For Christmas, our squad received the news that we would be not be going to South Africa for the month but to London, England. You may be wondering, “Why England?” Well, there are a few reasons. The first, we had been stuck for a total of eight days in Bangkok due to the mob at the airport. The airport shut-down & thousands upon thousands of people were unable to leave. The government tried to help by opening up their military base to take on the flights that were cancelled. These charter flights went on for days, but it was looking like our flight to Joburg was not happening anytime soon. It was taking so long because major cities such as London were first priority.
The second reason we are here is because since we had been stuck for so long in Asia, there was no possible way to make it to our contacts for ministry in Africa before they were scheduled to leave on holiday.
The second reason we are here is because since we had been stuck for so long in Asia, there was no possible way to make it to our contacts for ministry in Africa before they were scheduled to leave on holiday.
The third reason, a packaged deal for our trip was given. It saved us a lot of money to fly to London & stay here until Jan when we take a direct flight to Africa. We will be in Africa for two months & then will fly back into London for our connecting flight to Eastern Europe for our last leg of the Race.
We arrived in London on December 4, so we have been here for one week. Our squad had no idea about what ministry would look like, so we stayed with YWAM (Big Thanks!) for the weekend to sort out what we would do & were we would live. We had to consider who needed us & our tight budget. Of course, God totally worked it out! On Monday, we arrived in our new location for ministry (yes, our squad is able to stay together for ministry!) & have been working hard since. Due to the sensitivity of our contacts & what we are doing, we are not at liberty to go into much detail. It is really meant to keep those safe who have become Christians here in London & there families. What I can say is that we are working for a church who hosts international students to come & help minister to different ethnic groups in the city of London. They are conducting a conference with out-reaches that will begin Saturday & last until the 23 of December. This charitable organization has helped us greatly in housing us & have also spent time training us! This has been a huge blessing. We are NEEDED here to help them & join with them, which is an honor.
If you could, please remember to be praying for us. We are so thankful for the gift of being here in the cold weather for the Christmas holiday (8 months of summer finally ended!), but nevertheless we have & will have times of home-sickness. Pray for those we are working with because England is, spiritually speaking, a dark country. People from all over the world come here & so the impact can be great! We know God is doing amazing things here (stories I wish I could tell you!) & God has us here in London for a special reason! It really is a Christmas present from God!!! I just hope we get to see some snow! Since internet is not so reliable here due to Tec reasons, I have not yet been able to post pictures. I do apologize for that. I will try to post some pictures tomorrow & send-out an e-mail update if time permits! Below, is the verse I am going to often this month. I pray God uses it to speak to you too. Know I am praying for you all & wish you a wonderful day loving on others the way Christ is loving on you! =)
“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.” Psalm 103:11-14
