Wednesday 15 April 2009

Hi again,

So here finally are some pictures from the Spring Harvest conference in Skegness. It was my first time there and to me it was a really big affair. Here are some of the stands and people that were there…

Essential Christian with materials for believers…


…Open Doors were there too rallying support for imprisoned Christians…


…this was their “wall”…


…and their map of where they work, which is very similar to ours…


…here also are the gang from Compassion, gaining sponsors for children in poverty. They got 26 in the time that I was there…


…and this was the Tearfund stand, toilet and all. They were raising awareness and gaining support for people who don’t access to toilet facilities and water.


It was a productive time, we spoke to many people about the indigenous missionary movement and signed up about 370 names for the free Revolutions In World Missions books. We are praying that some of the people we spoke to would be led to impact Asia by supporting missionaries there. Hardly anyone we spoke to had heard of Gospel For Asia, and some did not realise there are still people in the world who have never heard about Jesus… and quite a lot of them! We were at the stall Sunday to Wednesday 9:15am-12noon, 1pm-5:30pm, 8:30pm-10:45pm, about nine and a half hours a day, and I was thoroughly exhausted at the end of it, physically and mentally. On Thursday I drove back to York, then drove Judy back to Skegness to rendezvous to husband Tim for the second week, and then drove back to York.

So Friday was a day of much needed rest. We watched Fireproof, a film by the same people who made Facing the Giants and it is great! I can’t recommend it enough, and here’s a site where you can buy it, the copy I got has a globe symbol with a “1” in it which is supposed to mean region 1 (i.e. made for US dvd-players) but no-one seems to have had trouble playing it so far:-

http://www.shopzeto.com/items/dvds/show/5245

In the evening we went to a cedar meal hosted by Calvary Chapel York which was really good. Dave Sylvester explained the elements of this traditional Jewish meal and for some reason the gravy was really really good.


Saturday I went into the office to try and write up some of the notes I took when Angie was training me, some of the procedures really fried my brain and I needed to have it all written up ready for when she came back.

Sunday I went to the Resurrection Day service at Calvary Chapel York and I heard a song called “Give Me Jesus” which I immediately liked, I’ve added it to my playlist for your audio pleasure . Mindy made a great roast lamb dinner too, and I had biscuits and gravy for the first time. These aren’t biscuits we brits know them, they are a cross between scones and dumplings and are really tasty.


Monday I was back trying to type up my notes. Tuesday I spent all day trying to print envelopes with a printer that was convinced I wanted to print every other one as blank.


And today (Wednesday) I also had to contend with a machine which like to rip letters instead of fold them and which didn’t take the size of envelope I had just spent Tuesday printing.


I also got a bit more familiar with the system used to match up donations with where they have been designated by the donor.

Helen is still really ill and really needs prayer. She deals with sorting out sponsorships for missionaries and Bridge of Hope children and I wonder if maybe her work was having the most impact on the field, and this is her payback from the enemy? Please pray for her complete healing and protection so that she may return to work, and continue impacting Asia with the Gospel.

JP

Thursday 9 April 2009

I have to be quick, just got back from Skegness at 9 this morning and it was an exhausting time, giving out almost 400 GFA books and saying the same spiel to about 200 people! I got back and went the Kirik home and saw Helen, Mindy and Elijah. Apparently it's been a really really hard week for them, Helen was in hospital for 10 hours on Saturday because of a kidney infection, Mindy was out of commission being only able to see out of one eye, Angela was in the office by herself for the week doing 4 people's jobs. Please pray for our office! I am about to go to Skegness again at 3ish to bring Judy and Daniel to meet with Tim there, along with 7 more boxes of books. Bye!

Thursday 2 April 2009

Hi all, just a quick update to let you know what I’ve been doing, while I still have time!

On Friday I and Mike from the Bible College (see picture) constructed some shelving for book storage.

On Saturday I was the designated driver for the Kiriks’ removal van as they have just moved house. I’ve never driven a van before and it was a little scary at first but now I kind of miss it.

On Sunday I had my first Sunday at Calvary Chapel York which was really nice. Interestingly, while I am in the midst of a bunch of housing issues Pastor Dave Sylvester was finishing off Psalm 91, talking about making the Lord our habitation.

After service I got to go see the house I am wanting to live at. It’s still a mess but James, who has just become the landlord, is getting straight to fixing it up.

What’s great is that as we were fixing up the front fence many of the local kids came to help. There’s a mission field right there, thrust in my face! It is a rough area but I can’t help but feel that this is where the Lord would have me, at least for now.

This Saturday 4th I will be driving down (is it down?) to Skegness with Tim to man the GFA stall at Spring Harvest until Thursday 9th. I hope my SatNav knows where Skegness is. We are praying for many Revolution In World Missions books to be taken and read, for believers to be stirred up to be senders, supportors and even staff members, and for the energy to endure what I’m told is a very tiring time. Then after coming back to the office for a week I will be going to Minehead with Brian from Tuesday 14th until Sunday 19th to man the stall at the Spring Harvest there.