UK Adventure Part 2 - England

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 ...

Plans & Dreams

Hi Folks, I'm back again! Here in the Philippines we are in Pacquio fever ... the one and only Manny Pacquio has done it again! This fantastic little Filipino boxer really is the pride of the nation. On Sunday he beat Marquez and truly is one of the best boxers in the world! Well done wee man!

We had a great week last week. On Friday we had the Graduation at KMGLC ... our Lydia graduated! She had cap, gown .. the lot! I will do a blog about this later this week. Wee Josiah sang his heart out and has now done one years nursery. We are so proud of them. On Saturday Matthew & Claire had a Birthday/Dedication for their youngest daughter Ariella. What a special time we had together. Sefton family is a wonderful family!

Apart from that, life goes on here at Sefton Village. Mary and Claire are working like Trojans (whatever that means!) getting the new school plans done. The enrollment for the Kinder and Elementary schools are finished already! Parents queued for hours just to get their kids into our school. May the Lord reward their commitment to their children! Here in the Philippines, the most wonderful gift parents can ever give their child is a good education.

Still no sign if my laptop. I emailed every Apple Mac reseller today with details of my stolen prized possession, but I feel I will never see it again! Never mind ...

This year is going to be a busy old year for us Ritchie's. What has happened to January, February and half of March? Seriously, no jokes. Where did it go? Seems like a few days ago we were watching the New Years Eve fire works! But there's been a lot of water under the bridge in these last few months.

Really really enjoyed John Andrews and the Mattersey bunch being here. What a fantastic missions team. I know by the emails they have sent that they have been deeply impacted by their time in the Philippines. They have made a Group Page in Facebook called 'Philippines 2008 - The Best Missions Trip Ever!' Certainly was up there!

So now we are waiting for a team from Aberdeen AoG to arrive. There are 19 of them - including 4 children - and they are a mixture of builders, business men, teachers, doctors, nurses, students, housewives .. you name it! We have tried to make a programme that will stretch them and show the many new experiences and challenges. Pray for them - and us - as we believe God for a great time of blessing. The first group arrive on Saturday night with the rest arriving next Monday.

When they go home on the 3rd April ... so do we! We will be going back to Scotland to visit our families and have a rest. One of the main reasons why we come home every 1.5 years is so Mary's mum & dad can see & spend time with Lydia and Josiah (and us!). I think that 3 years not seeing your grandkids is a bit too hard for any loving granny & granda! We really miss our families but last year I was so blessed when a heap of my folks ventured out to Santiago!

We come back in May 6th and it is all go from then to get the new school ready. Initially we will have to meet in the Fire Centre or Bible School, but hopefully by October we will be able to use the new school. We have started the school in faith, believing that the Lord will touch the hearts of His people to give to this amazing project. We start in faith ... that the Lord is with us and He will finish His work.

In July I will attend the Cornerstone Pastors Summit in Singapore and in September 8-12 I will take a team of our Bible School teachers to the tri-annual APTA Conference (Asian Pacific Theological Association). From there I will fly to UK for a 3.5 week visit. I am planning to take some Filipino pastors with me - Marlou, Winston, James A and maybe August. It would be a great opportunity for me to bring these great young guys with me because Mary will stay in the Philippines with the kids. Pray that they will get their UK visas and that I can find two more sponsors for James & Winston.

The main reason for coming over to UK in September is that John Andrews has asked me to speak at their missions conference in Rotherham from Oct 2-5. When he was over I did ask him again if he was sure it was this Mark Ritchie that he wanted to speak and not one of the other two ... but he assured me it was me! It is a great honour to be asked and I know that it is going to be amazing! This week God has already been showing me some stuff to share. Look out for details and if you can get there ... I'll see you there!

My mum is going to come to the Philippines to help Mary for the 3.5 weeks I am away from home. My mum is amazing. She is absolutely fantastic. She has just retired ... but she is pushing the boat out so much to help us. Than you mum. you are our hero! My dad will come back with me and we will have a few weeks here in the Philippines all together.

In November we are all going as a family to the AoG World Ministries Action Asia Conference. It is a conference/retreat for all Missionaries in S-E Asia. We have only been to one, but it was great! So brill to catch up with everyone and meet new friends. Tough life.

In between all this we will be having missions teams, starting a new school, staring a new Bible School year, planting two churches, planning a 10th Anniversary conference for the Bible School etc etc. Life is never dull!

So, before we know it we will be in 2009!

But hey, but let 2008 be YOUR BEST YEAR EVER!

Back Again!

Weyeh ... back again! Miss me? Go on, be honest. I know you have been checkin' out every few days to see if there was anything new. Well, to be honest the old Internet has been off for ages. And we have been so busy these last few weeks that I have not been able to phone the phone company every day!

So many things have happened since I blogged way back in Feb 24th! We had the funeral of wee Gio ... such a sad occasion. I had to go to Manila but Mary and Anne made it to the funeral. They said that it was hear breaking to see the wee coffin being carried to the cemetery.

On Sunday 1st Winston & I went down to Manila to pick up a team of 12 people from the AoG Bible School at Mattersey. The team was headed by an amazing guy called Dr. John Andrews who comes from Northern Ireland. He was at Mattersey just before me (way back in teh 80's!) and he pastored a church at the great old age of 19! He is now the Senior Pastor of Rotherham New Life and we know John and his family very well now. He is a fantastic & inspirational speaker and is now Director of Training at Mattersey.

One of the things John has brought to Mattersey is that every student has to do an overseas missions trip every year! Wow! We felt blessed if we went to Scunthorpe for the weekend. How things have changed .... not jealous or anything ... ahem! Anyway, we were so chuffed when John chose to come here! he has been here twice before in 1994 & 1996 and so it was good fro him to see what the Lord has been doing at Sefton with his own eyes.

The team arrived and were ruched from the airport straight up to Santiago. They arrived at 7:30am and took the Cornerstone United service at 9am! In at the deep end! It was all go from there - Feeding Programmes, up river to the villages, preaching at SBTC, cultural challenges, hospital ministry, student ministry, playing with kids in orphanage, taking classes at school, preaching to the parents, jail ministry, Powerhouse Kids ministry, Youth services, preaching in our Cornerstone churches etc. etc. Phew, I am tired just typing out that stuff!


One of the things we did was run a Leadership Conference for 2nights-1 day. John Andrews was the speaker and he was brilliant. The theme was "Servanthood - the Pathway to Greatness." Spot on! I believe so many were touched and challenged by the Lord at our conference.

We took them to Banaue on Sunday afternoon and drove down to Manila on Monday. By the time you read this they should be touching down in the UK. If any of the Mattersey team are reading this ... could a couple of you write a wee 'Guest Blog' so you can share your experiences with us all! Thanks in advance.

The devil loves it when God is moving. He is delighted when people's lives are transformed. He will do anything to encourage and inspire us .... doesn't he? Em, no. I felt last Monday that there was a big discouragement coming and that God was saying, "Don't focus on it, focus on what I am doing." Sure enough, whilst wonderful things were going on during the week, someone walked into my home and stole my Apple Mac laptop. Worst thing was hat I had just bought a 100 pounds new battery for it and had opened the box to check the battery was OK. So I was left with a battery I didn't need and could not return and a laptop I no longer possessed! I decided not to dwell on it ... but now that I have a bit more time I have to say I am a teeny weeny bit 'scunnered' (doric for 'fed-up!)

Never mind, I'm sure the Apostle Paul lost a few laptops on his missionary journeys! And after speaking to Gio's dad again yesterday I realise once again that everything can be replaced in life except life.

Don't focus on temporal things that can be destroyed - or stolen - at any moment. Set your heart on building for eternity and these temporary 'scunners' will mean nothing.

Bless ya ... hope to blog tomorrow. Promise!