Poured Out

JANUARY 2008

Happy New Year! This PouredOut update is sitting on our new look website, instead of being sent in an email. The site has taken a little while to establish, but please take a look around and let us know what you think. Please feel welcome to return to the site for prayer requests, ministry schedule, family news and new pages of interest as we get inspired to create them. (Latest example: Peter and Melanie’s bookshelves – books we are currently enjoying!)

In this letter we’d like to give a brief review of 2007 and a look ahead to 2008. Our goal is to thank you for your prayers and support in the last year, and to ask you to pray on for us this year. We value your prayer support so highly. Thank you!

2007 – The Year of the Cake!

On New Year’s Eve we took the time to look back through all the family pictures of 2007. It felt like we were going from one cake to the next (mostly chocolate, all excellent, Melanie makes great cakes!). We had birthday after birthday, end of school year celebration, Mariah coming out of traction celebration, etc.

Memories – 2007 holds many memories for us. Peter’s first visit to Asia was to Sri Lanka in March to teach at the Bible College. We spent a month onboard the Logos II in the summer, the same ship Melanie and I first met on a decade earlier. The children loved the experience onboard and are looking forward to repeating it in the future (on the new ship, perhaps!) We had the difficult month with Mariah in traction right after returning from the ship. We had children growing – Hannah reading incessantly, Aliyah maturing physically faster than anyone except Joel, Mariah joining the world of talkers in style and Joel getting close to walking. Meanwhile Peter finished his doctorate at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary to finish the year off.

Ministry – In a nutshell, 2007 was a busier year with 210 meetings and 23 flights. Half of those meetings were in 23 local churches, our own, plus others from Surrey to Sri Lanka. There was slightly less international travel than usual (Sri Lanka, USA, Italy, Holland, Scotland and England), partially due to the ship being in the UK during our time onboard.

2008 – Looking Ahead

Ministry Plans - The ministry schedule has filled up for most of the year already. Local churches, preaching seminars, university Christian unions, plus some international travel. In March there is a possible trip to Nigeria for a conference, then in October I have a preaching course lined up in Sri Lanka. Holland is likely in the summer, Italy too. Remember to check the “Schedule” page on the website for specifics.

Furlough Plans – Our ministry is built on the prayerful partnership of key people and churches in various parts of the world. We are planning a trip to the USA in the summer to connect with many of our ministry partners. We’re planning to fly to LA and take a couple of weeks visiting churches in LA and other parts of California before getting “home” to Hillsboro, OR. Once we’re there we’ll be spending most of May and June at Westside Bible Fellowship, our sending church. We have some preaching ministry lined up for this time, but perhaps the majority of it will be spent reconnecting with those that are praying for us there. It will be fun to see Joel with his cousin Matty too!

Please pray for:

• Fruit from the ministry in this first part of the year (churches, seminars, CUs, Nigeria)
• Practical details to come together for our two months in Oregon:
  • Especially pray for us to find somewhere to live for these two months. We could squeeze in with Melanie’s parents, but we’d really like to have a space where we can invite people to us for hospitality, etc.
  • There are lots of little but important things to plan, pray for us to be able to think clearly and plan well.
  • Also for the formal ministry (meetings, a church retreat, etc.) to be fruitful and effective. Our big prayer for 2008 is for opportunities to mobilize people for world missions wherever we go, especially during these months.
• The ongoing work of family life – homeschooling, training the children, making memories, good relationships, health, etc.

Thank you for reading our prayer letter, now please feel free to take a look at the new website. The best place to start is “Home” on the menu to the right. This will take you to main page of the site, the place we used to call Newsdrops.

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APRIL 2008

Our Trip to the USA

On April 16, the six of us will embark on a family adventure to the USA.  Many people have asked us the purpose of our trip.  Is it a holiday?  Will Peter be speaking?  Will you be visiting family?  The answers to those questions are: not really, yes and yes!  As most of you know, our ministry is a partnership.  That means we rely on prayer and practical support from people around the world.  However, the majority of our support comes from individuals in our sending church, Westside Bible Fellowship, in Hillsboro, Oregon and in other parts of the USA.  It is time that we return and re-connect with our ministry partners, sharing what God has been doing in and through us. 

We will start our journey in California, on the west coast.  We’ll be visiting eight churches and various individuals there who partner with our family.  Then we’ll drive the 1000+ miles north to the state of Oregon where we’ll be based for the rest of our time.  God has provided a great house to rent and a car to use while we are there.

We would appreciate your prayers very much while we are away!

Here are a few specific prayer requests:

·        Pray for safety, health, patience and fun as we travel.  As you can imagine, traveling with 4 small children is not always easy so pray for good attitudes for all of us and that we would really enjoy each other.

·        Pray that all six of us would be a blessing to each church and family that we visit.  Pray that we’ll be full of the Spirit and full of God’s love.

·        Pray that God would use us to mobilize believers to GO into world missions.  This has been our passionate prayer throughout this year.

·        Pray for the formal times of ministry that God would speak through us clearly and powerfully and that lives will be changed for eternity.

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SEPTEMBER 2008

It has been a few (busy) months since our last update.  We want to give a brief review of our summer, a glimpse into how we are currently feeling and an idea of what is coming up for the rest of the year.

Review of the Summer

In April (not summer, I know), we flew over to LA.  After two very busy weeks visiting churches in California, we arrived in Oregon, where we stayed for ten weeks.  We were blessed with a house to live in, furnished and filled with food by friends at Westside, our sending church.  Melanie and I enjoyed a weekend in Boston for my graduation from Gordon-Conwell, then we all had a great week in Minnesota/North Dakota for a family reunion.  Otherwise we stayed local – and we stayed busy!  Being “home” is never truly relaxing, but it was great to see friends and family again.  Peter spoke 18 times, at Westside events, while we were in Hillsboro.

– One of many answers to prayer, a house to stay in!

We arrived home to the UK in mid-July and then left again a month later.  We spent one week at a conference for Brethren missionaries in the French Alps.  This was a very enjoyable week off for us.  It was great to see old friends and make lots of new friends.  Then we drove up to Holland for the OM new recruits’ conference.  This was a great week, but it was not a week off!  Peter spoke several times, Melanie worked in the nursery.  It was encouraging to be a part of the excitement of 250 people heading to the various OM fields.

MK friends (also sent from Westside!)

So it has been a long summer with a lot of travelling.  In fact, we postponed a family trip to Italy because we could tell it would be too much.  That was a good decision!

Personal Glimpse

It’s funny how emotions work.  We came home from the US trip very motivated to be here and to press on with life and ministry.  Then we went away again and came home without that motivation.  Melanie can’t put her finger on it, she’s ready for the new homeschool year that has now started, and it is going well, but she has been feeling low.  The ongoing struggle with regular migraines is definitely a significant factor.  I feel a bit like my batteries should be recharging, but instead have continued to drain.  Hopefully the busy schedule coming up will re-energize me or else it will be a tough autumn for me.  So no particular issue, other than the headaches, but we’re both feeling drained and a little low.  Please pray for us to be energized spiritually, relationally, emotionally, etc.  We are currently reading a book called Overload Syndrome and we realize we can do a better job at balancing work and rest.  Pray for us on that one.

Coming up

The rest of the year is looking busy.  Our full schedule is on the website – click here for the schedule page.  But here’s a glimpse.  We have 6 days away as a family in early October, followed by numerous weekend preaching seminars and retreats stretching through until mid-December.  At the end of October I fly to Sri Lanka to teach a full course there (Hermeneutics for Preaching), and again at the start of December I am teaching preaching at Tilsley College in Scotland.  Honestly, November is slightly over-booked – partially my fault.  At the same time, the ministry is an exciting privilege.  We are seeing an increase in opportunities to lead preacher seminars and workshops, which is very encouraging.  There is a huge need for preachers to be trained and we are excited to have so many opportunities.

Melanie would appreciate ongoing prayer for the mums at Open House as she tries, along with the other team members, to reach out to them.  They currently have 30+ mums who attend weekly.  Also for Oasis, the ladies book club she runs, for growth in the lives of the women who attend.  They’ve just finished Randy Alcorn’s 50 Days of Heaven and will read Married for God next, followed by a novella about Mary, the mother of Jesus.  And of course, keep praying for her primary ministry – mothering, homeschooling and making a godly home.

So thank you for praying for us.  Real life is not always super-exciting, but we don’t want to lose sight of the privilege we have to be involved in so many ministries that God is at work in.  Thank you for being a part of it all!

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                                       ~ Peter & Melanie ~

Contact Information:   Please contact us for our home address

Support Information:

Please make payable to Operation Mobilization, include a note stating “for the support of Peter and Melanie Mead, ICT in London” and send to your local OM office:

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