The Royal Mile

God has been so faithful and gracious to us since our arrival here in Glasgow, Scotland.  He blessed us with a visit this past weekend from the Lorraine, Cheryl, and Tami, the mother and two sisters of our Pastor Steve back in Rochester.  They were such an encouragement to us and we had a wonderful time. We were able to have them over to our flat for a meal with Pastor Scott and his wife Alison.  It was a great time of conversation and fellowship.  We also got the chance for the first time in Scotland to be real tourists! We took the train to Edinburgh and walked THE ROYAL MILE. Here are a few pictures from our journey, and if you would like to see more, I will be posting them on Facebook

The Royal Mile!

Pretending to be a soldier

A little armor action

"God and my right"

Oldest building in Edinburgh (12th century)

Sweet monument in a church

St. Giles Cathedral

Edinburgh Castle

Part of Hollyrood Palace

practicing my siege tactics...

We love all of you and are so thankful for your support.  God is working and we are continually in God's Word trying to move forward in God's strength and align ourselves to His will!

Summer & Spiritual Preparation

This week we have had great weather, for Scotland that is. We keep hearing from everyone that this is the only summer we will get so we better enjoy it! We have spent a lot of time outside walking around different parks and the area of Glasgow we live in. Two of our favorite parks are Pollock Park and Queen's Park.

Pollock Park is about a 2 minute walk from our flat. It has a river going through it, some historical buildings, a museum, and lots of highland cattle which I am growing quite fond of:)

Ben outside the Pollock House

This guy got stuck in the fence

I made Ben try to help him and in return he got licked:)

Finally unstuck

This little guy was my favorite. He likes to chase crows and pounce on them.

Taking the Gospel to the Parks:
Once baby arrives I'm excited to continue walks in the park and hopefully be able to meet some moms and witness to them. While walking through Queen's Park this week we met a guy named Jimmy who had two very large dogs. The dogs probably came up to the middle of my stomach when standing on four legs. They were quite friendly dogs though. We were able to spend quite a bit of time talking with Jimmy and sharing the gospel with him. He was very open to hearing our ideas, but wasn't convinced that Jesus is the only way to God. We hope to meet up with Jimmy again and continue sharing with him as he is a regular at the park. Pray that God would open Jimmy's heart and bring him to a place of repentance and salvation.

Spiritual Preparation:
Right now I feel as though we are still waiting for things to happen which leaves us with a lot of time to prepare. Bible studies, college ministry, service projects, and VBS are all things I'm waiting for to begin. At first I struggled with this because I wanted to "do something." But God has been teaching me that spiritual preparation is the best thing I can do to prepare for these ministries. So while I wait I have been spending more time in the Word, reading books, listening to sermons, and praying. I'm excited for these opportunities to begin, but am also trying to enjoy spending time with the Lord and letting him grow me and prepare me to lead in these areas.

Baby:
Baby has been moving a lot lately which has been really fun. Ben was able to feel Baby move for the first time a few days ago. Today we have an ultrasound and are hoping to get some good pictures of Baby. Only 16 more weeks to go!!

Dani at 24 weeks!

Picture this...

Hey friends!

We wanted to give you all a chance to see a few pictures of the things we have seen as well as things we are a part of here at Harvest Bible Chapel Glasgow!

*Please continue to pray for this church body to be grown in a healthy way as it is our desire for people to come to a saving faith by the power of Jesus Christ for His glory and our good!

Glasgow City Center

Glasgow University

Glasgow University

Wallace Monument

Wallace Monument

Wallace Monument

Falkirk Wheel

starting MULTIPLY ministry for young adults

Current sermon series

YOU ARE LOVED!

Stupid Bold; It's Not About Me

When we came to Glasgow, we were issued a challenge. The challenge...be STUPID BOLD. Not just bold, but stupid bold. Our Challenge: to walk up to people ask to pray for them, ask to share our stories with them, get to know them. Honestly I was not really liking that plan. I have a hard time starting conversations with people I already know, so to start a conversation with a perfect stranger was and still is a crazy idea to me. I guess that's why it is called stupid bold. I also had other thoughts going through my head like "what good does 'street evangelism' really do, people here won't even want to listen to my story.

Reluctantly we decided to put some stupid boldness into practice. However before we went out to talk to random strangers, I took some time to pray and think about why we would even do this. I asked God to open my eyes to the people around me, to give me a genuine love for them, and to break my heart with their brokenness. I asked God that he would guide us to specific people to talk with. We talked with a few students and although they said "they knew of Jesus, but had no need for him in their lives," they allowed us to get to know them, share our testimonies and the gospel with them, and were very appreciative of our offers for prayer. They were engaged in what were saying and my prayer is that God would send others to water those seeds and He would grow them.

I'm not saying that street evangelism is always the best way to witness to people, it does help to have a relationship with people so you can have follow up conversations with them. But I know that God is sovereign and if he leads us to people to share the gospel with there is a purpose. I may never see that purpose, but it's not about me. I think it is also important to remember that we don't have to go out and "do" street ministry, but rather live our lives with eyes open to opportunities. Be asking God for open doors to share with people, and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit when he guides you to people. Look for those red apples and take advantage of the opportunities God places in front of you on a daily basis. Sometimes it seems easier to share with people we don't know than with those we see everyday. Maybe we are afraid of what they think or that they will reject us. But if we truly love people the most loving thing we can do is share Christ with them. So maybe stupid bold doesn't just apply to strangers, but with those we have relationship with. Maybe it is a lifestyle. A lifestyle sold out to Christ, willing to go where he calls, and to speak boldly, out of a genuine love for people and an overflow of the love Christ showed to us.

"So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth." 1 Corinthians 3:7

Prayer Requests

• Praise God that we finally received our debit cards!
• Pray that we would continue to have an attitude of stupid boldness 
• Pray for Craig, Amanda, and Lynn the three students we shared with yesterday. Pray that God would move in their hearts, that they would see their need for Jesus, and be brought to a place of repentance.
• Pray for revival in our hearts, in the hearts of the people of Harvest Glasgow, and for the hearts of the people in Glasgow.
• Pray that we would always have a spirit of humility, knowing God is the one at work within and around us, and it's only by his grace that we can take part in God's Kingdom work.

                                             

Hurry Up and Wait

A little pre-blog treat for those in anticipation of the apartment viewing!

This week, and specifically today, I have been struck with the realization that over the past 6 months during our newest transitional period, that God has been impressing upon our hearts patience.  It's definitely safe to say that we have not only recognized this in the past but also had conversations about this exact topic.  It seems to me that because I am so thick headed at times that God needs to revisit a lot of the things that he has taught me previously, or maybe a more optimistic view is that I did learn the aspect he was teaching me and now there is something new to add into the mix. Good point to ponder I'd say!

Patience in the Bible:

• "I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry." Psalm 40:1 

• "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12

• "We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised." Hebrews 6:12

• "This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently, obeying his commands and maintaining their faith in Jesus." Revelation 4:12

Also this week I had the opportunity to listen to a sermon on biblical church planting by Voddie Baucham.  His main text for the sermon was in 2 Timothy.  Since then I have found a huge interest in digging back into the book of 2 Timothy for my personal devotions and have found it quite awesome.  I think I found my verse for the rest of the year and hopefully for the rest of my life!

 "As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."   2 Timothy 4:5

Things we are patiently waiting for:

New Baby

New Believers

New Friendships

In other news...

We have our address for those who wish to send us goodies, just ask!

We have our internet set up in our flat so we can Skype with you all as well!


YOU ARE LOVED!