter the author of Hebrews has shown how God miraculously saved and led people but Rico pointed out (quoting from J.I Packer), that if we stop reading at the end of verse 35, then our theology is hopelessly skewed. Verse 36 talks about others who faced hardships, who suffered, who were tortured and who died because of their faith. We often want to place ourselves in that great list of people, but often, we find ourselves included in with the "others". This might sound really depressing, but actually this was of great comfort to me this week. Life is not perfect, we all go through hard times, but this does not mean that we give up hope or faith. It doesn't mean that God has lost control, it just means that we need to keep turning to him. We need to keep living by faith and running the race that God has set before us, because we have a great hope and future waiting for us.

Some of our friends and family may reach it before us, but in the meantime, I will continue to look to God, to trust him despite the hardships, because I know that he has it all under control.

Refreshment in Serbia...

On Wednesday I travelled for about 6 hours to Serbia for a gathering of gospel workers from across the whole region. I've never been to Serbia before so it's been quite interesting seeing the differences with Slovenia. There are still signs of the war around, for example this communication tower is next to the hotel we're in. It was bombed by NATO in 1999 and it's estimated that 50 missiles hit it!

What's amazing to me is that this gathering is made up of people from Slovenia, Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia (plus a few from Northern Ireland and other countries). Not so long ago these people were on opposite sides of the war but they have been brought together by the gospel of Christ and the desire to make his name known in this part of the world. The world may try to divide us but the gospel unites us. 

It's been fascinating to me how much Serbian I'm able to understand. Yesterday I even found myself interpreting for a lady speaking Serbian in a small group conversation! It's been a good time of building relationships and hearing how God is working in many different contexts. 

Tomorrow I will be travelling back to Slovenia, another 6 hour journey plus a couple of border controls. Please pray for safe travels for us all. The next few weeks will be quite busy as I start to focus on preparing for our youth camp in the summer. Please be praying that God would be at work and would be giving me the words to say as I prepare talks and Bible studies. 

 

Nice Weather then Snow?!

Life in Ljubljana over the last couple of weeks has felt a little bit strange. This probably has a lot to do with the weather. Last week and weekend we had highs of 30 °C. It was so nice I was able to work outside and then suddenly on Tuesday it snowed! This has definitely been a bit unsettling. It has also been a strange and sad period as I've tried to be there for a friend who is going through a very difficult time. Despite all this, I have been reminded of the heavenly home that waits for us and the great hope we have in Christ.

Youth work has continued much as normal. It has been exciting to have a new teenager start to attend our weekly meetings, well, he's come twice. Please be praying that he continues to come and want to learn more about the gospel. Please be praying for these young people, that they would be speaking to their friends and inviting them to our youth events.

We have also started properly planning for our youth camp in the summer. Please be praying for those of us who are preparing talks and Bible studies. Please also be praying that lots of young people would want to come. As we are in a new location this year, and we're not camping, we've had to commit to pay for a certain number of people. Please pray that all of these spaces would get filled!

Thank you all for your prayers and your continued support!

Easter Hope and Spring...

The weather is slowly getting warmer and nicer here in Ljubljana.The night after I took this photo on my balcony we had a massive storm and many of the blossoms and flowers were sadly damaged and destroyed. I guess it's a good reminder of the frailty of our lives in this world.

The last couple of weeks have been quite quiet, although it was incredibly encouraging to see church full on Easter Sunday. Our lives may be fragile, but we have a great hope, we know that this life is not all there is and that one day we will be raised with Jesus into an incredible inheritance that will never perish, spoil, fade, or be destroyed by thunderstorms!

In this quieter time I've had the opportunity to spend time listening to sermons and talks from previous years of Word Alive. I know that many of you in the UK are disapponted that it was unable to happen this year and I completely sympathise. I have been so encouraged and enthused by listening to these talks again. One in particular really stood out for me. It was a talk on Psalm 96 by Lindsay Brown from 2010. If you don't know, Lindsay Brown has been involved with the work of IFES for many years, working with students from all over the world. In 2010 I was a student and I heard this talk live. Listening to it again 14 years later, I now recognise what an impact it had on me. At the time I was interested in short term mission but was not really considering long term service. This talk was such an encouragement for me to go and serve, in whatever capacity I could. It helped to shape my theology of mission and what it means to serve. One thing he said really stood out to me as I listened to it again this week. He said that the church is strengthened by sending people out into the world to serve. The church won't grow unless we are willing to send our best people out to serve. God works when we are willing to sacrificially send people.

I didn't realise until this week just how much of an impact this had had on me. I'm not trying to claim that I'm one of the "best people" but I am willing to serve in the situation in which God has placed me. As I'm now in the position of youth worker in a small church in a small nation, it's very easy to think that we need to keep all these young people just at our church, and not to encourage them to serve in other places.

Slovenia may be small, the church may be small, but I have been challenged to think once again how I can encourage these young people to serve, not just in Slovenia but across the world, in the places that God will send them. Please keep praying that these young people would be willing to go, if that's what God calls them to do, and pray that we would be encouraging them and supporting them to go where God calls.
 

Answers to Prayer...

Fun at the Away Day

I want to start by thanking so many of you for your prayers over the last few weeks. I've really seen how God has been answering them. Last Saturday we had our first youth away day. I arranged it as a chance for the young people to catch up with other teenagers from around Slovenia who had come to our camp in the summer. It was also the chance to spend time looking at God's word and to encourage them when the days can still be quite dark and depressing.

It was a great success and so I think I will plan for this to be a regular event in the year. We had 12 young people aged between 11 and 20 come together to think about the Armour of God and the spiritual battle we are in. Please continue to pray for these young people, that they would remember what they have learnt and that they would apply it to their lives.

In another answer to prayer, and news hot off the press, yesterday we got confirmation of our booking for a new venue for our summer youth camp. Some of you may know that we had made the difficult decision to change venue for this year and so it is a massive answer to prayer that we have been able to locate a new venue. I have been involved in these summer camps since 2018 and this is the first time since I've been involved that we will be in a new place. Please be praying for me and for the other leaders as we plan camp at this new venue. It is literally the other end of the country - near the border with Austria - it is fully catered, and has different equipment and opportunities. This will obviously change the feel of camp and what it will look like. Please pray for wisdom as we plan in light of this. Thank you to those who have been praying about this and thank God for his good provision.

Life has been quite quiet in the past week now that preparation for the Away Day is done. Life should go back to a reasonably normal routine for the next couple of weeks for which I am grateful.

Thank you all for your continued support and prayers!
 

Hope in the Darkness...

 

Sometimes it feels like winter here lasts forever. As I sit here and look out at the rain and grey skies, it is easy to feel tired and drained. Within the last couple of weeks more than one friend has received tragic news. In a time of year that is already difficult, it's easy to feel helpless as I watch them process their grief and anger over their different situations. Please pray for me as I seek to support them and to be a good friend to them all.

Despite the pain and difficulties I see my friends going through, and the sadness I feel over my own family's situation, I look out onto my balcony and I see the daffodils and crocuses I planted last September starting to break through. For me this is a good reminder that winter doesn't last forever, spring will come. It's the same for us in this world. We live in a broken world but we know that one day Christ will return and all our brokenness will be mended.

Over the last couple of weeks I've been thinking a lot about the Armour of God from Ephesians chapter 6. I am preparing material for our youth away day on 16th March. We currently have 12 young people signed up. Please pray for them as they seek to learn and grow in their faith.

In preparing for this, I have been reminded of the reality of the battle we face. We face an enemy who wants to do all he can to take us away from God, to distract us, to make us doubt God's goodness. It's such a great comfort to know that God does not leave us alone in the battle. In fact he gives us his armour. All we have to do is to stand firm. The armour is the gospel of God. All we have to do is to trust in Jesus and keep trusting in him. When he died on the cross, Jesus won the war. Yes we still have battles to face, yes we do still have to face the realities of pain and death in this world, but we know that if we're trusting in God alone for our salvation, we have a great future waiting for us. This is the hope I'm looking towards and clinging on to. I will close with some words we sang last week at youth group:

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.

Encouragement, Patience and Preparation...

A grey week at the Women in Ministry conference

Many of you will know that I have been recovering from illness since the beginning of the year. I am very grateful that I am feeling so much better but I am still struggling with a cough. Even more frustrating for me is that my singing voice has not fully returned since I had laryngitis. This has definitely been a period of learning patience and to rely on God.

Despite this, God has been faithful and it's been so encouraging to see him work in the lives of the young people in the church. At the end of January I travelled back to the UK for a Women in Ministry conference run by the Proclamation Trust. It was a time both of rest and of learning as we looked at how to teach 1 Peter. It was not planned to coincide in this way, but we have just started looking at 1 Peter in our weekly youth group. I've really appreciated being able to use what I learnt and see the young people engage with the material.

Since returning to Slovenia, I feel like I've managed to get back into a good routine and pattern of work. I can hardly believe that it's already school holidays next week! It's also that time of year when we need to start thinking about our big events. The first one will be on 16th March. We are organising a youth away day for young people from all over the country. We will be looking at the Armour of God and how we live in the present but look forward to the future.

We are also just starting to think about our camp in the summer. It is likely that we will need to find a new venue this year. Please pray that we will find somewhere that is both suitable and affordable. We plan to look at Hebrews 11 and how we live by faith. Please be praying for all these plans and preparations and especially for the young people who will come to both events. Please pray that God would be working and that we would see these young people grow in their faith.