Another month has nearly come and gone. But more to the point, it’s been a while since there was an actual update on things from us.
The summer is officially over now that the kids are back in school and my training course is getting ready to start a new term. Our summer was mostly spent indoors because of the rain, but we still managed to get away for a holiday.
Ministry updates
Our church’s series called The Christian Life at home/in the world was really well received and generated a lot of feedback. While a good number of our church members have been Christians since before the moon landings, they’ve never heard about things like work or mental health being addressed from the pulpit.
For the last few weeks I have been preparing to preach 1 Peter. I finally began actual sermon prep today (26 August) and I’m really looking forward to us spending the next three months in this short book. It’s been quite a change from what we’ve been doing for the last year because we spent so much time in Genesis covering quite chunky passages1.
Nearly every church member has watched Scotland go from being a place where theologically conservative, evangelical churches were full, to it now being the most socially progressive nation in the United Kingdom. That kind of change happening in a lifetime can make it seem like everything is falling to pieces, but I hope that our time with Peter will show all of us that these things are to be expected.
Family updates
The kids have all moved up years in school. When we left the US, Sophie, our eldest, was eight-years-old and now she is fourteen! Time has gone by so fast. Our greatest joy over these last few months, though, was witnessing all four of our kids come to faith in Jesus. The most exciting thing for us is that, while there were some big conversations that happened to lead to this, the big work was spending time together after dinner going through John’s Gospel with The Word One to One.
Seeing the Word at work as they wrestled with big questions and realising Jesus was really calling them to believe in him was just remarkable. It turns out, it’s really exciting to watch someone come to recognise Jesus for who he is.
Prayer requests
This coming Sunday (1 September) marks the beginning of my last year of training. Time has gone by so quickly but there is still so much to be done. With that in mind, please be praying for these things:
- Tracy’s role with AT3 has shifted again. She is now the manager of operations and mobilisation, which means she’ll be overseeing the entire process a potential apprentice will go through (from application through to being on-field). This is an exciting thing but also daunting as it means increased hours and responsibilities within the organisation.
- It feels like there is quite a lot of our future riding on the outcome of the next year. I have funding through the end of August 2025. We are hoping and praying that we will be able to continue on here at Ardgowan Square but it does require there to be enough funding in place for the church to keep me on. Pray that we would focus on doing the work in front of us and that God would give us clear direction for continuing ministry.
- January and February are quite big months because it is tax time and it will be time for my next visa application. Please be praying in advance of those things. Having gone through visa (and tax) trauma before, it is always a period filled with anxious, sleepless nights.
- Like covering the entire Flood narrative in one sermon! ↩