Post No.12 - Time Flies when You Are having Fun!

Jenni & Grant's place on Bainbridge Is

Well, our 11 weeks in the UK and USA has come to an end and we are off home - time has certainly flown! The last 5 days on Bainbridge Island, Seattle, has been great as we have spent time with family catching up and relaxing. We have spent hours learning to play the "The Settlers of Catan" board game. This is an ultra-competitive game that brings out the "best" in people... well, sometimes; the rest of the time it brings out the worst... but fun to play! We have looked around the Island, which is very beautiful, especially now that autumn (fall) is approaching. We spent a day in Seattle sight-seeing. We saw them throw a fish in the famous Pike fish market, had clam chowder at the a seafood restaurant  enjoyed a coffee at the original Starbucks, and had a  lot of fun on the underground tour of the old city. We went to the baseball to experience a slice of American culture. We watched the Seattle Mariners get beat by the LA Angles. On Friday we fly to San Francisco and on to New Zealand, arriving in Auckland at 5.40 am on Sunday the 7th, all going well!

Seattle from the ferry

The Mariners Home Field

On the way from Redding to Seattle we stopped off to see Linley Meisch at Molalla. It was great to catch up with her and meet her husband, Mike and his mum and dad.



The next post will be from Opotiki where we are going to stay for 4 days on our return. See you then. Blessings Ian & Lenda

Ian, Mike, Linley & Lenda

Post No.11 - The Best is Yet to Come!

The birthday cake from Harrods

"Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you..." Well, today I'm 57 years old.Wow, that's old! I've been reflecting on that over the last few days, as you do, but in a positive way - I don't have time to be morbid! I've been thinking about what I've achieved with my life, especially in relation to the things of God, and I've decided the best is still to come! The best with my family, my friends, my marriage, my golf handicap, my ministry, and St Andrew's! The culture of Bethel does that to you - it is the closest I've come to experiencing a truly kingdom culture, one that is totally confident that what God is about to do is always better than the past because that is the nature of God and his kingdom. It's not that the past is unimportant, just the opposite, but we don't live there, we live now for his future.

Combining work & pleasure!

We are well and still having a ball, but we are starting to look towards home! We've had our last Sunday at Bethel, which also means the last worship experience - they've been fabulous! And the other day we ran into Bill Johnson who prayed for us; that was special. We had prayed that God would set up an opportunity for Bill to pray with us before we left, and God did! On Friday we leave for Bainbridge Island, Seattle to spend 5 days with Jenni & Grant (my sister and brother-in-law) at their church. On the way we are going to stay the night at Molalla with Linley Meisch (nee York - Ken & Wenda's daughter); in fact we are going to be staying in the home of Wenda's sister, Linley's auntie. On the Saturday we will drive through Portland and onto Seattle. While we are there I hope to start writing up my sabbatical report along with a bit of sight-seeing and shopping, I suspect. The following Thursday we fly out of Seattle to SFO (about a 3 hour stop-over) and then on to New Zealand. Hopefully one of our boys will be there meet us at Auckland airport... hint, hint!

Our Anna's hummingbird (female)

We are going to miss the Bethel community as they have been so genuinely welcoming and encouraging; and we're also going to miss our swimming pool. The water in Seattle is cold (brrrrr!) so I think that might be it until the NZ summer. And we will also miss watching the hummingbirds! We have loved these amazing little creatures feeding at out front door. Lenda has spent hours trying to photograph them on our little camera - not as easy as you think! It has been a spiritual experience in its own right, like the redwoods, just different - the big and the small - God is so amazing!

Please pray for us, as we transition once again, that God will continue to provide for our needs and set up encounters along the way where we will be able to witness to his goodness and salvation. Blessings, Ian & Lenda

Post No.10 - God is Good!!

Lenda standing beside a big Redwood

One of the key beliefs of the Bethel community is that God is always good! It's one of their core beliefs - it fuels their quest for God's manifest presence - it pervades their worship - it's at the heart of everything they do! And one of the things they do well is host people like us from all parts of the world. They go out of their way to make space for us to experience the Bethel culture so we can take it home with us. It's been a very humbling experience for us to be so openly part of their vision to bring revival to every nation of the world.through his Church that passionately seeks his presence, his face... This emphasis is perhaps most obvious in their music and worship. The greater majority of songs they write and use are about seeking more of God's presence. It makes their worship times wonderfully intense and filled with passion and expectation - we love it; we can't get enough of it! I (Ian) spend a good deal of my time in tears... surprise, surprise! I just can't help it...We have bought the Bethel Worship and Jesus Culture CDs and are soaking in them... We are so hungry to be baptised again and again in the Holy Spirit and power.

The king of Stout Grove

Many of the songs are lyrically very simple, like this one called "My Soul Longs For You" off the Jesus Culture album "Come Away":

'My soul longs for you. My soul longs for you. And nothing else will do. Nothing else will do.

I believe you will come like the rain. So Let it rain, Let it rain.'

How they take such simple, heartfelt lyrics and use them in creative and extemporary ways is something to experience. The music is full, and the singing passionate and powerful. It's transformational! Their service structure also is geared to encourage and accommodate the presence of God. At times they will do away with the sermon to follow what the Spirit is doing. Bring it on!

The Boy Scout Tree

On Wednesday we had the privilege of sitting in on the weekly leadership staff meeting chaired by Bill Johnson. The first part from 9 am to 11 am was the Global Legacy emphasis (international focus of Bethel) with most of the senior leaders present. They spent their time telling stories of what God was doing through their ministries, stories of signs, healings and miracles. It was great seeing these seasoned leaders excited about what God was doing, whoop-haring, and yeh-haring at every story - it was very inspiring! The second part up to lunchtime was with the leadership responsible for the local Bethel context. This was chaired by Eric Johnson, Bill's son, and focussed almost exclusively on the space problem they have on Sunday and how they logistically could add another service to their schedule. It was interesting to see how they were trying to come up with a solution that accommodated very one's needs, and especially the visitors to Bethel. Next week we will attend the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministries (BSSM). Both the first and second years are now well under-way and we, again, are privileged to be able to sit in and participate.

The Brotherhood Tree - Trees of Mystery, Klamath

On another level, and the reason this post is late, is that we have done a bit of travelling around this last week. On Monday-Tuesday we went to the coast (Crescent City) to see the Redwoods, and what an amazing experience that was! In fact, one of the most awe-inspiring we have ever experienced! They would have to be one of the wonders of the world. We have never seen so many huge trees... They are supposed to be the biggest living things on planet earth. We wished we had been able to stay another day and just hike (American parlance) through them. Wow! The only problem was our camera battery failed just as we got into the big trees and we had to use our cell phones. So I apologies at the poor quality of some of the photos.

Sierra Nevada Brewery

On Thursday-Friday we went down to Chico (an hour south of Redding) for the night to stay with an American couple who own a walnut farm. They hosted us so amazingly well it was almost embarressing. We had lunch at the Sierra Nevada Brewery, which some of you may have heard of. It's becoming increasingly well-known for its boutique beers; not that we would have known that! They drove us around the area showing us the walnut and almond orchards that dominate the area, and the rice farming which is a big deal in the Sacramento valley. It was great to spend some time with a conservative, Republican supporting, couple and listen to them talk about their view of the USA and how it was going to the dogs under the Democrats, and what needed to happen to put things back on track. In fact some of it made sense - less government, greater personal responsibility, less handouts, and a return to the values of hard work, family and community. It was hard to disagree with them!

Apple Pie America!

Our time here is fast running out - only 11 more sleeps before we head up to Seattle. We will be sad to leave Bethel as we feel it is only the beginning of something wonderful... But we are also excited about the journey St Andrew's is on and what the heart of God is for his Church! We're looking forward to coming home. Put your safety belts on... Ha, ha, ha... 

Blessings, Ian & Lenda

Post No.9 - Bethel

Bethel - Worship 6.30 pm service

Wow! Bethel is an awesome place. There is such an air of excitement and anticipation around it. And it is busy! There are so many people coming and going. There are a number of reasons for this: it has a Christian school (BCS) of several hundred children, so there are always parents around; the 2nd year School of Supernatural Ministries (BSSM) meets in the main auditorium (the first year students meet in the Redding Convention Centre which is in one of the down-town areas - the school has 1900 students this year, from all around the world), so there are students everywhere; and then there are people like us who have come to experience the place. It has a book shop and cafe which are always busy. Then there are the staff and the ministry volunteers. The car park is huge, accommodating hundreds of cars, much of it reserved for the BSSM students. Bethel has a staff of nearly 500! Let me say that again. Bethel has a staff of nearly 500! Wow! While this includes the BCS and BSSM, it also has a large international ministry and any number of professional musicians and creative people. The American culture, by nature, tends to discourage volunteerism due to their attitude to work and recreation. They are work-driven and have virtually no holidays (about one week a year). By the time many spend 60-70 hours at work or commuting, and factor in family-time, it doesn't leave a lot of time to give to anything else. Likewise, their kids are driven. They start school about 7.00 am and finish about 3.00 pm, plus there is homework and lots of extra-curriculary activities. They are just so driven! Evidently, this is part of the entrepreneurial and success psyche that underpins the American dream. Hence, Bethel (American churches in general) employ staff to do the work of what we in NZ would expect volunteers to do.

The main building is impressive by New Zealand standards, but not by American standards (see photo in Post No.8). In fact, it is a problem for them; they just don't have enough space. The auditorium (only part of the complex) holds about 1,200 people, but they need at least double this. Bill Johnson mentioned this on Sunday and said they are working through their options. Sunday was so full it wasn't funny! We attended the 8.30 am service and struggled to get a seat. Everyone had to be seated (safety regulations) or go to an over-flow room and participate by video link. Evidently, getting a seat at the 11.00 am service is harder still. They have just implemented a new policy of not letting people in until 10.50 so the first service is able to exit properly before the rush starts for seats; as we exited there were long queues...!

Baptism during Worship

We also attended the 6.30 pm service, arrived 30 min early (having learnt from the morning), and only just got seated (see photos); a few minutes later and we would have been in the over-flow room! It was a baptism service (first Sunday of every month) and the longest service we've ever attended - over 3 hours! The first 1½ hours was worship, which was fabulous, with the baptisms happening simultaneously. As people worshipped, in the main freely, they would cheer as each person came up out of the water; it was fun! Both services were much simpler and unstructured than we thought they would be, and refreshingly so! The basic structure was: worship, community (notices, promotions, testimonies, healing), preaching, ministry. We loved the experience. Bill Johnson preached at the 8.30 am service and was brief and to the point (30 min), while Kris Vallotton preached in the evening and took a long time (about an hour) to make a simple point, but was very funny at times.The service finished with a tunnel of fire - this is where the staff and ministry team line up to bless people; again, it was fun!

We have fallen on our feet in coming to Bethel at the start of the new semester because all the key staff are around. Bill had just returned from a month overseas speaking at conferences, including NZ; he said he had done 60,000 air miles! Tonight (Wednesday) we are going to sit in on a New Members Class because they (Bill and Kris) spell out the culture of Bethel so people know what they are signing up for - it's this we came to experience. On Friday we are having lunch with Joaquin Evans; we are hoping he will be able to organise for us to sit in on a staff meeting. Here's hoping... Most days we are spending an hour or so in the Prayer centre (see photo in Post No.8) which is peaceful and powerful. And then there is the pool.... Pray for us to be filled powerfully with the Holy Spirit and his anointing. Blessings, Ian & Lenda

The Sargeant family while in Canada

PS. We got an email from Martyn Sargeant about the bikes that were stolen in Birmingham.We have offerd to pay for their replacement. He says, "Don’t worry too much about the bikes – these things happen. We should probably have warned you that it’s not Harborne, but we feel it’s where God has called us to be. We think the bikes were taken by somebody local. Somebody we know a bit down the road has already indicated this (and we were offered them back for £30), so we’re just working out how best to handle that!!"
 

Post No.8 - Redding, USA

Sister & Brother

Outside Kabod House, Redding

Well, we arrived in Redding in one piece after an uneventful flight across the Atlantic with Virgin Atlantic. The only glitch was not being able to catch-up with Martyn & Emma Sargeant (whose house we used) on their way into Heathrow as we were leaving. Their flight from Miami was delayed due to hurricane Isaac; we missed them by about 45 min. I would have preferred to tell them about the stolen bikes face to face rather than them finding this out in the letter we had left. But never mind, such is life! We were met at SFO (San Francisco airport) by my sister, Jenni, and her husband, Grant, who had come down from Seattle especially to meet us. It was great to come out of Arrivals and see their welcoming wave and smiling faces. We drove directly to Redding through a very busy and congested city, the free-way being up to 5-6 lanes wide at times, and grid-locked due to early rush-hour traffic. We saw the Golden Gate bridge from a distance, and the trip across the Oakland bridge was amazing. The trip up the Sacramento valley was just great. It is a very wide (further than the eye can see in places), flat and highly fertile farming region surrounded on either side by dry and quite barren hills. The I5 (Interstate free-way) runs its entire length and on through to Oregon (it actually runs all the way from southern California to Seattle). The off-ramps are numbered by the miles from its beginning. The one opposite where we are staying is 681 - that's a mother of a long road and indicates what a huge country the USA is. Most of the 3 hour trip was shrouded in smoke from wildfires burning in the hills; a number of these had done considerable damage.

The Bethel Church Complex

The NZ flag flying at Bethel

Bethel Prayer Centre

We arrived in Redding tired but happy, about 6.30 pm, only to find that the people who owned our accommodation had left the area and the property manager they had left in charge had forgot about us. However, after a phone call (praise God for cell phones) it was all sorted out and we were given the combination for the lock. The place is just great - totally ideal for our 4 week stay, and it even has a swimming pool, much to Lenda's delight! We threw our gear in the house and headed off into town for tea and supplies. This was quite a mission due to the smoke haze, gathering dusk and Grant not being very familiar with Redding. After tea Grant and Jenni took us to meet one of the staff at Bethel they had got to know when their daughter Katie (my niece) had attended the School of Supernatural Ministry. This is a great contact for us and will open a number of doors for us to explore the culture of Bethel. Later that night another Bethel associate, whose name is Chuck (Canadian) came over to meet us (actually, to meet Grant and Jenni) and again, this will be very beneficial. It shows that the old adage is true - it's not what you know, but who you know that counts! Today we had lunch with Stephen Hatley, who works in the missions department of Bethel. He explained how the Bethel community worked and gave us a list of events and ministries that we were free to participate in. I'll tell you some more about these over the next few weeks.

Smoke haze over Redding

First impressions of Redding: It reminds us a lot of Australia! Its hot, very hot (over 40 degrees at times), dry and the bush has similarities to Aussie bush - and it's smoky, as Aussie is at times. Also, many of the houses are built in the bush, which makes then very prone to fire, just like Aussie. Redding is very spread out with no real commercial centre as such as there are retail stores and food outlets all over the place. And they are all connected by a network of  huge multi-lanned and busy roads. They say Americans drive everywhere, and here is no exception! Our original plan was not to have a car (not affordable) and to walk everywhere. Praise God that Jenni (and the Holy Spirit) knew what Redding was like and decided to lend us her car for the duration of our stay; we would be sunk without it. But learning to drive on these roads and on the right-hand side has been a mission in itself. But we are still married! And we are getting the hang of it, and day by day learning the layout of the city is making it easier; we can even make our way around now without the GPS! Today the smoke cleared, and for the first time we had blue sky and could see the greater Redding area; that also helps in finding ones way around!

Lenda with Susanna & Andrew

But enough is enough! We'll share some more impressions in our next Post. Tomorrow we are participating in a weekly healing service/event; We need to go and write a list of the parts of our bodies that need healed.We're going to be like the lame man who went leaping and jumping and praising God! Blessings, Ian & Lenda

 PS. We meet up with Andrew & Susanna Wilson from Otane; they are over here for a year; Susanna is enrolled in the school of ministry.  It was great to have a coffee and a chat!

Our swimming pool. God is good!

Post No.7 - Goodbye the UK and hello the USA

Pete & Anna Smith with the Pimms

Well, our time here in the UK is fast running out! On Sunday we say farewell to St John's Harborne, pack our bags, attend to the last of the cleaning and ready ourselves for our trip to London by train on Monday morning. In London we will do a bit of sightseeing around the centre of the city before catching up with my cousin and his wife, John & Terry Weller, in Reigate in the afternoon. We will stay the night at an airport hotel so we won't miss our 7.30 am check in time on Tuesday morning. All going well we will arrive in San Francisco at 1.25 pm on Tuesday (USA time) where my sister and brother-in-law, Jenni and Grant Brewster, will pick us up and take us through to Redding. They are coming down from Seattle in 2 cars so they can leave one with us. It will be great to have our own car on this leg of the trip. In Birmingham the public transport has been great and we have been able to manage without a car, but Redding is a different kettle of fish, and wheels will be good even if we are going to have to learn to drive on the right-hand side of the road.

The famous No.11 bus route

Talking about public transport, on Friday we decided to do a final bus excursion around Birmingham on the famous No.11 bus. This is the longest commuter bus ride in Europe. It takes a circular route around the city servicing the key suburbs. It took us nearly 3 hour to complete the route from start to finish, taking us through some areas of the city we had not been to before. It's most probably the last time we will see such a cross-section of this ethnically diverse city! During the ride we had a very dubious looking young man (gangster) sitting behind us recounting to his friends, in very loud and animated tones, the story of a police raid on his house looking for drugs and money. According to him the police had bust down the back door and in the resulting search found about 4000 pounds. Due to his Brommie accent the story wasn't always easy to follow. We were quite pleased when they got off!

The garage and missing bikes

We had an interesting experience happen to us on Wednesday evening that has left a bit of a sour taste in our mouths; it's been the only real negative thing we have experienced and a reminder of the nature of the community we are living in. We had just returned from Bitteswell in Leicestershire where we had spent the night with Pete & Anna Smith whom our 3 boys had stayed with on their cricket excursions to the UK. We had always wanted to meet them to say thank you for the hospitality they had shown the boys. Stephen had come down from Manchester to accompany us, and we had had a very enjoyable few days. On arriving home I had decided to mow the lawns as the weather was fine and the forecast poor. While mowing the rear of the property the two mountain bikes we were using were stolen from the garage from right under my nose. I was very disappointed at my lapse of security in leaving the garage door open and unattended, if only for a few minutes. The first thing we did was pray about it asking God to (a) bring the bikes back or (b) for the situation to be used to bring honour and glory to him, and preferably for both (a) and (b). Then we rang the police! About 1½ hours later (9ish), and much to our surprise, a policeman arrived to check out the scene and take a statement. We gave him a coffee and chatted about his work and life in Birmingham until about 10.30 pm. We were up front with him about who we were as Christians, that I was a pastor, and we were prayerfully trusting God with the situation. I took the opportunity to share something of Jesus with him and in doing so he told us that he was a Muslim. I encouraged him to spend some time exploring who Jesus was, using the angle that if Jesus was real and true, and he had died on the cross and been raised from death to life, and was who he said he was as the Son of God, then he needed to be taken seriously. I gave him a biblein11 card and encouraged him to watch the gospel presentation on his computer (www.biblein11.com). After he left we prayed for him to become a follower of Jesus. I had a strong sense from the Holy Spirit that God was at work here doing something profound. If it takes the theft of two bikes for someone to be become a follower of Jesus, that's alright with me!… Since then Lenda and I have spent some time walking the neighbourhood looking for the bikes but so far we've come up empty handed. I wonder what tactics God will use when we are in the USA? Until next time. Blessings, Lenda & Ian

Thai Restaurant - Very Buddhist! 

Lenda at Rugby Station

Sightseeing the Birmingham canals

Post No.6 - Out And About

Ian read to risk life and limb

Lenda in men's size 8 shoes

Hi All! Life continues to be interesting for us in many different ways. Our connection with St John's Harborne is growing and we have had some very fruitful conversations with their leadership and members. We feel that we are starting to get a handle on what makes them tick, and also something of the journey they are being asked to embrace, especially by Nigel, their senior minister. On Wednesday we spent some time with Marcus, their worship pastor, who spoke very positively about the time he had recently spent at a worship conference at Bethel (Redding, USA); he encouraged us to make the most of our time there by just soaking up the place... That's exactly what we are intending to do, and our sense of excitement is rising as that time draws closer. But we still have two Sundays at St John's before we fly to the USA on the 28th.

Yesterday evening we were invited to attend one of their C Groups (their name for Life Groups) which was an interesting experience. It was a social night over a meal (supper we were told), so we had our tea before we went only to find that when we arrived it was a full, and very nice, evening meal. By the end of the evening we were full as ticks... But it was good to meet this group of people in their environment and talk about faith and the journey St John's is on. At the close of the group they asked us to pray for them.

Last Sunday after church we were invited home for lunch by a couple called Vinod and Angie Bhatia. Vinod is one of the worship leaders and a very competent musician, and we had a great time talking about music and worship, among other things. They were extremely generous to us and made us feel very blessed. Vinod is Indian and has a very interesting and encouraging story about how he became a follower of Jesus.

We continue to be stimulated by the books we are reading and to reflect on what this means for living the Christian life in faith and power. I'm reading "The Essential Guide to Healing" by Bill Johnson & Randy Clark, and Lenda is working her way through "The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind". We've played a round of golf at Moor Mall Park, and walked on the sacred turf of the Belfry, spiritual home of the Ryder Cup (golfers will understand) and I continue to defy the odds by cycling these busy roads! The other evening I got a flat tyre and had to walk home - about 5 kms. Never mind, it was a nice evening!

Stephen at lake Hollingworth 

Zoe, Stevie & Lenda

Last week we had two very enjoyable days in Manchester with Stevie. We traveled by train, and enjoyed the scenery, even if some of it went by fairly quickly (190 kms at times). We met Zoe, Stephen's girlfriend, and saw a bit of Manchester and Rochdale, where Stephen is based. At this stage he is planning to stay in Rochdale and possibly apply for UK residency (that's what a girl does to a man's heart!), so it was good to spend some time with him. He's coming down to Birmingham next week to spend a couple of days with us as we might not see him for some considerable time. On Tuesday the three of us will travel to Bitteswell (train to Rugby; another spiritual home) to visit Pete & Anna Smith who our sons, Paul, David and Stephen, lived with during their time playing cricket for the Bitteswell club. It will be good to thank them in person for the hospitality they gave our boys.

Jacob, Esther, Josh & Rob

Last Monday we had the pleasure of catching up with Rob (Rag), Esther, Josh and Jacob Ewers of Walsall, Birmingham and Central Hake's Bay, NZ. They have returned to Walsall (northern Birmingham) for 6 months to connect with family. Esther's mum and dad, brother and two sisters live here so it is very much home for her; no wonder she was homesick while in CHB! We now understand where Rag & Esther's accent comes from - it's very much Bromie form the west-midlands. When we first arrived here and traveled on the buses and heard the locals speaking I would often turn to Lenda and say "That sounds like Esther!". We had a laugh with them about it. But it was great to see them and realize that we are on a very similar journey faith-wise, even reading the same books! (Rag and me, anyway). Josh is keen to return to CHB to possibly start an internship with Epic Ministries in the new year, so God willing, we will see the Ewer's back in CHB early January 2013.

Lunch together in Walsall

So we continue to live a quiet life here and be of some entertainment and amusement to the locals. Please pray for us, and especially that we would draw closer and deeper into God by the power of the Holy Spirit, so the kingdom-life we so much want to live and express with flow from that intimacy of relationship. 

May God richly bless you with your full inheritance in Christ Jesus! With much love, Ian & Lenda

Post No.5 - It's Pimm's O'Clock

Lenda in iconic London

Hi everyone! It's been a quiet week for us. Iv'e spent most of my time reading and watching the Olympics on tv. The coverage is very biased towards the Brits and it has been hard to follow the New Zealanders progress. But the British have really got in behind their team and it is good to see them doing well. We have explored a bit more of Birmingham by bus; the over day we went to Wolverhampton. Wow!  When I spoke with Nigel di Castiglione when we first arrived about St John's Harborne, he suggest I read Bill Johnson's book, "The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind" as the best way to understand where he would like to take the congregation. It so happened that I had brought this book with me from NZ because I wanted to read it again, having done so last year, so I have been working my way through it carefully and prayerfully. It's implications are mind-blowing; it's what my sabbatical is all about, so can I encourage you to get a copy and read it with an open mind; there's a copy in St Andrew's library.

Lenda & Sonya; London at it's best!

On the weekend Lenda went to London to spend a few days with her niece, Sonya. She caught the slow train on Saturday morning (it cost about a fifth of the fast one) and arrived home early Monday afternoon. She loved the experience and especially the way London was in Olympic mode. She walked all over central London taking in the famous Monopoly realestate; she loved Harrods, and brought some mementos, but nothing sustantial, but she did see a dress valued at over 10,000 pounds! I wonder why she didn't buy a couple!! I stayed in Birmingham to read and connect with St John's, and in doing so discovered that I could ride a bike on these narrow and congested English roads without being killed (I've got the use of a mountain bike). Birmingham has a network of canals longer than Venice which are amazing placed to ride. Along many of them the old donkey paths (the canal boats used to be towed by donkeys in the days before the combustion engine) have been converted to cycle ways; it's a bit nerve-wracking when pedestrians or cyclists are coming the other way and need to pass; you just about need a life-jacket in some places! I wonder how many people have fallen in? When Lenda returned from London I took her for a short ride to St John's church during peak afternoon traffic. She wasn't as impressed as I was, but we are stilled married! This morning (Tuesday) we are catching the train to Manchester to spend 2 days with Stephen. We haven't seen him since we arrived so are really looking forward to giving him a hug and seeing a bit of his territory; it should be fun! Until next time, Ian & Lenda

Post No.4 B - A break in Wales & New Wine UK style

Last Sunday we traveled to the west coast of Wales to spend 2 nights at a cottage in the little village of Moylegrove. It's a few minutes walk from the Pembrokeshire coastal path that traverses about 180 miles of the Welsh coast. We were quite pleased with ourselves as we found our way there without a map or navman (GPS). My brother, Allan, and his wife and daughter, met us there; they had come up from Cardiff. On Monday we walked a section of the coastal path to a place called Poppit Sands, where we had the briefest

Looking at grey seals

Great views...

Welcome to Moylegrove

of swims in the Irish Sea(brrrr). The scenery was great; it is the section where the cliffs are at their highest  of any part of the coastal walk(over 135 m). There were lots of signs warning us that a fall from the cliffs would be fatal, but a number of times we crept up to the edge to have a closer look (in doing so we saw a few grey seals). The weather was gorgeous; the best it had been all summer. We were very fortunate as the weather in this part of the world can be extremely windy and very bleak for long periods of time. In the afternoon we walked back to the cottage via the lanes; the sign said it was 4 miles, but by the time we arrived hot and tired we were sure Welsh miles were quite a bit longer than English ones. Later when we talked with the owner of the cottage he assured us this was true, and that they stretch in the sun. We always knew the Welsh were a bit different! Certainly their language is! The next day we did a short walk along the path going south, then with some regret, because we would have loved to have stayed longer, headed for Cardiff via the charming town of Carmarthen and following my brother along back-country roads and lanes (he had a navman); it was fun! In Cardiff we had a beer on the water front (all the locals were wilting in the heat-wave - we felt most at home), saw the Millennium Stadium where the ABs always beat the Welsh, and the very impressive Cardiff Castle.The next day Allan & Barbara drove to London to begin their journey home, and we, using their navman, made our way to Shepton Mallet in Somerset via the quaint and ancient town of Bath, to spend 2 days at New Wine.

Worship in Venue One

The Leaders Lounge

Francis Chan in the flesh

New Wine UK was quiet an experience! Camping-wise, it looks a bit like Parachute Music Festival; there are 1000s of people camping everywhere (about 10,000 people on site for 6 days), and logistically, a huge operation to set up and manage. Very impressive indeed! We met Francis Chan (see photo) and thoroughly enjoyed the 3 sessions he spoke at. Venue One held 5,000 people (not bad for a portable marquee-type building) and the worship and atmosphere was wonderful. Venue Two was smaller catering for 2,500, but equally impressive to be in. The other venues, and there were about 15 of them, were smaller, but continuously used for seminars, prayer, worship or para-church promotions. There was even a sporting cafe to watch the Olympics. What was impressive for us was that there was no central venue as such, and you chose the speaker or event that interested you; they were on a first come, first seated basis. For example, the main morning and evening speaking and worship events were held simultaneously in Venues One and Two. The leadership of New Wine hosted us extremely well (Mark Melluish) and we felt very blessed to have free access to the Leadership Venue and the benefit that went with it. On Friday afternoon we said farewell and made our way back to Birmingham via the M5 and the ancient town of Glastonbury. This is the so-called cradle of Christianity in the UK and the legendary burial place of King Arthur; the ruins of the abbey are over a 1000 years old! But what was eye-opening about Glastonbury was that it has become a centre of paganism. We have never seen so many weird little shops offering every type of spirituality imaginable; everywhere we turned there were witches, goddesses, charms, crystals, buddhas, things indian and things from India; if you could imagine it, it was there.... As we walked around I had this overwhelming sense of Jesus lamenting over the place like he had with Jerusalem... "Oh Glastonbury, Glastonbury, how far you have fallen...!" It was a very sobering experience! It made the drive home along a very busy and congested M5 a bit of a dawdle. Until next time.... Ian & Lenda

Post No.4 A - Working on the street

On Saturday morning we spent time with a group from St John's praying for people. They have permission from the local Council to use an area of the public footpath in the main street of Harborne (see photo). It is difficult to use the space outside shops as they own the footpath and are reluctant to give permission for this sort of activity, so they are fortunate that the local Council support what they are doing and have allocated them a space. The team meet at the church at 10.00 am to pray for about 30 min and then go set up the space. They stand around as people pass by, handing out a little pamphlet about healing and offering to pray for people. The people prayed for also receive an envelope containing information about St John's. Lenda got involved with this, and even had some prayer (see photo). They prayed for about 6-7 people for a variety of things, but had a number of good conversations with others. I used the time to engage with people about Jesus and handed out Biblein11 cards. I shared the gospel with one man as his friend watched on (see photo). The friend didn't watch it as he had to go. It was a fun morning! I think we could easily do something like this in Waipukurau! Where we are staying fronts onto a busy road; lots of people walk passed day and night!. I reckon that I could set up a couple of chairs on the drive and share the gospel with whoever wanted to stop. I'm going to try it when we return from Wales and New Wine. Cheers...

Post No.3 - Impressions

Lenda outside the Bull Ring malls

One of the markets

We've been in Birmingham a few days now and started to gain some impressions of the place and its people.We've spent a few days orientating ourselves with the bus routes, and generally how to get places like supermarkets etc. It appears that the centre of Birmingham is the main shopping/retail hub. It has a series of multi-story malls in an area called the Bull Ring (see photo of the bull) and open and covered markets that sell everything from fish/meat/poultry to trinkets/jewellery and and everything that sparkles to every style and type of clothing to pretty much everything you could want. It was almost obscene! It was just so full of "stuff". And the place was swarming with people from every ethnicity imaginable. And there was even an evangelist working the street handing out tracts (see photo). He appeared to be from the old school as when I took the photo he was arguing with the two men. I felt like taking him aside and suggesting that arguing was not helpful (note the sign taped to the back of his jacket)... It doesn't look like Birmingham has the big urban malls and shopping areas that a place like Auckland has. Everyone goes to the city, and all the buses head that way...

An evangelist working the street

We were very encouraged to have a coffee with Nigel di Castiglione (see photo), the senior pastor/vicar of St John's Harborne. Harborne is about 7 kms from down-town Birmingham. It has a small shopping centre comprised of narrow streets and little shops with an assortment of cafes and pubs. Birmingham is comprised of lots of communities that were once little villages that have been linked by urban sprawl. It makes it a bit of a mission to drive around and hard to develop space-wise, possibly the reason central Birmingham is the retail and business hub. Nigel is introducing us to the congregation on Sunday and has encouraged his staff and leadership to talk/meet with us. Nigel has only been with St John's for 20 month. He came as an agent of change, and they are working presently working through that process re vision, goals and strategies. Historically they are strongly evangelical and during the 1970s were profoundly influenced by the charismatic renewal movement, even becoming a centre for it, and today remain evangelically charismatic. But they, like many churches who have traveled this route, appear to have become a little stuck modeling their identity on the past rather than looking to what new things the Holy Spirit is up to. Nigel wants to take them forward from this to develop a new identity, but exactly what this looks like is what they are presently exploring. I'll talk more about this during the next few weeks.

The church sign

Nigel di Castiglione

St John's from High Street

We are looking forward to attending their Sunday service and then we are off to the west coast of Wales (near Moylegrove) for a few days with my brother and his wife (Alan & Barbara). We will go from there to spen 3 days at New Wine in Somerset (Wed, Thur, Fri). On Wednesday Francis Chan is doing a session with leadership and we have been invited to attend. On Friday evening we will return to Birmingham. I'll try to blog during htis time but it will depend on wireless internet access. Until then...