The Funday in Bangalawatta!! (June)

       This was the Funday  briefly mentioned in the previous 2 posts.  It was an amazing day, it was the second one that we have done so far together with the team. We had around 20 children give their lives to Jesus, and many others heard the Good News about Jesus, and we were able to love them and have great fun with them, do dramas, singing, games, have snacks and laugh and chat.  

  The idea of the Fundays is to just love people and create relationships and just create opportunities to share with people, to show them that they are worth caring for, that they are worth Jesus dying for them, and loving them and worth us spending time with them just for free!!  We had many children and their parents also came along to look and listen and just chat, from different ethnicities and religions.  The Funday method, is one that I am hoping to pursue this coming year, and take it all over Sri Lanka, bringing Jesus to the people with Fun and laughter and love.  My team from Colombo also join me now in doing them (they are the ones wearing the hats :) so as to put into practice what they are learning and that God loves everyone, but they don't all know it, so we need to go out and show them and tell them.  In order to be lights in the darkness, we need to go into places where the light is needed in order to be able to shine bright and change the darkness into light, and these Fundays create that opportunity to do so.

Here are some photos for you to enjoy!!

Shantana giving her testimony and teaching songs

 this previous photo is not a fight, it's what happens when you act out the Good Samaritan and you ask the kids to be the ones who beat up the guy...well actually...we only asked for 3 volunteers!!! ;) great fun!! our team member was not hurt..in fact his head is popping out on the right..think he may have fallen asleep!! maybe that is why we didn't go and save him!!

 the children putting their hands up to receive Jesus

when giving out presents at the end...we had a riot!! that was quite exciting...but when they realized that we only had a certain amount of bubbles...even when you tried your best to get more than 70 but couldn't... throwing balls, hair things, bracelets..just aren't good enough :) they want the bubbles...and they will try their hardest to get them!! no crushing or injuries though, all was well!!!!!  My team is amazing!!

June...

Hi there, sorry I haven't written for a while, this time I am writing from my house to be for the next year!! Searching for jobs.. quite a change really!!

The last month in Sri Lanka was really quite fun though hard at times!...we managed to fit in a Funday near to where I lived, and we had nearly 200 children attend that. Infact at starting time, we had no kids and so half of the group went to try and bring some kids in and little by little they trickled in...it was a really fun time including games, snacks...drama and songs and presents at the end which landed us with a riot not only including kids but the mothers too...one team member pushed to the ground but amazingly managed to protect the presents!!!! it was really fun!!

Also the group that I was training to walk with God, step out, listen to Him ect...well they have taken over the work that I was doing at the hospital, fundays!! I have to say that when people used to ask me...what is going to happen with your work now that you are going...I felt a little uneasy and didnt know what to say...but this group has decided by themselves to carry on the work and to carry on with their God walk and I hadnt even trained them to replace me...so I am really happy about that...God has the play hey!! We had a nice little going away party a few days before me and Zoe left, it was so fun...I will miss them alot...but its exciting what God is doing and is going to do with them and I was so blessed to be able to play a little part in their lives!! In hindsight I am able to see the amazing route that God took me on and how each step played a key part in the whole Sri Lankan adventure!

So now we are in Englefield Green...our new home for the next year...finding jobs...and starting the school in September. It should be fun though I will have to get used to living back in England and having a 'calmer' life!! Well..it might not be so calm I guess but different! But it s the next step in this God journey! So great things are going to happen!

Thanks for all your support!!

May update

Well, since the last time I wrote things have been going well...New things have popped up for us to do and get involved in.

To start with, since getting back we spent a day hunting around Colombo to figure out the Birth Certificate things...That day was quite successful and we didn't have any problems and we didn't even have to queue up lots either in the 3 different places that we visited. So now just waiting for the adoption certificate to come through the post...though it has actually been ages longer than they said, of course!! It should have got here about two or three weeks ago already. In the meantime we have made some new friends, the brother-in-law of one of our good friends works in the parliament as a worker of some sort but has been there for years and so knows useful people...and so he is seeing what is going on with all that and then when I have the Adoption Certificate we will go to Galle to get the Birth Certificate.

We headed off to Negombo - an hour away - to visit a boy's home that Zoe's friend knows. We spent a short afternoon with them. It was so fun! There are about 30 of them from 7 to 18 and they were so nice and friendly and they played cricket with us and talked...such a shocking contrast with the boy's home in Trincomalee where we usually go!!

We have started to go to a little village just near where I live. We knew nothing about it until our friend took us there the other day to show us the place and see if we can do anything there...It's a village with about 1000 people which has wooden houses built on old paddy fields near a river...The houses are all sinking, some more dramatically than others...One house we went in was like climbing a hill inside as it's sinking on one side so much quicker...They have been there for 18 or more years...We are planning a fun day in the area on the 11th of June and expecting a lot of kids!!

I also had the opportunity to give cooking classes to a group of ladies. The lady where I used to live told her sister in law that instead of getting cooking classes from another lady they should just ask me, so that was great fun!! It's the richer side of my friends - it was just so fun and relaxed and they all speak English and are so nice...We would make the food and chat and then eat it together and chat...Lovely evenings. And then on the Friday we were invited to a barbecue that they do quite often with their families together and it was amazing! We went to one of the house of the son of one of the ladies and it was an incredible house. We went in and there was a huge courtyard with a swimming pool, huge walls with paintings on, it was so funny to think that we pass there all the time and didn't even know that it existed!! There was even a limo, gym, bar...everything!! But we enjoyed the time with the people and they made us feel so welcome!! It was just so relaxing and restful compared to my usual working conditions in the village, etc!!

Tomorrow we are headed out to Nuwara Eliya, on the way to Batticaloa and Trincomalee for a couple of days to see where my sister was adopted from...That should be nice. I haven't been to that central area yet...and it's supposedly like London...cold and grey!! So that will be nice! And then we will visit the village in Batticaloa and then the boy's home in Trincomalee for a last time before we leave Sri Lanka.

I am going to the Big Year near London in September, to spend a year learning more about God, and how to be more effective on the mission-field etc...so I'm looking forward to that though i have to pack up all my stuff here and start again in England for the year!! Should be fun though!!
So a lot going on!!!

April

Well, this month hasn't quite been what I had expected or planned for...but then again...is it ever...! Everything has been on a stand still...everything that I was doing was stopped in some way...
I had the visit of a friend from America for 3 weeks and managed to take her to the boys home and the village...but it was an extra super effort as during the time she was here it was the New Year, and all stops for a week, and transportation is awful...so we ended up going to Trincolmalee...a 8-9 hour ride, in a three wheeler, unheard of and oh..it was awful...and then to the village by train and motor bike...! The encouragement in these two trips was that the boys finally were being natural and laughing and actually talking to me...we took them to the beach again...and played football and cricket, it was great fun! I look forward to the next time I go there, and it was great to see everyone in the village again and they seemed happy to see us, and it was good as I had been told I can't go there anymore...but...maybe I can...as I wrote in the previous post, the new pastors there don't want me, but seeming as the villagers really like me and we get on and have a good relationship, maybe there is a way for me to be able to stay on and not be exiled from there!!
Zoe also has arrived again so that is great. We all went to Galle for a week for a little break, to explore a little more sri lanka and to play with babies in the Children's Home where I was when I was a baby.
Whilst we were there the second time I thought that I would go and talk to the matron about me getting a birth certificate and if she had any thoughts...little did I know that she was going to show my name in the book like the last matron did 3 years ago...and also look for my file amongst loads of torn and mouldy files destined for the fire...and she found it! A file that no one even knew existed! we managed over 2 days to get most of the papers, but it was quite a fight and a stressful time. the first time we saw her she seemed nice, but when we got the file home we noticed that she'd taken some of the papers out before handing it over. when we went the next day to ask for the rest of the papers out..well...she was not so happy!! she was trying to hide papers, make us out as liars and said that we were cunning, and even thought that Zoe was actually my lawyer!! but then we believe that God sent a girl who spoke a little English to help us, as the matron was trying to say that my name wasn't on the papers when it was and the girl was always saying that it was and she was telling us what really was on the papers whilst the matron was making it out that it belonged to someone else...after what seemed like a long time of waiting and being talked about and laughed at, we managed to overcome!!! and there was another lady who also came towards the end and she helped calm the matron and help us know what to do next in order to get the birth certificate and even gave an address for where to go... my friend in Colombo said she had never heard of anyone being able to take a file like we did with the papers that we managed to get hold of...and she said it was amazing and a miracle! so this will help me even more to get a birth certificate...so she is helping a little with all the stuff to get ready for it.
We also went for a day out at the Elephant Orphanage which was quite amazing...
So, even though it was a very difficult month there were some good times in it too!!! phew!!

Faith grows in impossible circumstances...

Faith grows in impossible circumstances…and God is always faithful.

This is what I am holding on to at the moment…I hope that out of these trials I am facing at the moment that my faith will grow!

For the last 3 days…following an encouraging series of events these past few months…the penny has dropped and I guess that the devil realizes again that he is in trouble and will try and stop what is going on here…

To start with I have heard that the ‘new pastors’ chosen by the village pastor, to be in charge of the village (as he is a little old to be going there all the time), well they don’t want me there… and the fact that I left the country for a few months seems to be one of the main reasons that they are using, even though I said before starting the ‘school’ work there, that it would be the case…and that I am not teaching there forever, just so that they knew so as to allow me flexibility.

These are not the only pastors I am having difficulty with either…my main obstacles here have been pastors in the way and not accepting what I want to do because of their religiousness…their ‘normal’ way of doing things…and their lack of dependence on God, and lack of freedom they are giving Him.

I can’t say that I have been relaxed and accepted these obstacles and struggles in a joyful laughing way… I even got annoyed at the photo shop when I went to collect my photos...they were busy watching cricket that they hadn't got them ready even though I specifically said I needed them as I was to be going to Trincomalee...I got annoyed and frustrated verbally infront of the 5 men who worked there...then just walked out without my pictures...which for me is a first and rather bold...as I usually try and avoid conflict in these situations by just sitting and waiting, then I got annoyed at the train station because no one working there would tell me why they were not selling me a ticket, they were just leaving us to wait and ignoring us...they were too busy watching cricket too...!!
It has been a tough couple of days though…to know that the work that I have been doing is under threat by these pastors, not even the people…but I know that God is in control and nothing has stopped me doing what God has wanted me to do so far, or going where He has wanted me to go even though it may have demanded more effort sometimes etc….
The fact that I have now got a team who can share the gospel in the village is a major threat for the devil…and I know that these things that are coming in the way are from him, so I just mustn’t accept defeat… and should just carry on and do what God expects me to do…
The other obstacle is that the bridge that you need to cross in order to just get to one of the towns on the way to the village has split in two this week…so there is no way of taking a van…so…a little opening had occurred in Trincomalee, where I tried to go last night to investigate and get a Fun day outreach ready there, but the train was delayed and they were not issuing tickets…so I was not able to go…but I would like to take the team there to carry on learning to step out there also…but everything that has been happening this week so far has just been frustrating and difficult…but I know that God will make a way…and I have to learn to be patient (again!!) and wait on Him and do what I can do and He will do the rest.

“The Lord gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them, the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hands. Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass” Joshua 21v45
These verses encouraged me…and I know that it will be the Lord’s Word that will come to pass in my situation also, none other.

To be called...or....not to be called a woman...did it matter...?!

The other week was a funny week.  For some reason the fact that I wasn’t to be called a woman in this country came up in so many conversations…even the assistant pastor was telling me I can’t be a woman or a lady until I am married…and others also said that I was a girl, not a woman.  I know in Britain and other countries you can be a woman even though you are not married and don’t have children and that the fact that you are a grown up allows you to be called a woman… at the end of all this, I went to morning church that week, and two ‘real women’ came up to me and said…’we know that you are not a woman or a lady, but we would like you to come and talk at the ladies meeting!’. So yesterday I went and talked about the destiny that God has for them and their value in God’s eyes…and I believe that there were seeds that found some hearts to grow in.. and for my part...I felt the most comfortable I ever have speaking to ladies, I wasn't intimidated...I  didn't even sweat!! God gave me the boldness and the words to share with these ladies...He gave me everything that I needed!

The lesson I learn from this is that you don’t have to be like the  crowd that God wants you to talk to…it doesn’t even have to seem reasonable…if God has something to say to someone or a group He will find a way…and it may make us feel a little uncomfortable and like we are out of place, or because we may seem like we are nothing like them they may not even respect us or even listen to us because of who we are…BUT if God chooses to use us in that field, and we do go…then He will use us to touch the hearts, and give us the words to say…like in Job 32v6b : ‘I am young in years, and you are old;  that is why I was fearful, not daring to tell you what I know.  I thought ‘age should speak; advanced years should teach wisdom’.  But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty that gives him understanding.  It is not only the old who are wise, not only the aged who understand what is right.’

  God uses those who are willing, never mind their age, never mind their background and social status, nationality…never mind if they are well written or not…he uses those who say ‘Yes God, I am available, use me’, he gives us opportunities, opens doors, and wherever there is the need of His love, He will send us, and it will be successful, and exactly where we should be, not because of who we are but because of who He is and because He is in us.

What people say or think that we are, what others say that we can or cannot achieve, does not limit or hinder in the slightest the possibilities and opportunities that God has ready for us, or the way that He is going to show His power and love through us!

Boy's Home Trincomalee

 Well, we went to Trincomalee to the boy's home from last Wednesday to Sunday...without me knowing it, the boys were having 3 days off school, which meant we could spend all day with them!!
We went to the beach and had a great time! We were nearly the only ones there, playing cricket, splashing and jumping in the water, and one boy even came and held my hand...so as not to get washed away with the wave, but it made me very happy that they are maybe feeling a little more comfortable with me!  With the rest of the time we played loads and loads of cricket and even had a huge huge water fight...it was supposed to be just water balloons...but Carrie, my friend who came over for 2 weeks, thought that buckets of water were a better weapon...so...basically we all got soaked!!

The relationships with the kids is getting a little better each time I go, so that is really encouraging...little steps...but getting somewhere! And the friendship with the house parents is great, and it really feels relaxing, restful and like home going there!
Carrie and I even went exploring a little, well a little ride on the scooter...turns out that she has never been on a train or even on the back of a scooter...so lots of new things for her.  She was great with all the children that we met and they loved her too, I think that she loved the fact that kids are tougher here and that there are no health and safety rules!!!!
But I am really encouraged and happy with this trip and to see the boys smile a little more and play and just be a little more free...there are 3 new boys there, 2 of them are just so so relaxed and smile at me all the time and even chose to sit next to me when waiting to bat for cricket, which was  a great surprise...and it gives me hope! So I'm looking forward to the next time!!

!!Funday!!

Well, the funday was a huge success, we had about 60 children that came and of course the group of adults watching and laughing!! They all had a blast and the team that was with me also had a great time and enjoyed participating with the games and everything! They did some tamil songs with the children and did a mime also, the Good Samaritan, and the kids were silent all the way through it, well...all except for the part where one of their friends gets ‘beaten up’ in it!! And they were screaming and laughing!  

When we got there, I thought that we would be at the school but we weren’t we were by the small church and it started chucking it down with  rain, but it only lasted about 20 minutes so that was a relief!!!

our crazy team

  We were also able to go out in the village and pray for a few people…unfortunately we had a man sent with us from Batticaloa to show us supposedly only the directions to the village from the main street as we had to go another way because of the state of the roads after the floods, but he somehow started to talk to the people too…but it wasn’t out of love, he was forcing them to become Christians and was being very condemning…of course I didn’t understand what was going on, but the team told me afterwards…and told me to talk to him…so I did, andexplained the way we do things…unfortunatly  he didn’t seem to want to listen or follow the way we were doing things…but because of the relationships already formed I don’t think that it will affect our work in the village…but he wont be coming again with this team…I will ask for a paper map next time!!! But it was good for the team to see the difference in the way of sharing the gospel… they understood that his way was wrong and were encouraged to share God’s love even more…they were bold and stepped out and I was really happy to see them love the people, not be shy…but participate in everything… and they all want to come again!!

Faith

Saturday is the 'Funday' outreach...there will be competitive games so the kids have a blast, and prizes and there will be snacks and there will be God appointed conversations, there will be free reign for the Holy Spirit and freedom to share God's love...and I believe that there will be the continuation of sowing of seeds in the village, and people accepting Jesus...that is the aim of the day and the work of the last year there also...

I was in the car on the way back from church and listening to someone asking me questions of what am i doing and how the Saturday is going to work...and had to listen to the sarcastic and doubtful answers...like...so you're going all that way for a day, you know you'll be spending most of the time in a car, it's not worth it... or spending all that money on one day just to play games...ect...and I was thinking...yes...that is true...it is just for one day...and it is a lot of money...I didn't argue with her, I just said yes...but just imagine how many people are going to come to Jesus...

It's what faith is all about...we don't know everything, the whys...the hows...but what I do know is that God is in control and He has an amazing plan, and He is going to use the little team that we are to reach that village, a car trip and some money that he has already provided...to love them and share God with them...and He is going to work in this group, and through them, and show Himself and his power more to them...we can't explain all the things of God...He works in mysterious ways...if we were to understand everything..then there would be no need for much faith....and we wouldn't be able to be amazed at the things that God does...the only thing that I do know, is that it's the next step and I trust God...and it's on God's agenda, and where God is going... I want to go too!! Those who understand can join in and those who don't understand...well they can observe the fruit and then start to understand...!!!

Back Again!!

Well, having forgotten my blog password...or having been locked out....the outcome is that I have had to start a new blog!! But maybe this time I will be more consistent!

I'm in Sri Lanka again! Things here are yet again different...God has already done so much this year since I've been back, it's been amazing!! 

I'm going about things a little differently, whereas last year I was teaching in the village in order to open doors to sharing God, this year will be no more teaching but going to have one big fun day a month, taking a team from the church in Colombo where I go,  in order to teach them about sharing God's love and giving them an obvious outlet to do so, and using our presence there to share God and pray and just see how God will move through us and reveal himself to the village. The doors are wide open there now...so it's a good time to move in!!


On this side of the country, I have started to work with a few from the church, teaching to listen to God, move in the Holy Spirit...learn to step out not just to shine in the church...but to take that light and shine it in the darkness...using every  opportunity to share God's love...to see people through Jesus' eyes...and to have the boldness to reach out in anyway that God is leading...


I am learning valuable lessons also...through my frustrations and also just through relaxing times!! Learning to be patient, , to not seek commitment from others to the things that I am doing but to be available to them when they want to come and learn, to rest in God and not rest on visible success, to just dwell in God and not circumstances, to carry on reaching out to those in need  even if they are hostile or don't quite react in the way expected, to be wise and seek God's guidance in everything, to open my eyes all the time to see where God wants to use me even when just doing ordinary mundane things...God uses every opportunity that we give him to use us...
I don't know the outcome of the things that I am doing...but God does and so leaning on Him, just obeying and following is all I can do, and trust that there will be seeds sown, that there will be fruit...that God will move through me to touch others and make a difference even when I can't see anything happening.
It's been a lot more relaxed here these days...not so much running around like last year...so that has been nice, I have been able to work a little more around the area where i live, teaching a little, sharing and going in the street doing treasure hunts; asking God who are the treasures he wants to point out to us, and then go and find them and listen to the Holy Spirit, and encourage them, say what God wants to tell them...I have been able to take a couple of people with me on that sometimes, and it has been really good, God uses that time that we make ourselves available to Him, and people have been touched so it has been really encouraging and amazing to see God work through us!


So that is the little update from January till now!! 
I'm really encouraged by how God has been planning all of this,  and setting it all up, as usual He is so faithful, loving and provides for every single need!! Of course there are challenges and I am being stretched all the time, but that is just the way it goes and God equips me for everything that He puts me through and asks me to do, so it's always something I am able to do...even though it may be way out of my comfort zone!
I find after quite difficult days...of which there has been a few!!, that as I just flop at home...all hyped up...tired...and wondering what on earth is happening...that he just gives me the love that I need, the encouragement...the peace and the security that only comes from Him...and I realize that the only important thing, is to love Him most of all, and from that will come the other things....flowing out from that place...it's out of love that we serve Him, so if people react in ways we don't want or expect...we can still carry on because it's not man that we lean on or expect things from for us to continue, but only God...and I am on a mission for Him...to fulfill the plan and purpose that He has for my life...