Monday 14th May @ 9:30am-12:30pm – Retail Management
Thursday 17th May @ 9:30am-12:30pm – Strategic Business Management

Pray for Leanne that she will know God’s helping hand as she tries to revise for her A’ Level exams. Pray that she will get the strength, not only to revise but that she will have the energy and strength to actually go into school to undertake her exams. (Pray as she is really struggling at the moment with fatigueness and muscle pain!)

Thursday 24th May @ 9:30am-11am – Religious Studies
Wednesday 30th May @ 9:30am-11:30am – Geography

Thank you in the Saviour’s name!

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On 16th April, we read out of the Streams in the Desert, ‘”Abraham “did not know where he was goin” – it simply was enough for him to know he went with God. He did not lean as much on the promises as he did on the Promiser…”‘

Your Guide will not keep to any beaten path. He will lead you through ways you would never have dreamed your eyes would see. He knows no fear, and He expects you to fear nothing while He is with you.

Hold on to God's unchanging hand

God’s Word tells us in Psalm 119:105, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

When we are in the will of God, it’s as though we are dwelling in His house.

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Isn’t  it wonderful to know the One who holds creation in His hand. In March we had our very first barbeque (strange!!!…for Ireland) Then the following week we were back to our coats and scarfs with hail and snow falling!

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As we are now forward planning for the Summer’s work, we need to seek the Holy Spirit for His guidance.

We would value your prayers as I travel to Central Asia to be involved with 3 Americans on a prayer team from 18th-26th May. Please pray for safety in travel, good health and team unity. Also remember Audrey and the girls at home.
Please remember us in prayer as we prepare for the summer outreach at Croagh Patrick, Westport, Ireland on Sunday 29th July 2012. Pray for the team as we reach out to meet the pilgrims at the point of their need; both physically (with juice) and spiritually (with the Gospel of Jesus Christ). If you are interested please get in touch via the contact details on the ‘Welcome’ page.

Croagh Patrick

I am planning to lead an OMS team, partnering with Dick and Mary Keogh, to the area of Swinford and Knock in County Mayo from the 11th-18th August. This is a particularly sensitive time as it coincides with a significant event in the Irish Catholic calender taking place in this area. Pray that the Lord will bring us team members of His choosing to be part of this new outreach. There are still spaces on this team; please get in touch if you feel led to join us; again using the same contact details found on the ‘Welcome’ page.

1.  Led by Andrew Black who will be graduating from the Irish Baptist College this year and is funding to become a full time church planter in the Republic.  The team is going to Mullingar, County Westmeath from the 21^st – 28^th July for door to door evangelism and handing out invitations to a speaking event.  Andrew currently still needs a few more people for the team, so if you are interested please contact us soon!

2.  A team led by Dean Lappin who is a secondary school teacher from Northern Ireland.  He is also funding to join the OMS missionary team as a church planter in the Republic of Ireland.  Dean’s team will be involved with door to door evangelism in Claremorris, County Mayo as well as a weekend outreach to visitors during the Croagh Patrick pilgrimage.  The dates are 28^th July – 4^th Aug. Although this team is now full, we would value your prayers.

3.  We are planning on sending a team to Swinford and Knock, County Mayo.  This team will be led by Robin Sloss who is currently funding to become the UK Director of Men for Missions.  The team dates are 11^th – 18^th August and they will be focusing on evangelism.  Robin needs more people to join his team, so if you are interested please don’t hesitate to contact us!

4.  The final team is going to Listowel, County Kerry in early July.  This is a team from Stranmillis University College which is a university for training teachers in Northern Ireland.  The team will focus on youth and children’s work in partnership with the local church in Listowel.  This team is now full but, of course, would covet your prayers.

“Put your hope in God for I will yet praise Him, my Saviour and my God” Psa 41 5b.

As a nation we have been reflecting these past few weeks on the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic and the huge loss of lives, surely now our minds should be focused on the uncertainty of life for all of us.

Many people in 1912 believed that the ship was unsinkable and that those travelling on it were safe. Through misplaced faith in their “unsinkable” ship and human error the sad result was that over 1500 people perished, many going to a lost eternity.

One passenger on the ship, John Harper, an Scottish Baptist pastor used the opportunity as the ship began to sink, to urge people to put their hope in Jesus.  Some did but many did not listen. Harper died that night in the cold Atlantic waters, witnessing for his Lord.

Our calling in ONE MISSION SOCIETY is to help the world’s peoples understand that Jesus Christ gave his life to save all those who put their hope in Him. Like John Harper we have an urgent message for our world to-day – put your hope in the Lord!

We also rejoice that the church leaders of Igreja Evangelica Palavra Viva (The Living Word Evangelical Church) have agreed to meet weekly with us as missionaries for prayer. This is a great milestone also. We as OMS missionaries desire to forge stronger ties and closer partnership with this church group which was founded by OMS over 10 years ago. We believe that as we draw alongside the church we can gain a deeper understanding of the challenges that they face and be better positioned to mentor, train, support and encourage. As we commit to weekly times of prayer to seek God’s face we desire to live lives that are more dependent upon Him and interdependent upon each other as we serve as co-labourers. Some planting, others watering while we trust God to bring the increase!

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe-as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but ONLY God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have ONE purpose and each will be rewarded according to his own labour. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building 1 Cor 3 v 5-9.

As Mozambicans and missionaries unite prayerfully, may God guide each of us in the tasks that each one must fulfill for the ONE purpose; a spiritual harvest in God’s field, the edification of God’s building.

Please pray for Abigail and Joshua! They have not been well over the past few days-high temperatures, runny noses, coughs. Pray that they will have a full recovery and that Noah will not contract what they have.

Thank you so much for your prayers!!

Thank you for your prayers as we travelled back from South Africa last Monday. Our journey was really smooth, praise God! At the border they didn’t even ask for any paperwork for Noah and Customs were easy on us after being greeted by cheery Abigail!

We see some interesting sights on our travels! This minibus full of people was in front of us! (photo below) The trailor on the back was full of all kinds of things, as we say ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ (however, there may have been a kitchen sink somewhere on there!!).

On Tuesday, Melvin went to our Embassy to start the process for Noah’s passport. We cannot go out to South Africa again until we get this! We were able to complete the form and had to take Noah for his first passport photo on Wednesday before passing the Embassy to submit the paperwork. They say that it will take a month to process. Pray that it will be processed quickly! When we receive this we then need to start the process with the Mozambican government to get a resident Visa for Noah. We would like to go out to South Africa in about a month in order to get vaccines for Noah and also I have a check-up scheduled with our doctor.

Noah is doing well! Thank you for your prayers! Please continue to pray for protection for him from malaria or other illnesses. We cannot yet give him medication to protect from malaria until he is older. Pray for us as a family as we adjust! Noah has not been sleeping well at night-I think he has his days and nights mixed up! Also, today has been really hot so he sleeps during the day and wants to play at night when it is cooler. The twins have reached the ‘terrible two’s’ so we need much wisdom as we deal with them!

Carissa Pickett (daughter of Jim, interim director of the seminary) & Luana Almeida cutting their cake!

The men chatting

The women singing after receiving their gifts

Resting after a busy day!!!

Noah Morton

Congratulations to Jonathan & Lupita Morton on the birth of a baby boy (Noah) weighing 3.1 kilos on March 13 in Mexico. A brother for Daniel.

Congratulations to Melvin & Sharon Kelly on the arrival of a baby boy (Noah Raymond) on March 22 at Nespruit, S.Africa.  A brother for Joshua & Abigail.

Noah Raymond Kelly

Melvin & Sharon Kelly with Joshua, Abigail & Noah

FIRE & FLOOD! All we lacked was pestilence – not the usual introduction to a Christian mission retreat weekend – but that’s what happened at Hebron Hall!  Thankfully the fire alarms only sounded to warn of over cooked chicken breast & the flood was confined to one shower of an unsuspecting bather!  Once the alarms were turned off & the flood dried up we got down to the serious business of listening to God’s word & missions updates.

Steve Cosslett presented an excellent overview of God’s Master plan, encouraging us to seek a greater relationship with God through prayer & an experience of the Holy Spirit & allow this deeper experience to motivate us to serve.  Thanks Steve for the ministry – many were blessed. The phrase that sticks in my mind was:
God is not interested in our ability simply our availability!
We must ask ourselves the question, are we available to God for his plans & purposes to be worked out through us?

As for mission reports – it continually amazes me how God calls diverse people from different corners of the world & uses them for his glory through the ministry of OMS.  Daniel Castro spoke of the ministry in Meco Spain. Pray for Daniel, Gail, Melissa & Ruth as they see the house group in their town grow for the glory of God.  Samuel Brown & Miriam Morse encouraged us as to the impact a short-term trip to Mexico made on their whole outlook on life.  Short-term teams are more value than simply helping on the Field: they impact the lives of the participants and change lives forever.  Have you considered a short term team? – Contact OMS HQ in Manchester for opportunities to serve.  Steve Gardner presented the work him & his wife Jo have been involved in for 20 years in Romania.  Pray for this country still battling with the effects of years of political, social and religious oppression. Finally, Gill Smith brought an update of the situation she has recently seen in Haiti.  The needs in Haiti are tremendous. The country is still reeling from the effects of the earthquake, the difficulties of poverty and the strong hold Voodoo has over the island.  Pray for all these workers and the OMS work they represent; they all took part in the weekend & made it a great success.

I’m contemplating next year!  Should we organise another OMS weekend?  My initial response was NO!  There were many issues that made the implementation of this event a troublesome time. Can I face the stress of getting everything together for next year?  Then I was confronted by 10 year old Kate Gardner who as she was jumping into the car for the trip home to Tiverton said:  “Chris, if you open this up to all ages next year I’m coming, it was great fun”. Well Kate – watch this space & you’ll soon hear if OMS have a 2013 weekend at Hebron Hall.

Legoland is conveniently close to Windsor Castle, perhaps for similar reasons; I wouldn’t rule out the likelihood of a secret tunnel.  You can spread out your picnic by a Lego model of the Eiffel Tower and spit the pips at the Duke of Edinburgh.  Or, if you don’t do picnics, you can linger over a £7.95 hot dog.

The models in Miniland are superb:  St Paul’s, the Sacre Coeur, Caerphilly Castle, Amsterdam.. more than I can remember, because half of our time seemed to be spent looking for lost boys as they got their first taste of backpacking around Europe.

The rides are great:  plenty for all ages, some logs and water for the amphibian-minded and nothing too vertical or death-defying, though Katuska screamed a little on the dragon-roller-coaster, perhaps just for effect.  Joseph came with me on a train through the tombs of ancient Egypt with only a laser gun to defend himself, and we all enjoyed descending by submarine to the lost City of Atlantis, which some archaeologists have amazingly discovered right there near the M4, some of its stonework looking curiously like giant Lego with seaweed.

There was a rather overworked Star Wars theme that weekend, with groups of Empire storm troopers marching nowhere in particular, and Darth Vader grumbling that somebody would pay for this, that he was supposed to have been sent to Windsor Castle, and threatening to use The Force if necessary.  Most of the small, impressionable-age children took no notice of him at all, while their eager parents jostled to appear in photographs with the great Sith Lord.  Our boys, needlessly worried that I might also want a photo, assured me that it wasn’t the real Darth Vader anyway.  “It’s just a fake, daddy.  It’s all fake.”

An epilogue came one day just before school.  Joseph had his rucksac on and lunchbox ready, but was burying his head in my coat and weeping bitterly.  I asked him what the problem was.  It seems he had arranged to have a fight with two boys both called Jack, after school that day.  Obviously honour was at stake, and I reckoned he could take them both on at once, so I asked him why it couldn’t go ahead.  “Because you’ve confiscated my light sabre.”

Welcome Noah, Raymond to our family!!

May God bless you as you continue to walk this journey of faith with us! We praise God for His faithfulness!!

Nothing has changed in the past 100 years…as this world is still looking out for no one but themselves. But we, as God’s children, are called to be the salt and light in a lost and dying world. Men for Missions encourages men to use their skills to reach the lost of this world.

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Over the past few weeks I have been busy taking various meetings within Northern Ireland. On Thursday 15th March I took my first women’s meeting in Fintona Methodist Church. I have been told that the women’s meetings are the best to take because of the supper…and let me tell you, they were right!!! Although the meeting was small in number (with only nine ladies and the minister also attending), we had a real sense of the Lord’s presence that night, and the ladies were encouraged with the work that is going on throughout the UK and across the world.

We continue to appreciate your prayers as we travel across the country sharing the vision I have for MFMI.

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At the tailend of last month (February), we travelled to Donegal to have a surprise birthday party for Audrey’s mum, who was 91 past on the 28th February.

(L-R) Audrey, Mrs Rogers, Leanne, Stephanie and Robin

(L-R) Leanne, Shannon, James, Ryan, Paul and Stephanie

It was nice just getting together with some of the family. Whenever we were standing taking some photos, we got a bit of a surprise. Audrey’s niece, Janet who works with the Faith Mission in Cork, had travelled up with her husband and children to come and stay for a night to be there for Granny’s birthday too. Stephanie, Leanne and their cousin James, got a bit more exercise than they anticipated on, when the door opened with Paul (7), Ryan (5) and Shannon (1) bursting through (with an abundance of energy…even after a 5 hour car journey).  However…it really was lovely seeing them even though it was only brief.

The triumphant words of scripture concerning the resurrection of Jesus are always thrilling for the believer: ‘He is not here: for he is risen.’ Matt 28 v 6a ‘…The Lord is risen indeed,..’ Luke 24 v 34a, and the promise of Jesus Himself ‘… because I live, ye shall live also.’ John 14 v 9.

Because of the resurrection we don’t have to fear the future, death or eternity. This is the message we bring to the nations: ‘… Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem.’ Luke 24 vs 46 & 47

The words of J Wilbur Chapman’s hymn are so true: ‘One day the  grave could conceal Him no longer, One day the stone rolled away from the door, then He arose over death He had conquered, now is ascended My Lord evermore!’

Andrew is currently fundraising to serve with one of the Every Community for Christ church planting teams, based at Calvary Mission, County Mayo in the Republic of Ireland.

We cannot express fully how grateful we are to God for giving us a wonderful set of relatives, and to them for receiving us with so much love!  And this is true for all of them, those living in Northern Ireland, England, Scotland or Ecuador.

Steve had the opportunity of exploring Northern Ireland outside Belfast. Newtownhamilton, a small village close to the border with the Republic of Ireland, is home to the Second Presbyterian Church of Newtownhamilton. Rev. Brian Wilson organised a mid-week meeting to which Steve and our brother-in-law, Peter, were invited and where Steve spoke about our mission plans: what the Lord enabled us to do in Ecuador and our calling to Mozambique.

Meanwhile, Newcastle held a great surprise for us. The OMS Northern Ireland Conference took place in that beautiful seaside town, and that’s how we came to meet a vast number of intercessors. We didn’t have any idea that many people from Northern Ireland had been praying for us. We felt so welcomed and inmediately knew that we were among many for whom prayer is real.  We met other missionaries working or funding to go the Republic of Ireland, Mexico, Colombia and more places. It was a wonderful weekend!

MORNING PAPER
“The Wesleys & World Mission”

AFTERNOON SESSION
“Message on a Holiness Theme”

Speaker & Preacher:  Rev. Doug. Atherton (OMS Special Assignment Missions)
Doors Open 10.30am
Drinks provided at the beginning of the day & between morning & afternoon sessions – please bring your own packed lunch.

Further Details from:
WESLEY FELLOWSHIP TREASURER-SECRETARY: Mr Alistair Barclay, 10A Barnet Road, Sheffield, S11 7RP Tel. 0114 230 1439.
Email: aandvbarclay@btinternet.com or
info@omsinternational.co.uk

You are invited to the One Mission Society Weekend at Hebron Hall, Dinas Powys (Nr. Cardiff), Friday March 30th – Sunday April 1st, 2012.  The theme of the weekend is ‘God’s Master Plan’ and the speaker will be Steve Cosslett.

The Cossletts work in Mexico City serving the Urban Poor. Their work particularly focuses on reaching out to homeless children and young people.  Gangs, drug addiction, violence and human trafficking are all common challenges the Cossletts face in this work.  Despite these challenges, God is changing lives in Mexico; the ‘lost are being saved’, ‘broken hearts are being binded’ and ‘captives being set free’.
As well as great teaching, there will be time to relax, enjoy good food, fellowship and other good stuff – basketball & swimming pool available – come prepared! If you would like a booking form or for further details contact Chris Palmer, email: chrispalmer2003@hotmail.com or OMS, email: info@onemissionsociety.org.uk

I had £0 of airtime, and I was driving on this motorway or A road, and everything was moving so fast that nothing didn’t make sense to me.  Somehow, I stopped in a safe place and bought airtime with a plastic card, phone my sister who at this point was very worried, as she didn’t see any cars leaving the docks.  Super Samuel became the copilot and communication manager between my sister and I.  I was describing whatever I saw passing by – this hotel, or that factory, traffic signs, etc.  Samuel then was repeating this to my sister, who in turn told him what to tell me I should do!  He was great, and my sister, too.  And we did it!  But this little situation took a lot of my emotional energy that when I arrived to Finaghy Baptist Church I felt exhausted.

Oh, but how wonderful I felt when the pastor welcomed us with such warmth and joy!  This was a prayer meeting organised by the Youth Fellowship.  Just that fact made my heart rejoice.  The young people (and others, too) arrived.  Taking turns they led the church in prayer for different needs locally and worldwide.  They assigned 10 minutes for me to share about the work we’ve done in Ecuador and the plans for Mozambique.  They prayed for us, and for Carmen, for the funds that still need to come before we can have a definite travelling date, for the cross cultural issues that we as a family will face in our mission post, etc.  I felt very tired, but very loved and encouraged by these young people who know they have a heavenly Father who delights in listening and answering to us.

The conference will be held at Burnside Church, 2 Church Avenue, Rutherglen G73 5BX on Saturday 19 May 2012, 10am – 4.00pm, with guest speaker Rev. Richard Tiplady, the Principal of International Christian College, Glasgow.  There will also be updates from OMS missionaries.
The cost of the day is £10, and includes refreshments and lunch; a creche will be provided for younger children.

Please book you place by contacting Steve Davies, email: davies-oms@hotmail.com or telephone 0141 7793445.

SEE YOU THERE!

Psalm 27v.1

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Sam Scott a man from our MFM North Antrim council is part of a group known as ‘Because He Lives’.

Because He Lives is a small group of believers whose objective is to see souls set free and lives transformed. One of the ways they aim to do this is by providing communities with  non-denominational gospel events and by encouraging believers to be pro-active in all aspects of evangelism.

Currently ‘Because He lives’ are organising two major events within Northern Ireland in  partnership with Avanti Ministries.

For more information on Tony Anthony and Avanti Ministries please visit their website: www.avantiministries.com.

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Taming the Tiger – Come and Hear the story of a Kung Fu Champion.

As a four year old boy, Tony was taken from his parents in London to live with his grandfather in China. His grandfather, who was a Kung Fu grand master, trained Tony in the art of the Shaolin Monk traditions of Kung Fu. After many trials and much suffering Tony eventually became a Kung Fu World Champion. As time passed Tony was invited to work for the International Kung Fu Federation, an elite bodyguard organisation, which protects some of the world’s richest and most powerful people. Tony excelled as an elite bodyguard but then tragedy struck and he fell into a downward spiral of self-destruction, which turned him into a blood-thirsty and violent gangster. Tony was subsequently incarcerated into Cyprus’ notorious Nicosia Central Prison where he found every form of human depravity. However it was also there that he met a man from Northern Ireland and his life was to change forever.

Further details, dates & venues for Tony’s testimony events, visit http://theslossfamilymfm.wordpress.com/

ISRAEL – Prayer Team
June 1-10
This team will visit different places such as Jerusalem, Mount of Olives and Gethsemane.
Will also include some manual work, such as painting.
*Cost: tbc

ECUADOR
July 6-20
A small team to Ecuador will be involved in running a holiday Bible Club and other youth activities.
*Cost: £1200-1400 (depending on cost of flights)

ENGLISH CAMP (Ukraine & Hungary)
Ukraine July 15-28 or August 5-18
Hungary July 11-28
Come along and get involved with helping young college students improve their English while telling them about the love of God.
You will be involved in indoor and outdoor games, English classes, discussions in English aobut the bible and much more!!
*Cost: £800 + flights

Also various teams throughout the summer months to REPUBLIC OF IRELAND.

*All costs are estimated and are subject to change.

To complete an application form, go to http://www.onemissionsociety.org.uk/getting-to-know-you.aspx
or if you have any questions please email recruiter@omsinternational.co.uk

What a wonderful and caring God we have! He has not only created us to do good works, but he also has already prepared them it advance for us. And he goes even beyond, rewarding us when we accept to do those good works. There is so much in there: he gives us the nature, the opportunities, and the reward. Here is an example of what I’m trying to say:

Very early in the morning of Sunday 12 of February we started our journey towards Northern Ireland.  Our first stop was Stranraer, where the local Baptist Church was celebrating its anniversary.  Steve was blessed to be the speaker for the occasion.  He had been there about 5 years ago, and therefore it was easy to find the way to church.

We arrived with plenty of time.  Soon after Steve parked the car, two or three other people from church arrived too; and the doors were opened.  As we were getting ready to enter the building, a minibus stopped just outside the church, and a good number of children got off.  But the bus immediately left, because there were other little ones that needed to be picked up to be on time for Sunday School.

These children receive an early snack before the service start, take part of the Sunday School program and then are taken back to their homes.  There is a team of loving people that seek to serve the Lord as they serve these little ones.

“Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward.   And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.” Matthew 10:41-42

Last week we were in Northern Ireland, and when you add a stop in Stranraer on the way and some exploring in Co Armagh and Co Down to the rigours of an OMS Regional Conference at the weekend, there was plenty of jetlag to recover from.  It’s great to hear how the counties are the geographical reference for almost everything, each one with deep layers of shared identity bound up in the name.  “You’ll find things a bit different down here in Co North Lanarkshire” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.

The baroness has just bit her lip and packed her little bags to set off home to Vienna, and Captain von Trapp has yielded to the unstoppable steamroller of fate being driven by a confused young nun without a licence.  It happens every time.  What would the Sound of Music look like in an era of online dating, I know you’re asking.

We were amazed to meet folk from the network of prayer groups all around Northern Ireland who know our names, have our photo and have been praying for us.  What a joy to meet them at last, a power house we hardly knew was there.  And it was good to catch up with old friends at Finaghy, and make new ones in Newtownhamilton, Co Armagh.  On the way, there was a sudden police road block, and a long line of cars had to wind its way for half an hour down silent, twisting country lanes before rejoining the A1; either it was an echo of unhappier days, or the police just do it to slow everyone down and remind them that there are still narrow roads and spreading oak trees.  That’s what I’d do, if I were Minister of Transport.

The OMS weekend was from the 17th-19th February. Glenada was full to overflowing. We sat under the preaching of Rev. Paul Bradley from Straid Congregational as he expounded the word and brought to us the life story of Joseph.We renewed fellowship with many old friends and also made lots of new ones too. It was great to see such a vast range of ages. During the weekend there was crèche available for parents. Audrey and Stephanie along with Grace Herron were on during the first morning session on Saturday. They had 7 kids, where they were told a story, made a placemat creation craft and played games.

On the Saturday during the Men for Missions slot (4:30-6pm) I was introduced by Herbie Dunn as the MFM-UK Director (designate).  I had 10 minutes to share my testimony and vision for MFM with the dear folks there.

I want to thank those who uplifted me in prayer during my presentation (many of those weren’t even at the weekend)…I felt a real sense of God’s presence there with me.

It was a great privilege to finally meet Hywel Slaymaker who has spent his time using his building skills in Haiti with the project ‘Homes for Haiti.’

On the Friday afternoon we travelled to George Best Belfast City Airport and lifted Hywel. It was great just to talk to him and get to know him as a brother in Christ on our journey then to Newcastle. On the Sunday morning, Hywel then was given the opportunity to share of his 2 trips to Haiti, showing us of the work that is involved in this needy land.

All too often these weekends fly past us and after lunch on Sunday we said our goodbyes.

To read more about us and to catch up on all our news you can now link onto our full blog on the following address  – www.theslossfamilymfm.wordpress.com

Sam Scott from the North Antrim MFM Council has been involved with the outreach of Taming the Tiger. He has arranged various meetings for Tony Anthony across Northern Ireland during the month of March. Tony has a great testimony and it would be great if you could get along to one of the meetings near you. If you can’t get along to any, then please remember these meetings in prayer. To find out where these meetings are, dates and times visit – www.becausehelives.com

God willing, on Wednesday 29th February, we welcome a new family to your team! Paulo, Fernanda, Laura and Luana Almeida are coming from Brasil. Over the last couple of weeks we have been doing some renovations to the house where they will stay! Abigail wanted to help by pushing the pins into the pin cushion!

Missão Integral

Sharon and I continue to teach each Monday from 8am until 12.15pm. While we strive to teach the students we are very aware of how much there is for us to learn also. The experience stretches us spiritually and challenges us to intentionally continue as learners, especially in the area of the portuguese language! Praise God for the students. Pray for them as they continue to search the scriptures and seek His perfect Will for their lives and ministry.

Hide and Seek!

For months now I have been following a process with the Municipal Council to have all the necessary legal paperwork prepared for the purchase of the new compound at Boa Nova. Every time I go to check on progress I pray for patience and more patience! Twice in the last 12 months, the file relating to our property has gone missing! The likelihood is that it is sitting exactly where the last guy left it but that doesn’t help us too much … it isn’t where it ought to be! When I was informed that the file was lost, I was asked what I would do about it so I responded with the question ‘would it be possible that the file was given to me at any point?’ and they said ‘no, absolutely not, the file never leaves our office!’ This left me wondering what was meant by their question … let me hazard a guess … might it be that the overarching motivation was to have another, someone else carry the responsibility? If I were to carry the responsibility then they would be free of it! On my next visit, I asked if they had any success in finding it, and the guy said ‘who have you asked? have you been to each department to see if they might have it?’ Yes, yes, yes, I was being asked to go search within premises not my own for a file not my own! Something I never had to lose! Anyway, regardless of culture, pray for the ‘appearing’ of this file!

Literacy!

This is Fatima. She is a really precious Christian lady who goes to the Chamancolo church. She has a real heart for children and desires to teach them God’s Word. However she lived through the era in Mozambique where many people did not have an opportunity to go to school due to the civil war and ensuing destruction of schools etc. She is coming to our house once a week when Sharon is doing a Christian literacy course with her. This is such a mutual blessing as Sharon is learning a lot and Fatima is also learning to read using the Bible. Please pray for her continued growth.

Countdown!

We are starting to count the weeks until Sharon’s due date (30th March)! She is doing well though the hot weather saps her energy quickly! God willing I will take Sharon, Joshua and Abigail with our house helper, Naomi to Nelspruit, South Africa on 16th March. Praise God, we have been blessed to find an affordable nice place to stay close to the hospital. I plan to return to Mozambique for the following week to be involved in ministry. Please pray for safe travels, health and a timely safe delivery!

With Mark Scott, Personnel Manager, leaving OMS at the end of January, to take up a postion at Pioneers, the Personnel & Member Care roles urgently needed to be filled.

OMS-UK Team. Back row L to R Stephen Davidson, Herbie Dunn, Moira Dunn, Bill Edler, Peter Marriott, Bill Burnett, Donald Coulter. Front row L to R Sophie Dunigan, Julie Edler, Kathleen Burnett, Liz Skillin

As we were unable to find permanent replacements based in the Manchester office, we are grateful that  Bill & Julie Edler & Bill & Kathleen Burnett have agreed to take responsibility for Personnel and Member Care respectively (working remotely from N.Ireland) ably assisted by Moira Dunn helping with administration. We are also pleased to have a student volunteer (Sophie Dunigan) helping in the office.

It was held in Newcastle (Co. Down) where the weather was beautiful and was set at the foot of the Mourne Mountains overlooking the sea.  The food was excellent and there was a warm sense of fellowship within the OMS family.   What more could one ask for, but we had more – the presence of the Lord was very evident from the beginning of the conference to its end on Sunday after lunch.

There were many missionary reports from around the world – South Pacific, Republic of Ireland, Ecuador, Mozambique, Haiti, Mexico, Columbia and East Africa. Those who attended were challenged by the missionaries who took part as they shared about the work they are involved in around the world. There were also candidates who are funding to go into full time work with the mission who shared of their vision and needs for the future.

The main speaker at the conference was Rev Paul Bradley who is a former missionary and is now Pastor of Straid Congregational Church. The title of his messages was “Lessons from long ago” and he took those present through the life of Joseph challenging each one irrespective of their background or age to do whatever they could for the Lord.

Donald Coulter also shared some of the history of OMS and also about his hopes for the future. He spoke about a new team of people who have come forward to give of their time and talents to help further the work of God’s kingdom by assisting with the work of the Manchester Headquarters.

Alan, Joanne & Charis Parkinson with Stephen & Pauline Davidson (OMS) at the Recommissioning Service

On Sunday February 5, everyone gathered for their farewell/recommissioning service at  Crown Lane Methodist Church, Preston. Stephen Davidson, from OMS spoke on Acts 9:1-19, emphasising the need to trust and obey Christ even though we don’t know where that might lead or into what situations.

Following a period of language study Alan and Joanne plan to work with the OMS related church, pastors and Bible Seminary. Charis will continue her education at the international school. Please pray for this family as they adjust to life overseas and as they acquire the language successfully in order to carry out ministry, build good relationships with specific people and for their temporary oversight of the local weekly English service.  Remember Charis as she settles back into the school and reunites with old friends and establishes new friendships. Pray for the many needy people of the beautiful country where this family are serving, and for their families back home as they release them again into what God has called them to

Before leaving for Ecuador we had begun to hear about the new world of iPods and MP3s; but not enough to start to get interested, and certainly not to imagine that we might get some for ourselves.  While in Ecuador we found that some of our colleagues were wired in to regular podcasts from home; and we were still casual about the technology gap… but it was widening every year.  We arrived back in Britain to find that something called Kindle was already a household name, and topical discussion included the relative merits of different tablets, which not so long ago would just have meant fudge.Now, six months into our Home Assignment, we’re pleased to report that we’re better acquainted with at least some of this new technology.  Katuska bought an iPod to encourage her as she went running, and has now found she prefers an MP3 because itunes is too complicated for what it really achieves.  She also discovered that the Deutsche Welle website has a fantastic pool of podcasts in African Portuguese; and the Internet is full of free educational stories for children in just about any language you could choose.  But best of all, a generous supporter has given us a brand new laptop, enabling us to get linked up to all this, and a Kindle too, whose massive but weightless internal library we are gradually stocking up with volumes that we expect to be reading for years to come.

Xai-Xai Beach
With temperatures in the high thirties, we grabbed the opportunity to go and spend a weekend with missionary friends who live on the beach. They live about three and half hours north from us. We had fun on the beach (sorry we didn’t take the camera to the beach!), had the most scrummy pancakes, chilled, had a BBQ and had afternoon naps! We had lots of fun. Thank you Jason, Rachel, Tristen and Jocelyn! On the way back we took this photo!! We see many funny things daily in Mozambique!

Teaching at the Seminary
Yesterday was our first day to teach within the seminary program. It was a great experience – not as daunting as I thought! Teacher Sharon kept me right! Our subject is Holistic Mission. Our prayer is that the students would have a vision for how God desires to have access to every area of our lives. How He desires that we each and all live in dependence upon Him and seek His provision for our every need whether, physical, emotional, social, intellectual or spiritual. Continue to pray for us as we prepare the curriculum and teach in Portuguese.

Imprisoned but Set Free
Last Saturday I (Melvin) had the opportunity to join five other members of our City Church as we attended the Juvenile Prison near Boane. There are around 100 residents though some were on farm duty on Saturday so we met around 60. A very pleasant sympathetic lady has been seeking help from churches as it is her desire to see these young guys encounter Jesus. We understand that a number of them have already made a commitment to Jesus. Please pray for wisdom and understanding as the City Church seeks to minister intentionally into such a context.

Thank you to all of you who volunteer in Girassol and to Ali who manages. We are so blessed by you and the work of Girassol.

It was great to be at Denver and Joanne’s wedding and also Brian and Rachel’s

Melvin & Sharon

It was also great to celebrate the twins 2nd birthday with family and friends

Singing Happy Birthday!

It was the first time for Abigail and Joshua to visit the Zoo!!

Abigail and Joshua have settled in again to life in Mozambique.They love their new chairs-a gift from a friend which we brought back. One is a zebra and the other a giraffe. We travelled home with 2 suitcases and returned with 6!! Among gifts and provisions we needed to bring back items in preparation for the baby.

Sharon had a check-up with the doctor on friday before our return to Mozambique. All is well with baby and mum. We would really appreciate your prayers for the coming days-for health and especially protection from Malaria. We also need to decide on affordable and suitable accommodation in Nelspruit for the time of the birth-pray we find what we need.

A tropical storm has hit Mozambique. We have had almost constant rain since Monday. Everywhere is flooded. Yesterday we took a trip out to visit friends in Khongolote. Here are some of the scenes that we encountered….

The river running down our road at the entrance to our compound!

This is the road outside the compound!

Please pray for the people of Mozambique. They have many challenges and life is often difficult.

Juka, Elena and Milka-our friends whom we went to visit! Pray for them as they return to minister in the North of Mozambique!

Thank you for your support and prayers. We would really value your prayers for all of our relationships here in Mozambique, that we would reflect Christ and be His hands and feet.

http://www.sandyhillschurch.co.uk/index.php?view=sermon&id=10142%3Aunderstanding&option=com_sermonspeaker&Itemid=36

http://www.burnsideblairbethchurch.org/index.php?option=com_preachit&tmpl=component&id=61&view=audiopopup

1. That God might guide us to appropriate material for discipleship Bible studies in the churches. Pray for spiritual depth in our churches and good participation in the studies.

2. That God guides us as we prepare to teach a module on Holistic Ministry at the Bible Seminary. Pray that the material we prepare will be profitable to the students and the churches they represent.

3. That God may prepare those of His choice to be involved in establishing outreaches and Bible studies through the churches.

4. That God may be our peace as a team as we face various changes.

5. For the impact of the heavy rainfall in Mozambique with some roads impassible, homes damaged, toilets flooded etc.

6. Pray for our health. All of us have come down with flu/cold with sore throats, heads and coughs. Please pray especially for Abigail and Joshua that they will find relief at night.

_________

As we have left the New Year behind and the holiday period is over I am back into taking meetings, raising the profile of Men for Missions and we are leaving it before God to provide the prayerful and financial support we need.

Stephanie has just completed her January exams last week (9th & 11th). She says thankyou to those who have upheld her in prayer during this time…now all she needs is her results! Stephanie starts back to college next week for her last semester.

Audrey and Leanne both covets your prayers for their ongoing health problems. They are trusting in the Lord day by day for strength.

It was great to renew fellowship with Melvin, Sharon, Abigail & Joshua Kelly when they were home in Northern Ireland over the Christmas period. We were unable to attend their get together in Ballinderry on Saturday 7th past, but we had a good time catching up in our home together. The twins are really stretching and are full of life (I wonder who they take this after…Melvin!?)

If you didn’t watch Samuel, you could hear his opinion about child poverty following this link:

http://www.4thought.tv/themes/what-does-child-poverty-mean-to-you/samuel?autoplay=true.

During the first three months of 2012 mostly on Sundays we’ll visit churches to which many of our friends belong.  But Steve has been invited to various prayer meetings held on weekdays.  Some of these prayer warriors have been interceding for us already for many years.  We are humbled by their love showed to us and the Lord when we go to a church and the congregation knows about the work we did in Ecuador.  We are grateful to those who have been praying faithfully for us, because prayer really works!

All of the sudden we feel as if the countdown has started, but we are not ready yet!  To raise the support needed to go to Mozambique by July looks like a real challenge.  Sometimes my heart shivers like jelly.  Sometimes my heart is strong.  That’s when it is connected with the eyes of faith.  But I need to keep trusting God.

Then came the many Christmas parties at school, at church, at Humpty Dumpty and Little Creations. But as time passed our joy grew, as the day to see again our siblings and their families became nearer. For Christmas we really had a full house:  siblings, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, grandparents, nieces, nephews, cousins, etc.

For New Year we travelled to Belfast and visited Katuska’s sister, Gwendolyn and her family.  It was a wonderful time though much quieter than during Christmas.  Our boys played ten pin bowling, told jokes, ate lots, and also prepared buiscuits with Astrid and Josue, their cousins.  Meanwhile, Steve and I just relaxed and enjoyed some days of blissful peace.  We were pleased that both crossings to and from Belfast were uneventful.

We haven’t seen snow again around this area.

May we take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Year and that you may know much of God’s blessing in 2012.

It was good to escape the lingering snow, if just for a day, and as we sat on the Gatwick-Victoria train we gazed at the green fields as though the Warm South were a different continent.  But London was still too chilly to do any sightseeing, and even a quick round of Mornington Crescent on the Underground wasn’t on the cards, because of the crowds of shoppers: we just jumped off at Warren Street and soon found the studios and a mug of coffee.  Gemma, the producer, lent Sam her iPad to play on as he warmed up.

They told me he did really well.  I stayed out of the studio in case my presence might put him off, or just change the dynamics somehow.  Probably I needn’t have worried.  How cool can a nine-year-old be?  Put me in front of a camera and I fall over my words; Sam just talks and talks, the same as when he’s organising a lego battle in the front lounge.  I reckon the credit should go to the little music academy in Cuenca, that had him up on stage performing from the moment he knew which way round to hold his violin.

Anyway, to find out what he said, you need to be watching Channel 4 after the early evening news sometime in the week beginning 9th January.  I’ve been on the website – www.4thought.tv – catching up on some of their back copies.  How great to see moral and ethical issues opened up like this.

This is very exciting…posting our first ever blog! Please forgive us for any mistakes as this is all very new to us…modern technology!!!

We can’t believe its been 6 months since I got the job. For many years both Audrey and I have wondered what God had in store for us as a family. After many closed doors, much prayer and waiting, it humbles us that God would choose us to help fulfill the Great Commission.

At the moment I am still working in my secular job as a van driver, whilst doing deputation work. We are continually learning to leave everything in God’s hands, praying that He will provide everything we need to allow me to start the work God has called me to do on a full time basis. He has promised us that He will ‘supply all our needs’.

Since starting, I had the opportunity of going to Wales for 10 days. During my visit Chris Palmer
(South Wales & South West Regional Director) kept me on my toes. I had a very busy and blessed time.

During my trip I was able to share about the work of Men for Mission, sharing my testimony, showing the MFM DVD and powerpoint on the work of MFM.

It was also great to renew fellowship with Warren and Velma Hardig (MFM Executive Director USA). I pray that God will continue to bless them both as they endeavour to do God’s work.

I want to personally thank everyone that I met for making me feel so welcome on my first trip and I pray that it will not be too long until we can renew fellowship again. It is my prayer that God will work mightly throughout Wales, and that MFM may grow and be strengthened there in the days ahead. I also pray that God will start to move throughout the rest of the mainland.

It has been a strange season on the winding road to Mozambique.  Working hard at getting the boys settled in Britain, after their continental drift, became the priority that crowded out all its rivals.  We’ve gratefully plundered the local library, pedalled our bikes madly round Hogganfield Loch and laid siege to most of the ancient castles within a fifty-mile radius.  But we’ve perhaps sold short on some of the other tasks, which are now getting their revenge by slipping from important to urgent in the Covey matrix of overstated wisdom.  (Which reminds me, someone once sent me a CV that included the phrase “I practise the Seven Habits.”  Good grief.)

Anyway, we’re now enjoying filling the calendar for the coming months with speaking engagements.  There are twelve booked in so far, but since that’s mostly in the ten weeks to the middle of March, the early pages of the diary are looking cheerfully busy.  April has spaces that I’m hoping will allow a trip to south Wales and another to north-east Scotland.  And in May, two plans to look forward to:  some time on the Mull of Kintyre, and then our own OMS Scotland Conference (Burnside Church, Saturday 19 May, guest speaker Richard Tiplady).  Further details will follow.

The father of Dr. Kulikov Jr., my predecessor in the role of director of the Moscow Seminary, was shot in the head by a KGB agent, because Mr. Kulikov Sr. was a minister. Now, think how much faith it took on the part of Mr. Kulikov Jr. to become a minister himself! Imagine, though, how much more faith it took for Mr. Kulikov Jr. to appoint me, a former KGB agent, to become his successor in the role of director of the Seminary!? But he did for he knew that the Lord called me to replenish the lost – to train 200,000 ministers and plant 99,000 churches in Russia. What he did not know was that the Seminary’s mission would spread far beyond just Russia and go all the way to the former republics of the Soviet Union – a territory of 11 (!) time zones; here is how:

First, we recognized that most ministers in Russia and the former Soviet Union were bi-vocational. Their day job served as their cover against persecutions, a venue to meet atheists, and a source of income. Their church required constant attention, too. And so these church leaders could not leave their hometown to study in the capital city of Moscow. Second, we realized that the vastness of the land (10,000 x 5,000 kilometers) and persecutions in the “stans” (predominantly Muslim former republics of the USSR) made travel for ministers prohibitive.

These two factors made studies of post-Soviet realm church leaders in any kind of residential program impossible. But there was literally no-one (save the Holy Spirit!) out there, in the regions, to teach, counsel, and lead them. The Seminary felt Jesus’ “from everyone who has been given much, much will be required” (Luke 12:48) applied here … and launched a full-fledged on-line program. Nowadays, whatever is taught at the Seminary is up-loaded onto its server to be downloaded by ministers all throughout the former USSR. As a result, of 137 students total the Seminary trains 69 (!) previously unreached student-ministers on-line!

I often wondered how it was even possible to fulfill Jesus’ “anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing; he will do even greater things than these” (John 14:12). Well, here we are, doing it together with you, One Mission Society United Kingdom, even “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

I prayerfully hope this joint venture continues, to God be the glory! To proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and advance the Kingdom of God in Russia and the former Soviet Union, please, donate online via www.onemissionsociety.org/give (project “301710 Moscow Seminary”), or make a cheque payable to One Mission Society, put “301710 Moscow Seminary” remark in the memo line of the cheque, and send the cheque to One Mission Society UK, 1 Sandileigh Avenue Manchester, M20 3LN United Kingdom (you may also want to sign gift certificate as One Mission Society (a.k.a. OMS) is a registered UK charity 245124).

Praise God and thank you!

Sasha Tsutserov
director of the Moscow Seminary
missionary “370410 Sasha Tsutserov”
tsutserov@moscowseminary.ru

From left to right: Helena Monck, Doug and Debs Atherton, Pauline Davidson (in the purple scarf)

This Christmas, OMS-UK will be saying farewell to several members of office staff.  Pauline Davidson, Helena Monck and Debs Atherton will all be moving on whilst Doug Atherton will be stepping down as Executive Director and taking on a new role as a Special Assignment missionary.

The OMS-UK office is also on the lookout for a new Personnel Manager to take on the role from 1st February 2012, with some in-house training to commence beforehand.  If you’re interested in finding out more and would like a copy of the Personnel Manager job description please contact Mark Scott by emailing personnel@omsinternational.co.uk or calling 0161 249 5445.

One of OMS-UK’s Short-Termers said this about his recent trip to Haiti:

“Time is fleeting by, and so much to be done. A life-time could be spent, and it would just be scratching the surface. Such devastation, and so much need! Oh! that more helpers would recognise the tremendous need, and respond.”

We are looking for people who can bring their skills and enthusiasm to work on the construction of a church or help out at the Bethesda Medical Centre.

The dates of the trip are Sunday 26th February – Saturday 10th March 2012 and the estimated cost for the fortnight is £1500.

If you’re interested in finding out more, please contact Mark Scott by emailing personnel@omsinternational.co.uk or calling 0161 249 5445.  We’d love to hear from you.

We are pleased to tell you that these four European websites are now ‘live’.  To view them please click on the links below:

www.onemissionsociety.eu (Europe)

www.onemissionsociety.fr (French)

www.onemissionsociety.es (Spanish)

www.onemissionsociety.de (German)

Please spread the word about the valuable work for God’s kingdom that OMS is doing across Europe.

We, God willing, travel to Johannesburg by car next Tuesday. We then stay overnight and fly out on the evening of the 14th Dec. Please pray for us as we prepare this week to travel. We want to meet with our Mozambican friends here to wish them a blessed Christmas and we have packing and organising to do! Pray also for a safe journey and protection from God for all of us as we travel and especially that the children would sleep on the plane!!! They do not have seats so will be on our knees! Pray for free seats near to us where they can sleep!

We are really looking forward to being back in Northern Ireland and catching up with family and friends. Our primary reason for this visit is that we have two family weddings to attend which will be great! We are also looking forward to celebrating Christmas and the twins 2nd birthday at home! We are having an informal get-together on Saturday 7th January in Ballinderry Parish Church Hall at 2pm. We are sorry that it is not possible to visit everyone individually due to lack of time but we would love to see you on Sat 7th!

Girassol

Ali has once again entered the Christmas Window Competition in Antrim. She and others have put a great effort into creating a great window. Thank you so much to all who have exerted so much time and energy. The windows in the participating shops have already been judged by the official judging panel but this year they also are taking into account the views of the public. There are voting papers in the shop. We would love you to support the shop and Ali in this competition. We would really appreciate it if you could pop into the shop and fill in a voting paper to vote for the best shop window. The voting papers are only available in the shop and the voting closes this Friday!

May you know God’s blessing today! We really appreciate your love and prayers!

The road to Edinburgh just after 7 am.

See the OMS homepage, World Wide Mission blog for an article on Transition written by Steve.

The birthday boys had their birthday cake as they liked it

Joseph: cupcakes with the Toy Story design.

Steve: triple chocolate birthday cake.

Samuel: egg and dairy-free chocolate cake

Our friendly neighbour has told us that the houses from around this area are probably over 100 years old, which makes me wish that the architects and builders of those days really loved doing what they did and took pride in their work!  The outside walls are built with stones, and funny noises tell us that the heating is on.  But the high ceilings and big windows are lovely, letting the light invade the rooms.  Not so much now, as winter is hurrying up to meet us here!

The photo above is the house we are calling home for now, and it is the manse of Stepps Parish Church.  We are very grateful to them for letting their property to us, paying a rent appropriate to our missionary budget.
At our arrival in Scotland, we already had a place where to live but we didn’t have a car for a few weeks.  And so, we did a bit of exploring, and discovered that there is a park just round the corner, and the school and public library are across from the park.  Walking on the other direction a shop offers to the public a good supply of groceries and it has helped us out when we’ve run out of basic items for cooking.

And beyond the shop, the second-hand car dealer and a red postbox, a spot of tamed nature springs up and becomes a shelter for ducks, swans, and other birds; and a meeting point for the neighbours, their families and their pets.  I’m talking about Hogganfield Loch.  We’ve been there for the playground, the swans, the healthy ride on the bicycle and a brisk walk.  The birds seem to be hungry all the time.  And the paths are usually with plenty of walkers, joggers, riders, and dogs with their humans.  It is a lovely place, and we intend to pay regular visits to it.

Looking back: this is something we try to do well, to learn from our experience and pass on what we learn, but it’s really much more than that – to trace God’s footsteps on our road and understand that it was actually not us, but Him, at work in all that happened.  It could become a personal journal in the style of Psalm 78.  God led us, with our three young boys, to Ecuador, and at the same time He called teams of people to send and pray for us.  He gave us a home, a worshipping community, friends and colleagues; He met our daily needs when they looked too daunting to us.  He gave us purpose:  we found that our circle of ministry grew to encompass many churches in Cuenca.  He allowed us to teach in the seminary, evangelise in the fields, encourage pastors in our home, model children’s  ministry; He invited us to be present while He brought people to new birth, or closer to Himself, or formed them into leaders.  Last summer He put us in contact with a rural congregation which, to our surprise, wished to invest in training – for a group of ten including the pastor and ministry leaders.  All through last year we worked with them, and had the joy of seeing them graduate in May.  It was a privilege to be present at that moment in their lives, and our minds soar as we pray and wonder what God may yet do, in and through that church.

Furlough: though actually Home Ministry Assignment sounds more purposeful in today’s climate, meaning no disrespect to our forebears.  It’s busy!  We’ve identified six  priorities for our time and energies while we’re in Britain.  Here they are, as briefly as I can condense them:

• To be thoroughly fed on God’s word.  We must admit that in the field we struggled to do this.
• To make sure we’re all fully fit, physically and emotionally – health, marriage and family life.
• To get up to date with technology.  We must stop shipping books around the world and learn to do more things electronically.
• To learn Portuguese.  It’s so close to Spanish that it’s not too difficult, but still needs work.
• Steve is embarking on a PhD in church planting.
• To raise substantially more financial support for our ministry in Mozambique.

Looking forward: we do this with great excitement, fully trusting that the Lord has led us clearly in the move to a new field.  It was about a year ago that we first heard about the need for more missionaries in Mozambique, and in March Steve flew to Maputo to meet the team and discuss where we could fit in.  It’s still a small team in a huge  country, with wide open opportunities and tremendous needs.  We will form part of the leadership team of the Maputo seminary, and also aim to be involved in the fast-growing programme of village church planting.  The country has done a lot to rebuild after the civil war, and, crucially, now has a generation of young adults with a full educational background.  Among them must be the future leaders of those newly planted churches; so now is the time for their training.  We believe that just as the Mozambique team has invited us, God has called us, and if we’re honest – we can’t wait to get going again!

Steve and Katuska Davies

In my younger, fitter days, a particularly favourite jogging route of mine would take me along Shirley Road and passed the St. Helens depot for hauliers Suttons Transport.  The clock tower overseeing the main gate at ‘Suttons’ once stood on the estate of racing driving Sir John Whitmore and was rebuilt at the St. Helens site by the late Alf Sutton.  Now a well known local landmark, the clock tower’s annotation reads:  “Time and tide waiteth for no man”. It is said that this prophetic 14th century proverb was chosen by Alf to, “prod any   slackers!”  Whether that is true or not, I cannot say.  Suffice to say that this proverbial phrase, which first    appeared about 1395 in Chaucer’s Prologue to The Clark’s Tale, clearly alludes to the fact that human events or concerns cannot stop the passage of time or the movement of the tides.

For some, this reality is unnerving at best, and downright terrifying at worst!  For the Christian, however, it is fundamentally liberating.

I am reminded of the old adage:  Man proposes, God disposes. From this we understand that it is not purely London, or Washington D.C., or Brussels, or Beijing, that shapes our destinies, but Almighty God.  The Psalmist captured the essence of this truth beautifully:  “Nations are in   uproar, kingdoms fall; [God] lifts his voice, the earth melts…”(Psalm 46:6)

Whatever situation or circumstance we face – good, bad or indifferent, the child of God can rest secure in the knowledge that their loving Heavenly Father is Sovereign, He is in control.

OMS-UK is facing a number of significant changes that, on the surface, we may find unsettling and difficult.  Financial constraints force change!  We might be tempted to panic and lose perspective.  However, a long-time supporter of the Mission wrote to me recently saying; “… it is a truism to state in the big picture of the Bible, God’s providential with-holding of (spiritual as well as material) means has often been a wake up call to seek His will and way, and to do it…”

Put simply, the Mission’s current extremity could be considered an opportunity to stop, reassess, discern afresh the will and purpose of God, and to do it.

In what was, reportedly, the last hymn he ever wrote, the 18th century poet and hymnodist concluded his now infamous hymn Light Shining out of Darkness, (beginning “God Moves in a Mysterious Way”): “Blind unbelief is sure to err, and scan His work in vain.  God is His own interpreter, and He will make it plain.”

The fascinating, though unsubstantiated, story behind this classic hymn is worth telling:  Cowper often     struggled with depression and doubt. One night he decided to commit suicide by drowning himself.  He called a cab and told the driver to take him to the Thames River.  However, thick fog came down and prevented them from finding the river (another version of the story has the driver getting lost deliberately).  After driving around lost for a while, the cabby finally stopped and let Cowper out.  To Cowper’s surprise, he found himself on his own doorstep.  God had sent the fog to keep him from killing himself.

Let us rejoice together in all that God is doing in these days.  We serve a Sovereign God who knows all about our present situation and will bring us through it.

Because of personal and philosophical differences, we decided to leave the Vision Norte team. It was a difficult decision, but after much prayer, thinking and seeking advice, we felt this was the right direction for us to go and saw God starting to take control of all the details. A house became available for us to live in Meco at the right time. We started to attend the Camarma church and have felt very much at home there. Our contact with this church has been decisive in defining our current ministry. With only 3 years of existence, the Camarma church has grown in an unprecedented manner in Spain (with only 0.5 % of evangelicals, Spain is the least evangelized country in the Spanish speaking world). This is a loving, thriving congregation of about 80 people attending regularly, with a heart for reaching out to the surrounding towns. This is why the missionaries were praying for someone to come and evangelize Meco.

With the help of the Camarma church we are now launching an evangelistic thrust in Meco. There are several contacts and families from the church who live in the town. There is also a house group that is meeting currently at our house. We see an opportunity to serve the community of Meco in social outreach. While continuing to work part time in the school Gail is starting to get involved in various activities with ladies in the town. Daniel is involved part time with the church, covering areas of teaching, preaching and worship, and part time leading the evangelistic outreach in Meco.

As a family we are all fine. Melissa and Ruth have settled well into their new school year. We are all feeling a lot more settled in our new house and are enjoying our participation at the Camarma church. One matter of concern presently is our missionary support account. Because of the current economic climate and rising living costs our support account is in deficit. We are planning to do fundraising in the UK during the spring next year. Please pray that this concern would not take our attention from the ministry we are doing at this important stage. Pray that the Lord would raise new individuals and/or churches willing to partner with us in the work we are doing in Spain.

We feel grateful to God for the way He has lead us to this point and for the new doors that He is opening for us. We regard a privilege to be in Spain at this very crucial time. The present financial crisis and the reality of immigration with all the challenges and opportunities this entails are making the Spanish people much more open to spiritual realities. Thanks for participating with us in this exciting adventure of establishing God’s kingdom in Spain. Your support in prayer for Spain and for us is vital at this stage.

Aimee and Raul did a great job leading the celebration.
Pastor Vaughan Telfer, who was a missionary with OMS in Mozambique in the past, came for a special visit to conduct the Consecration Ceremony & also provide training for church leaders.

Gifts were presented to those being consecrated and their wives. Thanks to all the teams who have left clothes with us, we were able to give some of these clothes to the wives & also wrapped them in a capulana. Thank you for your partnership!

Please pray for these leaders. They have an enormous responsibility to be servant leaders. Pray for wisdom and God’s spirit to equip them to serve the church so that it will grow and be fruitful!

Of course after there was a huge cake, served out by those who had been consecrated!

1 Timothy 3
1 This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop,[a] he desires a good work. 2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; 3 not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money,[b] but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 4 one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence 5 (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); 6 not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. 7 Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. 8 Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, 9 holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. 10 But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. 11 Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. 12 Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. 13 For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Firstly, THANK YOU so much for your prayers for Melvin’s back. God answered prayer in a miraculous way and he is now free from pain and discomfort – Praise God. He is still going weekly to a chiropractor here in Maputo. She is working to reduce the curvature in his back. It seems that the problem may have been caused by a build up of stress over time. Pray for continued healing. Thank you so much for partnering with us in prayer.

We had a great time of rest in South Africa. Once again, we were blessed by our wonderful friends, Steve and Liz, in Nelspruit. We were able to stay in their home, do some business, rest and take Abigail and Joshua to some play parks. We then spent a few days a couple of hours from Nelspruit and were able to return via Kruger Park to Mozambique which the children loved. Abigail learnt how to say “Zebra” for the first time and Joshua is obsessed by ‘Raffes’. It is such a blessing to hear them speak in both Portuguese and English. Abigail is able to say more words than Joshua. Pray for his continued language development.

Joshua and Abigail have both enjoyed good health, thank you for your prayers! Recently, however, we have noticed a rash on her back and neck. Pray that we will have wisdom regarding treatment or that it will disappear quickly.

Also, if you havent already heard the news, God willing, we hope to welcome a new little Kelly into our family at the end of March. Please pray for Sharon’s health and especial protection from malaria. Pray also for wisdom for us as we make decisions about delivery etc.

Upon our return from South Africa, a team from Brazil arrived (7th Oct). They have felt God’s leading to partner with us and our church partner here in Mozambique. It was a wonderful time with much discussion, fellowship, encouragement and strategizing. The days and evenings were busy but we thank God for our dear Brazilian brothers willing to partner with us to extend God’s Kingdom here. Praise God for Pastor Jaco (COMIM), Pastor Sandro (CONIM) and Micah Routon (OMS Brazil). Please pray for wisdom and resolve to build a partnership in the coming days to the Glory of God.

Below:- Left to right-Pastor Sandro, Phillip Telfer, Bruce Bennett, Pastor Jaco, Micah Routon, Dave Dedrick, Ann Dedrick, Diane Gray, Gary Gray, Aimee Howarth, Melvin Kelly, Sharon Kelly, Kyla Semenaya.

•    The first team is 2nd – 16th December 2011
•    The other team is 7th – 21st January 2012

Both teams will be building individual tables and chairs for the classrooms for the two Christian Schools in Bogota.  They will need to have angles cut for the legs, table tops supports and back supports for chairs.  Then they will make the tops and backs of wood.  They will need people to weld, cut angles, sand, varnish, and paint.  There may be some who will help with painting in one of the schools.

If you are interested in joining one of these teams, please contact Helena Daniell in the Manchester Office: recruiter@omsinternational.co.uk

The group for pre-adolescents is doing well too. It is also a challenge because just 2 of the kids come from a Christian family and have been in Sunday School. The rest come from a non-believing background and are surrounded by catholic friends in school. At this age they are supposed to do their “confirmation” (to validate their infant baptism). They are in the middle of what society expects them to do, but not knowing exactly what they are really doing. So our first priority is to help them to meet the Lord and to let them build a relationship with Him. We are also introducing them to the Bible. It is a small group, but we are becoming good friends and many of them are looking forward to our meeting. We all need your prayers, the kids and the ones in charge of this group.

There have been many things going on. Alina and Carlos, they are both involved in discipleship and good things are happening in their family. Juan and Sara are doing well, though they still struggle to focus more on the Lord. Neroly is getting more involved in the church. Because of a crisis she went to Alicante to look for a job, but she came back a couple of months ago. Her situation there did not improve and finally she found a job in Hoyo. Her family is settling down here again and they are better now. Her husband, Fabricio, is not a believer, but lately he seems to be more open to us and some activities at church. Please pray for him too, that he can meet the Lord as well.

There are many struggles, but also we feel that the faithfulness of our Lord. We feel that we have to get ready for the new things that are about to come, so we dedicated one Sunday for fasting and praying to look for God’s will. It was a wonderful time for all of us. We are grateful to God that we can see His guidance. We have our ups and downs, but we are growing in faith and in number. We are also praying for a new meeting place. The one we are renting has become small, especially for Sunday School. Please pray for us in this matter as well. Thank you for your prayers.

Blessings,

Antonio and Aída Sánchez

The special guest speaker is the Rev. Paul Bradley, minister of Straid Congregational Church, (formerly, Paul and his wife Jackie served the Lord in South Africa).

There will be many missionary reports through which you can hear what God is doing around the world through OMS.  The food is excellent, and there will be plenty of opportunity for fun, fellowship, praise and worship.

Come and be both informed and challenged!

For further details contact Mr. Donald Coulter, e-mail: donaldcoulter@gmail.com

SEE YOU THERE!

Come 26th August, six of us from the C.U. travelled out to visit Melvin, Sharon, Abigail and Joshua. It was a privilege to spend time with them as a family and enjoy fun and many great chats with Melvin and Sharon as well as the entertainment of the very lovable Abigail and Joshua!

While we were there we were mainly involved in helping run two kids clubs along with some practical work, painting at the seminary in Maputo and spending time with the youth in Khongolote. It was a real joy to work alongside the local churches in running these with the view to helping train members of the church to run similar outreaches in the future. There is a real need for ministry among children in Mozambique as over half the population is under fifteen years old.

We went through the CEF worldless book in order to explain the gospel using the different colours and what they represent. All these colours also make up the Mozambican flag so Bellarmino, the pastor in Khongolote, explained to the children that they needed to follow Jesus and if their country followed this message it would be completely transformed! Our prayer is that when they look at their country’s flag they will remember the message of the gospel.

In Chamanculo we found the children to be harder work and everywhere we looked we saw so much need. It wasn’t until afterwards that we really realised that this area is the witchcraft capital of the whole of Southern Africa. At times the need felt overwhelming but God reminded me that HE is not overwhelmed by it and He knows each of these little children individually. It is the individuals you meet that stick with you and we met a very special young boy named Wasketti. He was crippled, with his hand curled inwards, one leg bent and shorter than the other. As a result he was not really included in the community.

It was our privilege to be able to wash his feet and get him a pair of shoes. We took the shoes to a cobbler in the community named John-Paul who Melvin had previously met and who is also disabled. John-Paul was able to add an extra heel to Wasketti’s shoe to make his legs a similar length. There are no quick fixes and there is a lot more that could be done to help Wasketti but it was our privilege to be able to help him practically and show him the love of Jesus and that he matters to God.

We had a really blessed time while we were away, seeing God at work in so many ways including in our own hearts. We pray that we will be able to communicate this back at University. Despite the challenges of language and cultural barriers God was able to use us for His glory. It was such a privilege to tell the gospel to over 500 kids and we pray now that God will work in their little lives and extend his kingdom in Mozambique.

Heather Phillips

Although the students are young , the team is made up of native English speakers from a variety of age groups. Nobody is too old; you just have to be in good health and willing to love the students.

Although one of the aims of the camp is to help students improve their English skills,  it is as much a time of learning for the team as it is for the students. (By the way, you don’t have to be a teacher to qualify for going on this mission!) There is so much to gain from being in this camp environment, like learning about the Ukrainian  culture as well as that of the other native English speakers. It never ceases to amaze me how God brings together a team from various parts of the world, unites us, even though we may never have met each other before,  and uses us to bring His good news.

The camps are very well organised by the field missionaries, and although I am always very tired when I reurn to UK, I have had so much fun and made so many new friends.The Gospel is presented in a non-pressurised way and students are free and encouraged to discuss their feelings and beliefs.

Another amazing thing is God will take you out of your comfort zone, but will delight you with how He has been faithful in helping you to work through areas that you would normally find very difficult. There have been many answers to prayer.

After the camps, and the team return to their various countries, the work still goes on. There is quite a high success rate in helping the students to understand what relationship with Jesus looks like and many respond well to the Gospel.  Much time is invested by the home missionaries in the way of follow up work in discipleship, etc, that the seeds planted at the camps are watered and nurtured well.

I would recommend this camp to anybody who is interested in short term missions as it is the most exciting way I know of presenting the Good News.

Sandra Armsrong

I also remember that this corner of Glasgow has 2 or 3 shops of Asian and African produce.  Now, Ecuador doesn’t belong to any of those continents, but these shops sell South American plantains.  As soon as we reached the first shop and found these most valuable items, I changed in my mind the menu for the evening meal – from Hunter’s chicken to Estofado de pollo y maduro frito (in other words, stewed chicken with rice and fried plantain).

And this was possible because last Sunday my ever-so-useful blender and myself had been re-united after so many years of separation.  What a delight!

I’m very much aware that my blender and my Ecuadorian bananas don’t help much on our journey to Mozambique; however they have added a bit more of colour and spark to the life of at least 5 people today!

In the late 1800s at the height of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, slaves purchased from Africa cost the equivalent of $40,000 today.  Now, a slave can be purchased for only $90.  We would like to think of slavery as a thing of the past.  However, the unfortunate reality is that slavery still exists today.  The trafficking of people for labour and sex is a multi-billion dollar criminal industry.  The profit made from selling people is second only to the profit made in the drug industry among all criminal industries.  As  followers of Christ, we believe in the inherent worth and dignity of each individual made in His image.  Being forced into slavery robs an individual of his or her sense of value, reducing them to an object that can be bought and sold.

HOPE61 was born out of a heart of passion for those enslaved in human trafficking. The scriptural passage from Isaiah 61:1-3 led to the theme of hope and the name selection. Jesus came and declared His commission to fulfill the Isaiah promise, to release the oppressed, redeem the lost and restore the captive: an incredible hope for a world enslaved in the chains of bondage.

One Mission Society is a global church planting organisation that builds its ministry from the ground level of evangelism and training of nationals. We serve in regions of the world where high percentages of women and girls are trafficked and abused. HOPE61 is training missionaries to fulfill short-term opportunities in these countries. Our goal is to raise awareness and equip nationals to fulfill the scriptural mandate of propagating human respect in the fight against abuse.

Each year hundreds of thousands of women and children fall prey to traffickers who take advantage of their poverty and vulnerable state. Through the use of fraud, families unknowingly sell their children into sex trafficking. Others are kidnapped and forced into sex or labor trafficking. Human trafficking is driven by greed, which continues to feed the multi-billion dollar global business.

Finally, we borrow a quote from World Hope International: “Together we can do incredible things. Do not be intimidated by the statistics or discouraged by the magnitude of the challenges this world presents. By helping one person, one human being at a time, we will change the world.” We encourage you to join us in the fight.

Project #407841

I praise God and thank you for partnering with us in the venture of reaching Russia and the former Soviet Union with the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the Moscow Seminary!

Two aspects of this partnership I would like to emphasize this time:

First, this partnership does produce: Everybody of the recent graduating class went straight into ministry: Say, Ilya Vasilyev moved to the Sakhalin Island as a church planter (that’s 5,775 miles away from Moscow, the island being the remotest part of Russia, and so – Jesus’ “be ye my witnesses … to the end of the world” charge applies here, at least from the Russian standpoint). Pavel Sadaev travelled to the Mrakovo village as a missionary to Muslims in Bashkortostan (and I am sure you know that whatever ends on “stan” is  a trouble).  By the way, the Russian term “Mrakovo” in English means “Darkness” – what a suitable name for a place for the Light of Christ to shine upon!

Second, this partnership is efficient: It multiplies the investment as we train 111 students simultaneously. It operates in an economically sound way as we are being frugal with your money. (Some say even to the extent of being monastically ascetic. Well, true – there are no winter gardens or swan lakes at the Seminary. Why have them anyway? But what resources we do have we utilise to the limit: students worship, study, play, and even sleep in the chapel).

And so, our joint venture functions just as it is written, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” (2 Peter 1:2-3)

I prayerfully hope this fruitful partnership continues, to Him be the glory! Please, donate online via www.onemissionsociety.org/give/express-donations (project name = 301710 Moscow Seminary), or by cheque made payable to One Mission Society (with 301710 Moscow Seminary remark in the memo line of the cheque) and sent to One Mission Society UK, 1 Sandileigh Avenue MANCHESTER M20 3LN United Kingdom (you may also want to sign gift certificate as OMS is a registered UK charity 245124).

It’s great to be on the same team – Jesus’ team with you, One Mission Society United Kingdom!

Sasha Tsutserov,

Director of the Moscow Seminary

The call of God.  Every Christian is familiar with it in some way, shape or form – after all, if we are ‘in Christ’ then we have at the very least responded affirmatively to God’s call upon our lives unto salvation.

In recent weeks my church and I have been exploring together the      dynamics associated with the call of God upon the life of Abraham.

It is reasonable to conclude that Abraham had all he ever needed whilst living in Ur of the Chaldeans.  He was well provided for and deeply   attached to his family and friends.  All he knew of security and love was in Ur – his home town since birth.  We can be sure that it was no small matter for him to break-up his camp, to tear himself away from his nearest and dearest, and to start out for a land which, as yet, he did not know!

And so it will always be.  The divine summons will ever involve a wrench from much that nature holds dear.

Jesus said:  “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”  (Matthew 16:24)

In spite of the cost, the call of God upon our lives is eminently wise.  It could be argued that Abraham would not have become the man of faith if he remained at Ur!  Abraham was required to quit his happy home, and journey into the unknown, that faith might rise to its glorious proportions in his soul.

So long as we are quietly at rest amid favourable, familiar and undisturbed surroundings, faith sleeps within us and remains undeveloped; a thread, a germ, an idea.  But when we are pushed out from all these surroundings, with nothing (and no-one) but God to look to, then faith grows suddenly, becoming strong within us, a master-principle of life.

If a bird lingers at the nest, it will not know flight.  If a boy holds to the bank and toes the bottom, he will not learn to swim.  If you and I cling to the material, we cannot appreciate the realities of God’s promises.

We have to learn to withdraw from our hearts desires and deepest dependence from all earthly props and supports if we are to learn how to trust simply and absolutely in the eternal God.

St. Francis de Sales used to say:  “When the house is on fire, men are ready to throw everything out of the window; and when the heart is full of God’s true love, men are sure to count all else but worthless.”

Joshua and Abigail are doing well! We have had Emily staying with us for the past 2 weeks. It has been lovely to have her with us. Her parents are away in Kenya. Last Saturday was the 15 yr celebration of CAM School and also the official opening of the new school. Praise God for His faithfulness during construction and pray that CAM will continue to shine Christs light into the lives of many children who attend. In the picture below are Melvin, Gary and Diane Gray (filling in for Larry and Susan), Larry Weil, Claude and Marilyn Myers (founders of CAM school)

Praise God for Belarmino who was the supervisor on the CAM project and also Mel’s right hand man. He is a great man of skill and integrity.

As you can see from this picture Melvin’s back is not good. Things have deteriorated since Saturday. It is very hard for him to walk today & he is in a lot of pain. We really value your prayers for a miracle and for God to really touch his back. We are supposed to go for a long awaited break in South Africa this weekend but at the minute it is not looking like we can go. Thank you so much for partnering with us! Lots of love from us all.
Posted by Melvin, Sharon, Joshua & Abigail Kelly at 7:59

Please pray for a young lady who goes to the chamanculo church. She was baptised two weeks ago. She came to our house the day before and together we baked and iced a cake for her baptism. Pray that she will really follow after God and that she will have a real heart to reach out to the people in her community.

First it was renting a car.  Not possible, I’m afraid, sir, unless you can give us more proof of your address.  But I’ve only been living there two days and nobody’s written me any letters yet.  The rent agreement?  Ah, but I see that was sent to you at another address; and down in England, too, he mutters darkly to himself.  There is an awkward pause, just enough for him to find what he needs.  He triumphantly waves my driving licence in my face – And here you’ve got another address entirely.  I can’t possibly release a car to a man with three different addresses, now can I, sir?  Thus the bald young manager in Enterprise Rent-a-Car enterprisingly demonstrates to his assistant how to protect their fleet of Vauxhall Corsas from plausible Englishmen on the run from the police.  I buy another single ticket for the train home, wondering, among other things, why baldness at thirty is now fashionable in such a cold country as Scotland.

Then there’s the catalogue of pin numbers, codes and passwords.  When is this going to end?  We won’t name names now, but it seems my bank will no longer trust that I am who I say I am, even after I’ve already used three secret codes to gain access to my accounts online.  All seems well, until after I’ve made all my careful decisions – and then suddenly the screen goes all shy and asks me what is my favourite food.  When did that one start?  What on earth would I have said?  I have dozens of favourite foods.  The two that I offer fail to impress the programme, and it promptly terminates my session.  Couldn’t I just write a cheque like I used to, or go and queue in a bank for ten minutes?  You’ll see me there on the monitors, I’ll be standing disoriented, wondering why my bank looks more like a hotel reception, with a fountain and a coffee machine where once there were cashiers.  But what you’ll also see is that I’m not the only one.

To date, the front runner for my Customer Disservice Award is a mortgage lender.  On the phone to provide the simple fact of a new address, I’m soon talking to Rachel, who is pleasant, alert and, above all, possibly not in a call centre.  I’m off my guard.  I don’t spot, until it’s too late, that she’s locked into a programme that will shoot me down like a heat-seeking missile.  Out of the blue, as casual as you like:  What are the first and fourth letters of your password?  My brain flies into overdrive:  a password created six years ago.  What was I doing then, what was I wearing, what was I thinking?  Somehow I guess right; but straight away she wants more.  The second and fifth digits of your pass number?  I try my best shot, but I know the odds aren’t good.  This time I get it wrong, the security system locks me out, and her voice becomes ice cold while her computer checks my voice patterns against a database of known identity fraudsters and Eastern European terrorists.

First it was renting a car.  Not possible, I’m afraid, sir, unless you can give us more proof of your address.  But I’ve only been living there two days and nobody’s written me any letters yet.  The rent agreement?  Ah, but I see that was sent to you at another address; and down in England, too, he mutters darkly to himself.  There is an awkward pause, just enough for him to find what he needs.  He triumphantly waves my driving licence in my face – And here you’ve got another address entirely.  I can’t possibly release a car to a man with three different addresses, now can I, sir?  Thus the bald young manager in Enterprise Rent-a-Car enterprisingly demonstrates to his assistant how to protect their fleet of Vauxhall Corsas from plausible Englishmen on the run from the police.  I buy another single ticket for the train home, wondering, among other things, why baldness at thirty is now fashionable in such a cold country as Scotland.

Then there’s the catalogue of pin numbers, codes and passwords.  When is this going to end?  We won’t name names now, but it seems my bank will no longer trust that I am who I say I am, even after I’ve already used three secret codes to gain access to my accounts online.  All seems well, until after I’ve made all my careful decisions – and then suddenly the screen goes all shy and asks me what is my favourite food.  When did that one start?  What on earth would I have said?  I have dozens of favourite foods.  The two that I offer fail to impress the programme, and it promptly terminates my session.  Couldn’t I just write a cheque like I used to, or go and queue in a bank for ten minutes?  You’ll see me there on the monitors, I’ll be standing disoriented, wondering why my bank looks more like a hotel reception, with a fountain and a coffee machine where once there were cashiers.  But what you’ll also see is that I’m not the only one.

To date, the front runner for my Customer Disservice Award is a mortgage lender.  On the phone to provide the simple fact of a new address, I’m soon talking to Rachel, who is pleasant, alert and, above all, possibly not in a call centre.  I’m off my guard.  I don’t spot, until it’s too late, that she’s locked into a programme that will shoot me down like a heat-seeking missile.  Out of the blue, as casual as you like:  What are the first and fourth letters of your password?  My brain flies into overdrive:  a password created six years ago.  What was I doing then, what was I wearing, what was I thinking?  Somehow I guess right; but straight away she wants more.  The second and fifth digits of your pass number?  I try my best shot, but I know the odds aren’t good.  This time I get it wrong, the security system locks me out, and her voice becomes ice cold while her computer checks my voice patterns against a database of known identity fraudsters and Eastern European terrorists.

What a blessing it has been to have the Jordanstown Team here since Saturday. This week they have been working alongside the church at Khongalote to run a Holiday Bible Club. It has been so encouraging! I have been going out some afternoons with the twins and Naomi. Melvin has been accompanying the team for all the time. The first day I arrived I was overwhelmed by the number of children-160 sat under the tree listening to God’s Word! Yesterday when we arrived 220 children were there! What an opportunity to share God’s Word. Pray that these children will come to know Christ. Pray also that the church will have a real passion to continue outreach to this age group. Today was the last day of the kids programme. I have posted the team’s schedule below so that you can pray for their activities over the coming days! Chamancolo is a shanty settlement area where need abounds! Pray for strength, protection and stamina for the team. Pray also that they will enjoy their experience and that God will speak into their hearts! We praise God for the team’s willingness and their partnership with us during these 2 weeks-what a blessing!

Friday 2nd September

6.30am Breakfast & Prepare Packed lunch
7am Individual Quiet Time
7.30am Prepare to Leave
7.45am Leave for Seminary to work on children’s room
12noon Lunch
1pm Give out fliers in Chamancolo TBC
3pm Return to compound
5.15pm Evening Meal with Gary & Diane
6.30pm Games night/fire-organised by Philip & Kyla

Saturday 3rd September

9am Breakfast
9.30am Individual Quiet Time
10.30am Team Bible study/sharing
12 Noon Leave for Mimmos
12.30pm Lunch at Mimmos, Matola
1.45pm Leave for Khongolote
2.30pm Youth Program
4pm Snacks and treats provided by Jordanstown team for all
5pm Testimony and Praise Evening for Youth
7pm Return to Compound

Sun 4th September

7am Breakfast
7.30am Individual/Team devotions
8.15am Leave for Chamancolo Church & meeting with Children’s Club Leaders
1pm Lunch at Church
Rest/Preparation for Children’s club
5pm Evening Meal with Larry & Susan
6.30pm Team Bible study/Sharing

Monday 5th September

6.30am Breakfast & prepare packed lunch
7am Individual Quiet Time
7.30 am Prepare to leave
7.45am Leave for Chamancolo
8.30-11.30 Children’s Club
12noon Lunch at Seminary
1pm Seminary children’s room
3pm Leave to return to the Compound
5pm KFC at Guest House-Kyla to organise
6.30pm Team Bible study/Sharing

Tuesday 6th September

6.30am Breakfast & prepare packed lunch
7am Individual Quiet Time
7.30 am Prepare to leave
7.45am Leave for Chamancolo
8.30-11.30 Children’s Club
12noon Lunch at Seminary
1pm Seminary children’s room
3pm Leave to return to the Compound
5pm Evening Meal with Dave & Ann
7pm OMS Team Prayer Meeting

Wednesday 7th September

6.30am Breakfast & prepare packed lunch
7am Individual Quiet Time
7.30 am Prepare to leave
7.45am Leave for Chamancolo
8.30-11.30 Children’s Club
12noon Lunch at Seminary
1pm Seminary children’s room
3pm Leave Seminary to return to the Compound
5.30pm Evening Meal-Pizza
Pack and preparation for Kruger Park

Thurs 8th September

5.30am Leave for Kruger Park
Kruger Park viewing animals
Stay at Skukuza, Kruger Park
Night Drive Option (booking required earlier in the day)

Friday 9th September

Spend day in Kruger Park
3.30pm Leave park to travel back into Mozambique

Sat 10th September

9am Breakfast
9.30am Individual Quiet Time
10am Leave for Craft Market
1pm lunch out
5pm Evening meal with Melvin & Sharon
7pm Debriefing

Sun 11th September

9am Leave for Airport
11.50am Fly out of Maputo

On the 19th & 20th August we had our annual meetings of our team here in Mozambique. We reviewed the past year and looked forward to our vision for the future. It was a good time of fellowship & planning. Please pray for Dave as he put together the Field Plan for submission. I also thought you might like to see all our team.

From left to right:-
Larry Weil (Field administrator), Philip Telfer (CAM & Sport’s Ministry), Susan Weil (CAM Director), Diane Gray (CAM interim Director), Abigail Kelly, Gary Gray (Interim Field Administrator), Sharon Kelly (Holistic, Compassionate Outreaches), Melvin Kelly (Holistic, Compassionate Outreaches), Ann Dedrick (ECC), Joshua Kelly, David Dedrick (ECC), Kyla Semenyna (CAM & Health/Compassionate Ministry), Aimee Howarth (Discipleship & Women’s Ministry).
(CAM-Christian Academy of Mozambique; ECC-Every Community for Christ evangelism)

Please pray for Larry & Susan over the next few weeks as they prepare to go on furlough & for Gary and Diane as they take over. Pray also for Dave & Ann as they adjust back to life here after furlough.

South West and South Wales Missions Convention – Saturday 29th October 2011.  The conference will commence at 3.30pm with the evening service beginning at 7pm.  Speakers expected include Donald Coulter, Stephen Williamson, Steve & Helen Cosslett, Robin Sloss, Scott Murphy, Doug Atherton.  The event will be held at Newbridge Pentecostal Church, Goldengrove, Newbridge, NR11 4FE

In the August camp, we had nine of 24 pre-Christians mark that they had prayed to accept the Lord during camp, but at least one other guy said he prayed but didn’t mark it, and three others are showing the fruit of actual transformed lives! One girl (pictured on the right eating a smore) at camp testified at the closing banquet that she came to camp empty inside, and she is leaving camp filled up. She said she now has a new best friend—Jesus! Thanks for your prayers. God is at work.

We had 10 people come to our Sunday night Taste and See Life Group for students from the August camp. There was a real presence of the Lord in the meeting. Students shared how they were really touched at camp by the spiritual atmosphere and by the love and acceptance they felt. One student shared that after camp he was walking along looking at the sky, and he had what he called a ‘God moment’. He just really felt his Creator close to him, and he had a great feeling of joy fill his heart. He writes on his Ukrainian facebook page now that he is carrying God around in his heart.

The atmosphere of worship at the meeting was tremendous. These formerly non-Christian students were belting out praises to God with all their hearts. One guy was so excited after we sang worship songs that he said we needed to start a choir!

Thanks for your prayers. Please keep it up. God is at work. We’re seeing some major cracks in the dam, and we’d love to see more and more living water pouring through into the dry hearts of the students and people of Kiev.

This is just a very brief blog entry to ask for you fervent prayers for one of the girls who has attended the Drop-in Centre with her two kids over the past year. Her name is Joanna, and her kids’ names are Jonathan and Jemima (nearest English equivalents of their names). Just after Anya was born (at the end of Feb) Joanna gave birth to a baby girl and named her Adriana. She is seen above with her mum on the day she and her older brother and sister were dedicated (31st March this year). Joanna has been living off the streets with her partner Martin and her kids for a while now, but the flat where they live is very basic and she and the kids have been coming to the Centre to shower, eat, and wash their clothes on the days when it’s open.

We spoke to one of the MEFI team today and she told us some devastating news. Adriana was killed by a door falling on top of her. At first Joanna and Martin were accused of killing her by the press, but they have now been acquitted. Joanna has been sent to a rehab centre and now Martin’s ex-girlfriend (!) is helping to look after the other 2 kids. Of course the whole family, but especially Joanna, is distraught about the whole incident. And the team are very worried about her and the other kids at the moment and have been unable to visit her so far because the rehab centres don’t allow visitors for the first month.

Please pray for Joanna, Martin, Jonathan, Jemima and the team as they all struggle with their grief and sadness over the loss of such a precious little life.

We all stayed in the same house and each morning Phil and Maddy from Ennis Evangelical Church joined us as we sharded a devotional time together.  Team Leader Dean opened God’s Word and we very much enjoyed learning from the passage together and discussing it.  This followed by a time of prayer for the day.

We usually went out two by two onto the highways and byways of Lisdoonvarna and the surrounding area.  We distributed the ‘4you magazine’ and an invitation to an event on the Friday night where  Dr Steve Critchlow was coming to speak on the topic of ‘Coping with Depression’.

As we spoke to people on their doorsteps most people received us  but we soon realised that as we mentioned the event on Friday night this drew huge interest.  Most people knew of someone suffering from depression or of others who had committed suicide.

As part of our trip we visited ‘The Moher Cliffs’, a local beauty spot, however as we spoke to people we soon discovered that this was a well known place to commit suicide.  I think all of the team will remember this place with a sense of  awe at God’s beautiful creation and also a place of darkness where people jumped to their death.

The main focus of the week was very much on the Friday night.  We had prayed and spoken to the community all week about this event and we were expectant of God’s blessing.  Friday came and we were excited and prayerful for this event.  Quite a few came from Ennis church to support the event and to hear Dr Critchlow speak.

Then one gentleman arrived obviously in need of God in his life.  He was struggling with life and with his Priest’s domineering attitude.  During the talk another lady arrived also obviously needing help.  We had a break in the middle for a cup of tea.  One of the team had the opportunity to speak to the gentleman and another person in the team had the divine appointment of speaking to the lady that had come in late. We spoke over tea, listened to them and tried to encourage them with our own experiences in life and how only God can heal and restore lives.

During the second part of the meeting a couple of the team members gave a word of testimony and Dr Critchlow led in prayer anyone who wanted to respond to God.  Praise God that one lady responded and gave her life to God.  She was depressed as fear gripped her life but yet had the courage to come to the meeting on her own as she said, ‘I know God wanted me to be here’.

Sometimes as Christians we think that big numbers are a success but God saves one by one and each of the team realised that we were not disappointed at all of the small attendance to the meeting but more that our hearts rejoiced at this one lady who gave her life to God.  Luke 15 v10 says, “There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents”.

Praise God for the week and for allowing us to be a part of it. Praise Him for the hundreds of homes visited and hundreds of people spoken to but most of all the hundreds of magazines distributed containing His word. May God continue to speak on and save souls through this literature in a dark area void of The Gospel.

You can listen to the Friday night talk on the church website at www.ennisevangelicalchurch.org  and click on the ‘News and Events’ tab.

Lorraine Lappin

Tom Whelan

The past months have been extremely busy for Melvin, we are all tired but thankful to be at this stage in construction and grateful to God for His faithfulness and provision. Thank you so much for your prayers!

The front of the school

Abigail inspecting the work

Some of the classrooms

Please pray for Larry and Susan as they are busy getting the school set up for the start of term. Pray also for Gary and Diane. Larry and Susan leave for home assignment at the end of September and Gary and Diane take over their roles. Pray for a smooth transition. Pray for Ro Moore who is here for 4 weeks helping with teacher training and also setting up the computer network. She has been such a blessing. Pray for her remaining time here.

Ro

Also pray for the students as they start CAM-that those who do not know Christ will come to a personal relationship with Him.

We are preparing for a team from Jordanstown who will be ministering here at the end of August and the start of September. Please pray for this team and also for the plans for ministry.

Abigail and Joshua are doing well! They are speaking new words every day and are full of energy and fun! Praise God for their good health and that they are sleeping well. The temperature at this time of the year is lovely and this makes life easier for all of us!

Thank you so much for your prayers!

Last Sunday we had a dedication service for Anya in our church in Torquay. A dedication service is a bit different to a Christening service as it is simply our way of saying that this precious little girl is a gift from God, and that we are grateful she has been ‘loaned’ to us for this time and we promise to cherish her and show her God’s love and bring her up in a way honouring to Him. This fact has been brought home even more clearly to us with the recent loss of Nisha’s little friend who had only just had her 1st birthday (see previous blog). We feel so blessed and privileged to have 2 gorgeous little girls to love and care for, and we try not to take it for granted, as we know how fragile life is, instead we give thanks for each day that we have with them. Anya is 5 months old now, but as you can see she’s already eyeing up the cake!!! She’ll have to wait a bit longer to be able to enjoy it though! We had a lovely picnic in the park after the service with family and a few close friends, and thankfully the weather held out – it’s not as reliable here as it is in Mexico!

We’ve had a few speaking engagements since we’ve been back from Mexico, which have been a great encouragement. So far we’ve spoken at churches in Totnes, Torquay and London, but we’ve been trying to keep the first few weeks fairly relaxed so as to give ourselves time to recover and have good quality time with family. We’ve all felt pretty drained since our return, and it’s made us realise how much we actually needed some rest. We are already missing Mexico however, and we feel a conflict of emotions – wanting to both be here in the UK where we feel comfortable and where we have a loving family around us, but wanting at the same time to be in Mexico where we know God has called us for the foreseeable future and where the need is so great. However, we have to leave the work in Mexico in God’s hands for the next 9 months and trust that He will provide during this time so that we can go back and develop the work further.

Steve is off to the OMS headquarters in Indianapolis on Thursday for 2 and a half weeks for meetings and seminars in church planting. Then at the beginning of September we start our travelling around the country to speak at various churches – starting off in the Midlands, then after that Somerset, Wales, the North of England, Scotland, etc. We’ll try and send some of our schedule in September when things are more finalised as we’d really appreciate your prayers, and if we’re going to be nearby we’d love to see you too.

Please continue to pray for our adjustment to being here – we do feel quite unsettled some days, but the girls have adjusted well, and we’re getting there slowly but surely!

Robin is funding to serve as the MFM-UK National Director.  His vision is to encourage men to be a part of the Great Commission using skilled and unskilled men to serve Christ.

If you would like to partner with Robin, Audrey and the girls, prayerfully and financially, please contact the Manchester Office.

2012 Open Teams

Estonia Sports Ministry team – dates and cost TBC

Ukraine English camp – provisional dates 15th-28th July, 5th-18th August 2012, Cost £500 + flights

Hungary English camp – dates and cost TBC

Israel Prayer Team – dates: 1st – 10th June 2012, Cost TBC

Kazakhstan work teams, Summer 2012, Cost £600 + flights

Kazakshstan prayer teams, May 2012, Cost £400 + flights

Kazakhstan English teaching team, Summer 2012, Cost £300 + flights

Most team assignments last for two weeks and can involve prayer ministry, practical work, children’s Bible clubs or teaching English.  To find out more please contact Helena - personnel@omsinternational.co.uk or speak to one of our regional reps.  If you would like to find out more about individual assignments please contact us for more information.

Current opportunities include Ecuador, Mexico, Mozambique, Haiti and South Korea.

Since their marriage in 2008, Dean and Lorraine have been on a number of short term trips into the Republic of Ireland.  It was through these trips that God began to plant Ireland in their hearts.

Once funded, Dean will be involved in church partnerships in Ireland,    providing leadership in a church planting and discipleship ministry for the Lord.  To help him in this role, Dean is currently studying for his Doctorate of Ministry in the Irish Baptist College, Moira.

If you would like to partner with Dean, Lorraine and Faith, prayerfully and financially, please contact the Manchester Office.

We cannot be sure how the worship offered by Aaron’s sons was ‘unauthorised’.  It may have been offered at an unauthorised time and not one of the sacrifices which had been commanded.  The mention of ‘incense’ in verse 1 may, perhaps, allude to the use of ‘unauthorised’ materials.  As the Lord immediately prohibits Aaron and his sons from drinking alcohol (verse 9), it is more likely that the brothers were drunk and consequently offered their sacrifice in an ‘unauthorised’ manner.

It is, of course, no accident that we are not told the precise reason for God’s severe judgement upon Nadab and Abihu.  If we had been, we might all too easily say, ‘We’re not guilty of that!’ and miss the major lesson the passage is seeking to teach us.

God explained himself to Moses.  As a holy God he was to be honoured and respected (verse 3).  There could be no trifling with him.  Worship was a serious business to be handled with care.  God had fully and plainly instructed them as to the mode of their worship – there was no room left for man to introduce what he might deem desirable or expedient.  Nothing was needed on man’s part save a spirit of implicit obedience to the divine command.  Rebelliously or carelessly, Nadab and Abihu departed in their worship from the plain word of God, and the judgement of God fell!

In the early church a similar incident took place.  In the New Testament church all believers were considered to be priests (1 Peter 2:9).  When Ananias and Sapphira (ordinary believers, not Christian leaders) lacked   integrity in their financial dealings with God, they, too, encountered his judgement and died (Acts 5:1 – 11).  People were slow to learn the lesson of Nadab and Abihu.  They still are!

Derek Tidball puts it like this:  “The lessons are stark.  God is holy.  Worship is awesome.  Obedience is required.  But grace is available.”

Deuteronomy 4:24 sums it up:  “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”

We must not be allowed to introduce our own devices into the worship of God.  All such efforts will amount to “unauthorised fire” – unhallowed incense, false worship!

God despises casual Christianity!  If we are casual with holy things we have failed to  understand the character of God and the extreme wonder of a personal call unto holiness through Jesus Christ.

Doug Atherton
UK Executive Director

We were sad today to hear that one of Nisha’s friends, Naomi, after being diagnosed with a brain tumour just over a month ago, lost her fight to survive today, and has gone to be with Jesus. The above picture is the best we have of her with her mum Laura, and shows us with her last year at the independence day party on September 15th.

Just a few months ago everything in this little family’s lives was normal until Naomi had a fall and lost her ability to walk, at first doctors thought it could be an ear infection, but further investigations revealed a brain tumour at the base of her skull. They have been trying treatment including surgery the past few weeks but to no avail and she passed away this afternoon (morning, Mexico time).

They are a particularly special family for us as Laura helped looked after Nisha quite a bit when we first arrived in Mexico, when we were settling in and looking for a house. Nisha loves Naomi and would play with her and help Laura look after her quite a bit during these times (Naomi only turned one in January). Nisha has also been praying for “Naomi’s poorly head” most nights too and when we said Jesus was looking after her now, she said “I want to see Jesus too”. Death is quite a difficult subject for a three year old and we would appreciate your prayers as Nisha gets her head around what has happened. Naomi and her mum have a very special place in our hearts.

We are enjoying being back in the UK amongst family and friends, but days like today accentuate the conflict we feel of wanting to be both in the UK and in Mexico at the same time. Of course the pain we feel is insignificant compared with what Laura, Jorge and the extended family must feel at this time, and we wish we could be there to give what support we can to them and to put our arms around them, but we also know that prayer is more valuable than anything we could physically do. At a time like this, it is the most important and most powerful gift we can offer to this lost and grieving family. Please join us in prayer for them.

Thank you to those of you who have been in touch. We are trying to rest and keep our speaking engagements to a minimum. Anya will be dedicated this Sunday at Upton Vale, our home church – so we are looking forward to that and to seeing lots of friends there too.

Thank you for your ongoing interest and prayers – we hope to see many of you as we travel around the UK.

The new bathroom block that has been constructed!

6 classrooms have been created in this building as well as an OMS office, school office and meeting room. This building had not been used for a while but prior to this was used by a local church before they moved out into their own building in the community.

The front of the school!

It was with sadness that we said goodbye to Ian and Sharon!! What a blessing they were to us!! We went last weekend to Kruger Park for the day! It was great to spend time together and we all loved the animals.

This weekend has been windy and quite cold!! We had purchased matching coats from Girassol for Abigail and Joshua before coming here!! In the height of summer I often wondered why I had packed them but this weekend they were well used!! Abigail and Joshua love to be outside!

Abigail andJoshua

playing outside.

Please pray for us as we have an issue with a worker whom we had to let go as he was caught ‘red handed’ stealing from us. He is now taking us to court! Pray for wisdom and that the case will be dropped!

God bless you today!
Posted by Melvin, Sharon, Joshua & Abigail Kelly at 7:29

On Thursday 7th, at 3:30 am we were ready to leave for Loja. It was a three-and-a-half hours journey. We give thanks to God for his protection on the Ecuadorian “full of character” roads.  The Vogans, our co-workers in Loja, prepared a wonderful breakfast for us; and then took us to the place where we would be staying.

At 10:30 that same morning I had to defend my thesis. I knew that only God could have helped me, because I was physically exhausted and didn’t feel fully prepared for the challenge. But he brought to my mind what I had worked on when preparing the written document, he gave me clear thinking and good answers to the questions they asked me. And by his grace I got full mark for the defense of my thesis! He is sooooo good!

Lunch at the Vogans

Back to the Vogans house, a wonderful lunch was waiting for us, with all the Loja OMSers.  At that moment, that meant:  Mark and Nube Vogan, Jenny Riggs, and the three Ripamonti boys, short-termers.  It was an excellent time of fellowship.  We give thanks to God for the love and hospitality he’s put in the hearts of his children.

We spend a wonderful afternoon in Loja Zoo park, small enough for overworked parents (Steve and me), big and excitingly enough for our dear boys.  Probably Samuel will load more interesting photographs in his blog.

Friday 8th was the well awaited graduation day.  The hard work was over and it was time to rejoice!  I’d done it, with God’s help and we’ve reached the end of that journey.  Again, Nube prepared a lovely lunch for us and a whole bunch of friends to celebrate not only this achievement, but also Mark’s birthday, and the farewell of the Ripamonti boys.

After that lovely meal, we started our journey back to Cuenca.  This lovely rainbow accompanied us for much of this journey.  We took Jenny to Saraguro, said our farewells to our friends who had been working on a VBS (Vacation Bible School) in that indigenous village; and continued our journey to the guesthouse where we were staying for a further night before heading to Guayaquil.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support over the past couple of weeks. We managed to get the bags packed, house cleaned, take the long flight over the Atlantic, get through immigration with Anya’s Mexican passport, meet Steve’s parents, get back to Devon, see most of the family and do our first Sunday service, phew!

The highlight so far has been getting the cousins together. Nisha and Anya are in the photo above with their cousins Hannah and Rowen.

The past couple of weeks have been a huge roller coaster of emotions for all of us, especially Nisha. We have a few meetings lined up this month, but our focus is to reconnect with friends, family and the culture that we’ve not been apart of for 2 years.

Today in church a lady asked Nisha how old she was and if it wasn’t for the fact she held three fingers up the poor lady would have been confused by the response of “yo tengo tres años”! It will take a while before Nisha gets used to hearing English all around her instead of Spanish.

We are hoping to share our schedule at some point so you can all see where we are, maybe come along and join us, and of course if there are blank spaces in the diary we would love the opportunity to meet up or come and share with your church/group.

Hi there!! I am once again apologizing as it has been so long since we updated our blog!! Sharon Thompson is out in the garden with Abigail and Joshua and so I have a few minutes to write an update!!

A lot has happened since our last update!! It was hard to say goodbye to Don, Aleta & Zac-Don directs the Seminary and they are our next door neighbours. They left to go on home assignment for a year. A family from another mission are due to arrive soon to fill in as Director of the Seminary in the interim period.

Don, Aleta & Zac in the middle of the photo with our neighbours Todd, Tia and James on the right and Aimee on the left!

The same day Bob and Jan left for the States also. They have been teaching at CAM and also are our neighbours.

In the same week good friends of ours, the Lechner family, left to return to the states also.

Angie Lechner is sitting beside me. The ladies that go to the Thursday Bible study all went out for a meal to a wonderful Indian restaurant!

Abigail Lechner with our Abigail!

Aimee, our colleague and friend, is moving this month to Inhambane to live and minister. There seems to be a constant movement of people on the mission field and this is often difficult for us. We seem to make friends and then they leave, we miss them & feel like we are transitioning all over again. Please pray for all of us in difficult transitions. However as people leave others arrive and we make new friends.

This month Philip and Kyla arrived. They are short term missionaries with OMS on a 1 year term. Philip, from the States, is planning to teach at CAM and also develop a Sports Ministry. Kyla, from Canada is a nurse and desires to use her skills here as well as teach at CAM. Please pray for both Kyla and Philip as they adjust to life here. We are blessed to have them on our team.

Philip with Joshua doing some work on the computer!! (sorry I don’t have a photo of Kyla yet!)

We look forward to new people arriving. The Gray’s arrive today. They are filling in for Larry and Susan when they go on Home assignment in October. Gary will be helping with finances & administration & Diane will be directing the school. Pray that their transition will be smooth and that they will soon adapt to life & team here. Dave and Ann also return this month from home assignment in the States. They minister in Church Planting. Pray for them as they pack up and make the move here.

We also have had a number of short term people visiting and ministering. Andrew Black, a student at the Baptist college came on placement this month. It was great to have a fellow Northern Irish friend here. He was placed with a Mozambican pastor and was a real blessing to the ministry here.

Ian and Sharon Thompson have been with us for 10 days now! It has been wonderful to have them stay with us!! Sharon is helping with Abigail and Joshua as Naomi has gone to the North of Mozambique to visit family!! This means that I can still take language classes. Ian is an electrician and he is installing the electrics in the new CAM school and also checking the electric in our houses. We often get shocks from appliances at home so we are so grateful for Ian’s help! It has been such a blessing to have them here, to hear from home and also to have fun and fellowship!! We are heading out to Kruger Park with them this weekend for a day and then they fly out on Monday evening. Pray for them as they travel and for us as we say goodbye.

Ian and Sharon-Abigail and Joshua love them!
Melvin is ‘flat out’ trying to supervise the CAM construction project which needs to be finished for the start of school term in August. Progress is being made but there is also a lot still to be done!! Pray for wisdom & strength for Melvin. Work days are long and often frustrating. Pray also for safety on site and for protection from the enemy’s attacks! Pray that the workers will have a mind to work, be loyal and trustworthy.

pics from the construction site.

Norma and I having a lesson on the verandah!

Pray also for the twins!! They were sick last week and we took them to the doctor. However the doctor prescribed medication that is not available in the UK to children under 6 yrs old. Praise God for doctor friends in the UK who keep me right! It is so frustrating and I am often anxious as I feel i cannot trust the advice of doctors here. Please pray for Joshua and Abigail’s health. They have recovered although Abigail has once again a bad cough especially at night. It is cold here-well everything is relative!!!!! It is 8 degrees some nights which feels really cold compared to the 40 degrees of summer. I have Abigail and Joshua in lovely fleecy Pyjamas at night which my mum sent them. The Mozambicans say that they cannot remember a time when it has been so cold!! There are so many head colds around as a result of this! Maybe we have brought a bit of Irish weather with us!!!!!! Apart from this Abigail and Joshua are great fun and such a blessing! They are saying lots of words and know exactly what we are talking about!!

Well must go now-it’s time for Abigail and Joshua’s lunch! Thank you so much for your patience, love, prayers and partnership!! We are so blessed by you!! You are as much a part of what God is doing here in Mozambique!!

For more pics etc go to the Kelly’s blog at httpmelvinandsharonkelly.blogspot.com

The good and happy notes are that the boys finished school with an excellent report each, both in school and music school.  Our boys have collected as many email addresses as possible to keep in touch with friends.

We have been showered with love by our friends from church and our mission team, with gifts in form of prepared food, time spent with us, plaques, invitations to dine out, help clearing the house, etc.  We were warmly surprised by the farewell service that the “Upper Room” church organised for us.  Many had the opportunity to express kindness and gratefulness for what we did during our time there.  We are thankful to God that he gave us a glimpse of how we blessed many lives – some of them completely unsuspected  by us.  We pray that the changes that took place in those lives were a result of God working in them, and therefore, long-lasting ones.

Music at our farewell service.

Pastor Sergio shared a whole day with us.

SEMBEC’s engraved “Thank you!”

Friends from AWANA treating us to a meal.

Angel, the president of the student’s body, gave a short speech, where he announced the three reasons for the celebration: the end of the academic year, a birthday and a farewell. Nancy then spoke movingly on how the students have felt blessed by the teaching they’ve received in SEMBEC. She also said how important it has been to her to get to know the lecturers, not only as teachers but also as brothers and sisters in Christ.

We were happy to hear from the students sitting at our table that they were intending to come back next year. We’ve also heard about the projects from some of those graduating this coming friday; such as passing on to their congregations what they have learned in SEMBEC, or preparing a visiting plan, or evangelistic activities in their communities. We are so encouraged by what the Lord has put in the hearts of our students and pray that He will enable them to follow these plans through.

A birthday cake has to have the candles on, and the lights need to be switched off.  Sometime in June had been Jorge’s birthday and the students wanted to celebrate it.  They presented him with a cake and a gift, and we all sang the “Happy birthday!” song.

When the lights came on again, they called us to the front and Nancy, on behalf of the students, thanked us for the contribution we’ve done to the life and ministry of SEMBEC.  Then, she brought a beautiful box for us.  It had gifts for us, that surely will make us remember SEMBEC and Ecuador:  they were a shirt and a blouse for Steve and me, hand-made by indiginous people from this area.

This year in SEMBEC has beeen especially encouraging to us in many ways. Mainly because a good number of students took the challenge of studying full time, and therefore we had many more opportunities to interact with them and to bless and be blessed. And this means that it will be very difficult for us to forget them, to pray for their plans and ministries. As for the evening of the 16 June, it was a very special one. I felt honoured in a way I don’t deserve, I felt blessed in an unexpected way, I felt loved by my brothers and sisters in Christ, and that was beautiful to the point of tears.

On Sunday after church, we quickly grab a bite to eat and walk out of the house with our wheely hand-luggage and the hope to find a taxi that would take us to the airport in just 5 minutes.  The taxi appeared after 15 minutes or so, and we feared we had lost our flight.

Sudoku at the airport.

The lady at the check-in desk said that the flight had been delayed.  “That was lucky”, I thought.  So, we proceeded with the check-in process showing our identification cards to the kind lady at the desk.  Our boys were delighted to see airplanes landing and taking off while we waited 2 extra hours for our 35-minute flight.  They were so excited about flying again (most of our journeys in Ecuador have been done by coach or by car).  To get on the airplane they called passengers with children.  Besides our three boys, there was a handful of other children including a baby.  Ten minutes into the flight and the baby started to cry, just as babies do in airplanes.  When the pilot announced to the crew to get ready for landing, I was happy that finally we were reaching Quito.

Five minutes passed, and we could see Quito, a bit grey, but just lovely Quito.  Ten minutes passed, and suddenly the pilot annouces that because of the rain,  we couldn’t land in Quito and therefore we were going to Guayaquil.  “What?”, I said.  We’ve just flown 35 minutes from Cuenca in the south to Quito in the north and now they are flying us 30 minutes back to the south (Guayaquil)?  It just didn’t make sense to my tired body, after having waited 2 extra hours in Cuenca airport.

We landed in beautiful Guayaquil, waited in the airplane for at least half an hour, before the engines started again.  I wondered whether the pilot had forgotten something in Guayaquil.  I kept asking the Lord to let the airplane land in Quito this time.  It did.  Our colleagues from Quito picked us from the airport and brought us to the guesthouse, a beautiful place they run.  By then, it was time to get a bite to eat, so we went searching for food, which we happily consumed rather quickly.

Our stress levels reached their peak this week and we had to keep reminding each other to keep things in perspective. We went to Fidel’s son’s wedding last week-end in a town a couple of hours away, and we spent a really lovely time with Fidel, Juana and their family. However, Nisha spiked a fever the same day of the wedding and had tummy pain and has only just really recovered. Then when we got back to the city, Steve went down with a fever and a bad throat infection and spent a couple of days on his death bed! Then we heard on Wednesday that it was very unlikely Anya’s passport was going to arrive on time for us all to go to the USA for the conference, so we started to run around to try and get her a Mexican passport. After a bit of investigation we realised that it was going to be very difficult to get her a passport and visa for USA in the space of time we had – even if Steve went on ahead and us girls followed a few days later.

So in the end we decided it was best for us girls to stay behind and for Steve to go but try and change his ticket so he could come back a bit earlier. We felt really peaceful about this decision and feel it may have been too much for the kids to travel to USA and then come back, have a week of packing, and then leave again for the UK. It means that we will hopefully be able to see a few more people that we wouldn’t have had much time to see otherwise, and also maybe begin a bit of packing. We still don’t know whether Anya’s British passport will arrive before we leave for England however, so we’re going to try and get her a Mexican one as well just in case. She’ll then have 2 nationalities and will be welcomed a lot more readily around the world than the rest of us! So please continue to pray for this situation. We are praising God that the airline did allow Steve to change his ticket without cost and they also gave the three of us credit for the tickets that we didn’t use. So thanks so much for all your prayers!

The day that Steve left for the USA, we heard news from our friends and co-workers Alex and Paty that Memo (Alex’s brother and our cook at the drop-in centre) was in hospital and the situation was really bad. His kidneys are very damaged (as a complication of his diabetes) and if he doesn’t have dialysis he may only have a couple of months to live. He has had several health complications due to his diabetes – the main one of course was losing his sight a few years ago, but this news of course devastated us all. It put all the headaches and stress of the previous week back in to perspective and we’re praying that he will respond well to the dialysis and that he will recuperate quickly. Of course it will mean a lot of huge changes for the whole family, one of which is that they will probably have to move house as the one Memo, Alex and Paty (and their kids) live in at the moment isn’t a healthy enough environment for Memo whilst he’s on dialysis. They were already looking in to moving, but this has put pressure on them to move much sooner than they would have otherwise.

I was able to go and visit Memo in the hospital on Saturday and the difference in the conditions of government hospitals to those in private hospitals really hit me. Memo was on a narrow rickety old bed in a corner of a busy ward which was dark and dingy, there were hardly any nurses about, and those that were didn’t seem to be very interested in the patients and were sitting chatting at their station. No children were allowed in to the hospital and only one visitor at a time. Memo said that there had been a lot of deaths in the few days he’d been in, and he of course had come face to face with his own mortality. In spite of all this however, he was trusting God that He would know what was best for him, and although he was very tired and weak, he was still smiling and joking and talking about food – his favourite subject of course! So please lift him up in your thoughts and prayers and the rest of the MEFI team of course as they try and cover the work in the drop-in centre kitchen, and for Alex and Paty as they think of all the adjustments to life that this will bring to their family.

MEFI is doing this through four key strategies;

1) Proactive ministries We are seeking to educate both parents and their children from the poorer communities we work with, of the risks of slipping into the life of the streets; drugs, prostitution, violence and gang warfare. Sadly a vast majority of the children and young people from these communities are high risk of becoming homeless one day. It is our desire to reach them before this happens.

2) Street Outreach We send teams out to the streets to show acts of Mercy, plant ‘house churches’ amongst homeless the homeless children and young people of Mexico, to share the love and transforming power of the cross and resurrection of Christ. In the hope they can break free from their dark world to the dawn of a more abundant life.

3) Drop in Centre For many street kids and young people the leap between the streets and full integration is too great therefore the drop in centre acts as a stepping stone. They come and receive bible studies and discipleship as well as an opportunity to have a hot shower and a meal. We have recently started a programme where they can receive a basic government recognised education.

4) Rehab and Integration The last stage of our ministry is to help them break their addictions, normally drugs and alcohol, and then help integrate them into a church, and society in general by reuniting them with their families, or finding somewhere to rent, as well as a job to sustain them.

http://www.mefi.co

We’re starting to say our goodbyes to people as we’ve only got 3 weeks left before we leave – one week left of work here, one week in the USA for the 110th anniversary of OMS (which we’re going to combine with visiting some friends from Chicago for a few days), then a week of packing, before we fly on the 4th July. So it’s going to be a bit chaotic to say the least, and trying to fit all our goodbyes in isn’t going to be easy. We spent a really nice time with the Reid family (including Nisha’s friends Liam and Darina) and the Saucedo family (Alexis, Alicia and their four kids) last week. We had a birthday party for Liam, and we went to the zoo with the Saucedo family, we’re going to miss these families so much, and NIsha is going to miss her friends a lot. Please pray that she will make some new friends really quickly when we arrive back in England. We know she is really looking forward to seeing Nanna, Pappa, Granny, and all her uncles, aunties and cousins though. When we started talking about going to England last week she got quite excited and started deciding what babies she’s going to take with her and which are going to stay in Mexico and what things she’s going to give to her friends to look after whilst she’s away. She’s definitely getting used to the whole rigmarole of packing at an early age!

We’re also getting used to the fact that we’re going to have to find a new house when we get back to Mexico as our land-lord is moving back in to our current house. We’ll miss our house as we’ve been so blessed living in it during this year. Our friend (the land-lady) was so kind to us and allowed us to use all the furniture and baby things that she had left in the house, so we lacked nothing. We may not be as fortunate the next time, but we’re praying that God would provide somewhere where we’ll all be happy and feel really at home. We’re also praying about where NIsha should go to school when we get back here. We’ve got to decide whether to send her to a bilingual nursery/primary school, or continue at the Mexican nursery she’s been going to up to now and then switch to an English speaking or bilingual primary school when she’s 5 or 6 (primary starts at a later age here). A lot of people say that it’s better for her to learn to read and write in English before she learns to do it in Spanish, as English is harder apparently! So we’re beginning to look around at schools as it affects where we might live when we return.

So our heads and hearts are in lots of different places at the moment, we sometimes wish we could be like Anya and only have to think about when she’s getting her next feed and when she can go back to sleep!

We were pleasantly surprised that we didn’t need too many shots before getting a reasonably decent family photo.