Dear Family and Friends
This past month has been an emotional one. It’s had some amazing highs but also some lows.
In my last newsletter I mentioned that I have been leading a group of single ladies across Europe who are carrying a huge weight of leadership in their churches. Last month I started a new group with two ladies in our Cyprus outreach. I’m so excited about what God is doing and how He is connecting me with people in more and more nations. Please continue to pray for me as I walk with these ladies and others across Europe. It has also been such a blessing and encouragement to me!
Also at the beginning of last month I got to take part in the wedding of what I would call one of my spiritual children. Terry and Josh’s wedding had been cancelled twice because of covid restrictions but thankfully on the third try they were successful! They were only allowed 4 people at their wedding and their reception was a small little party in their hotel room with their guests. I had the honour of praying over them and celebrating with them via zoom. I love seeing what God has done in both of them over the past few years and can’t wait to see what He will do with their future!
Another highlight for me in April was having one of the teens I have been walking with becoming a Christian! I’ve loved meeting with these young ladies and seeing what God is doing in their hearts over the last few months – thank you so much for praying.
April was also a month that has brought many tears as we said goodbye to a wonderful man I have grown to love over the past 17 years. Dina’s (my housemate) dad who I have called Tio (uncle) passed away a few weeks ago. He lived in Madeira, Portugal and sadly due to covid restrictions and complications of travel neither Dina nor her siblings could travel there for the funeral. It’s been a tough few weeks but God has been helping all of us through our grief.
Over the next few weeks I will be teaching on our Freedom Day, preaching on Grief and teaching at our Follow Course as well as all of my other discipleship meetings. I would really appreciate your prayers for every area of ministry I am involved in.
Thank you so much for all that you do. Your prayers and support are touching the nations and generations across Europe!
Lots of love,
Traci
Dear Family and Friends
The UK has just passed our one year mark of being hit by Covid -19 and more than one lockdown. It’s so bizarre to think that last year in March I was finishing up a special week away of celebrating my 50th birthday and on our last few days away we were warned of starting our first lockdown. My housemate and I drove around to 5 different shops looking for toilet paper and food because of people panic buying and the shelves all being empty. It’s been a crazy year! Now as we approach April a year later, we are so looking forward to being able to be with people from other households again as things slowly open up over the next few months. Today we are allowed to be with up to 6 people outside.
Our Slough congregation has started going back onsite on Sundays with strict Covid guidelines to keep everyone safe. We are still not able to do kids church or youth in person like we did before but as a whole, people are able to come together in one service which is exciting.
I’ve started meeting with our older female teens which I am really excited about. I will be doing one on one mentorship with some and also meeting some of them in small groups. We are basically starting from scratch with our older teens, so I’m trusting that over the next few months that those who have a relationship with God already will grow deeper in love with Him and those who are still exploring their faith will discover how much He loves them and will want to become Christians.
This past month I also had the opportunity to join in a Live Instagram prayer call with our Every Nation Church in Orlando. It was such a privilege to pray for the UK and Europe with so many others who join into this call every week. Here’s a picture of that call.
I’m not sure if I have shared with you before, that I lead a ladies group for single women across Europe who are working as right hand people for senior pastors of some of our Every Nation Churches. These ladies from Ireland, Belgium, France and here in the UK have been such a blessing to me! Please pray for me as I continue to lead them and also open up more groups for other ladies across Europe.
Last week, I had my first Covid vaccine! I’m grateful for this vaccine because I will be travelling a lot in the future doing missions and I know that it will not only protect me but also give me open doors to countries who will make the vaccine an entry requirement.
Please continue to pray for my transition into the Slough congregation. Coming up in April I will be preaching, doing youth ministry, leadership groups, driving lessons to get my UK drivers license and beginning to look for a place to live in the coming months. Please also pray for my finances. This pandemic has had an impact on many people’s finances as well my monthly support. Please pray that God would add more people to my team to reach the nations and generations here in London and across Europe!
Thank you for all that you do!
Lots of love,
Traci
Dear Family and Friends
The month of February was a month of beginning new routines for me. Our Covid restrictions have continued - which I know that for those of us who live in the UK – we are so over it! In the midst of the restrictions though, I have started going into our church office once a week to try to tackle a bunch of administration that needs to be done to make our ministry more effective. This means being back on public transportation which has been a huge adjustment for me since I have not really travelled on a bus or tube since last March. Thankfully because so many people are still working from home, the hour plus journey each way has not been packed with people.
I’ve also started many new monthly meetings with our leadership team, Connect Group Leaders and our youth. On the youth front, I will be helping to build up our youth in the older age group. That starts this month so prayers appreciated!
One event that I was especially excited about being involved in this past month was sharing with the ladies at our outreach group in Cyprus. I love what God is doing there as Cypriots, Greeks, and other nations are being reached already in this small group.
I love that what I get to do here in the UK not only is being involved in a local church, but also I get to minister to people in Europe and beyond on a regular basis. You are a part of everything I do through your prayers and support and I am so grateful for you!
Lots of love,
Traci