Evening all. This is now my 4th blog, so that means tomorrow it'll be a whole month since I had my farewell from Wellingborough Salvation Army (my home corps/church) and started my journey on this Essential programme. Wow, how time flies.
My first full week at Eston has gone and this week to say the least has been a real eye opener. In one way it has been great to see the work Eston Corps is doing here, passionate and driven ministry and something that excites me beyond belief. Although in other aspects the ministry Eston Corps has to provide isn't pleasant at all and I think it is very sad and challenging that there is a need for this type of work. It was my first proper day at the Corps and Gary and Lorraine (the officers/ministers at Eston) had told us the nature of the ministry they provide, in particular to those struggling financially and seeking food parcels. I saw people that day look to the Salvation Army for help at a time when they were most at need. We would so rather not want to have to do this ministry but the fact of the matter is that there are people who need it. I am no politician and nor do I have any political opinion but when I see people having to ask for food to keep their family fed because they simply cannot afford it and yet there are still people in this country who get paid large sums of money on top of what they should be earning, something is not right! That day people came to us for help and again, although I would rather it not happened, it was a priviledge for God to use me and the team around me to minister his Grace. I saw the Face of Christ that day, I saw it through those who ministered to those people who came to us. To them, we were the Face of Christ. In Scripture, we read the story in Luke Chapter 7 where the Woman stepped out from the crowd in faith and touched the robe of Jesus, he turned around and looked at her. She literally saw the Face of Christ, a face of compassion, a face of comfort and ultimately a face of Love! If I am to be anything like Christ I must reflect his heart of compassion and to anyone who sees me, they must feel like they have encountered the Love of Christ. For if I will not minister to them, if I will not show Christ's love for them, who shall?
But also I looked upon the Face of Christ when I spoke to these people. In Matthew Chapter 25 it says "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." God loves his Children, so much he would give his only Son to die on a cross for them. He sent Jesus to suffer for us, so when we suffer, so does Christ! So surely as Christians who believe in Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord, we must serve these people with love and compassion? I read a story and what happened in this story isn't too different to what happened to me, just in more drastic circumstances. It comes from the book 'The Irresistible Revolution' by Shane Claiborne. It reads;
"Most days I would go to the clinic run by the lepers-become doctors, and a line would form as people waited to be treated. The doctors would lay out a huge pile of cotton about four feet high, and my job was to roll cotton balls for them as they cared for one another. I would watch intently, fascinated by their love and compassion. One afternoon as things were winding down, one of the doctors had to leave early, but there were a few patients still waiting to be seen. He looked at me emphatically and said 'You know how this works; you have been watching. It's your turn,' Startled, I just stared at him. I had been watching, and I did know what to do, but I wasn't sure I dared. I came forward and sat in the doctor's seat and began staring into the next patient's eyes, and the decision hasd already been made. I began carefully dressing the man's wound. He stared at me with such intensity that it felt like he was looking into my soul. Every once in a while he would slowly close his eyes. When I was finished, he said to me that sacred word i had come to love; "Namaste." I smiled with tears in my eyes and whispered "Jesus." He saw Jesus in me. And I saw Jesus in him... I saw a clearer glimpse of Jesus in this leper's eyes than any stained-glass window could ever give me."
What a challenge we have, to show Christ and yet also to serve Christ. This really challenged me this week and I know that God will continue to challenge me and really work wonders in me and pray that I will be given this priviledge again to minister the Grace and Love of our God.
Once again I thank you for reading this and I hope in some way through reading this blog you will be blessed and encouraged and maybe even inspired to make a difference and be Christ to those who you come into contact.
Please get in touch if you have an comments or questions or prayer requests. It would be good to hear from you.
God bless each and every one of you!
@peggo36
pegg.j@hotmail.co.uk
Monday 30 September 2013
Monday 23 September 2013
Only a Train Journey
Good Evening! I hope you are all keeping well? I hate to say it but I think Winter is on it's way. The essentials were in Leeds this week and take it from me that it was bitterly cold up there, so I do ask for your prayers this winter because as a true southerner I'm not sure I will be able to survive the Northern Winter.
Yes, our final week of training began in Leeds, in the lovely Christian Westwood Centre. A really fitting place for, once again, God to speak to our Hearts and Minds. At the start of our week the sessions very much focussed on Social Action. We were challenged and, certainly in my case, had a blanket of naivety pulled away from us and we experienced a place in Leeds where it is fair to say that there is obvious poverty. We were thinking about this community and the people inhabiting it and we asked the question, Why? Why are there people who want to live on this estate? Why don't they want to get away from it all and start afresh? I suppose these are questions that we cannot answer, but I know there is a God whom I love and serve who is already in that estate. Although it maybe difficult to see Him through the misery and obvious lack of ambition and love in that place, He is there. This got me thinking, as a Salvation Army, as Christians should we not be in those places? Should we not be working with people in this darkness and showing them the light of God that is trying to beam through the community? My answer was yes. Yes we should. In every aspect of our lives we need to show Christ and we need to in particular show these areas Jesus and the love he has for them. What a task! But the greatest thing and maybe also the most daunting thing is that this task was given by Jesus to his disciples many years ago. In Matthew Chapter 28; we read of the great commission and Jesus says "Go make Disciples of all nations". There's the task, there's our commission but Jesus also said to us, "I am with you always..." Wow. What a promise! When we have Jesus we need not fear anything, he gives us everything for any task by just him always being with us! We need to take him into those communities and let the light of God grow and grow in those places. We carried on the week, continuing with our sessions and learning a bit more about ourselves and the work we will be doing this year. It was a great couple of weeks and I personally want to thank the Alove team for the oppurtunity.
A key theme running through our training over the last few weeks has been building relationships with the people around you. I personally believe that this week God has put me in situations where I have had to put that teaching into practice. I was on my way home from training and I was really looking forward to see all the ones I love, but anything that could of gone against me did. I missed two trains, one I was only seconds away from and two, if I stayed on that train I may have been fined as I had the wrong type of ticket. So after waiting a good hour and a half I finally got the train I wanted. Sat down and opposite me was a man and being polite we got chatting and the conversation turned to the Salvation Army and what the Salvation Army believe. What a priviledge! So as I got off that train and went on another, sat down and another man was there. Again we got chatting and the conversation once more led to the work of the Salvation Army and we had a discussion of there being one God and the fact that there shouldn't be any sort of deep divisions in beliefs (touchy subject I know). But the fact of the matter is that by simply talking to two complete strangers, I shared what I believed. I thank God for that oppurtunity, I thank God that I wasn't able to catch the earlier trains and I pray that whatever I may have said to those men that something may have been planted and that God would be able to grow in them. What a priviledge for me that God put me in that situation, it was only a simple train journey back home but I was able to unexpectedly just tell people of who God is and his work on this earth.
So it is the 24th September tomorrow and the real work starts. I am so looking forward to it! There is so much potential here in Eston and I am just honoured that God has placed me here. When I think back I don't really know how I've ended up here but by the Grace of God I am here and I know he will continue to do marvellous work here in Eston but also in your life because he is a faithful, loving God.
I say this each week but again please feel free to get in contact about anything in this blog or about essential or whatever! And remember hold each other up in Prayer.
Twitter- @peggo36
Email- pegg,j@hotmail.co.uk
God bless.
Yes, our final week of training began in Leeds, in the lovely Christian Westwood Centre. A really fitting place for, once again, God to speak to our Hearts and Minds. At the start of our week the sessions very much focussed on Social Action. We were challenged and, certainly in my case, had a blanket of naivety pulled away from us and we experienced a place in Leeds where it is fair to say that there is obvious poverty. We were thinking about this community and the people inhabiting it and we asked the question, Why? Why are there people who want to live on this estate? Why don't they want to get away from it all and start afresh? I suppose these are questions that we cannot answer, but I know there is a God whom I love and serve who is already in that estate. Although it maybe difficult to see Him through the misery and obvious lack of ambition and love in that place, He is there. This got me thinking, as a Salvation Army, as Christians should we not be in those places? Should we not be working with people in this darkness and showing them the light of God that is trying to beam through the community? My answer was yes. Yes we should. In every aspect of our lives we need to show Christ and we need to in particular show these areas Jesus and the love he has for them. What a task! But the greatest thing and maybe also the most daunting thing is that this task was given by Jesus to his disciples many years ago. In Matthew Chapter 28; we read of the great commission and Jesus says "Go make Disciples of all nations". There's the task, there's our commission but Jesus also said to us, "I am with you always..." Wow. What a promise! When we have Jesus we need not fear anything, he gives us everything for any task by just him always being with us! We need to take him into those communities and let the light of God grow and grow in those places. We carried on the week, continuing with our sessions and learning a bit more about ourselves and the work we will be doing this year. It was a great couple of weeks and I personally want to thank the Alove team for the oppurtunity.
A key theme running through our training over the last few weeks has been building relationships with the people around you. I personally believe that this week God has put me in situations where I have had to put that teaching into practice. I was on my way home from training and I was really looking forward to see all the ones I love, but anything that could of gone against me did. I missed two trains, one I was only seconds away from and two, if I stayed on that train I may have been fined as I had the wrong type of ticket. So after waiting a good hour and a half I finally got the train I wanted. Sat down and opposite me was a man and being polite we got chatting and the conversation turned to the Salvation Army and what the Salvation Army believe. What a priviledge! So as I got off that train and went on another, sat down and another man was there. Again we got chatting and the conversation once more led to the work of the Salvation Army and we had a discussion of there being one God and the fact that there shouldn't be any sort of deep divisions in beliefs (touchy subject I know). But the fact of the matter is that by simply talking to two complete strangers, I shared what I believed. I thank God for that oppurtunity, I thank God that I wasn't able to catch the earlier trains and I pray that whatever I may have said to those men that something may have been planted and that God would be able to grow in them. What a priviledge for me that God put me in that situation, it was only a simple train journey back home but I was able to unexpectedly just tell people of who God is and his work on this earth.
So it is the 24th September tomorrow and the real work starts. I am so looking forward to it! There is so much potential here in Eston and I am just honoured that God has placed me here. When I think back I don't really know how I've ended up here but by the Grace of God I am here and I know he will continue to do marvellous work here in Eston but also in your life because he is a faithful, loving God.
I say this each week but again please feel free to get in contact about anything in this blog or about essential or whatever! And remember hold each other up in Prayer.
Twitter- @peggo36
Email- pegg,j@hotmail.co.uk
God bless.
Monday 16 September 2013
Second Week- 'Looking Back, Looking Down and Looking Forward'
Good evening everyone, hope you've all had a good week? It's been a very interesting week for me at the training college. As I said in my last blog I am currently receiving my training for my upcoming year on the Salvation Army's programme- 'Essential'. This week's blog is called 'Looking Back, Looking Down and Looking forward' and thinking of the past week that's basically what I have been doing. Sometimes with excitement and promise but other times literally been looking with fear!
Seeing as we were in London this week, we went on the Salvation Army's Heritage Tour. Lt.Col Alex Morrice took us around the East End of London to show us the very birthplace of the Salvation Army and just where William Booth received his call from God to preach the Gospel to the lost. During the tour, the Lt.Col said something very profound that has stuck with me. He said 'We need to know where we have come from to know where we are going'. And he's right, yes we can't afford to dwell on it but we have to look back on our history to understand what runs through our veins, why we have this passion for the marginalised and why we have to continue God's work through the Salvation Army. So as we walking around 'Mile End's waste' viewing the sites of the old 'Christian Misson' (yes both songs were sung) I felt this sense of not only this being the Salvation Army as an organisation's heritage but actually it being my heritage. God raised the Army up to fight for the lost and preach the Gospel, but also through the Army I was born. Through the Army my parents were born. Through the army I've met the most wonderful people who have had a huge impact on my life and it has been through the Army God called me to ministry. I have a lot to thank the Salvation Army for. So looking back at our past really secured that great feeling of where I've come from, spiritually through the Army but also what the Salvation Army has done for me.
If there is anyone who is reading this who is thinking of applying for essential next year then I can assure it's not all work, there is some play. However on this particular evening I would have preferred to sit in any session of any deep theological subject, as we all went Rock Climbing. Now I am, admittedly, a bit of a coward when it comes to heights and this was not something I was looking forward to. So as I was getting strapped up and ready to go, I looked up at this wall and thought that I'm never going to get up there! But off I went all the same, and I almost got to the top when I looked down and saw how high up I was. My legs began to tremble and kept losing my footing and yes I was very scared. My little blog thought for you actually has been inspired by this... interesting experience, who needs to know how to climb a rock when you are living on one? In Matthew Chapter 7: verse 21-29 we read the parable of building a house on solid ground. This house was built on top of the rock, it was firm, it was safe. I cannot afford for it to be on the side of the rock, dangling off of it and holding on for dear life. I must put my trust in Jesus and build my life on the sure foundations of his love. Needless to say I did get off the rock and I can assure you I won't be going rock climbing any time soon... I'll stick with bible study or something.
Maybe the most powerful thing to happen this week was actually coffee. We all met Captain Nick Coke, the Commanding Officer at Stepney Green Corps, to have a chat about what's happening and how the corps is growing in the community. However what I didn't expect to hear is how powerful Captain Nick's vision for the community of Stepney is. He spoke about the surrounding areas, he spoke about the multi-culture in the community and how he builds relationships with people throughout Stepney. It is easily said that great things have happened and are happening at Stepney but it got me thinking about my own future ministry and that I have to keep looking forward, looking for ways to minister, looking for ways to build relationships with people in the community. It really inspired me just how much work God can do in a community in what is quite a small space of time. I went home from that coffee shop to put it simply 'buzzing' and enthused to get on with some work because I have just heard a testimony of what God can do with a community of believers. But now I need to witness it for myself and I hope and pray I will experience that might moving of the Spirit in the coming year at Eston.
Well thankyou for reading my blog. You can follow me on Twitter- @peggo36. Get in touch if you have any questions about Essential or anything you've read in my blog or just that you have a prayer request. Don't be afraid to contact me. I hope you all have a good week!
God Bless you all.
Monday 9 September 2013
First Week- Change and Challenge
Hello!
So it's begun. After a summer what could be said to have been occasionally stressful and anxious, Essential is finally here! It wasn't exactly the easiest time leaving the people I love but in faith believing, I am here. The Essential Year is a year where I will be working in a corps, getting involved with the programme and (God Willing) make a positive impact in the community. My Placement is up north, around 300 miles away from my home, in Eston Corps near Middlesbrough.
If you are reading this you've come across my blog, Thankyou! Here you can read all the happenings, all the challenges and hopefully just get an insight into what God is doing in my life. So please read on and hopefully you'll get something out of my blog...
We began the week on monday, meeting at the very scenic location of Gilwell Park in Essex. Although it wasn't, at first, the nicest thing to have this enormous change happen in my life, that place has now become in my memories a very special and hallowed place. Other than the activities and all the fun we had there, there were moments when I could really feel the presence of God. To recall a few, we went and settled down on top of a hill. This hill was overlooking the whole of North London and we were challenged to look over the city and think about the task that is ahead of us. Then all of a sudden, this awesome sense of God telling "James! you have work to do!" I looked over that hill and I knew that there were people who need Christ and why shouldn't it be me who brings them closer to an understanding of the Love Jesus has for them.
So after Gilwell we travelled to our placements to meet the people and the Corps and get a little taster for what is in store for us. On our first day, it rained.... and I would of loved to have said it rained 'Showers of Blessings' but instead of it was more like a Monsoon of anything but blessings. But as the Corps Officers, Captains Gary and Lorraine Chaundy, took us around the area, again I felt this urgency to 'get stuck in' and do some proper work and really bring the knowledge of God into areas where it would seem almost "Godless". Sunday we went to worship at Eston Corps and Captain Lorraine led our worship and focused on 'buying into the mission' and getting behind what God is doing in the community. The meeting, although different to what I'm used to, was fun and it definitely gave me a new experience of what worship can be. But overall, the welcome was excellent, the people were so down to earth and myself and my housemate are very blessed and thankful that God has placed us there.
So it's begun. After a summer what could be said to have been occasionally stressful and anxious, Essential is finally here! It wasn't exactly the easiest time leaving the people I love but in faith believing, I am here. The Essential Year is a year where I will be working in a corps, getting involved with the programme and (God Willing) make a positive impact in the community. My Placement is up north, around 300 miles away from my home, in Eston Corps near Middlesbrough.
If you are reading this you've come across my blog, Thankyou! Here you can read all the happenings, all the challenges and hopefully just get an insight into what God is doing in my life. So please read on and hopefully you'll get something out of my blog...
We began the week on monday, meeting at the very scenic location of Gilwell Park in Essex. Although it wasn't, at first, the nicest thing to have this enormous change happen in my life, that place has now become in my memories a very special and hallowed place. Other than the activities and all the fun we had there, there were moments when I could really feel the presence of God. To recall a few, we went and settled down on top of a hill. This hill was overlooking the whole of North London and we were challenged to look over the city and think about the task that is ahead of us. Then all of a sudden, this awesome sense of God telling "James! you have work to do!" I looked over that hill and I knew that there were people who need Christ and why shouldn't it be me who brings them closer to an understanding of the Love Jesus has for them.
So after Gilwell we travelled to our placements to meet the people and the Corps and get a little taster for what is in store for us. On our first day, it rained.... and I would of loved to have said it rained 'Showers of Blessings' but instead of it was more like a Monsoon of anything but blessings. But as the Corps Officers, Captains Gary and Lorraine Chaundy, took us around the area, again I felt this urgency to 'get stuck in' and do some proper work and really bring the knowledge of God into areas where it would seem almost "Godless". Sunday we went to worship at Eston Corps and Captain Lorraine led our worship and focused on 'buying into the mission' and getting behind what God is doing in the community. The meeting, although different to what I'm used to, was fun and it definitely gave me a new experience of what worship can be. But overall, the welcome was excellent, the people were so down to earth and myself and my housemate are very blessed and thankful that God has placed us there.
I don't really like sharing my personal devotions but I don't mind sharing this one with you, but actually my thoughts could not be diverted from these deprived areas. My devotions focussed on The Gospel and we all have heard or said "We need to preach the Gospel" or "show people the Gospel" and in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 it begins to tell us what the Gospel is. That night I also heard a sermon that reaffirmed my feelings that the Gospel is simply Jesus and it is "by the Gospel you (we) are saved" (Verse 2). I need to bring Jesus into this community, I need to take the Gospel of Christ and really make a difference in Eston. For it is Jesus and only Jesus that can change the lives of people and although they may not know it they need him, I need him, we all need him!
Well now I am writing this in the William Booth Training College, I'm here for a week to do some training that is pretty essential (ha! See what I did there?) and I know God is going to be in the teaching. I'm pretty excited to learn more about theology and mission but I'm actually enjoying this experience. I'm not enjoying not being with the people I love but I think that is part of the whole journey, I need to be challenged and my comfort zones rocked but God can only use this to change and help me grow to be more like Christ.
So that's the first week, please keep an eye out for more blogs and hopefully over the next couple of weeks I may do some video blogs (I hear they are called vlogs?). Please feel free to comment and to leave any sort of prayer requests as I ask that you will pray for me, my essential and Alove colleagues, my loved ones and especially for the work of the Salvation Army in Eston and throughout the United Kingdom territory.
Follow me on twitter- @peggo36
God Bless.
Well now I am writing this in the William Booth Training College, I'm here for a week to do some training that is pretty essential (ha! See what I did there?) and I know God is going to be in the teaching. I'm pretty excited to learn more about theology and mission but I'm actually enjoying this experience. I'm not enjoying not being with the people I love but I think that is part of the whole journey, I need to be challenged and my comfort zones rocked but God can only use this to change and help me grow to be more like Christ.
So that's the first week, please keep an eye out for more blogs and hopefully over the next couple of weeks I may do some video blogs (I hear they are called vlogs?). Please feel free to comment and to leave any sort of prayer requests as I ask that you will pray for me, my essential and Alove colleagues, my loved ones and especially for the work of the Salvation Army in Eston and throughout the United Kingdom territory.
Follow me on twitter- @peggo36
God Bless.
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