Tuesday, June 24, 2003
Hi again! We've been greatly encouraged over the last few days. Since our first day here we have had a group of 5 or 6 homeless men that come in for tea, coffee and soup. They come in and hang around with us and we get to talk with them. They seem to have taken great interest in what we are doing. They came to our Sunday evening worship service and we later found out that this was the first time they had been to church. It's encouraging to see them show interest. We don't think they fully understand the gospel message, but our hope is that they will continue to show interest and search as we feel they currently are doing.
Several of these men have said that they see we truly believe what we say, and it seems they have never really seen that in people as strongly as they have seen it in us. I don't know if that is totally true, but whatever is happening, we feel God may be working on their hearts in a way that He hasn't done before. At least this is our hope.
We have one more full day in Newquay. So, tonight will be our next to last coffee house. We are planning to have music and testimonies tonight and tomorrow in hopes that the power of the Gospel message will begin to be understood by those that are hearing it on a daily basis. Please pray that God would bring people to hear His word. Also ask Him to place a contentment inside of us so that no matter how many people come tonight, we know that we are working for His glory and everything will have worked out perfectly as He planned it.
We serve an awesome and powerful God and I think all 9 of us have a better understanding of just how great He is! This trip has been a great blessing in my life as I expect it has been to the other 8 team members. We'll continue to sing praises to God with our lips as we complete the next two days of this trip. Please pray for God to strengthen us as fatigue is setting in a little stronger. Thanks again to all of you who have continually prayed for us during this trip. The final day and a half of our time here in Newquay is upcoming and then we'll be home. See ya soon!
Several of these men have said that they see we truly believe what we say, and it seems they have never really seen that in people as strongly as they have seen it in us. I don't know if that is totally true, but whatever is happening, we feel God may be working on their hearts in a way that He hasn't done before. At least this is our hope.
We have one more full day in Newquay. So, tonight will be our next to last coffee house. We are planning to have music and testimonies tonight and tomorrow in hopes that the power of the Gospel message will begin to be understood by those that are hearing it on a daily basis. Please pray that God would bring people to hear His word. Also ask Him to place a contentment inside of us so that no matter how many people come tonight, we know that we are working for His glory and everything will have worked out perfectly as He planned it.
We serve an awesome and powerful God and I think all 9 of us have a better understanding of just how great He is! This trip has been a great blessing in my life as I expect it has been to the other 8 team members. We'll continue to sing praises to God with our lips as we complete the next two days of this trip. Please pray for God to strengthen us as fatigue is setting in a little stronger. Thanks again to all of you who have continually prayed for us during this trip. The final day and a half of our time here in Newquay is upcoming and then we'll be home. See ya soon!
Sunday, June 22, 2003
Hey everyone! Well, it's been a good while since we could post a message from over here. Computers are not readily available and to be honest, we've been really busy (and that's a good thing)! We just finished leading the Sunday evening worship service as a team, and the entire Sunday worship experience was great. Thanks for praying for us!
It's interesting to see God work through us while we are here. We have the opportunity to speak with people on vacation (or holiday as they would say it over here) and we have spoken often with local residents. There have been some exciting times where people have shown great interest in what was being said and we have also experienced a little of the opposite reaction. All in all, God is working in us and through us and we cannot wait to work the next 3 days!
Today for worship, Erin did a children's message and Robert gave his testimony. The Sunday evening service consisted of our team leading the entire service. Lauren gave her testimony and Andrew led singing by playing the guitar (of course!). Sarah, Jenny, and Curtis all added to the service by praying at various times. We had a great time worshipping with this congregation!
Yesterday was our day off from missionary activities. We went to 'bedruthian' steps (I have no idea how to spell or really even say it). This is the most beautiful place any of us have probably seen. You can walk up to the cliff's edge (or crawl in our circumstances) and look over at a beach hundreds of feet below. The flowers and everything surrounding the area were wild and simply amazing! We then walked down onto the beach using the stairs (a really long walk down). We climbed through the mountains as the beaches were separated by them. Words cannot even explain this! We have plenty of pictures and I'm sure you'll all see them! God really did a great job creating that area (not that the other parts are bad!). We then experienced our first 'Cornish Cream Tea'. It can only be found in the Cornwall area. Tea, Scones, and thick delicious cream with jam. We'll try our best to better explain this when we return home, but let me just say that it was just great! And believe it or not EVERYONE on the team loved it!
So, that's a quick recap of the last few days. Please continue to pray for the upcoming days. We will hopefully be branching out into the city more as we attempt to make people aware of this church and spread the message of Christ. Up to this point, we have been amazed at how well all the students have done at talking with people and sharing the gospel. We'll continue to do this and hopfully have greater opportunities. You can pray specifically for our team as we travel to the schools to be at their lunch clubs. We don't know exactly what goes on there, but we'll have the opportunity to interact with the students and share the gospel.
We're off for now. Thanks for your prayers and we'll try to update you again soon!
It's interesting to see God work through us while we are here. We have the opportunity to speak with people on vacation (or holiday as they would say it over here) and we have spoken often with local residents. There have been some exciting times where people have shown great interest in what was being said and we have also experienced a little of the opposite reaction. All in all, God is working in us and through us and we cannot wait to work the next 3 days!
Today for worship, Erin did a children's message and Robert gave his testimony. The Sunday evening service consisted of our team leading the entire service. Lauren gave her testimony and Andrew led singing by playing the guitar (of course!). Sarah, Jenny, and Curtis all added to the service by praying at various times. We had a great time worshipping with this congregation!
Yesterday was our day off from missionary activities. We went to 'bedruthian' steps (I have no idea how to spell or really even say it). This is the most beautiful place any of us have probably seen. You can walk up to the cliff's edge (or crawl in our circumstances) and look over at a beach hundreds of feet below. The flowers and everything surrounding the area were wild and simply amazing! We then walked down onto the beach using the stairs (a really long walk down). We climbed through the mountains as the beaches were separated by them. Words cannot even explain this! We have plenty of pictures and I'm sure you'll all see them! God really did a great job creating that area (not that the other parts are bad!). We then experienced our first 'Cornish Cream Tea'. It can only be found in the Cornwall area. Tea, Scones, and thick delicious cream with jam. We'll try our best to better explain this when we return home, but let me just say that it was just great! And believe it or not EVERYONE on the team loved it!
So, that's a quick recap of the last few days. Please continue to pray for the upcoming days. We will hopefully be branching out into the city more as we attempt to make people aware of this church and spread the message of Christ. Up to this point, we have been amazed at how well all the students have done at talking with people and sharing the gospel. We'll continue to do this and hopfully have greater opportunities. You can pray specifically for our team as we travel to the schools to be at their lunch clubs. We don't know exactly what goes on there, but we'll have the opportunity to interact with the students and share the gospel.
We're off for now. Thanks for your prayers and we'll try to update you again soon!
Thursday, June 19, 2003
Hi All!
We made it safely as I'm sure all of you have heard. This place is VERY beautiful. I'm sure we'll have several pictures to show when we get home. The church and hotel are about 100 yards from one of the beaches and there are cliffs that surround the beach with houses and small bed and breakfast type hotels on top.
The people here are really nice. Everyone we speak to seems excited to talk. They tell us about their lives and we get to share about the states. It's been really great! As was planned we have been running a soup kitchen during the day from 11 - 12:30 and then we go out into the streets to talk with the local kids. Tonight we ran a coffee house & tomorrow night we'll do the same thing, but we expect many more people. Continue to pray for our ability and desire to talk with the people we meet.
So, things are great! Thanks for all the prayers. I think the next 6 days will be amazing and we are definately hoping the Lord will create opportunities for us to share our faith. Please pray for wisdom as we have some decisions to make about what exactly to do in the next few days (i.e. stree ministry, Bible Club, etc...).
Well, that's it for now. I'll write more later hopfully!
We made it safely as I'm sure all of you have heard. This place is VERY beautiful. I'm sure we'll have several pictures to show when we get home. The church and hotel are about 100 yards from one of the beaches and there are cliffs that surround the beach with houses and small bed and breakfast type hotels on top.
The people here are really nice. Everyone we speak to seems excited to talk. They tell us about their lives and we get to share about the states. It's been really great! As was planned we have been running a soup kitchen during the day from 11 - 12:30 and then we go out into the streets to talk with the local kids. Tonight we ran a coffee house & tomorrow night we'll do the same thing, but we expect many more people. Continue to pray for our ability and desire to talk with the people we meet.
So, things are great! Thanks for all the prayers. I think the next 6 days will be amazing and we are definately hoping the Lord will create opportunities for us to share our faith. Please pray for wisdom as we have some decisions to make about what exactly to do in the next few days (i.e. stree ministry, Bible Club, etc...).
Well, that's it for now. I'll write more later hopfully!
Tuesday, June 17, 2003
THANKS FOR SETTING THIS UP FOR US PETER!
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Ok, let's see....Shoes, check...Shirts, check...toothpaste & toothbrush, check..passport...uh oh...Has anyone seen my passport? I know it's around here somewhere! Just kidding :), I wouldn't dare lose MY passport. It's Peggy's passport that's missing! Still joking :)
Well, it's almost time for us to leave. Thanks to each of you that will be praying for us. We are very excited to see what God plans to do in and through our team in the next 10 days! We'll keep you posted!
Psalm 139: 7-10
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Ok, let's see....Shoes, check...Shirts, check...toothpaste & toothbrush, check..passport...uh oh...Has anyone seen my passport? I know it's around here somewhere! Just kidding :), I wouldn't dare lose MY passport. It's Peggy's passport that's missing! Still joking :)
Well, it's almost time for us to leave. Thanks to each of you that will be praying for us. We are very excited to see what God plans to do in and through our team in the next 10 days! We'll keep you posted!
Psalm 139: 7-10
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
Monday, June 16, 2003
Welcome to "News from Newquay!" This blog exists to provide "now and then" reports from the team while in England for your entertainment, peace of mind, and more than anything else - prayer!
