Good evening! I hope you are well and have had a good couple
of weeks. This is my final week in Eston! Where has the time gone? My blog this
evening is going to be me reflecting on the past year, sharing with you what I
have learnt and where I have seen God and what I think He has been doing
throughout my time in Eston.
There have been many specific times that I can say have been
a real highlight of my year, but there have been a few moments where I have had
to take a step back and just be in awe of what God was doing at that specific
time. One particular time was at Christmas where Eston Salvation Army
distributed presents to the local community. Even though this was a highlight,
it was also probably the most challenging thing I have ever been a part of. It
was the Friday before Christmas and the day before I was going home for the
Christmas break and I remember I was feeling a bit ill. So all of this put
together, I may have gone into the day with a holiday mindset, but that attitude
soon went when we started to meet people coming to collect their presents. It
was a day that I'll never forget as it was the day when I had a direct effect
on the happiness of people who were suffering. That day we were able to give
people relief from the grief they were currently feeling and show them
unconditional love. Throughout this year Isaiah 61 kept on cropping up, it
reads; "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has
anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the
prisoners". That day I met people who were broken hearted and I saw places
that were in darkness and being a part of Eston Salvation Army gave me an
opportunity to live out Isaiah 61. I believe that day God did pour His Spirit
on to the Salvation Army and we did proclaim good news to the poor and we did,
if only for a short while, bind up the broken-hearted. We can make a difference
in people's lives, I saw it that day and that was directly because God was with
us, I felt Him there moving amongst us. I pray that the Lord will give me more
chances to live out Isaiah 61, I will always look for chances to proclaim the
good news that Jesus can transform lives and that I will always look for the
those who are marginalised and those who are suffering in society. I pray that
I will no longer be comfortable in being content with my own happiness but seek
to proclaim freedom for those who are prisoners of their own circumstance,
wherever I may be serving in the future.
Another great time for me this year was actually away from
placement and it was when I was serving with ALOVE at Spring Harvest. We were
leading the 11-14 year old venue and I can honestly say that the Spirit was
moving in that place in such a powerful way. I was able to pray with young people
and watch young people's lives be changed because they were giving their lives
to God for maybe the first time. That experience of intense ministry left
exhausted but most of all inspired as I have come to learn that when we
minister to people, God ministers to us and that is something that I must never
forget. Having that experience of working with young people was invaluable and
also very challenging. When young people confide in me to tell me things that
they have told no other human being is totally humbling and also terrifying.
That week at Spring Harvest was a blessing and a time I cannot and should never
forget, we sang a song that has stuck with me since the event and the song is a
song of commitment and it is a commitment that I made and as I share it with
you please understand my honesty when I say that this is how I want to live my
life, a life for God and God alone. The song was "So I'll stand, my arms raised and
heart abandoned in awe of the One who gave it all. And I'll stand, my soul Lord
to you surrendered, all I have is yours!"
The final highlight is something that has taken from
September to now and it is something that is still a work in progress. It is
the relationships I have built with this community. People know me as James
from the Salvation Army through schools, Pubs, other Churches, Parent and
Toddler groups, coffee mornings and I could go on. I don't say this is
highlight because I got to know more people but because of the fact that for
many people in this community they see me, along with other members of Eston
Salvation Army, as the face of the Salvation Army and ultimately Jesus. In
Exodus Chapter 33 we read Moses' conversation with God and Moses asks God
"how will people know that we are different if you are not with us?"
and this passage of scripture has challenged me as how will people know that
there I have something different in my life unless I show them the presence of
God dwelling within me? But how will people see that presence of God in my life
unless I get to know them? And I believe I have got to know this community and this
community has blessed me and I am privileged and humbled to think that God sent
me here to help build His kingdom in this place.
I will soon be leaving Eston and starting a new adventure, I
have got a job in London working with Messy Church, looking to develop youth
work through Messy Church. It's something new and exciting and I think I will
carry on blogging! But I want to thank everybody who has given me opportunities
to develop and grow this year and I thank you, those who read my blogs and I
know there are those out there who pray for me and for that I am incredibly
thankful. I pray that God will bless you, God will bless Eston Salvation Army
and Gary and Lorraine and that God will bless all those who love and serve Him.
I remain certain that God has greater things in store and I will leave you with
this promise from the Word of God;
"What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard and
what no human mind has conceived, the things God has prepared for those who
love him"
1 Corinthians 2:9
God Bless.
pegg.j@hotmail.co.uk
@peggo36
