Well last week Alan and I decided it would be a good idea for me to try to get to Georgia to see my family and to begin generating prayer and financial support for our mission to Germany. Also I'll be going through my attic and doing another major clear-out to raise funds to pay for our plane tickets home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. My plan was to go in July or August but the plane tickets jumped several hundred quid between June and July so I made a last minute decision to go this month.
Given that this week has suddenly turned nuts - sooooo much to do! First priority is our interview with Pioneers on Thursday in Bawtry. Then we're listing our house for sale and are also selling my Clio and about a dozen things on ebay to raise some funds. Doctors appointments to try and figure out why we haven't been able to have children yet and driving lessos. In addition to that we have the regular youth on Wednesday and Friday and Housegroup on Thursday.
Next week it's Georgia, time with the family, my precious nieces and sell, sell, sell! Looking forward to seeing great friends and enjoying the time away but I will miss my husband and sweet dog Webster to bits. God is starting to carve our path to Germany and we couldn't be more excited!
Monday, 14 June 2010
Monday, 7 June 2010
Watching God move in the lives of Teenagers
Sorry it's been a while again since I've posted but I've found being out of work has left me more consumed with things to do than ever before. Currently what consumes my time the most is work with my church which is fantastic because it's what I want to do for the rest of my life. Working for God has got to be the coolest job ever because it really doesn't feel like work and it brings so much joy and such a feeling of purpose and accomplishment. Nothing I ever received at Microsoft or Expedia or any other job even came close to what I feel as a full-time missionary.
Even though we haven't had our final interviews with Pioneers and received our appointment letter for Germany both Alan and I feel like I'm already in full-time christian service. I have been blessed to join up as a leader in our youth group and am also serving one day a week for a charity out of our church called the Ministry of Food. What I've enjoyed doing the most for them is building a database of manufacturers who could provide excess or unwanted food and charities who would want to come and get it. It's been nearly ten years since I was a database developer at LaserDirect and I just love working with data. Strange I know but I do love it! Probably because of the organization it creates and you all know how I love to be organized! lol
The other day I was cleaning out my house, throwing stuff away, finding stuff to sell on ebay to supplement our finances and I thought - wow I really love doing this kind of thing lol. I'm sure God thought it was funny to stick someone who absolutely loves being organized with a husband who really couldn't be bothered to organize anything if his life depended on it! I reference his car, boat and wardrobe as evidence to this claim lol. Alan is a fix-it man and fortunately for him today I made a list of fix-it tasks around the house that need to be done before we move to Germany. It's two pages, single-spaced. Haha he laughed when he saw it. I'm not sure how to take that exactly!! :)
Tonight we had a leadership meeting at the church where we talked primarily about the youth group and everything Hannah and I have been working on and planning for the next few months ahead. I absolutely love watching God move in the lives of teenagers. Just in the last few days I've had half a dozen of the teens we're working with ask me to get them bibles. One girl that I like a lot who is very shy asked Jesus into her heart on Sunday and I look forward to taking her through an aalpha course so she can fully understand the implications of her decision and also help disciple her for a few months before we go. God has been so faithful to continue to put people in my path that I can work with, minister to and challenge. About a month ago I started a scripture memory challenge with our Wednesday night Influence group and the teens have really taken to it. They moan and groan a bit when I stop them on the street and make them quote the verses but as long as scripture gets engrained in their heads I can put up with the moaning :)).
Whether here in the UK or in Germany I know Alans and my missions focus will be on teenagers - evangelizing to them, discipling them, training them up in all areas of their lives and getting them onto the missions field. There's nothing better in all the world than seeing young people on fire for God and spreading that fire to their friends, their families and their schools. The great thing about the 15-23 age is most haven't become callous,hard or hurt yet, they all love a good challenge and they are dreamers. They believe they can do anything and with someone believing in them and loving them I honestly believe they can too.
Desperate for love, desperate for attention and desperate for Jesus - what better mission field could there be?!?
Even though we haven't had our final interviews with Pioneers and received our appointment letter for Germany both Alan and I feel like I'm already in full-time christian service. I have been blessed to join up as a leader in our youth group and am also serving one day a week for a charity out of our church called the Ministry of Food. What I've enjoyed doing the most for them is building a database of manufacturers who could provide excess or unwanted food and charities who would want to come and get it. It's been nearly ten years since I was a database developer at LaserDirect and I just love working with data. Strange I know but I do love it! Probably because of the organization it creates and you all know how I love to be organized! lol
The other day I was cleaning out my house, throwing stuff away, finding stuff to sell on ebay to supplement our finances and I thought - wow I really love doing this kind of thing lol. I'm sure God thought it was funny to stick someone who absolutely loves being organized with a husband who really couldn't be bothered to organize anything if his life depended on it! I reference his car, boat and wardrobe as evidence to this claim lol. Alan is a fix-it man and fortunately for him today I made a list of fix-it tasks around the house that need to be done before we move to Germany. It's two pages, single-spaced. Haha he laughed when he saw it. I'm not sure how to take that exactly!! :)
Tonight we had a leadership meeting at the church where we talked primarily about the youth group and everything Hannah and I have been working on and planning for the next few months ahead. I absolutely love watching God move in the lives of teenagers. Just in the last few days I've had half a dozen of the teens we're working with ask me to get them bibles. One girl that I like a lot who is very shy asked Jesus into her heart on Sunday and I look forward to taking her through an aalpha course so she can fully understand the implications of her decision and also help disciple her for a few months before we go. God has been so faithful to continue to put people in my path that I can work with, minister to and challenge. About a month ago I started a scripture memory challenge with our Wednesday night Influence group and the teens have really taken to it. They moan and groan a bit when I stop them on the street and make them quote the verses but as long as scripture gets engrained in their heads I can put up with the moaning :)).
Whether here in the UK or in Germany I know Alans and my missions focus will be on teenagers - evangelizing to them, discipling them, training them up in all areas of their lives and getting them onto the missions field. There's nothing better in all the world than seeing young people on fire for God and spreading that fire to their friends, their families and their schools. The great thing about the 15-23 age is most haven't become callous,hard or hurt yet, they all love a good challenge and they are dreamers. They believe they can do anything and with someone believing in them and loving them I honestly believe they can too.
Desperate for love, desperate for attention and desperate for Jesus - what better mission field could there be?!?
Friday, 21 May 2010
Not so great surprises
The Lord is teaching me to be on my guard for the little things which if not handled well can easily develop into something big and ugly.
Little things like this...
Alan is addicted to boats. I tried to choose my wording there carefully but addicted was the only thing close enough to describe this mans passion about sailing. He had his first sailboat when I met him but because he was very poor, no - not just regular poor but VERY poor, he decided to sell his boat to buy my engagement ring so we could be married. From the moment he told me what he'd done I've been trying to find a way to get him a replacement. Last Christmas I scraped together our pennies and bought a very run-down, needs a LOT of work but has potential sailing boat that he could fix up and use.
Fast forward to yesterday...
Alan has been rushing to get the boat finished these last few weeks so he could put it in the water this weekend. Functionally the boat was pretty sound and sea worthy but asthetically it was in need of a huge makeover. Alan had talked extensively about needing to paint it and had said to me several times, "want to paint my boat?" to which I always replied, "no thanks - that's your baby to do with as you'd like". When he took my inside for the first time he commented, don't worry I'm going to paint this white and you'll love it. He even surprised me by telling me he was going to name it "Mary Belle" for Beautiful Mary.
awwwwwww :)
Well, seeing that I had done nothing to help him and that he only had a couple of days remaining before his planned launch I decided to surprise him by cleaning his boat up really well. I'm pretty terrified of heights and so getting on the boat was a challenge but once I did I set to work and scrubbed and scrubbed to try to get it clean. Unfortunately there was no denying it needed a paint job so I decided to go to the boat paint store to buy what I needed to touch up the red sides and then paint the inside white like he had asked.
£46 pounds later I left the boat store and headed home. By 4:00pm I had finished the red and painted about 1/2 of the white and was running out of both paint and time. I so desperately wanted the whole boat painted before Alan got home but in the end decided he'd be happy with what I'd done so far and I'd tell him I'd finish it on Friday in time for him to take it out on the weekend.
I went inside and showered and waited for him to get home. In fact I waited upstairs by the window to see the expression on his face when he saw his new, clean painted boat. Unfortunately when he arrived he didn't notice anything and came straight inside, then there was a pause and I heard, "Mary - what have you done to my boat?" But it wasn't in a good way. It was in horror. I waited and watched him go back outside and when I saw the look on his face knew I had done something terribly, terribly wrong. It was as if I'd murdered his first born.
I told him I wanted to surprise him and that I had painted it just as he said he wanted it - white inside and out and touching up the red but he just looked at me like I'd stabbed him through the heart and then he said "oh I'm surprised but it's not in a good way... it's a terrible surpise!"
Well I was crushed. Apparently when he said he wanted the boat white he didn't really mean white - he meant he wanted to touch up the ugly cream that was already there and when he said he wanted me to paint the boat, he was only joking. I was so sorry I had spent my entire day going up and down the ladder, to the boat store twice, to the hardware store for paint thinner and more brushes and in the end only made a complete mess of it. Ha - I even took things to spruce up the inside like a little survival kit, family pictures, books on sailing, etc. He hated it - everything - hated.
Why is it the little things in life have such a big impact whereas the big stuff we seem to handle in stride? I promise you that the boat situation was far worse then most of the things we've had to face as a couple together. In reality though - it's nothing~! I tried to surpise my husband because I loved him doing what I thought he wanted and he hated it. So what!? It wasn't as if I intentionally tried to hurt or harm him.
He got upset because something I did wasn't perfect. So what!? Isn't he allowed to dislike some of the things I do? At least he was honest - brutally is probably not saying it strongly enough but hey, he didn't just tell me he didn't love me any more, was leaving and was having an affair with a married woman!
Why is it so hard for us to put things into perspective? Why do the little things rattle us so much? Please God sort out the little things so that we don't blow them up to be big things.
In the end our housegroup made us laugh as we retold the story last night. Mercifully we also got to hear stories of other funny husband/wife disagreements and differences. We're so grateful for our church and the love of the people there. God is good - though the big things yes but even more so through the little.
Little things like this...
Alan is addicted to boats. I tried to choose my wording there carefully but addicted was the only thing close enough to describe this mans passion about sailing. He had his first sailboat when I met him but because he was very poor, no - not just regular poor but VERY poor, he decided to sell his boat to buy my engagement ring so we could be married. From the moment he told me what he'd done I've been trying to find a way to get him a replacement. Last Christmas I scraped together our pennies and bought a very run-down, needs a LOT of work but has potential sailing boat that he could fix up and use.
Fast forward to yesterday...
Alan has been rushing to get the boat finished these last few weeks so he could put it in the water this weekend. Functionally the boat was pretty sound and sea worthy but asthetically it was in need of a huge makeover. Alan had talked extensively about needing to paint it and had said to me several times, "want to paint my boat?" to which I always replied, "no thanks - that's your baby to do with as you'd like". When he took my inside for the first time he commented, don't worry I'm going to paint this white and you'll love it. He even surprised me by telling me he was going to name it "Mary Belle" for Beautiful Mary.
awwwwwww :)
Well, seeing that I had done nothing to help him and that he only had a couple of days remaining before his planned launch I decided to surprise him by cleaning his boat up really well. I'm pretty terrified of heights and so getting on the boat was a challenge but once I did I set to work and scrubbed and scrubbed to try to get it clean. Unfortunately there was no denying it needed a paint job so I decided to go to the boat paint store to buy what I needed to touch up the red sides and then paint the inside white like he had asked.
£46 pounds later I left the boat store and headed home. By 4:00pm I had finished the red and painted about 1/2 of the white and was running out of both paint and time. I so desperately wanted the whole boat painted before Alan got home but in the end decided he'd be happy with what I'd done so far and I'd tell him I'd finish it on Friday in time for him to take it out on the weekend.
I went inside and showered and waited for him to get home. In fact I waited upstairs by the window to see the expression on his face when he saw his new, clean painted boat. Unfortunately when he arrived he didn't notice anything and came straight inside, then there was a pause and I heard, "Mary - what have you done to my boat?" But it wasn't in a good way. It was in horror. I waited and watched him go back outside and when I saw the look on his face knew I had done something terribly, terribly wrong. It was as if I'd murdered his first born.
I told him I wanted to surprise him and that I had painted it just as he said he wanted it - white inside and out and touching up the red but he just looked at me like I'd stabbed him through the heart and then he said "oh I'm surprised but it's not in a good way... it's a terrible surpise!"
Well I was crushed. Apparently when he said he wanted the boat white he didn't really mean white - he meant he wanted to touch up the ugly cream that was already there and when he said he wanted me to paint the boat, he was only joking. I was so sorry I had spent my entire day going up and down the ladder, to the boat store twice, to the hardware store for paint thinner and more brushes and in the end only made a complete mess of it. Ha - I even took things to spruce up the inside like a little survival kit, family pictures, books on sailing, etc. He hated it - everything - hated.
Why is it the little things in life have such a big impact whereas the big stuff we seem to handle in stride? I promise you that the boat situation was far worse then most of the things we've had to face as a couple together. In reality though - it's nothing~! I tried to surpise my husband because I loved him doing what I thought he wanted and he hated it. So what!? It wasn't as if I intentionally tried to hurt or harm him.
He got upset because something I did wasn't perfect. So what!? Isn't he allowed to dislike some of the things I do? At least he was honest - brutally is probably not saying it strongly enough but hey, he didn't just tell me he didn't love me any more, was leaving and was having an affair with a married woman!
Why is it so hard for us to put things into perspective? Why do the little things rattle us so much? Please God sort out the little things so that we don't blow them up to be big things.
In the end our housegroup made us laugh as we retold the story last night. Mercifully we also got to hear stories of other funny husband/wife disagreements and differences. We're so grateful for our church and the love of the people there. God is good - though the big things yes but even more so through the little.
Thursday, 13 May 2010
Lots going on - God is good
I've been busier than anticipated and haven't written for a couple of weeks so lots of updating to do.
First I'll say that my appeal against my dismissal was denied on the basis of being able to fire any one for any reason within their first year of employment. What is the most tragic thing is that everyone involved knows I was fired because I was extremely vocal about my faith and because I challenged the leadership of the organization to behave in a Christ-like way. Sometimes it's much easier just to silence your critics than repent and behave as you know you should. The CEO, who is not a christian, has made a lot of bad choices and has struggled. Most we've talked to believe it won't be long before he is forced out. Our lawyers told us we could fight the decision at an employment tribunal and that it was a clear case of unfair and wrongful termination but that given the laws in England we could not anticipate damage awards beyond what STF has already given so we told them we thought it was a waste of their time. We're grieved for the entire organization but we will wipe the dust off our feet and move on to bigger and better things ahead.
Speaking of ahead... Pioneers. Today I am working on our anticipated budget for Germany which is difficult given we will be the first team to locate there. Still, we have to put something together so we can begin raising funds so I'll base it on our budget here in England which will be about right from the comparisons we've seen. Within the next month we hope to get a final interview with Pioneers to get our appointment letter and then God willing raise our funds within 3-6 months so we can go to Germany by the first of the year.
In the meantime I believe God has been telling me to start helping out more in our local church and in one of the ministries out of the church called the Ministry of Food led by the same man who started Pater Noster, a ministry to the people of Romania. This week I have worked two days doing admin stuff for his charity and I will go down all day tomorrow as well. Right now the warehouse is in Liverpool so that's where we operate out of although it's a Wirral based charity. The goal of the ministry is to take unwanted but still good food from food manufacturers that would otherwise end up in landfills and distribute that food to the poor by means of dozens of charities in the Merseyside, Cheshire and Flintshire areas. It's a good ministry that deserves support and I hope that by helping them 1-2 days a week I can alleviate some of their workload.
Alan has decided to stay at STF until we move to Germany but he changes his mind occassionally and would like nothing more than to hand in his notice and be gone in a month. Still I think he can have a ministry there representing true christianity but will support any decision he decides to make. Alans freetime has been consumed with getting his sailboat sea-worthy so he can sail it this summer before he has to sell it when we move to Germany. The boat has cleaned up well and I think it'll be in the water before the end of the month. We got a used outboard for it at a steal of a deal and he was happy about that.
The other big development for us both is our continued involvement with the church. I've started getting more and more involved with the youth through helping with the band practice, the Wednesday night core group and the Friday night activities. They are a great group of students that could turn Birkenhead on its head in the months and years ahead. It'll be exciting to watch them grow in their faith and become the leaders I know they can be. Alan and I also started a prayer group on Sunday morning before church that we hope will grow. We continue to lead our housegroup out of our house on Thursday nights although we never know from week to week how many we'll have. My hope is that God will really move in our church and that more people will come to know the Lord and those that do know Him will be renewed in their walks and feel more joy and peace and relief from suffering. England is a dark place but God still loves this country and wants revival to begin with His church.
First I'll say that my appeal against my dismissal was denied on the basis of being able to fire any one for any reason within their first year of employment. What is the most tragic thing is that everyone involved knows I was fired because I was extremely vocal about my faith and because I challenged the leadership of the organization to behave in a Christ-like way. Sometimes it's much easier just to silence your critics than repent and behave as you know you should. The CEO, who is not a christian, has made a lot of bad choices and has struggled. Most we've talked to believe it won't be long before he is forced out. Our lawyers told us we could fight the decision at an employment tribunal and that it was a clear case of unfair and wrongful termination but that given the laws in England we could not anticipate damage awards beyond what STF has already given so we told them we thought it was a waste of their time. We're grieved for the entire organization but we will wipe the dust off our feet and move on to bigger and better things ahead.
Speaking of ahead... Pioneers. Today I am working on our anticipated budget for Germany which is difficult given we will be the first team to locate there. Still, we have to put something together so we can begin raising funds so I'll base it on our budget here in England which will be about right from the comparisons we've seen. Within the next month we hope to get a final interview with Pioneers to get our appointment letter and then God willing raise our funds within 3-6 months so we can go to Germany by the first of the year.
In the meantime I believe God has been telling me to start helping out more in our local church and in one of the ministries out of the church called the Ministry of Food led by the same man who started Pater Noster, a ministry to the people of Romania. This week I have worked two days doing admin stuff for his charity and I will go down all day tomorrow as well. Right now the warehouse is in Liverpool so that's where we operate out of although it's a Wirral based charity. The goal of the ministry is to take unwanted but still good food from food manufacturers that would otherwise end up in landfills and distribute that food to the poor by means of dozens of charities in the Merseyside, Cheshire and Flintshire areas. It's a good ministry that deserves support and I hope that by helping them 1-2 days a week I can alleviate some of their workload.
Alan has decided to stay at STF until we move to Germany but he changes his mind occassionally and would like nothing more than to hand in his notice and be gone in a month. Still I think he can have a ministry there representing true christianity but will support any decision he decides to make. Alans freetime has been consumed with getting his sailboat sea-worthy so he can sail it this summer before he has to sell it when we move to Germany. The boat has cleaned up well and I think it'll be in the water before the end of the month. We got a used outboard for it at a steal of a deal and he was happy about that.
The other big development for us both is our continued involvement with the church. I've started getting more and more involved with the youth through helping with the band practice, the Wednesday night core group and the Friday night activities. They are a great group of students that could turn Birkenhead on its head in the months and years ahead. It'll be exciting to watch them grow in their faith and become the leaders I know they can be. Alan and I also started a prayer group on Sunday morning before church that we hope will grow. We continue to lead our housegroup out of our house on Thursday nights although we never know from week to week how many we'll have. My hope is that God will really move in our church and that more people will come to know the Lord and those that do know Him will be renewed in their walks and feel more joy and peace and relief from suffering. England is a dark place but God still loves this country and wants revival to begin with His church.
Monday, 26 April 2010
Appeals and Gods provision
Alan and I have been completely blown away this past week watching God provide for us. On Monday, the 19th Alan and I drove to London to meet with the legal team at the Christian Legal Centre - the legal organization behind Christian Concern for our Nation. We were referred to them by Fiona Bruce's husband, a christian solicitor in Alans old church at the Foundry. We were working with a case manager there, Mr. Onn Sein Kon and he has been wonderful to us. They dedicated Monday for us to come and talk about our case against my employer and fortunately Alan was able to get the day off to go with me.
Our meeting lasted almost four hours with us both giving testimony as to how things are run at STF and how we've been treated as well as speaking directly to the complaint filed against me. Co-founder of Concern for our Nation and Director of the Christian Legal Centre, Andrea Minichiello Williams was able to join us for the better part of the meeting and it was her opinion that we should try and go and resolve our dispute directly with the directors with the hope that the unfair dismissal could be squashed and I be reinstated. If not, she seemed to think we should fight hard against the company and not allow how I and so many others have been treated to continue. Alan and I were incredibly humbled by the interest our case has received and by the intelligent and highly capable christians God has brought alongside to help us. We left the meeting overwhelmed by His provision.
On Tuesday I took the train to meet Alan after he got off work so we could go and see the directors. They did not look happy to see us but did agree after Alan told them we were there because God told us to come. It was our goal not to take my dismissal through the courts but to resolve it in a christian way but after our talk with the chairman it was clear there was nothing we were going to say or do that was going to change her mind about us. We had betrayed her when we stopped attending and volunteering at her chapel service in favor of attending a local church and in her mind it was unimaginable and unforgiveable. I think we both just felt sorry for her and all of the unforgiveness that she holds so dear to her heart. We told her we forgave her and all those that had tried to slander my name and that we loved them very much but in the end we left and awaited my appeal.
Wednesday night we went to housegroup and asked everyone to pray for us. Not only did they pray but they also agreed to meet and pray during the exact hours of my appeal the following morning. We are so grateful for christian brothers and sisters who stand by you through difficult times.
The appeal was held on Thursday morning. I was glad when it was just the member of the board of trustees and us because if Helen had been there she would have more than likely continued her deceit. We had prayed that lying tongues be shut and for me this was an answer to prayer. She was made available to us if we needed her but I didn't think it would be necessary. It was important for me that the member of the board hear our story and then we were simply going to trust the situation to God and to the board. If they wanted to change the organization then they could do it. I was not foolish enough to think anything I did would effect much change.
Our legal team at Christian Legal Centre helped us write a ten page statement that I was to read. About half way through the board member just said to me, "what is it that you want?" He said he had the power to squash the CEO's decision to fire me, overturn it and impose some other penalty like a warning or uphold the decision. I told him I wanted my name cleared and I did not want to return to the company. I told him Alan wanted to leave as well and would accept a redundancy if offered. It's Monday now and we haven't heard anything yet. I anticipate hearing in the next couple of days and their response will determine whether we go to tribunal or not. If the decision is upheld then we will definitely go because it's clear I've done nothing that warrants being dismissed.
Other than my appeal, we enjoyed two housegroups in a row - the one Wednesday night at Sam and Mercy's and the one at our house Thursday night. Alan encouraged me to teach part of the study and I really enjoyed doing it. Alan complimented me about how well I did which made me feel good. It was a good group that came out - Hannah was able to join us and she brought her mom and Ashley as well. Mihai and Simona, Karen and Alan and Michael and us rounded out the group. Only one more study in J.Jon's The Lord's Prayer and then we're going to shift to doing a book of the bible we think.
Friday night I told Hannah I would come and help out at youth. Alan had to work late on Friday so I went by myself and it was such a great time. I just love our youth group and how they are living for Jesus. Friday nights are the times when lost kids all over Birkenhead can also join in and so there must have been around 40 that came that night. The church has a pool table and a couple of WII's, plenty of board games, a play station, ping pong table, etc. The youth leaders sort'of monitor everything and then lead big group games starting around 9:30. I didn't end up leaving til 11 and I was exhausted!
Saturday we just relaxed here (Alan worked on his boat) and then we went for date night to Pizza Express at Cheshire Oaks. Only cost us .75p with my £30 of Tesco voucher coupons so we were happy about that! :) Yesterday Simona and Mihai joined us for lunch here after church. We had mexican fajitas and then went to the beach to fly our kite. It was a fun day and we are grateful to know both of them. We love how much they love Jesus!
Today I started considering part-time jobs. Well actually I'd been considering them for a while but today I started re-doing my resume in preparation for actually searching for some. Alan wants me to get a job in Liverpool but I'd rather do almost anything than work in Liverpool! He asked me what I wanted to do and I said work in a bakery or at the medical office here in Moreton! :P He laughed and suggested I work at Tesco which I actually might consider if we can get discounts on groceries by doing so! :))
Well clothes to fold and dinner to prepare so I better run. More later...
Our meeting lasted almost four hours with us both giving testimony as to how things are run at STF and how we've been treated as well as speaking directly to the complaint filed against me. Co-founder of Concern for our Nation and Director of the Christian Legal Centre, Andrea Minichiello Williams was able to join us for the better part of the meeting and it was her opinion that we should try and go and resolve our dispute directly with the directors with the hope that the unfair dismissal could be squashed and I be reinstated. If not, she seemed to think we should fight hard against the company and not allow how I and so many others have been treated to continue. Alan and I were incredibly humbled by the interest our case has received and by the intelligent and highly capable christians God has brought alongside to help us. We left the meeting overwhelmed by His provision.
On Tuesday I took the train to meet Alan after he got off work so we could go and see the directors. They did not look happy to see us but did agree after Alan told them we were there because God told us to come. It was our goal not to take my dismissal through the courts but to resolve it in a christian way but after our talk with the chairman it was clear there was nothing we were going to say or do that was going to change her mind about us. We had betrayed her when we stopped attending and volunteering at her chapel service in favor of attending a local church and in her mind it was unimaginable and unforgiveable. I think we both just felt sorry for her and all of the unforgiveness that she holds so dear to her heart. We told her we forgave her and all those that had tried to slander my name and that we loved them very much but in the end we left and awaited my appeal.
Wednesday night we went to housegroup and asked everyone to pray for us. Not only did they pray but they also agreed to meet and pray during the exact hours of my appeal the following morning. We are so grateful for christian brothers and sisters who stand by you through difficult times.
The appeal was held on Thursday morning. I was glad when it was just the member of the board of trustees and us because if Helen had been there she would have more than likely continued her deceit. We had prayed that lying tongues be shut and for me this was an answer to prayer. She was made available to us if we needed her but I didn't think it would be necessary. It was important for me that the member of the board hear our story and then we were simply going to trust the situation to God and to the board. If they wanted to change the organization then they could do it. I was not foolish enough to think anything I did would effect much change.
Our legal team at Christian Legal Centre helped us write a ten page statement that I was to read. About half way through the board member just said to me, "what is it that you want?" He said he had the power to squash the CEO's decision to fire me, overturn it and impose some other penalty like a warning or uphold the decision. I told him I wanted my name cleared and I did not want to return to the company. I told him Alan wanted to leave as well and would accept a redundancy if offered. It's Monday now and we haven't heard anything yet. I anticipate hearing in the next couple of days and their response will determine whether we go to tribunal or not. If the decision is upheld then we will definitely go because it's clear I've done nothing that warrants being dismissed.
Other than my appeal, we enjoyed two housegroups in a row - the one Wednesday night at Sam and Mercy's and the one at our house Thursday night. Alan encouraged me to teach part of the study and I really enjoyed doing it. Alan complimented me about how well I did which made me feel good. It was a good group that came out - Hannah was able to join us and she brought her mom and Ashley as well. Mihai and Simona, Karen and Alan and Michael and us rounded out the group. Only one more study in J.Jon's The Lord's Prayer and then we're going to shift to doing a book of the bible we think.
Friday night I told Hannah I would come and help out at youth. Alan had to work late on Friday so I went by myself and it was such a great time. I just love our youth group and how they are living for Jesus. Friday nights are the times when lost kids all over Birkenhead can also join in and so there must have been around 40 that came that night. The church has a pool table and a couple of WII's, plenty of board games, a play station, ping pong table, etc. The youth leaders sort'of monitor everything and then lead big group games starting around 9:30. I didn't end up leaving til 11 and I was exhausted!
Saturday we just relaxed here (Alan worked on his boat) and then we went for date night to Pizza Express at Cheshire Oaks. Only cost us .75p with my £30 of Tesco voucher coupons so we were happy about that! :) Yesterday Simona and Mihai joined us for lunch here after church. We had mexican fajitas and then went to the beach to fly our kite. It was a fun day and we are grateful to know both of them. We love how much they love Jesus!
Today I started considering part-time jobs. Well actually I'd been considering them for a while but today I started re-doing my resume in preparation for actually searching for some. Alan wants me to get a job in Liverpool but I'd rather do almost anything than work in Liverpool! He asked me what I wanted to do and I said work in a bakery or at the medical office here in Moreton! :P He laughed and suggested I work at Tesco which I actually might consider if we can get discounts on groceries by doing so! :))
Well clothes to fold and dinner to prepare so I better run. More later...
Wednesday, 14 April 2010
Pioneering to the heart of Europe
Last night Alan and I, along with Bob and Joan from Hillside, met with Steve Ludwig and Paul Lowe from the UK office of Pioneers for dinner in Manchester. It was a discovery meeting for both sides. Did we think Pioneers was a good fit for us? Did they think we were a good fit for Pioneers?
We came away after a nice dinner still asking those questions but maybe not as strongly as before we met. I for one, came away more firmly knowing that God has called Alan and I to Germany (we believe to Heidelberg specifically) and to helping train, encourage and mobilize Germans to become missionaries to wherever God is calling them. We want to play hosts for those seeking short-term exposure to missions in Germany - whether that be a Teen Missions team, a church group from the states or the UK or individuals and teams sent through Pioneers. We also want to evangelize and disciple Germans, US Army Soldiers and the students that attend University there. At our foundation though is getting heavily involved in a local church. We liked the one we visited over Easter - Victory International and as such have sent email to the pastor there today trying to find out more and seek out His heart for the church and the people of Heidelberg.
Known as the "heart of Europe", Heidelberg lies approximately 80km south of Frankfurt which is in central Germany. The population is nearly 140,000 which is big in comparison to Athens. 1/5 of these are students - nearly 30,000 of them attend Heidelberg University and of this, roughly 5,000 are international students. 1/7 of the entire population are non-German nationals. There are at least two US army bases there and a NATO branch - one of which we saw on our way to church, the Mark Twain Army base. These bases give us great opportunity for reaching out to those that have had to relocate and are experiencing a combination of excitement for living in Europe with an anxiety for missing home, learning the language and culture and fitting in.
Heidelberg is gorgeous. It sits in the mountains and it's old town (altstadt) runs along the Rhine where there are a series of locks that let boats and barges go up and down the river. Above the town sits the Heidelberg Schloss (castle) which Alan says reminds him of the tower of Babel. Mark Twain describes it best though I think when he says, "Misfortune has done for this old tower what it has done for the human character sometimes−improved it." In 1976 the streets in the old town were pedestrianized and the beautiful cobblestones stretch out against some of the most fantastic shops I've ever seen.
There are some exciting possibilities and so we continue to push doors in this direction and wait on God for more answers. He is good and faithful and we feel confident that we are on a path that could easily utilize both of our backgrounds, interests and gifts for His glory if He so chooses.
We came away after a nice dinner still asking those questions but maybe not as strongly as before we met. I for one, came away more firmly knowing that God has called Alan and I to Germany (we believe to Heidelberg specifically) and to helping train, encourage and mobilize Germans to become missionaries to wherever God is calling them. We want to play hosts for those seeking short-term exposure to missions in Germany - whether that be a Teen Missions team, a church group from the states or the UK or individuals and teams sent through Pioneers. We also want to evangelize and disciple Germans, US Army Soldiers and the students that attend University there. At our foundation though is getting heavily involved in a local church. We liked the one we visited over Easter - Victory International and as such have sent email to the pastor there today trying to find out more and seek out His heart for the church and the people of Heidelberg.
Known as the "heart of Europe", Heidelberg lies approximately 80km south of Frankfurt which is in central Germany. The population is nearly 140,000 which is big in comparison to Athens. 1/5 of these are students - nearly 30,000 of them attend Heidelberg University and of this, roughly 5,000 are international students. 1/7 of the entire population are non-German nationals. There are at least two US army bases there and a NATO branch - one of which we saw on our way to church, the Mark Twain Army base. These bases give us great opportunity for reaching out to those that have had to relocate and are experiencing a combination of excitement for living in Europe with an anxiety for missing home, learning the language and culture and fitting in.
Heidelberg is gorgeous. It sits in the mountains and it's old town (altstadt) runs along the Rhine where there are a series of locks that let boats and barges go up and down the river. Above the town sits the Heidelberg Schloss (castle) which Alan says reminds him of the tower of Babel. Mark Twain describes it best though I think when he says, "Misfortune has done for this old tower what it has done for the human character sometimes−improved it." In 1976 the streets in the old town were pedestrianized and the beautiful cobblestones stretch out against some of the most fantastic shops I've ever seen.
There are some exciting possibilities and so we continue to push doors in this direction and wait on God for more answers. He is good and faithful and we feel confident that we are on a path that could easily utilize both of our backgrounds, interests and gifts for His glory if He so chooses.
Thursday, 8 April 2010
Christ is risen... He is risen indeed! Easter, Our First Wedding Anniversary and a Discovery trip to Germany
Alan and I were very fotunate to be able to go to Germany last weekend to celebrate Easter and our first wedding anniversary. We also wanted to use the time to investigate the country as somewhere we might like to relocate for missions work. Originally we had planned to go to Aachen, right over the border from Belgium but as we got closer to time I started really wishing we could visit Heidelberg. Even for just a day as it was the town I visited in college that I fell in love with and remains my favorite city in the world after nearly 20 years time. Unfortunately Heidelberg is in the center of the country and would mean another three hours of driving on top of the 11 Alan would have already had to drive to reach Aachen.
Of course being the loving and sweet husband that he is, he suggested we skip Aachen and go straight to Heidelberg and spend the entire weekend there checking things out. We didn't have a hotel lined up so when we got there we spent the better part of two hours trying to find something special and romantic yet CHEAP! :) We prayed a lot and eventually God led us to a wonderful little hotel in the center of Altstadt (old town) Heidelberg where we stayed two nights. They even had a fantastic restaurant next door which we tried our first night with traditional German food and drink. Alan had bratwurst and I had a mushroom linguini but Alans bratwurst was the best I've ever eaten. It didn't even taste like sausage!
Saturday we got up early and went for a long walk along the Rhine river and through town. We stopped at a bakery and got fresh bread and coffee/juice for breakfast and then found an internet cafe where we could locate a great English speaking church to celebrate Easter the next morning. We found one on the outskirts of town called Victory International and we took time to listen to the pastors online sermons and read his blog before getting directions and deciding that was the place we would go.
Saturday night we celebrated our anniversary, courtesy of Alans parents at a wonderful little restaurant where the people sitting next to us were Americans visiting from Virginia. We got to talking to them and they were very nice. Their trip reminded me of the trip dad and mom took LeeAnne and I on when we were young to Europe and dad said he'd never take us back again because we weren't that thrilled on seeing all the museums and stuff he had lined up. We wanted to do kid stuff instead and he was none too pleased with that! lol
Sunday we went to church and met tons of folks stationed in Heidelberg with the US army. There were far more americans there than I've seen since being in England. There was also a man who ran a homeless ministry, named Joe there and an English man who said God called him to Germany 30 years ago and he was excited to meet another Brit. Trey, the worship leader, spoke as the pastor and his wife were in America that week and the sermon was fantastic. He is very gifted but who equally impressed me Katrine who stood beside Trey and translated the entire sermon into German. She was fantastic.
After church we decided to drive part of the way back and in the end drove all the way to Calais and took an earlier ferry. It was a good thing we did as SeaFrance (competitors ferry) went on strike the next day and we may not have been able to get home. We stayed near Dover that night at a Holiday Inn Express and drove the rest of the way on Monday.
The last couple of days I've been washing all the clothes, cleaning the house, taking up running (lol), working in the garden, shopping, ironing, etc. Last night Alan and I went to Sam and Merci's for housegroup and it was fantastic. Merci shared her testimony of how the Lord saw her through her recent almost fatal illness in the hospital and then we had a great prayer time together. We are so excited about everything the Lord is doing at Hillside. We expect many more great things ahead.
Next Tuesday Ian, Bob, Alan and I go and meet Steve and another associate of his from Pioneers in Manchester for dinner to see if God may be calling us to join that ministry and possibly move to Germany as missionaries. We're excited and praying every day for His direction and guidance as we move forward.
Christ is risen... He is risen indeed! :)
Of course being the loving and sweet husband that he is, he suggested we skip Aachen and go straight to Heidelberg and spend the entire weekend there checking things out. We didn't have a hotel lined up so when we got there we spent the better part of two hours trying to find something special and romantic yet CHEAP! :) We prayed a lot and eventually God led us to a wonderful little hotel in the center of Altstadt (old town) Heidelberg where we stayed two nights. They even had a fantastic restaurant next door which we tried our first night with traditional German food and drink. Alan had bratwurst and I had a mushroom linguini but Alans bratwurst was the best I've ever eaten. It didn't even taste like sausage!
Saturday we got up early and went for a long walk along the Rhine river and through town. We stopped at a bakery and got fresh bread and coffee/juice for breakfast and then found an internet cafe where we could locate a great English speaking church to celebrate Easter the next morning. We found one on the outskirts of town called Victory International and we took time to listen to the pastors online sermons and read his blog before getting directions and deciding that was the place we would go.
Saturday night we celebrated our anniversary, courtesy of Alans parents at a wonderful little restaurant where the people sitting next to us were Americans visiting from Virginia. We got to talking to them and they were very nice. Their trip reminded me of the trip dad and mom took LeeAnne and I on when we were young to Europe and dad said he'd never take us back again because we weren't that thrilled on seeing all the museums and stuff he had lined up. We wanted to do kid stuff instead and he was none too pleased with that! lol
Sunday we went to church and met tons of folks stationed in Heidelberg with the US army. There were far more americans there than I've seen since being in England. There was also a man who ran a homeless ministry, named Joe there and an English man who said God called him to Germany 30 years ago and he was excited to meet another Brit. Trey, the worship leader, spoke as the pastor and his wife were in America that week and the sermon was fantastic. He is very gifted but who equally impressed me Katrine who stood beside Trey and translated the entire sermon into German. She was fantastic.
After church we decided to drive part of the way back and in the end drove all the way to Calais and took an earlier ferry. It was a good thing we did as SeaFrance (competitors ferry) went on strike the next day and we may not have been able to get home. We stayed near Dover that night at a Holiday Inn Express and drove the rest of the way on Monday.
The last couple of days I've been washing all the clothes, cleaning the house, taking up running (lol), working in the garden, shopping, ironing, etc. Last night Alan and I went to Sam and Merci's for housegroup and it was fantastic. Merci shared her testimony of how the Lord saw her through her recent almost fatal illness in the hospital and then we had a great prayer time together. We are so excited about everything the Lord is doing at Hillside. We expect many more great things ahead.
Next Tuesday Ian, Bob, Alan and I go and meet Steve and another associate of his from Pioneers in Manchester for dinner to see if God may be calling us to join that ministry and possibly move to Germany as missionaries. We're excited and praying every day for His direction and guidance as we move forward.
Christ is risen... He is risen indeed! :)
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