Come Apart and Rest Awhile...

 I've heard the saying, "come apart and rest awhile, or you may just come apart!"  It's true, isn't it?  If we don't take time to rest and rejuvenate, fuel up if you will, then we have a diminished capacity for life in general.  Plus, God rested in the beginning, so why do we think we can escape from it?

This picture on the left is from my day off on Sunday.  I took a long walk (3 hours) to Clent Hills.  It's a local area that has been protected as a nature reserve.  The scenery is amazing, but points to an even greater God who created it all.  I found my first geocache of my time here so far, and enjoyed the rest (visit www.geocaching.com if you're not sure what it is).

 A little humour for you.  Very little.  I saw this sign on my walk back home from Clent Hills.

 This picture is from a girls night that Elizabeth and I hosted for some of the students here.  We had a chocolate fondue, face masks, and hand massages.  It was also a great time of relaxation! 

 One way that I connect with God is intellectually, and what better way to nurture that than through a stimulating debate?  I had the privilege of attending a debate between William Lane Craig and Peter Millican on the topic, "Does God exist?"  There were over 1000 people there, as you can see from the photo on the right.  It was so nice to be in an academic environment again, and it made me miss school.  Please pray for the people who attended the debate, that it would be clear to them not only that God exists, but the character of God and his desire for a real, transforming relationship with them.

 From October 13-16th I had the chance to visit OM Germany for some Teenstreet meetings.  I wanted to go to learn more about OM's ministry with young people, of which Teenstreet is a part.  Teenstreet is an international conference for Christian teenagers.  I didn't know much about it before the meetings, but began to see the impact that such a conference can have.  A week-long conference with over 2000 teenagers from around the world, getting together to worship God and learn more about what it means to follow him.  What are some elements?  Arts, sports, giving, serving, singing, small groups...there's so much!  Visit www.teenstreet.de for more info.

 Since these meetings were held in Mosbach, Germany, I had the chance to reconnect with an old friend - Tina!  I hadn't seen Tina in over 4 years, so it was wonderful to catch up, even if it was only for 45 minutes...  That's us, above.

To the right is a church in the town centre of Mosbach.

 Let me introduce you to Lianne and her son Ezra.  Lianne us currently involved in the finance department at OM Lifehope, but she wants to get involved with youth ministry in the future.  Her son Ezra and I have gotten along quite well, and he is most adorable!  Right now he doesn't come to me, but one day...one day he will. haha :)

 This is another photo from a day off.  Betsy, Alaina and I got together for a real, North American pudding party.  My lovely parents had sent me some pudding from home, so I made chocolate and vanilla pudding, with toppings - cinnamon, coconut, and whip cream.  It was delightful to host them, and they enjoyed getting off the base to a real home.  We had good food, good conversation, and watched a funny movie.  Very relaxing!

 This picture is from a training day that Alaina and I attended which was put on by Youth for Christ.  It was a really great day where we learned about schoolswork, making God more visible in your youth group, and dealing with challenging behaviour.  Very helpful and informative.  We could also network with local youth workers with YFC, and discuss how we at OM can partner with them.  Just up the road from us, in Quinton, there is a YFC centre where the office is in the local highschool.  The leader of the centre, Dani, shared about her work there, and the connections and opportunities God has given her in the school.  Praise God for how open (in general) the schools are to Christian input.  Pray that this would continue.  Some people are concerned because recent government legislation has taken Religious Education out of the English Baccalaureate.  Basically, this means it isn't seen as an important subject for the higher grades to focus on.  Many Christians, and people of all faiths actually, are lobbying for it to be re-assessed and included as an important focus.  Regardless, keep on praying for the schools and for all Christians working in the UK school system.

Well that's it for this update!  What about you?  What's going on in your life?  I'd love to hear from you :)  But before you finish this blog entry, think about your life...do you need to come apart and rest awhile?  If you don't, you may just plain come apart.