Happy September!
The past 3 weeks have been a huge highlight for me. Over the past 27 years as a missionary
I have gone back to Florida once a year to see family and friends and to raise my support. I
normally go back at the beginning of the year
because it is more cost effective with flights etc. This means that in all of these years I have
missed my mum’s birthday at the end of August.
Last year, I decided that since 2017 was going
to be a big birthday for my mum that I would
save up and surprise her. I also spoke to my
sisters and the 3 of us managed to fly in at the
same time and drive up to my parents place in
Georgia.
We arrived in the middle of the night and our
dad let us in quietly without waking our mum up and a few hours later he woke her up saying
that there were 3 bears outside! (This was
believable because they live in the mountains
and they’ve seen one before.) She came out on
the balcony and we yelled surprise!
It was the first time the 3 of us girls and our
parents were together without other family
members since we were teenagers. Our mum was so blessed and loved having us there!
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to spend time with some of our amazing students who study in different Universities across London. These are just a few of our students and in this small group we represent 6 Nations!
I’m also excited because our Connect Groups launched again this weekend. I’m so excited because 18 groups are starting up! God is so Good!
More to come next month on Groups, Campus and Missions.
Please pray for me as I go to Norway next week to encourage Campus Leaders and Students as well as speaking to a group of 30 non-Christian students on leadership. I’m really trusting that my time there will be an encouragement to the team there as well as helping to grow seeds that have already been planted.
Lots of Love
Traci
July is such an interesting time of the year. Those who are studying normally finish their school year during the month. There are graduations for so many age groups moving from one stage of life to the next. It’s also a month that people begin to go on summer holidays to get renewed for the next half of the year.
Our Connect Groups and Follow Courses also take a break for the summer. I like this time of the year because it can be an “all change” season or an “out with the old and in with the new” season! So many people and things can get refreshed over this time and I love seeing what God prepares and brings in over the Summer months.
My housemates and I have been living together for over 10 years and the house we are living in was beginning to look and feel a bit tired. Over the Summer, our landlord has promised to do some much needed refurbishments. We are so looking forward to how it’s going to look! Our Every Nation Hub is also getting refurbishments at this very moment as well. We have been shifting around and stepping over things for weeks now and little by little it’s starting to look amazing!
I love how when we come into a relationship with Jesus 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
Jesus just didn’t do “refurbishments” in my life – He made a whole new me! But just as you do in a new house, you begin to collect things or build walls, etc that in the end aren’t very useful or might actually become space wasters or might actually prevent you from getting to move around at full capacity and making the most of what you have. Some areas of your new house might actually get worn down. This can all happen in your own life in Christ over time if you aren’t careful. Maybe this Summer you might actually need a clear out, an “all change” or “out with the old and in with the new season in your spiritual, physical and emotion life.
I want to encourage you to ask the Lord if you need a clear out or refurbishments in any area of your life. If you are taking a holiday – don’t turn off God during that time – take time to ask Him to hit REFRESH on your life! Go deep with Him!
As promised from my last letter – Here is the group picture of our Campus Boot Camp.
Lots of love,
Traci
Our theme this year at our church here in London is ‘GO!’ And this past month has definitely been a month of ‘Going’ and equipping others to ‘Go!’
At the end of June I headed off to preach at our Every Nation Church in Gent (Belgium). The last time I preached there was about 5 years ago and what a blessing it was to see how much it has grown and what God is doing
there! I had a wonderful time encouraging
them that God is Faithful always! Sometimes
we need to look back at the Markers of Faith in our lives and remind ourselves of what He has done so we can be encouraged that He can and will do it again!
After the evening service I went back for a
quick nap before I jumped in a car at 2:15am
with 3 twenty-some-things to drive 13 hours
down to Marseille (France) for our Annual
Campus Leaders Boot Camp! This is a 5 day
Boot Camp to equip Camps Ministers and
Campus Leaders from our Every Nation
Churches across Western and Eastern Europe to be more effective on sharing Jesus and mentoring students on their campus.
I don’t have a group photo of everyone who
attended yet but I did have the privilege of
doing two sessions with them. The first was
a session that I am quite passionate about -
Practical Mentoring Tips. Sometimes we share Jesus with someone and they show interest in wanting to learn more but it’s what we do after that point that can sometimes make everything
go downhill. I loved teaching this session and
sharing things that I have learned over the past
27 years – things that worked and things that didn’t!
The second session I spoke on was
Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. Our churches have really benefited over the past few years by becoming more emotionally healthy as well as spiritually. Our students and student leaders have definitely been helped by being more
physically, emotionally and spiritually
healthy! I would highly recommend the books and courses by Pete and Geri Scazzero.
This coming Sunday I will be preaching in our Slough Congregation and on Monday teaching the final session in our Follow Two Course!
Thank you so much for your prayers and giving! As I ‘Go!’ you are ‘Going’ with me to reach and touch so many people for Christ!
One final thing – HERE is the video from our Unashamed Campus Weekend back in March!
Lots of love,
Traci