After a quick tour of Edinburgh we headed South down the M6 ... into the great old country of England. By the way ... Sat Nav us great IF you don't know the way to somewhere! It was going to direct me all the way down to Manchester and cut across a few Motorways to get to Rotherham. On paper, it is quicker ... but have you heard about the traffic jams down that way? No way Mr sat nav - I'm going accross the good old A66 to Scotch Corner. Good job I did - huge tailbacks on M6 that night. Shut the thing down, get out your old AA map and live the adventure!
Got to Rotherham on Tuesday afternoon and my sat nav (now switched back on 'coz they are great for finding addresses!) got me to the front doorstep of George Jack ... my cousin who is now Senior Pastor at Rotherham Pentecostal Church. My three Filipio friends were glad to finally reach their destination! Well, if you haven't spent a few days with the Jack family, you haven't really lived! Jayne's cooking is amazing; the kids are wonderful; George's jokes ... well, to be honest, they are terrible! Only kidding. I stayed there for two nights but the Filipinos stayed there all week ... and loved it. Know what? These pastors were hooked on two things in UK - Tescos and the Wii at George Jack's house! They were acting like crazy men as they played Wii sports into the early hours! Great fun. Excellent family. True friends. 
On the Wednesday we visited my old haunt - Mattersey Hall (above), where I spent three years at Bible School. What a fantastic place. A bit more spruced up now, I can tell you! Some things were surprisingly the same but some things were refreshingly different. We had a cup of tea in the staff room and I thought to myself, "Last time I sat on this settee, it was to get into big trouble!" How the mighty have fallen.
They now have beautiful clasrooms, a cafe, bookshop and chapel. They have done an amazing job. They have built a huge (and I mean HUGE) conservatory that is joined on to the Dining Room. And the food ... well, it was actually delicious. I kid you not. And it didn't even taste remotely like cardboard. In fact, I felt I was in Ikea!!!! Excuse me for waffling on. Memories.
The main reason I was in UK was to preach at the Missions Conference of Rotherham New Life. We started on Thursday night and the theme was 'To Boldly Go ..." and they asked me to preach about going from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria ... to the ends of the earth. The Rotherham New Life (RNL) church has really majored on Mission- both locally and globally.
The Senior Pastor is an Irishman called John Andrews. He has a doctorate but is young and is an inspirational preacher. He also plays a vital role at Mattersey as well as write books, be part of the AoG National Leadership Team and has a lovely family. Don't know how the guy does it.
Actually, I do. He is so disciplined with his life and doesn't waste words, opportunities or time. If you go to the RNL website, you will hear some of John's teaching ... excellent stuff, highly recommended. John has become a good friend and great encourager in my life.
Anyway, back to our trip. We started on Thursday night. The band was great and many of the songs were new. Sometimes you here new somgs and there is an immediate "Naw" rises up within you! But these new songs really spoke to me. Just before I got up to speak, I got a little bit nervous. I think that the fact I was speaking 9 times over the weekend hit me as I sat in the front row! I felt I was just standing at the bottom of a mountain. But, know what? God spoke to me at that mometnt and said so clearly, "You were born for moments like these." I felt strength. I know the Holy Spirit was there, right beside me. That was all I needed.
Friday morning was for Leaders and I shared about 'Revelations that have Changed My Life". I tried to share the revelations and change of paradigms that the Lord has shown me in the last 8 years. I was completely honest and I felt that many were challenged on that day.
The Lord showed me that on Friday night the Holy Spirit really wanted to move and touch the lives of many people. I didn't know how but the Lord clearly asked me to wait on his intruction. Well, I preached about "Jerusalem, the Place of Power" and at the end I gave an invitation for the Baptism of teh Holy Spirit. Some people came and responded. I felt the enemy laughing and saying, "Not much response eh?" But I kept seeking the Lord and the Holy Spirit began to show me areas of people's lives where He wanted me to challenge and pray for people. Well, the floodgates opened. We prayed for so many people. I felt God gave us many prophetic words. The Holy Spirit was moving and lives were being touched and changed. I think we left the building after 11pm! What a night.
Saturday was a family day and RNL had a full kids programme for the children. RNL are so organized and they really looked after us in so many ways. Their kindness and hospitality was exceptional. They had invited Dave Russon (the Directior of AoG UK World Ministries) and his wife Madeline to attend. I also shared a room with my good friend Andrew David from Torquay ... what an experience, what a guy! Brilliant. I gave the vision of Sefton Village and got Kirsty Allen from Fraserburgh to share about the Children's Home as well as the four Filipinos to share about the different ministries of Sefton. I think everyone was glad to hear some other people's voices!
In the afternoon I shared all about Short Term Mission Teams. At night I preached about the cost of serving Christ - What do you do when your world falls apart? (Acts 8) Another really good night.
Sunday was another wonderful day. Preached in the two services about Walking by Faith. Really felt the people were listening and were being challenged. Some places are hard to minister in, but RNL is great because the people are so hungry and so 'into' missions. Ended the day at George's church at Station Road. Our Filipino Pastors were ministering there and I wanted to say goodbye to the Jack family and my Aunty Helen and Uncle George (below). I was so blessed to see them come and support me over the weekend ... teh extra 400 miles!
Didn't sleep that night! Drove through the night to Manchester Airport. August and I had a nightmare time at the Airport, but that's another blog! In the end, I was so glad to get out of the country!!
But we had a great time. People were so good to us. Everywhere. I felt that our minisry was so well recieved and that people are really behind us here at Sefton Village. I know we are not alone.
A special thanks to John Andrews, his lovely wife Dawn and their family. Thanks also to Steve and Hannah Prosser from RNL for looking after us so well. Big thanks to the Mattersey Team who came on Mission to Sefton in March - so many of them came to the Conference. Big thanks to a special family in Scotland who did more than anyone will know to make ourt trip possible. You know who you are and we are so grateful. Biggest thanks to my mum and dad ... mum for coming out here to help in so many ways. To my dad for meing a mum to these Filipinos when mum was not there! Good job dad! We never starved and our clothes were always clean(ish)!
Feel like I have just made an album and an writing all the credits ... so I'll stop here!
Uk trip - fantastic. If we met you, ate with you, or if you blessed us in any way .... we love you for that.
Until next time ...
Got to Rotherham on Tuesday afternoon and my sat nav (now switched back on 'coz they are great for finding addresses!) got me to the front doorstep of George Jack ... my cousin who is now Senior Pastor at Rotherham Pentecostal Church. My three Filipio friends were glad to finally reach their destination! Well, if you haven't spent a few days with the Jack family, you haven't really lived! Jayne's cooking is amazing; the kids are wonderful; George's jokes ... well, to be honest, they are terrible! Only kidding. I stayed there for two nights but the Filipinos stayed there all week ... and loved it. Know what? These pastors were hooked on two things in UK - Tescos and the Wii at George Jack's house! They were acting like crazy men as they played Wii sports into the early hours! Great fun. Excellent family. True friends. 
On the Wednesday we visited my old haunt - Mattersey Hall (above), where I spent three years at Bible School. What a fantastic place. A bit more spruced up now, I can tell you! Some things were surprisingly the same but some things were refreshingly different. We had a cup of tea in the staff room and I thought to myself, "Last time I sat on this settee, it was to get into big trouble!" How the mighty have fallen. They now have beautiful clasrooms, a cafe, bookshop and chapel. They have done an amazing job. They have built a huge (and I mean HUGE) conservatory that is joined on to the Dining Room. And the food ... well, it was actually delicious. I kid you not. And it didn't even taste remotely like cardboard. In fact, I felt I was in Ikea!!!! Excuse me for waffling on. Memories.
The main reason I was in UK was to preach at the Missions Conference of Rotherham New Life. We started on Thursday night and the theme was 'To Boldly Go ..." and they asked me to preach about going from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria ... to the ends of the earth. The Rotherham New Life (RNL) church has really majored on Mission- both locally and globally.
The Senior Pastor is an Irishman called John Andrews. He has a doctorate but is young and is an inspirational preacher. He also plays a vital role at Mattersey as well as write books, be part of the AoG National Leadership Team and has a lovely family. Don't know how the guy does it.Actually, I do. He is so disciplined with his life and doesn't waste words, opportunities or time. If you go to the RNL website, you will hear some of John's teaching ... excellent stuff, highly recommended. John has become a good friend and great encourager in my life.
Anyway, back to our trip. We started on Thursday night. The band was great and many of the songs were new. Sometimes you here new somgs and there is an immediate "Naw" rises up within you! But these new songs really spoke to me. Just before I got up to speak, I got a little bit nervous. I think that the fact I was speaking 9 times over the weekend hit me as I sat in the front row! I felt I was just standing at the bottom of a mountain. But, know what? God spoke to me at that mometnt and said so clearly, "You were born for moments like these." I felt strength. I know the Holy Spirit was there, right beside me. That was all I needed.
Friday morning was for Leaders and I shared about 'Revelations that have Changed My Life". I tried to share the revelations and change of paradigms that the Lord has shown me in the last 8 years. I was completely honest and I felt that many were challenged on that day.
The Lord showed me that on Friday night the Holy Spirit really wanted to move and touch the lives of many people. I didn't know how but the Lord clearly asked me to wait on his intruction. Well, I preached about "Jerusalem, the Place of Power" and at the end I gave an invitation for the Baptism of teh Holy Spirit. Some people came and responded. I felt the enemy laughing and saying, "Not much response eh?" But I kept seeking the Lord and the Holy Spirit began to show me areas of people's lives where He wanted me to challenge and pray for people. Well, the floodgates opened. We prayed for so many people. I felt God gave us many prophetic words. The Holy Spirit was moving and lives were being touched and changed. I think we left the building after 11pm! What a night.
Saturday was a family day and RNL had a full kids programme for the children. RNL are so organized and they really looked after us in so many ways. Their kindness and hospitality was exceptional. They had invited Dave Russon (the Directior of AoG UK World Ministries) and his wife Madeline to attend. I also shared a room with my good friend Andrew David from Torquay ... what an experience, what a guy! Brilliant. I gave the vision of Sefton Village and got Kirsty Allen from Fraserburgh to share about the Children's Home as well as the four Filipinos to share about the different ministries of Sefton. I think everyone was glad to hear some other people's voices!In the afternoon I shared all about Short Term Mission Teams. At night I preached about the cost of serving Christ - What do you do when your world falls apart? (Acts 8) Another really good night.
Sunday was another wonderful day. Preached in the two services about Walking by Faith. Really felt the people were listening and were being challenged. Some places are hard to minister in, but RNL is great because the people are so hungry and so 'into' missions. Ended the day at George's church at Station Road. Our Filipino Pastors were ministering there and I wanted to say goodbye to the Jack family and my Aunty Helen and Uncle George (below). I was so blessed to see them come and support me over the weekend ... teh extra 400 miles!
Didn't sleep that night! Drove through the night to Manchester Airport. August and I had a nightmare time at the Airport, but that's another blog! In the end, I was so glad to get out of the country!! But we had a great time. People were so good to us. Everywhere. I felt that our minisry was so well recieved and that people are really behind us here at Sefton Village. I know we are not alone.
A special thanks to John Andrews, his lovely wife Dawn and their family. Thanks also to Steve and Hannah Prosser from RNL for looking after us so well. Big thanks to the Mattersey Team who came on Mission to Sefton in March - so many of them came to the Conference. Big thanks to a special family in Scotland who did more than anyone will know to make ourt trip possible. You know who you are and we are so grateful. Biggest thanks to my mum and dad ... mum for coming out here to help in so many ways. To my dad for meing a mum to these Filipinos when mum was not there! Good job dad! We never starved and our clothes were always clean(ish)!
Feel like I have just made an album and an writing all the credits ... so I'll stop here!
Uk trip - fantastic. If we met you, ate with you, or if you blessed us in any way .... we love you for that.
Until next time ...
3 comments:
The conference was great! So nice spending time with all of you!
Missing you all
Aunti Vivix
Hi,love catching up with all the Sefton News on the blog and enjoying seeing all the photos of your time in the UK. Still praying for you all,you are doing an amazing work in Santiago, we've been 'seriously disturbed' but in good way and a God way since our time with you all. Say a "fit like " to abody fae us,
John + Grace x
Great to read you blog again. Im sure you had a wonderful time in UK. We really enjoyed seeing you and your PASTOR friends. Give our love to them all. Hope Mary Lydia Josiah and you ofcourse are all good. Im not sure how to communicate using facebook, but they tell me your never too old too Learn. Auntie Betty
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