June 2014 Update

Hello dear friends and family,
I want to take this opportunity to give a bit of an update for all of you who have been so faithful to pray for us, every little prayer matters. The Lord is good and faithful! We have been faithfully been serving in the coffee shop and with Lindsay leading worship really we've just been doing, the same as when we first started, hence the lack of more frequent updates. We have been so blessed here just being able to be part of the fellowship and be involved in the serving and workings of the church body here. Along with the Coffee shop and leading worship, our other big role seems to be discipleship, "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith." Gal 6:9-10. Of course in any ministry there are struggles and challenges but it's been amazing seeing God working through those and growing our faith at the same time. We are looking forward to this summer as well since we have alot going on! One of the biggest is in August we will be doing Creation Fest which is a week long free christian music festival with workshops, skate parks, bible studies, films, activities, and so much more. At this they also have a cafe which Calvary Mansfield here heads up, this year Lindsay and i have been put "in charge" of the Cafe. Last year we found out that we were the highest grossing coffee shop in the UK for that week, needless to say the bar has been set. We are very excited for this as it's a crazy whirlwind event that is exhausting but so much fun!

So that's the brief of what's been going on nothing too riveting but just being faithful where God has us.

Prayer requests:
Direction in regards whether to continue a bible study in Nottingham
Strength and endurance to faithfully serve, esp in August
Fresh vision as to how, what, and where God wants us serving
A heart for making disciples.

Thank you all once again for your support, prayers, and love.

Love the Spamps!

Christmas culture

A few weeks ago I was asked a question by Tim Abney: What are some of the differences in customs and sights during the Christmas season here in England? So I have a small list of differences that I observed here in Mansfield:
1) Far fewer homes are decorated on the exterior 
2) They will often have both Ham and Turkey on Christmas
3) Chestnuts are actually eaten and sold in stores
4) Mulled wine, this is our equivelent to Hot apple cider, where we use apples they use grapes
5) NO EGGNOG
6) Adults past a certain age no longer have stockings
7) Christmas Pudding see link http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cuisine/european/english/traditional-christmas-pudding.html
 Christmas "baskets" are called "hampers"
9) Mince pies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mince_pie
10) Boxing Day (day after christmas)
11) Christmas Crackers a small paper package that when you pull on both ends "cracks" and has small gifts inside

This is a list of just a few that I can think of/noticed.

PLEASE BRITISH FRIENDS IF I'VE LEFT ANY OUT PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ADD!

MANY BLESSINGS THE SPAMPS!

Merry Christmas

With Christmas only a couple days away, it's a wonderful time for us to reflect on the gifts the Lord has given us. One prevalent gift being our opportunity to serve the Lord here in England. We can't believe that we have reached December already: our 6-month mark. These past months have been full of challenges, frustrations, and warfare, but also many, many blessings. We are looking forward to celebrating Christmas this year with our church here, and we wanted to take a moment to wish you all a Merry Christmas as well! We cannot being to thank you enough for all of your support and your prayers. We truly cannot be sustained any other way than through the Lord's strength. So whether this season brings you much joy or reminds you of much sadness, we pray that the Lord will meet you and remind you of His great love for you as we focus on the reason for this season, the birth of Jesus, the greatest gift of all. Merry Christmas!

PRAYER REQUEST

We have a prayer request that we want to share with you. Last week Lindsay and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary in York. While we were there one of the teachers asked if we would be interested in coming up and teaching the biblical missions class. So this Wednesday Lindsay and I have the privilege of teaching the class. So your prayers for clarity and the ability just to really reach and connect with the students. Thank you all for all of your prayers, and we will update you all when we get back!

Four months

Hi everyone! I am so sorry it's been so long since I've posted on here. Hopefully this will give you a glimpse of what we've been up to these past few months. Thanks for checking in!

August Video Update

God's timing

Hiya everyone!  Alex here and i just wanted to let you all in on a bit of whats happened since our last video update.  In our update, at the end, we had some prayer requests one of which was for David our landlord.  David was the neighbour of Bryce for about 10 years and in that time he was able to share and speak with David and build a friendship with him, however David never wanted anything to do with the Gospel.  Also David's father is a priest at the Methodist church in town and his brother a missionary in Albania yet never wanted to know God.... until....

One of the days we were moving into our house with Bryce David came up and asked if he were going to be around for a bit because "i have to talk to you".  David returned and just broke down in tears.  He and Bryce spoke for about 40 min and then he left, we got in the car with Bryce where he was just completely in shock about what had just happened and was convinced that David had just accepted the Lord.  About a week ago, just a couple of days after our video, Bryce and David got together and had another 3 hour conversation about what all was going on.  Needless to say David was a church on Sunday morning and the midweek study Wednesday night, He lives nearly an hour away!  So we wanted to say THANK YOU! PRAISE THE LORD!  David is beginning to walk with the Lord so please continue to pray for him and his family as this is going to be the biggest change he's never experienced.

Now as you all know the Visa that Lindsay and i need to come here had been delayed which turned out to be a huge blessing for us, we were able to see friends, sell things, go to a wedding, PACK!  But what we weren't able to see is this.  If it weren't for our visas being delayed we would have never been able to get into this house.  We would have looked elsewhere for a place to live.  With our delay Bryce and David were put right in each others paths at the EXACT MOMENT when David needed him most.  If it weren't for that delay only GOD knows where things could have headed.  But He used that to put them both together and after years of plowing and watering hard ground, fruit came forth.

When there is a "delay" in our plans we are only able to look at the here in now, whereas GOD knows the beginning from the end and His timing is PERFECT we just need to trust and keep our eyes open!

PRAYER REQUEST:
David and his continued walk with the Lord
Creation Fest ( Aug 2- 12) Hearts of service for the church heading down and souls to be saved.
A Heart of Love and Humility as we serve

Thanks for Serving with us!