PASTOR’S CONFERENCE AND… NEW VISION?

I stated, in the opening segment, that is has been one of the most difficult times for us… But we can say that though times are hard and even a bit frightening… it is the most exciting of times…

The time we have spent here in Dunfermline has been very good for us. Patti has continued to get healthy following the knee surgery and the blood clot issue, and the whole Cumadin disaster. The fellowship here has been very welcoming and and we have made some lifelong friendships. (can you sense the but coming?)

Over the past few months Patti and I have both believed that change was coming for us. The Danderhall experiences really helped us to see that we are OK on our own. I know that this is an established fellowship and they knew that we were just filling in for five weeks… but it was important for us just the same… I am sure we gained more than they did.

For those of you who have been with us from the beginning; you know that we have had a heart for the northern part of the country.  The Aberdeen area has been on our hearts since before our first trip over. We had hoped to be able to do some probing and investigating in the area but it has not happened to date… (enter Leo and Cheryl Rose)

Leo and Cheryl (Inverness Bible Fellowship) have been in Inverness for about five years. Like everyone else here their fellowship has grown and declined and grown again . They have struggled with finances throughout their time here as well; yet they have not not gone the route of full time employment on top of the ministry. “There is too much to do to be taken away by full time employment”; Leo says.  This has been my belief all along yet our financial situation has been such that it seems to be the only way to go… more on that later… Leo and Ihave had conversations over the past year and were looking forward to meeting at the conference.

So Leo’s heart is to help plant churches and Bible studies all over the Highlands. When we spoke and told I him of our heart for the area he stated that he would help us to get started. He has some contacts and some ideas to get things started. They started Inverness with just a couple of folks who wanted a Bible study. They started their youth program with a few kids hanging around a Burger King that they bought burgers for…

So we are ready to go to the Pastor’s Conference…

Well it was a rough few weeks leading up to the conference.  We drove passed an accident and apparently something flew up into the oil filter and damaged it, unbeknownst to me, and the oil drained out of the car. This caused some overheating and damaged the radiator.  I was able to replace the oil (though I didn’t know about the filter at this point) we added water and limped home. I got it to a shop and it is repaired (yet not paid for).

The morning of our departure it seems everything we did was in slow motion though time went at normal speed. we left two hours later than planned. I had to go to our bank so we drove to Kircaldy. I got to the bank and my bank card would not work in the “Hole in the wall” (ATM). So I had to go to another bank and use the machine that I get finance charges at. I make my deposit, checked my statement, and find out that Vodaphone overcharged my mobile account… so I walk accross the High Street to Vodaphone and get that sorted… walk back to the car and I am completely parked in.

So 35 minutes later we are on our way to the Pastor’s Conference and I turn to Patti and say….

“This is going to be a great conference because someone doesn’t want us there… or at least not able to hear from the Lord”.

As it turns out the conference was just what we needed. It was informal and intimate, We made some fantastic friends and support partners.

The speakers were Dave Shirley(Calvary Chapel Bible College), Bill Gallatin (CC Finger Lakes NJ), Pete Nelson (Whitefields Community Church formerly of the Kry), and a host of pastors from UK churches.

The teachings were wonderful, heartfelt, insightful, challenging, and encouraging. I came to find out what the future should hold for us and came away believing we are to stay in the UK, that the Lord will provide the funds, That our reliance must totally be in Him. We are going to face opposition at every point and the ground is very hard. Though most of what we heard was not new information it was confirmation and answers to the questions we have had.

A number of the pastors and pastors wives we spoke with talked about the spiritual oppression and opposition. It was alarming, yet comforting to know we were not alone in our observations and experiences so far.

Well on the second day I got a big surprise. I took my laptop bag with me early in the morning for devotions so I could take care of some e-mails and and work on some things for the Holiday Club. I stowed the laptop bag in  my car between the seats, covered with one of the throw rugs we keep in the car. The car was in the church car-park in between two other cars. Someone shattered the window on the sliding door and entered the vehicle and took the bag. The police say that they had a number of thefts that were similar that evening. they were mostly SatNavs stolen. (the holder for my SatNav was on the windscreen so that was probably what they were after… but EUREKA they hit the jackpot.

In my bag was my laptop, external hard drive, a few thumb drives, and other peripherals and cabling… as well as all our photos, contact info, etc., etc. It was a bummer…. but it is just stuff right?

Honestly the main downer was the time it took away from the conference dealing with my insurance company(who informed me the contents were not covered). The Lord gave me a peace about the whole thing. I don’t believe we will ever see the equipment again; but I am good with it.  Yes I miss the info and it has created some hardship for us, but we press forward.

We dined with some of the pastors here. Those who are from the UK find it hard to believe that we (those who have come as missionaries) would leave the US to come to the UK to minister to folks here. They are grateful and do not want us to leave. This was another question answered. There is a compassion that the folks do not get from many of the churches here in country. I also have a few pastors that I can ask to hold me accountable, and call upon for encouragement as we go out on our own.

So This brings me to the point of  ”New Vision?”…  or is it really new?

Our plan is to budget for moving in October, utilize some contacts, seek out those who are looking to study the word, and prayerfully get a couple of home studies going. We are checking out the Aberdeen area which is not new to us, there a couple of possibilities near here. I don’t think it is “New Vision” as much as it is realizing it is time to get on with the vision we were given. This will of course cost some money for travel and expenses but we will have to trust the Lord to provide.

This brings me to the point about the job. I have never believed that the way the Lord would provide is through my working a full time job to support us here. (Lord knows I am not opposed to it… it would be much easier on me than trusting the Lord and His people…)

I have observed first hand how much time and energy working a full-time job takes, and takes away from ministering to those we have come to share with. ( even my spending 4-6 hours a day,  3 -4 days a week, searching for work greatly interferes with ministry.)

This was also confirmed to me at the conference by some speakers and pastors I spoke with.

I will continue to put forth the effort to search for work… If I gain a possition I am sure that the Lord will bless the time I have for ministry.

but I believe that the Lord will provide otherwise and free me up to focus on serving the people.