It's half term here so all of the clubs have stopped, and I am looking forward to heading back up north for a couple of days at the end of this week - please pray that I will come back rested and ready for the next half term!
Thank you so much for your prayers about the meeting about the lunch club for the boys at William Ellis School. It went really well, we hope to launch the club around Easter time - please keep praying for us as we finalise plans and preparations, that the boys would come.
Penny and I did a presentation at a local church this Sunday. It went really well, we praise God for the support they have given financially and in prayer, and it's been great to add a load more names to our prayer letter database! Please pray that this money would be used wisely and would further God's kingdom.
I would also really appreciate your prayers for me as I think through how to develop the work at Parliament Hill.
Thanks again for all your prayers!
Tuesday 17 February 2009
Monday 2 February 2009
CrossTeach Camden Update
Hello all,
I hope you're ok and keeping warm! London has ground to a halt because of all the snow, it's amazing!
At CrossTeach Camden we have much to thank God for...
The CU at Parliament Hill is going really well. On Mondays we are going through the chapters of a book called "If you could ask God one question..." which is helping us to think through the answers to some questions that we, or our friends, often have about God and the Bible. Questions like "If you're really there God, why don't you prove it?" and "If you're a God of love, why send anyone to hell?". And on Thursdays we are trying to think through what it practically looks like to be a Christian in school, what it means to love God with all our hearts, all our souls, all our minds, and with all our strength. I'm really thankful to God that these sessions seem to be working well, please pray that the girls are keen to put the things we are learning and thinking about into practice.
Also, praise God that over the last couple of weeks some new girls have started coming along. Please pray for them, that they would keep coming and that all the girls would be growing in their love for God and wanting to live for him more. Also, please continue to pray that I would be able to meet with the Deputy Head and Head of RE, I have tried to contact both of them but haven't heard anything back.
We are also really thankful for the three girls at Camden School for Girls who are still trying to move things forward in their school. They are meeting up to pray together, and they are organising an unofficial discussion group for them and their friends which is due to start this week (weather permitting!). Please pray for this meeting!
Tonight I am having a meeting with some people from a church to discuss the possibility of setting up a club in their church for the boys at William Ellis school. If we can get this up and running it will have the potential to be a great bridge to building up relationships with this school. Please pray that the meeting would go well, that we would make wise decisions, and that God would bless this club if it is his will for this church and this school. Also, I really thank God for this church and their willingness to make schools work at William Ellis a part of their ministry in this area.
One final prayer point (I could go on and on!)... please could you continue praying for the fundraising dinner. Penny and I walked around the church last night talking about layout and decorations etc, we are really thankful that we have this venue, but we are also feeling slightly daunted by that prospect of getting everything sorted, and would really value your prayers for this. We are fully booked up, which is great news, but we have only received a small percentage of the money for the ticket sales. Please could you pray that the money would come in quickly over the next few days/weeks.
Thanks so much for reading through this and for your support in prayer, I'm really thankful for all of you!
I hope you're ok and keeping warm! London has ground to a halt because of all the snow, it's amazing!
At CrossTeach Camden we have much to thank God for...
The CU at Parliament Hill is going really well. On Mondays we are going through the chapters of a book called "If you could ask God one question..." which is helping us to think through the answers to some questions that we, or our friends, often have about God and the Bible. Questions like "If you're really there God, why don't you prove it?" and "If you're a God of love, why send anyone to hell?". And on Thursdays we are trying to think through what it practically looks like to be a Christian in school, what it means to love God with all our hearts, all our souls, all our minds, and with all our strength. I'm really thankful to God that these sessions seem to be working well, please pray that the girls are keen to put the things we are learning and thinking about into practice.
Also, praise God that over the last couple of weeks some new girls have started coming along. Please pray for them, that they would keep coming and that all the girls would be growing in their love for God and wanting to live for him more. Also, please continue to pray that I would be able to meet with the Deputy Head and Head of RE, I have tried to contact both of them but haven't heard anything back.
We are also really thankful for the three girls at Camden School for Girls who are still trying to move things forward in their school. They are meeting up to pray together, and they are organising an unofficial discussion group for them and their friends which is due to start this week (weather permitting!). Please pray for this meeting!
Tonight I am having a meeting with some people from a church to discuss the possibility of setting up a club in their church for the boys at William Ellis school. If we can get this up and running it will have the potential to be a great bridge to building up relationships with this school. Please pray that the meeting would go well, that we would make wise decisions, and that God would bless this club if it is his will for this church and this school. Also, I really thank God for this church and their willingness to make schools work at William Ellis a part of their ministry in this area.
One final prayer point (I could go on and on!)... please could you continue praying for the fundraising dinner. Penny and I walked around the church last night talking about layout and decorations etc, we are really thankful that we have this venue, but we are also feeling slightly daunted by that prospect of getting everything sorted, and would really value your prayers for this. We are fully booked up, which is great news, but we have only received a small percentage of the money for the ticket sales. Please could you pray that the money would come in quickly over the next few days/weeks.
Thanks so much for reading through this and for your support in prayer, I'm really thankful for all of you!
Monday 26 January 2009
If you could ask God one question... "If you're a God of love, why send anyone to hell?"
In CU on Mondays we are going through the chapters of a book called "If you could ask God one question..." which is helping us tothink through the answers to some questions that we, or our friends, often have about God and the bible. Today we were tackling the question "If you're a God of love, why send anyone to hell?" Yep, that's a big one!
You see, thing with hell is, not many people like thinking about it, let alone talking about it. But then if it is one of these no-go subjects why does Jesus actually talks about hell loads? (an example: Luke 16v19-21 & Matthew 5v29-30) We reckon that it's because, like a parent who tells their child not to run out into a road, Jesus wants to warn us of the very real and serious danger.
But if God is love.. why does he send anyone to hell anyway? If he loves us, why put this danger in our path? Well, the thing is, just because God is love, it doesn't mean he loves everything...in fact there are somethings that God even hates - murder, disrespect, greed, lying, stealing, lust - just a few from the list we came up with...
Which led us to agree with this (maybe at first glance, slightly strange) statement:
...Because God is love, hell is necessary.
You see, God doesn't miss a thing, he notices all the evil in this world and he is not going to over look it - this is actually great news, can you imagine a judge who just let every criminal he saw off without punishing them - everyone would think he was rubbish! Definitely not a good judge. And God created hell to deal with all the things that he hates, he created hell to deal with evil (Matt 24v41)
But this gave us another question... what exactly is evil? and are there different levels of evil? what makes one thing more evil than something else?
In our human eyes, we give different people different sentences for different crimes. Often these sentences are different depending on how much the person can be held responsible and how great the person the crime was against is. So in our human eyes, yeah, we could say there are different levels of evil... but the thing with God is... he is INFINITELY great, which means that any crime against him is INFINITELY awful and deserves INFINITE punishment.
You see, hell only seems harsh when we don't see how infinitely serious it is when we rebel against God, and we fail to see that when we don't see how infinitely holy and good God is. "In fact, once we get the infinite depths of human sin, and the infinite heights of God's holiness, our original question will probably change to:
...If God is a God of love, how can you admit anyone into heaven?"
You see, thing with hell is, not many people like thinking about it, let alone talking about it. But then if it is one of these no-go subjects why does Jesus actually talks about hell loads? (an example: Luke 16v19-21 & Matthew 5v29-30) We reckon that it's because, like a parent who tells their child not to run out into a road, Jesus wants to warn us of the very real and serious danger.
But if God is love.. why does he send anyone to hell anyway? If he loves us, why put this danger in our path? Well, the thing is, just because God is love, it doesn't mean he loves everything...in fact there are somethings that God even hates - murder, disrespect, greed, lying, stealing, lust - just a few from the list we came up with...
Which led us to agree with this (maybe at first glance, slightly strange) statement:
...Because God is love, hell is necessary.
You see, God doesn't miss a thing, he notices all the evil in this world and he is not going to over look it - this is actually great news, can you imagine a judge who just let every criminal he saw off without punishing them - everyone would think he was rubbish! Definitely not a good judge. And God created hell to deal with all the things that he hates, he created hell to deal with evil (Matt 24v41)
But this gave us another question... what exactly is evil? and are there different levels of evil? what makes one thing more evil than something else?
In our human eyes, we give different people different sentences for different crimes. Often these sentences are different depending on how much the person can be held responsible and how great the person the crime was against is. So in our human eyes, yeah, we could say there are different levels of evil... but the thing with God is... he is INFINITELY great, which means that any crime against him is INFINITELY awful and deserves INFINITE punishment.
You see, hell only seems harsh when we don't see how infinitely serious it is when we rebel against God, and we fail to see that when we don't see how infinitely holy and good God is. "In fact, once we get the infinite depths of human sin, and the infinite heights of God's holiness, our original question will probably change to:
...If God is a God of love, how can you admit anyone into heaven?"
...more on this...!
Friday 23 January 2009
Awesome on the inside - passionate
On Thursday in CU at Parliament Hill we were having a chat about what it actually means to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength...? How can we give God our hearts? And what does that look like practically day to day?
We didn't really finish chatting about this so we are going to carry on with it next week. So have a think an bring any ideas you have to CU on Thursday lunchtime (room 25!) Or feel free to share them on here!
We didn't really finish chatting about this so we are going to carry on with it next week. So have a think an bring any ideas you have to CU on Thursday lunchtime (room 25!) Or feel free to share them on here!
Saturday 10 January 2009
Prayer Letter Winter 08/09
Below is a copy of my latest newsletter. If you'd like to receive these letters by email/post then let me know!
Dear Friends,
Happy New Year! I hope you all had a good time over Christmas! I had a couple of weeks off and spent it in Shropshire with family and friends, which was lovely.
Getting back to Londona nd back into work was a bit of a shock to the system! The last few days have been spent thinking through and planning the term ahead - a potentially overwhelming task, but I was encouraged over the weekend with Jesus' words in Revelation ch1v17-18. IT's great to know that no matter what uncertainties lay ahead this term, 2009 holds no surprises for Jesus, the First and the Last. And remembering the certainy of the hope we have through his death and resurrection brings all of these unknowns into perspective.
It has also been really encouraging to look back over the past term and see how God has answered prayer and how he is growing gospel fruit in schools in NW London. I have written below the following prayer points in more detail about the schools that I have been working in, but the things that I would really value your prayers for are...
Thanks for:
Pray for:
- an opportunity to talk with senior staff about teaching some lessons and taking some assemblies.
- God to open a door into this school.
- patience!
- wisdom as I begin to plan an offsite CU meeting.
- the pupils to be living distinctively for Jesus.
- God to provide a male helper.
- that the upcoming fundraising event - a dinner and jazz evening - would be successful in raising our profile and bringing in some of the necessary funds.
- for more financial supporters.
- trust in God and His sovereign plan for this work.
- trust in Him and His strength each day.
This is to give you a bit more information about what I've been doing where...
As well as developing links with churches and schools in Camden, a lot of this term has been about me learing how to do schools-work. Because of this, I have spent quite a bit of time outside Camden, helping Naomi and Aly in Islington and Westminster:
Islington
Highbury Fields School
After half term Naomi and I started helping at a new lunch club for Year 9 students in a local church centre. This has been set up with the aim of building relationships with the pupils - this is often quite difficult as we have had anything from 15-45 girls attend over one lunch period!
City of London Academy
After originally being told i n September that we wouldn't be allowed to do anything in this school for the forseeable future, we finished last term (and start this term!) running 2 lunch clubs - one lower school and one upper school - on the Beatitudes.
Parliament Hill
There is a CU of about 12 upper school students who are very committed and really enjoy coming. In the Tursday session last half term I led a series based around the 2 Ways To Live material, looking at the basics of the gospel message. The girls are also keen to do community action, and last term organised a cake and hot chocolate sale to raise money for Tearfund.
Camden School for Girls
Unfortunately we haven't been able to start up a club officially on site. However, there are a couple of students who meet once a week in a free classroom to pray together. I am also meeting One2One with a 6th form student to read and apply Colossians together.
Westminster
Francis Holland School
We studied Ephesians with the CU - a great group of upper school girls who are keen to apply God's word to their lives and want to be distinctive in their school.
St Marylebone School
I helped Aly as she led lessons on the resurrection during their 6th form RE day. This was great, and provided opportunity to deal with misconceptions and answer searching questions. We ran a necklace-making evangelistic event in the run up to Christmas where I spoke on Romans 6v23 and the greatest gift in the world!
Dear Friends,
Happy New Year! I hope you all had a good time over Christmas! I had a couple of weeks off and spent it in Shropshire with family and friends, which was lovely.
Getting back to Londona nd back into work was a bit of a shock to the system! The last few days have been spent thinking through and planning the term ahead - a potentially overwhelming task, but I was encouraged over the weekend with Jesus' words in Revelation ch1v17-18. IT's great to know that no matter what uncertainties lay ahead this term, 2009 holds no surprises for Jesus, the First and the Last. And remembering the certainy of the hope we have through his death and resurrection brings all of these unknowns into perspective.
It has also been really encouraging to look back over the past term and see how God has answered prayer and how he is growing gospel fruit in schools in NW London. I have written below the following prayer points in more detail about the schools that I have been working in, but the things that I would really value your prayers for are...
Thanks for:
- Pupils hearing about the good news of Jesus.
- Christian pupils who have been growing in their love for God and for each other.
- gaining official status as an outside volunteer working in Parliament Hill - this is a great reference for when I approach other schools.
- Finding four Camden churches who are really committed to developing their young peoples' ministry through schools-work, and would like us to help them do that.
- The pupils at a school who are meeting once a week to pray, and standing firm despite facing opposition.
- Anna - a local church worker who will be helping me in Parliament Hill
Pray for:
- Parliament Hill School
- an opportunity to talk with senior staff about teaching some lessons and taking some assemblies.
- Camden School for Girls
- God to open a door into this school.
- patience!
- wisdom as I begin to plan an offsite CU meeting.
- William Ellis Boy's School
- the pupils to be living distinctively for Jesus.
- God to provide a male helper.
- Haverstock School
- finances
- that the upcoming fundraising event - a dinner and jazz evening - would be successful in raising our profile and bringing in some of the necessary funds.
- for more financial supporters.
- me, that I would
- trust in God and His sovereign plan for this work.
- trust in Him and His strength each day.
This is to give you a bit more information about what I've been doing where...
As well as developing links with churches and schools in Camden, a lot of this term has been about me learing how to do schools-work. Because of this, I have spent quite a bit of time outside Camden, helping Naomi and Aly in Islington and Westminster:
Islington
Highbury Fields School
After half term Naomi and I started helping at a new lunch club for Year 9 students in a local church centre. This has been set up with the aim of building relationships with the pupils - this is often quite difficult as we have had anything from 15-45 girls attend over one lunch period!
City of London Academy
After originally being told i n September that we wouldn't be allowed to do anything in this school for the forseeable future, we finished last term (and start this term!) running 2 lunch clubs - one lower school and one upper school - on the Beatitudes.
Parliament Hill
There is a CU of about 12 upper school students who are very committed and really enjoy coming. In the Tursday session last half term I led a series based around the 2 Ways To Live material, looking at the basics of the gospel message. The girls are also keen to do community action, and last term organised a cake and hot chocolate sale to raise money for Tearfund.
Camden School for Girls
Unfortunately we haven't been able to start up a club officially on site. However, there are a couple of students who meet once a week in a free classroom to pray together. I am also meeting One2One with a 6th form student to read and apply Colossians together.
Westminster
Francis Holland School
We studied Ephesians with the CU - a great group of upper school girls who are keen to apply God's word to their lives and want to be distinctive in their school.
St Marylebone School
I helped Aly as she led lessons on the resurrection during their 6th form RE day. This was great, and provided opportunity to deal with misconceptions and answer searching questions. We ran a necklace-making evangelistic event in the run up to Christmas where I spoke on Romans 6v23 and the greatest gift in the world!
Sunday 2 November 2008
TWTL box1 clip - the final version!!!
Thank you so much for you help all! You really were a lot of help! Unfortunately movie maker and I were limited in how many of you suggestions we actually accomplish, but I defo think this one is the best of the various versions... see what you think!
Thursday 30 October 2008
The latest !
Following an excellent year doing church student work at St John's in Hull, I moved down to London to take a TEFL course. Since then I've been in
My latest news is that on 1st September I started working for CrossTeach, a Christian charity who seek to support and encourage Christian work amongst young people in schools.
If you'd like more information about what I do and why I'm doing it, or would like to receive my (three monthly) prayer email/newsletter then please ask!
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