This Saturday I was blessed to visit the Hulleys,
a South African family who I haven't had a chance to see for a long time. Peter is growing a moustache, John and Morris were making shelves, Sarah was grieving over her new braces and Gabrielle was telling me about the cats' sleeping habits. We had a great time of fellowship, friendship... and of course food! (John made a really nice chilli, which poor Sarah had to have liquefied!) 
It was really nice to catch up, see their new house, listen to music and share about my direction with Gospel For Asia. I arrived at their place in Bury St Edmunds at about 4:30pm and stayed overnight. Sunday morning Lee introduced me to Maltabella, a lovely South African porridge, and then I had to say my goodbyes.
I arrived at Calvary Chapel Cambridge at about 9:45am, now more anxious about speaking in front of a church then I thought I would be! It was great to see the Rozeks again, I hadn't seen them for quite a while either.
I helped with some tables and chairs and talked to some of the people, and reminded myself that the Lord would do whatever He wanted, and that the worst I could do was look silly if I got tongue tied, and in that case only my pride would be harmed. I led the songs and was conscious that it really made a difference not being amplified! I really dislike being so focused on myself! I'm amazed that God uses me. Someone prayed and a psalm was read between songs, and I felt directed to alter the order of the songs. Pastor Joey prompted me when it was to be the last song (I wasn't sure how many we would be doing!). Afterwards he read out some announcements and then introduced me and asked me to come up and share. I neglected to time myself, my left hand was shaking the whole time and I completely forget to mention the free Revolution In World Missions book... but all in all I'd say it went well. This Sunday was also their Bring & Share (yay!) and I had my Gospel For Asia literature and materials set up on a small table in the fellowship hall. I got to see Rob and Michelle again, who I met almost a year ago there. It was great get to know some of the regulars a bit more, as well as the irregulars(!) and I had some amazingly good Mexican Chicken Lasagne (quite a lot of it :-)) and some yummy re-fried beans :-D
Afterwards I went to meet my spanish friend Laura at the International Christian Fellowship in the town centre. I hadn't seen Laura for about 5 years. I got there at half an hour late and couldn't find a place to park. After parking it then took me another half an hour to ask people if they had loose change and be told no, run to ASDA to buy something, run back to the car, and then discover that parking in these zones is free on Sundays. I walked into St Matthew's just in time for the closing prayer and last song. It was a nice little set-up they had. As a visitor I was welcome by those who ran it and I presented them with my business cards. I chatted to Laura for a while and then took her in my car to pick up a bike someone had left behind for her on the other side of Cambridge.
That evening I went to stay over at my great aunt's house in Ely. The last time I had seen her was about 5 years ago when I stayed in her spare room for a month while I was working in Peterborough.
She is a Buddhist and has several Buddha statues around the house and I really didn't see any way of sharing Christ with her, but I thought I should at least see her before I go to York. When I saw her performing one of the ritual ceremonies and I ran upstairs! I felt the need to share the truth with her, but I also felt so helpless before someone so deep in her ways. I felt like a failure and hypocrite too – I am about to go and serve with Gospel For Asia and this kind of situation is probably exactly what their missionaries are regularly faced with. I went upstairs to play a few songs on my guitar and pray that the Lord would do something here today. A few minutes later I was sitting with her in the living room and she was showing me some photos of relatives in Vietnam. She mentioned that it was nice having the 4 dogs she had because sometimes she was lonely... so I told her that Jesus loves her. When she asked how I knew, I explained how we have to be punished for the bad things that we do, how God loves us, and of course I explained the cross. She by no means became a Christian but she seemed to understand what I said and we had some discussion afterwards too. It was a bit shakey, my Vietnamese isn't great and I am not sure how good her English is, but she was definitely listening. In any case I was grateful for the chance to share the love of God with her... and incidentally I'm not actually sure what her name is! What I call her means “7th great aunt”.
I also got to visit another aunt of mine and again I was lifting it up to the Lord and leaving it up to Him. Her and her husband speak better english and their young son is pretty bright. When I said I was going to serve with Gospel For Asia she asked me if I was not Catholic anymore. I told her no... and got to explain why! I got to rant on for a bit about sin, death judgment, salvation, dead works and Jesus. She also by no means became a Christian but she understood that she was a sinner and recognised that she needed what Jesus has done for her – not a bad start. I'll be praying for her and thanking God for these wonderful opportunities, I can't tell you how often I have prayed for these people, and while I haven't reaped an fruit as yet at the very least I am more at peace having had a chance to share the Gospel with them. God is good and I had a truly fantastic weekend!
a South African family who I haven't had a chance to see for a long time. Peter is growing a moustache, John and Morris were making shelves, Sarah was grieving over her new braces and Gabrielle was telling me about the cats' sleeping habits. We had a great time of fellowship, friendship... and of course food! (John made a really nice chilli, which poor Sarah had to have liquefied!) 
It was really nice to catch up, see their new house, listen to music and share about my direction with Gospel For Asia. I arrived at their place in Bury St Edmunds at about 4:30pm and stayed overnight. Sunday morning Lee introduced me to Maltabella, a lovely South African porridge, and then I had to say my goodbyes. I arrived at Calvary Chapel Cambridge at about 9:45am, now more anxious about speaking in front of a church then I thought I would be! It was great to see the Rozeks again, I hadn't seen them for quite a while either.
I helped with some tables and chairs and talked to some of the people, and reminded myself that the Lord would do whatever He wanted, and that the worst I could do was look silly if I got tongue tied, and in that case only my pride would be harmed. I led the songs and was conscious that it really made a difference not being amplified! I really dislike being so focused on myself! I'm amazed that God uses me. Someone prayed and a psalm was read between songs, and I felt directed to alter the order of the songs. Pastor Joey prompted me when it was to be the last song (I wasn't sure how many we would be doing!). Afterwards he read out some announcements and then introduced me and asked me to come up and share. I neglected to time myself, my left hand was shaking the whole time and I completely forget to mention the free Revolution In World Missions book... but all in all I'd say it went well. This Sunday was also their Bring & Share (yay!) and I had my Gospel For Asia literature and materials set up on a small table in the fellowship hall. I got to see Rob and Michelle again, who I met almost a year ago there. It was great get to know some of the regulars a bit more, as well as the irregulars(!) and I had some amazingly good Mexican Chicken Lasagne (quite a lot of it :-)) and some yummy re-fried beans :-DAfterwards I went to meet my spanish friend Laura at the International Christian Fellowship in the town centre. I hadn't seen Laura for about 5 years. I got there at half an hour late and couldn't find a place to park. After parking it then took me another half an hour to ask people if they had loose change and be told no, run to ASDA to buy something, run back to the car, and then discover that parking in these zones is free on Sundays. I walked into St Matthew's just in time for the closing prayer and last song. It was a nice little set-up they had. As a visitor I was welcome by those who ran it and I presented them with my business cards. I chatted to Laura for a while and then took her in my car to pick up a bike someone had left behind for her on the other side of Cambridge.
That evening I went to stay over at my great aunt's house in Ely. The last time I had seen her was about 5 years ago when I stayed in her spare room for a month while I was working in Peterborough.
She is a Buddhist and has several Buddha statues around the house and I really didn't see any way of sharing Christ with her, but I thought I should at least see her before I go to York. When I saw her performing one of the ritual ceremonies and I ran upstairs! I felt the need to share the truth with her, but I also felt so helpless before someone so deep in her ways. I felt like a failure and hypocrite too – I am about to go and serve with Gospel For Asia and this kind of situation is probably exactly what their missionaries are regularly faced with. I went upstairs to play a few songs on my guitar and pray that the Lord would do something here today. A few minutes later I was sitting with her in the living room and she was showing me some photos of relatives in Vietnam. She mentioned that it was nice having the 4 dogs she had because sometimes she was lonely... so I told her that Jesus loves her. When she asked how I knew, I explained how we have to be punished for the bad things that we do, how God loves us, and of course I explained the cross. She by no means became a Christian but she seemed to understand what I said and we had some discussion afterwards too. It was a bit shakey, my Vietnamese isn't great and I am not sure how good her English is, but she was definitely listening. In any case I was grateful for the chance to share the love of God with her... and incidentally I'm not actually sure what her name is! What I call her means “7th great aunt”.I also got to visit another aunt of mine and again I was lifting it up to the Lord and leaving it up to Him. Her and her husband speak better english and their young son is pretty bright. When I said I was going to serve with Gospel For Asia she asked me if I was not Catholic anymore. I told her no... and got to explain why! I got to rant on for a bit about sin, death judgment, salvation, dead works and Jesus. She also by no means became a Christian but she understood that she was a sinner and recognised that she needed what Jesus has done for her – not a bad start. I'll be praying for her and thanking God for these wonderful opportunities, I can't tell you how often I have prayed for these people, and while I haven't reaped an fruit as yet at the very least I am more at peace having had a chance to share the Gospel with them. God is good and I had a truly fantastic weekend!
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