I'm writing this at the end of Week 2 of our outreach. It has been a challenging but exciting fortnight. Praise God for his goodness! Thanks so much for praying for us as a team. It has been one of the highlights- we have really bonded, had a lot of fun and been like minded in our vision. It's been so great being on a team where everyone is willing to serve. Most nights we have had fun relaxing and enjoying food! I'll put a photo on here so you can see us all in our fetching yellow t shirts!
Monday and Friday mornings we have seen increasing numbers of mums and tots coming to the park for playgroup. It's been so encouraging to see them coming back, and as well as enjoying it, being really open to chat. Much to my excitement, I have met a German lady and her super cute daughter who we see really often in the park. It's a great chance for me to practise my German, and she is so friendly to all the team. Though she is firm in her Muslim beliefs, she is so open and yesterday I had the chance to share a story of how God has really worked in my life. It was cool because it was natural; it just happened to come up. Lots of conversations are being had around the park. We get the feeling that many people know there is something more to life but don't want to submit to a certain religion. Pray for them to meet Jesus on a personal level.
On Wednesdays we have had great fun taking a coach load of people young and old to the beach. These are a really great way for people to enjoy community and get to know each other more. This week I was chatting to a lady who out of nowhere said she'd like to come to church.
I'm really grateful for God giving us the energy to do what we need to. It has been tough at times when tired to stay focused but we have been so blessed.
You may wonder why I titled this blog 'Patience'. There has been a particularly difficult group of children who keep hanging out at our cafe in the park. We desperately don't want to completely reject them, but show them the love of Jesus. This is quite challenging though when they show no respect, are completely rude, provoking and really badly behaved. We can't be walked over though, but it is a hard balance to get. It has really tested our patience and we need to keep praying about our attitudes towards them.
Something else that it would be great for you to pray about is Ramadan- the month when Muslims fast every day for a month (in the daytime)- which began recently. It is a really good conversation point and it has been really interesting chatting with the kids and challenging the about why they do it. Many Muslims who are liberal most of the time fast seriously- it's like they can try to gain favour from God through it. It's great that these sorts of conversations come up in the minibus on the way to Thorpe Park, or at the beach. Speaking of Thorpe Park, our driver for this trip and others is permanently dressed like Elvis! It's so funny. He's a kind guy though, charging nothing for helping us.
Last night we had an African music and bbq night and praise God, the torrential rain stopped literally just in time. Amazing! It was so cool to see families we have met and chatted lots with in the past couple of weeks come along. Pray for these families to keep being attracted to the community and to find out more about Jesus.
Thank God for a rest this weekend as we re-energise for this coming last week of activities. Pray for people not to disappear but to have a desire to be involved in long term things like coffee morning, Alpha, art group etc.
I'll put on a photo here taken last weekend at my cousin's wedding down in Taunton. This is a rare picture of the Redman family all together!
Thankyou for your prayer, and for comments and messages too. Love to you all x
