Outreach Update!!! From Australia to Europe!!
Hello Beautiful People!
We are going into week 7 of our 8 week Outreach for the Discipleship Training School. I have been updating Facebook, so some of this you may already know. However, for the rest of you, I want to give a run down on what our team has been up to over the last 6 weeks! We are a team of four, Nick is my Australian Co-leader, Rodney is our Australian Student. Then we have Lindsey from New Hampshire, and me. Having 2 Lindseys makes introductions hilarious for us because people can't figure out if we are crazy, or if they are.
So week one was very challenging at first because of our finances. We had wanted to leave for the UK early in the week, but we couldn't. Our team decided to stay in Brisbane and help there with our local outreach team and for Global Outreach Day (G.O.D). So during the week we did G.O.D. prep, school lunch programs, sports with the community, kids ministry, yard work around our neighborhood, and saw God provide $10,000 in about 5 days. At that we were off to England!
Our first week in Essex, England was amazing. We partnered will a church called The Bridge Church. We stayed with some amazing families and worked specifically with Dawn, the Churches Kids Pastor and I think she was also wonder woman. The church organized a kids event for 120 kids where they had an afternoon of fun, games, animals, music, food, and Jesus. We helped with the prep and running of the event. We also were able to help with youth groups, school lunch program, bible studies and home groups, worship, and office work. We were able to get to know a lot of the church community and saying goodbye after a week was not easy.
Next we flew over to Norway for Skjærgårds, a music and missions festival by the sea. Once again God gave us a wonderful family to do life with. The first week we worked with a crew of about 20 other people building the festival. Tents went up, equipment was moved, benches were painted, and coffee was consumed. After that week another 450 volunteers arrived to help and then 6,000 young people for a week of praising Jesus and sea side bliss. During the festival our team had different shifts to work. It was a wonderful week and after it finished we helped tear down. God gave us so many opportunities to build relationships and encourage those around us. We loved Norway and there were many tears again when we had to fly back to England. One thing i really learned in Norway was how God blesses the intentional steps you take to share His love and be yourself. Also, choosing to love and give yourself is always worth it. It would have been easier to leave if we would have been insecure and wouldn't have taken risks in stepping out of our comfort zones, but that wouldn't have been living.
After landing back in the UK we made our way to the King's Lodge, a YWAM base in Nuneaton. God has more opportunities to work hard and bless others. We are privileged to be able to get to know a group from Egypt here and to see how this base has a huge heart for the middle east. Our first week here we ripped out what seemed like a million weeds and shrubs at a local school so that they can begin building a prayer garden for the students and school staff. We have also helped the base with weeding and work projects so that they can become more self sufficient.
Close to our location is Coventry. There we have been able to do street evangelism and prayer walks, help at a food bank and run under privileged kid's activities. I am reminded how pain and poverty looks different in 1st world nations compared to 3rd, but it is still there. While at the food bank, so many came in and you can see that they need hope and I could feel God's heart for these people is so so big. I talked with a man from Iraq who had such a wonderful smile, but who had moved to England just a few months before and was coming in for some food. Another man from Russia had a black eye and a fractured ankle. He wouldn't tell me why, but He did open up so much about other things and I was able to pray for his ankle before He left and I believe He has been healed by our amazing God. Next week we will be working with a feeding program for the community kids as well because since it is summer and they are not at school, some of them wont be eating a lot. We will also do some homeless ministry and hopefully be able to reach out to the Muslims who are all fasting because of Ramadan.
Please continue to pray for our team. We have about 2 weeks of outreach left. Pray for health, opportunities to share God's love, strength and focus for the final weeks, wisdom to lead this team, and for grace in traveling. We will be working with another church for about a week before we begin the long journey home on the 28th of July.
Tusen takk !!
("a thousand thanks" in Norwegian)
Lindsey Burton
We are going into week 7 of our 8 week Outreach for the Discipleship Training School. I have been updating Facebook, so some of this you may already know. However, for the rest of you, I want to give a run down on what our team has been up to over the last 6 weeks! We are a team of four, Nick is my Australian Co-leader, Rodney is our Australian Student. Then we have Lindsey from New Hampshire, and me. Having 2 Lindseys makes introductions hilarious for us because people can't figure out if we are crazy, or if they are.
So week one was very challenging at first because of our finances. We had wanted to leave for the UK early in the week, but we couldn't. Our team decided to stay in Brisbane and help there with our local outreach team and for Global Outreach Day (G.O.D). So during the week we did G.O.D. prep, school lunch programs, sports with the community, kids ministry, yard work around our neighborhood, and saw God provide $10,000 in about 5 days. At that we were off to England!
Our first week in Essex, England was amazing. We partnered will a church called The Bridge Church. We stayed with some amazing families and worked specifically with Dawn, the Churches Kids Pastor and I think she was also wonder woman. The church organized a kids event for 120 kids where they had an afternoon of fun, games, animals, music, food, and Jesus. We helped with the prep and running of the event. We also were able to help with youth groups, school lunch program, bible studies and home groups, worship, and office work. We were able to get to know a lot of the church community and saying goodbye after a week was not easy.
After landing back in the UK we made our way to the King's Lodge, a YWAM base in Nuneaton. God has more opportunities to work hard and bless others. We are privileged to be able to get to know a group from Egypt here and to see how this base has a huge heart for the middle east. Our first week here we ripped out what seemed like a million weeds and shrubs at a local school so that they can begin building a prayer garden for the students and school staff. We have also helped the base with weeding and work projects so that they can become more self sufficient.
Close to our location is Coventry. There we have been able to do street evangelism and prayer walks, help at a food bank and run under privileged kid's activities. I am reminded how pain and poverty looks different in 1st world nations compared to 3rd, but it is still there. While at the food bank, so many came in and you can see that they need hope and I could feel God's heart for these people is so so big. I talked with a man from Iraq who had such a wonderful smile, but who had moved to England just a few months before and was coming in for some food. Another man from Russia had a black eye and a fractured ankle. He wouldn't tell me why, but He did open up so much about other things and I was able to pray for his ankle before He left and I believe He has been healed by our amazing God. Next week we will be working with a feeding program for the community kids as well because since it is summer and they are not at school, some of them wont be eating a lot. We will also do some homeless ministry and hopefully be able to reach out to the Muslims who are all fasting because of Ramadan.
Please continue to pray for our team. We have about 2 weeks of outreach left. Pray for health, opportunities to share God's love, strength and focus for the final weeks, wisdom to lead this team, and for grace in traveling. We will be working with another church for about a week before we begin the long journey home on the 28th of July.
Tusen takk !!
("a thousand thanks" in Norwegian)
Lindsey Burton
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