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Ministry Update

Peter —  November 23, 2018
November has just flown by!  Last night we celebrated Thanksgiving with some good friends from church.  I (Peter) spent the day teaching the UCCF Wales leadership team, and the day before spent the day at Union School of Theology teaching the preaching class.  I don’t really know where this month has gone.  Earlier in November I had a very enjoyable visit to Chicago.  It was great to be able to take Aliyah too, who spent time with Melanie’s Aunt, and with one of Aliyah’s best friends (a successful surprise visit!)  My purpose in going was to lead a seminar for a ministry leadership team, and to get a feel for that ministry.  It was a good time and there is a possibility that I will have further opportunity to influence that ministry, which would be great.  I also got to meet with friends at publishing houses, as well as a weekend at Moody Church (I spoke at one of the adult Sunday School classes) – all of which was a real encouragement to me.
December is obviously a busy season for church, but also for other ministries too. In church we have three Sundays in a row that are very much targeting guests – please pray for contacts to come and for fruit to come from this connection. The end of the semester means a large amount of marking to do – he will have about 60 sermons to watch and give feedback, as well as the same number of essays. Please pray for Peter to be able to get through that quickly, but also giving feedback that will be helpful to all the students. From the 4th-8th December Peter will be in Spain with the year round mentoring group of preachers from all over Europe. This is part of the European Leadership Forum and is a good time of ministry. He is scheduled to do the morning Bible studies for the larger group too. So lots going on, prayer appreciated for it all!
In Ministry Report, Prayer Request
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We Are Home!

Peter —  July 23, 2018

This is just a short post to say that we are home and will be posting a report from our USA trip in the next few days.

Seven weeks passed by in a flash, but we are so thankful for the time we had.  We got to visit with family and friends in Oregon, a quick weekend trip to California (first visit in 10 years!), and a couple of weeks in Chicago.  It was so good to see family and old friends, as well as making new friends along the way too.  We are so thankful for the time we had with each person and only wish we could have had longer.  The children had a wonderful adventure and coped really well with lots of living out of bags, lots of travel, etc.  We visited twelve churches, including three that we had never been to before.  We were blessed with wonderful kindness as people hosted us in their homes, fed us great meals, etc.  In a sense we would be delighted to do the whole trip again, but in another sense we are so happy to be home and not be living out of bags … it is great to be back with our church community at Trinity Chippenham, and so perhaps we would prefer to be here for a while before we do a huge and busy trip again!

Hopefully in the next few days we will be able to give a better report, with some pictures, etc.

In Family News, Ministry Report
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European Leadership Forum 2018

Peter —  May 13, 2018

This Friday I will be flying over to Poland for the European Leadership Forum.  I have attended every year since 2009, with one exception, and this will be my sixth year leading a network.  What does that mean?

The Forum is really a collection of networks, which are subject specific training events for the appropriate people.  So there are networks for church planters, or apologists, or evangelists, etc.  The networks I have been working with are for Bible Teachers and Preachers. There is a foundational (i.e. first time) network, and an advanced for people returning to the network.  There will be close to 800 people from all over Europe, just over 50 of which will be in the Bible Teachers & Preachers Networks.

Every day begins with a plenary Bible teaching session, then we get two sessions in our networks.  After lunch there are workshops and the evening session is typically a standalone plenary session.  Also, on the first day I have concluding sessions with last year’s Year Round Mentoring group (about 10 preachers that I have worked with since last year’s Forum), and introductory sessions with next year’s Year Round Mentoring group.

In previous years I have worked with my good friend Huw Williams, from Turin International Church, Italy.  This year we have four more friends joining us to help facilitate the two networks.  For me personally I will be teaching in 15 sessions during the days in Poland.  It is always quite a busy few days, but also always good to reconnect with good friends and past members of the Year Round Mentoring groups (this year will be my fifth group).

Ever since we were sent into missions in 2004, it has been a real passion to equip others for communicating God’s word.  The ELF involvement is a strategic opportunity to invest in preachers from all over Europe.

Prayer requests:

  • For emotional and physical energy for the demanding schedule at the Forum
  • For the Year Round groups and the two networks to work really well and make a genuine difference in their ministry and church lives
  • For the team of facilitators working together for the first time this year: Peter, Huw, Mike, Ovi, Fraser and Steve.
  • For good health for all involved and safe travel!

Thank you!

In Ministry Report, Prayer Request
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