England Week 2

England

Week 2

We have arrived safely in England and the ministry has been full-speed ahead with ministry the first morning in Koinonia Evangelical Church on Sunday. Throughout the week we have conducted children's school assemblies, street evangelism outreaches in the cities of Salisbury, Winchester and the town of Andover. During the assemblies the puppet shows have been a big hit, along with those cute, American, accents. The kids have just lapped up every word and because of the nearby military base, we are even reaching kids from Nepal and Lebanon with the Gospel. On the streets of England and Wales, the number one question has been what our thoughts are on abortion, so we have been able to share our viewpoint and what God says about life. Within the church new friends have been made and although we have been separated with thousands of miles and a large ocean, none would be the wiser and we have bonded as if we have been life-long friends. - CA

"but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31

Learning to Grow Through Challenging Conversation

It has been amazing to visit so many different small towns and city centers to preach the gospel while we have been in both Wales and England. On Wednesday, we got the opportunity to do this in Winchester. God blessed our day and gave us large crowds and amazing conversations about the Gospel, but many of us had some hard ones as well.

There were several difficult situations that day, but one in particular comes to mind. A man named Paul approached our sketchboard after the message was done to see what it was about and I asked him if he would like me to explain it. After I had explained it to him, we had a long conversation which made it evident that there was bitterness in his heart against American Christians and he quickly became agitated when I showed him the scriptures. I have had people curse at me many times before, but this was the first time that someone had directly cursed God in one of my conversations. This made it extremely difficult for me to not be angry with him, but the Holy Spirit so clearly helped me in this situation. I was able to present the true Gospel to him instead of the view of the Gospel that he had developed himself but, in the moment, it was still pretty discouraging.

Afterwards, however, a few of us on the team talked about how even those conversations can be used for God’s glory. No matter how the people we speak with respond, we are fulfilling our calling by sharing the gospel with them and we should be looking at those opportunities as moments in which we can be a light for Christ to a dark and sinful world. My mind goes to Paul in Acts 18. While preaching in Corinth, he was persecuted and rejected by the people there and almost gave up with them. The beautiful moment in that story though is when God said to Paul, "Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people." (Acts 18:9, ESV) God has many people in England who are His and it is such a blessing to be a tool in God’s hand, being used to share our hope with others. - Will Pritham

Shipton Primary School Assembly

For Many are Called, but Few are Chosen

Most people we talk to after messages either just walk away or don't care about eternity, but it's the people who are so deceived and lost in their beliefs that leave the lasting impact on us. Some of them are devout atheists who don't see the truth behind the wall of small apologetical arguments God has let them build up, some have a false sense of security in a "relative truth" system, or a distorted version of the Gospel, but ultimately it all comes down to whether, or not the Holy Spirit will open their eyes to see the light. We don't know how God uses our conversations for His purpose, so we just have to trust that this is His will for us right now, but that's where it becomes difficult.

After one of my sketchboard messages, a slightly older man came up to me and said something like, "You're out here in the UK proselytizing and telling us how great your God is, but then back in America you've just forced women to not have abortions, so what are you actively doing now to help these mothers with unwanted pregnancies?" His name was Nick and he was stuck on this one point, not satisfied with the answers any of us gave, completely blinded to the values we believers hold dear because of Christ's love. In the beginning, he refused to even shake our hands, but we gave him a clear Gospel message and in the end he did shake our hands, though it wasn't comforting at all.

Seeing people so deceived and blinded to the truth is the most disheartening thing I've seen here. Later in the week, I talked to a husband and wife, James and Kirsty, who believe that we really can't know what happens when we die and there's no use worrying about it, which is a common worldview we see, but they were so kind and respectful that we truly cared about them. We had a genuine conversation with them, talking about the Gospel, dabbling in apologetics, but it was all with smiles and respect, which made it even sadder to see a lack of repentance. In the end though, it's not what we say that will change their hearts if that's God's will, it's the Holy Spirit convicting them. On the other hand, I know that probably only a small fraction of who we talk to will actually come to know Him, and that's what hurts. We who have repented and believed should feel for those who haven't, because they are still under the power of sin and death, so seeing people who are content coasting their way to condemnation should tug at our hearts because we were once just like them. However, this same thought brings us back to what we've been saved from and who we've been saved by.

God chose us and pulled us out of the pit we couldn't escape on our own. This is the very same God who's perfect plan is unfolding by not saving some of the people we're talking to. God has crafted a perfect narrative that's still playing out in everything everyone does. This perfect story is the story about Christ, it's not over yet, and it's all for His glory; so we can rest in that hope because it's not about us. A God so powerful to make everything we know work perfectly to glorify Him surely will have an explanation for each of the individual people we talk to, whether they come to know Him, or stand opposed on the day of judgement; that explanation will be more than enough for us. We can be comforted that He had a reason for their opposition just as He had a reason for the salvation of His elect. We have done our job as watchmen to alert them. We can now pray for them, but ultimately God is sovereign over this matter and we have the privilege of trusting Him. That's the amazing part of the Gospel, we don't do anything, it's completely up to God. Despite being disheartened by people's blindness, our God is perfect, and it's His will for only some to respond to His calling, so we can rest in that truth. - Daniel Routhier

Outreaches in the City of Salisbury

A reminder to have childlike faith
This week was such a reminder of God's faithfulness. How God uses our shortcomings and weak selves to glorify Himself {2 Corinthians 12:9-10 "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."}. Back in Wales, our kid's clubs were so small, but the school assemblies here were so full. There were over 200 kids at Clatford Primary intensely listening to the Gospel. Seeing how God brought all those kids and how they were so well behaved was amazing. After realizing how many were there, it got a little nerve wracking to go up in front of them all and do a Gospel message, but once again God was gracious and gave me boldness.

This entire trip has been a testament to God giving all of us such boldness which, apart from the Spirit, we all lack. It was such a blessing to see so many kids excited to hear God's Word. The school assemblies were especially refreshing because the streets have been few in numbers. The kids were so honest in realizing their sins and need for a Savior. Getting to tell them all about Jesus and see their smiles at the Good News was a reminder to not lose sight of that childlike faith. The total reliance on God and realization that it's only by God that we have life. It's such a gift being able to go into schools and share the Good News. Thankfully, we get to go back next week, which I can't wait for!!! - Marissa Henkle