Get Real! Get….. Love???

So its been a while and news wise i got gastro-enteritis! whatever that may be? I just know it as the thing that makes my stomach go funny lol Anyways I’m all good got my drugs and feeling better. Also we had Cafe Concert, Birthday party for 800 children and my young people made an apperance on radio about Halloween. So I have been quite busy, God has really been working and We have a few more projects on the go.

I hope that over the next few months the young people in my church will go once a month to work in the kids home to get a chance to share God’s love practically. Also we as a church are both praying and pamphletering or local area in association with the Luis Pilau movement. In the hope that over the Christmas period people will begin to focus on christ. Both projects are really exciting and encouraging and I would ask for prayer for it all. That God would really work in Buenos Aires and that this Christmas would be a Christmas when Christ was the centre of hearts and not just festivities.

Anyways in my quiet times as well God has really been challenging me to be real. We live our life so often trying to hide behind our masks. We live life always wanting to blend in to the crowd wanting to have an easy life with a nice car, a nice family and being good. Which is fine but so not what God wants from us as Christians. This sunday has been a sunday thinking about the persecuted church. I think  we are lazy Christians sometimes, we are kind of like the Sprinter who says i can run 100m in 9.6seconds but i’ll only do it if somebody is trying to rob me. we sing that we want to give Jesus all but do we really?

Think on the early church they suffered at the hands of persecution and what did they do hide? NOPE! Rather they stood out but not by being aggressive rather by showing the world something it craves….Love.

Acts 4:32 says:

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possesions was his own, but they shared everything they had.

And in 1 John 3:16 it says:

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

The world around us says love is the most important thing. Every person in the world wants to be loved by somebody. Yet we forget about that. We need to be more like the early Christians and we need to Love our brothers and sisters in Christ truly like ourselves. Then we can stand together and say to the world look this Christian stuff is real and we can help each other to live lives that truly honour God. In that we can withhstand persecution and we can join with our brothers and sisters around the world who are serious about Christ.

Why does it always rain on me?

So I decided since I was really bad with my posting previously. This time I´d post two very rapidly.  Today I felt like I was back in good old “Norn´Ireland” because it rained and it rained and it rained. So I got very wet as I walked from the bus stop to work but at least I didn’t take my bike. Anyways whilst I was trudging through the rain I noticed something very boring but very useful. Storm Drains! Yes I do have too much time on my hands! for those of you wondering.

Anyway when I was looking at these I was thinking to myself we could definately do with those in Northern Ireland it would totally stop a lot of silly flooding. Although as I thought more I realised that our lives can be a tiny bit like storm drains sometimes. The storm drain is really important but only when its raining. In fact it can be annoying when its dry because you can get your foot stuck in them and trip etc.

Yet we as Christians can be the same we have the potential to be really useful for Christ in this world. We are supposed to be salt and light guiding the world to God and the gospel. Yet too often, just as they storm drain waits for rain, we wait and we wait thinking: “yeah God bring that person into my life and i’ll talk to them about you.” It is true that only in God´s time can things happen. Yet I think we as Christians should challenge ourselves to move out of our comfort zones and move forward into the communities around us that need to hear the truth of the gospel. We need to be on fire for Christ.

Just as it says in Ephesians 5:15-17

Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

Really the challenge for me and for everyone is to live a life that serves God. So as we aren´t storm drains who wait for God then consume his blessing but rather we live as people who wish to serve and serve his will. Spreading the good news of the gospel to the world. So there you go even a Storm drain has a message.

All the small things……

Its amazing to think I’ve been away for an entire month. It certainlny hasn’t seemed that long. Yet I have truly been blessed with language and with good friends here. I have really been struck over the past week or two about the blessings God gives that we often forget. I forgot the importance of friends and of being able to have simple conversation. We don´t appreciate it until we don´t have it for a while and worse than that we forget to thank God for what we have.

God provides us with everything we need when we need it and we don’t often spend time thanking him for that. Its amazing how simple it is if we ask for God to help he will provide in ways we never imagined. I Love the way Paul puts it in philipians 4:6

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

I can say that I have found a new found thankfulness for the little things in life. Certainly I have been blessed very much by God and continue to be. In fact the words of Psalm 117 I think are avery fitting. It is a paslm just reminding us to praise God for all he does for us.

Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love towards us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord.

I am very sorry guys that this post has been a long time coming but it is here now and the next one, I hope, will not take as long.

 

Ps. Scott Moore I hope you enjoyed the psalm lol

The work begins…..

so this week I began my work in Argentina. I would love to say its all been easy but considering my two major blunders of telling a shop assistant that I wanted everything in the shop instead of saying nothing and saying to my Argentine mother that her child was annoying me instead of saying he wasn’t annoying me. Although everythin else has been a more positive experience.

I began my work in the children’s home on wednesday and found it a tad tough as I am working with the teenagers who are quite difficult to make at home never mind in Argentina when you struggle with language. Never the less it certainly has been a time of great blessing for me as my understanding has increased massively in the past week. It really is also amazing how God gives us enough understanding for each situation. I have really enjoyed the first weeks despite a few difficulties and can’t wait for the next week to begin.

Arrived and orientated

This week has been busy i arrived in Buenos Aires on wednesday at 1 and went for a few days of orientation in la plata city. It was an excellent time spent with my other striders and getting to know Danny lescano (stride coordinator) and Pryscilla (Argentina coordinator). It was also a real joy to get to know other workers in Argentina.

I have now arrived at my project in las ovlios Buenos Aires and have been at iglesia Bautista for the past few days. The church is very welcoming and i have enjoyed sharing in both the morning worship and the youth events on saturday night. I am living with the pastors family and they are lovely. I would appreciate prayer for my language because I would like to be able to communicate more with my family and the people in the church.

Although God is teaching me the ability to think properly before i speak so lack of language has its benefits lol but I am looking forward to getting into the work at la Casita and helping more.

Saying Bye to friends and brothers…..

So the past few days have been a series of goodbyes really. It all began when David got married as I said bye to my little bro when he jetted off on his honeymoon. The wedding was an absolutely excellent day and I had great fun at the party but I guess I’ll miss little David (although if any one tells him I said that…. I’ll have to punish you!). I also had a goodbye party last night which I really enjoyed it was really good seeing friends who I have been really blessed to share my past few years of fun with.

Yet as I said goodbye I really have to say I was filled more with a sense of joy than sadness. I have been truly blessed by Godly and supportive friends and I am very thankful for that. I have to say that my friends are really and truly my brothers and sisters in Christ. I guess this must be how David and Jonathan felt about each other and so I have to say thank you to all of my friends who have supported and helped me over my life.

Anyway now that I have finished my semi-emotionally little thank you to my friends i just thought i’d share a verse about friendship. Here Jesus is speaking to his disciples and there is a real lesson for us all John 15v15-17

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything I have learned from the Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit- fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.

Jesus words here are amazing. He just highlights the importance of true friendship; how he chose His friends and how in a real sense their friendship was based around sharing the word of God. I guess true friendship is about sharing God together and then using that to go bear fruit for God in the world around. Plus Jesus commands us to love each other but not in a flower power love type way but in a true caring for each other above ourselves way. I think friendship really is something to be valued Jesus clearly valued it so I guess we should appreciate our friends more.

I will truly miss all my friends and I hope and pray all of them will be blessed by God this year. I am also dreading saying goodbye to my big brother and my mum and Dad but hey I know that in Christ we are always together no matter where we are.

Orientation…..Lundin and the Oliver rendition!

So this week has been really hectic for me i was in England from wednesday 2nd until monday 7th and it was really good. Orientation began with the worst easyjet checkin ever but despite queuing for 45 minutes then buying speedy boarding but not actually getting speedy boarding I eventually made it in one piece. The orientation was brilliant despite matthew AKA Matty, Gina and myself being the only non-english people. In fact I have grown to appreciate the english a bit more because it must be really difficult living in Roydon or Hoddoston and actually having a personality! lol I’m of course kidding! but certainly All nations was located in a rural and quite quiet setting but it was fitting that we spent lots of time away from the world.

Orientation however did have its downside with recieving my first Spanish test since i was in 3rd year of secondary school. Which didn’t exactly go well but they needed to asses me so it was all good really. I really learnt a lot from the seminars and from the devotions and in fact to my shame I really enjoyed the very girly devotion about roses…. Although it was more about the lessons from 2Corinthians 2:14-17 rather than the flowers themselves! (I secretly quite liked the roses but sshhh!) Anyway if you get a chance read it but verse 15 really stood out:

For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

The real challenge from these verses is as a Christian to actually be the aroma of Christ and to make every part of our lives a testimony to the glorious good news of the gospel. Yet the most encourage thing we can know is the fact that God gives us the strength and the ability to do this no matter where we are in the world. All we have to do is come to him as it says in Philipians 4:6

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Again for anyone who really wants to read more philipians 4:2-9 is brilliant. Anyway the rest of the week was really enjoyable from the creation of the A-team, which is basically all the people going to Argentia and John, to the simulation game/ attacking people with rolled up newspaper. Although i cannot leave out our great rendition of the musical Oliver which Geoff, Matt(y), Anna and I did in 40 minutes without an audience and in perfect cockney accents lol Unfortunately this had the effect of making Matthew and me speak Cockney for the rest of the week and even on our trip to LUNDIN.

The trip to London was another excellent day where we went to the Bolivian church and it was a joy to praise God with people even though it was in Spanish. It was such an encouragement to see the joy of fellow believers and I actually can’t wait to go to my church in Buenos Aires. We also went to Camden which was interesting of course its just like a big saturday market in Ballymena although more expensive but still it was fun. All in all my orientation was really enjoyable and I have come back totally excited about going away.

New found Respect for event planning…..and the Ultimate Planner!

So i have spent the last few weeks planning different events; from a stagg day to a fundraiser dinner. I have totally found a respect for people who do event planning it sounds like a simple job but it ain’t. For one most people hate you nagging them about whether their coming or not even though its necessary for organising. Plus you have to try and make sure everything goes off without a hitch and that people enjoy themselves….

Of course thinking about this does lead me to ask one question why do we have to plan things through? I mean nothing ever goes the way you plan it to so why plan at all? The simple answer is we shouldn’t we should just prepare for any eventuality because our plans always seem to change. Although of course we need to plan to some extent because chaos isn’t a good option either. Yet as I questioned our plans it made me realise the true extent to which God is good. He planned our existence and our lives and He planned Jesus to die for our sins. So I guess all that can be said is that no matter what we plan we should never forget that God is the ultimate planner and His plan will succeed.

So if we trust God to make the plan and diligently follow it then we can be certain of a plan that will never fail. As James 4:14-15 says :

How do you what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog- it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.”

All in all I guess the challenge is to let God control our lives and not be tempted to take control for ourselves. After all He is the Ultimate Planner and everything He does is perfect. I also learned that if your planning your wedding let your bride to be do it and just say yes to everything lol