So I’ve kinda been a little rubbish at keeping this blog up
to date, I have all these ideas of things that I want to write about and then I
never seem to be able to find the time to actually get them done! I currently
have 3 posts that I have started but not yet finished! For a while I was
getting annoyed that I wasn’t getting them done, that there wasn’t enough time
in the day to even reply properly to messages that had been sent. But then I
remember something that I used to say to my mum and dad all the time….if you don’t
hear from me then it means I’m fine, I’m more likely to contact you if there is
a problem!! And this made me think…I realised that although I’m not getting
everything done that I would really love to….that’s a actually a good thing!!
Surely not having enough time is better than me having loads of time on my
hands, of being bored, of wanting to be in contact with everyone at home all
the time!!
But because I haven’t been in as much contact as I would
like to, I thought I’d give you all a little update of life in Guernsey!
Before I left England I decided that if I was going to give
this year to God, I was going to do it properly!! I really wanted to throw
myself in to whatever this year had to hold! To step out, to say yes to things
instead of no, to be brave, to get involved and I really just wanted to make
the most of every opportunity. And here I am five months in and I think I can
say that I have really being trying to do this! And you know….I am loving every
minute!!!!
The first few months before Christmas, I think I was still
kind of finding my feet a little but since coming back I feel as if I have really
settled, and know that this is where I am meant to be for this time!
So heres a few things that have been happening….
We have recently finished running a Youth Alpha course! Although there was a lot of work to be done
for the whole thing….it was soo worth it!!! We had between 40 and 50 young
people coming each week, and I don’t know if it was because they could play a
game of bowling and get a decent meal all of £2, or whether they actually
wanted to hear the talk?! BUT to be honest does it really matter…they were
there week after week and were able to hear about God and about his love! Over
the course we had, young people become Christians, young people be filled with
the Holy Spirit for the first time, we had some who spoke in tongues for the
first time, we had an atheist who is now part of church, new friendships were
built, old friendships were made stronger, some young people who had never stepped
foot in a church apart from a wedding or a funeral, were able to just
experience the feeling of being excepted, of not being judges, of not having to
perform in a certain way because that how the world makes them think they
should, and it gave them a chance to loved and appreciated for who they are!
I am so glad that I got to be a part of the whole thing, not
only because I got to see God move in each of the young people’s lives over the
8 weeks, but also because I was able to step out, to do things I had never done
before. I mean..I'm not the creative type..but I designed the flyer. I don't stand up and talk in front of people..but I did one of the talks. I'm not the organised type...but I did a lot of organising for the weekend retreat, and you know...although it was all a bit scary and not what I am used to...I actually really loved doing it all!
On the 3rd and 4th of March we ran a
24-7 prayer event!! This again was something so amazing to be a part of. This
is one of the things that I really know God wanted me to be a part of! His plan
for this had started before I even got to Guernsey. Michele, a lady who
recently moved over to Guernsey from England, had briefly been involved in a
24-7 Prayer before she moved and had been praying for someone who had a heart
for the prayer moment. And it sounds a little strange for me to say this…but I
think that person was me! Although 24-7 is growing all over the world….it
hadn’t really reached Guernsey.
Like many churches, the one that I had joined
were having their weekly prayer meetings, in the standard prayer meeting
style…but the numbers of people that came were low... sometimes as low as
2…peoples passion and excitement for prayer..seemed a little
non-existent and we really wanted to encourage people to be excited about
prayer…prayer is amazing! Its our way of being able to talk the our creator,
he wants to hear from us he wants us to look forward to meeting with him..not
think of it as a chore, or something on our long list of things to do and
something that often gets pushed to the bottom.
Michele and I started meeting on a regular basis to discuss and pray about the possible of doing a 24-1…during this time, we also found that the was another lady in the church who has been involved in 24-7 before and was excited to see something happening in Guernsey.
There were a few slip ups on the way were we got a bit carried away with our
plans and stopped listening to Gods plan, but when we got back on track….God really
started to bless us! And everything came together…we weren’t really sure how it
was going to work…were people going to be willing to get involved? Where they
going to get it? Where they going to sign up and pray in the
middle of the night?! We honestly didnt know...but we were so sure that this is something that God wanted
us to and so we put our trust in him!!
And sure enough as we stepped out people began
to fill the spaces…it took a little while to convince people but soon we had
all the slots filled! On the Thursday before we cleared the space we were going
to use and began to set up to room…and all three of us involved sensed how God
filled the space as we spent more time in there setting up and preparing…God was preparing
to meet with his people. He was helping to make the space welcoming , safe and
special, and as we started our first hour of prayer...with just a few of us in
the room worshipping God, it felt like the room was FULL of people! It was sooo
exciting to see 24-7 come alive in our little church in Guernsey, right in
front of our eyes . And so the 24 hours of prayer had started, each filled with
individuals, couples, groups or friends, all not really knowing what to expect
but all brave enough to give it a go! And the people prayed!! They engaged with
the room, they didn’t hold back, people painted their prayers…possible for the
first time ever! People met with God in an intimate way which maybe they don’t get
to do very often! There were luggage tag prayers hanging all over the room, names
of the lost, the hurting, the broken were written across the floor.
By the end
of the 24 hours it was so clear that the place had been used to its full
potential and that God had bless the people that had been brave enough to sign
up for their first prayer slot.
For me it was so amazing to see it happen….It is something
that I had wanted to do before I came to Guernsey and something that Michelle
and I had been praying about for a while and so it was just soo good to see
Gods plan actually taking place. I think as well… I just loved hearing and seeing people’s
reactions to the whole experience...I really love prayer rooms and how God uses them and it was
great to be able to help provide a chance for other to experience one! The
church were amazing at getting involved and engaged and we are so excited about
doing another one soon but this time for longer!! 