So here it is, May!
Where has the time gone?
We are so busy with God, Family and Ministry.As our friend David Simpson at Calvary Motherwell has said:” if you get your priorities straight with God, the other parts fall into place”
On the one hand, David is learning to seek the Lord and follow; rather than bound forward to show Him what he is willing to do in His name. On the other, is a desire to be found diligent and faithful. The healthy balance between ministry to family and to community is struck in a place of constant tension.
Elizabeth is catching a rhythm with the three boys and school and church (and Judo). We have carved out some time for sane, quiet (snot-free) mommy-time. She is moving into a time of rest, focusing on homemaking and artistic expression through writing and photography. Being near to family is a blessing.
We are getting over the fact that, while the grass may in fact BE greener on the other side of the Atlantic, it is not the panacea that one might have imagined with regard to our hopes for change in the pace of life and the intimacy of family relationships (though there has been some free baby-sitting!).
Easter was just GREAT! We saw one fellow baptized on the Sunday morning and several other baptized believers joined us in the mission of the church. Alva is a congregational church, so membership gives people a say in how we pursue ministry together. Not easy to pastor, but not as miserable as a benevolent dictator might think. Still, it is odd, but that’s where God has us right now.
We see people responding to the gospel.
Salvation, yes.
And discipleship too!
This old church is growing in grace and love.
We saw one family that was growing so near to us, just, up and walk away.Ostensibly attributed to the Hymns and lack of youth work.What can we do but reach out to families and pray for a worship team and some young Christians?
It kind of hurt to be identified as the lame church and left for better offerings. I had hoped that they would be part of the start of a new church culture.
Please pray with us for relevant worship music and youth work. We currently enjoy a children’s ministry of two women and ad-hoc helpers and are planning a crèche with two ladies for infants (we have three babies in the church!)
On the action front:
1. David was honoured to be invited to sit on the board for a new Hillfoots YMCA trust. Together they raised over 50,000 pounds (mostly through other members' grant writing) to hire a youth worker for three years to work in the towns along the Hillfoots area (Menstrie, Alva and Tillicoultry). As part of his service, he was also asked to sit on the hiring committee for the worker and then was chosen for the three person panel to interview the worker. In the pinch we were able to influence the choice for a competent, experienced person who was the right fit for the community to get the job (and very strong Christian as opposed to a person who merely ‘ascribes to the YMCA ethos’). God willing, assuming that the references and background check turn out fine, this person will start in mid-July.
2. With regard to the Chaplaincy at the local public high school Alva Academy, David comes home every week like a happy puppy having run in the park for an hour! They let him come into the lunch room and hang out with the students answering Any Question about God or the Bible they may have. He is a resource to the school for crisis counselling and also takes morning assemblies where he gets to speak to the students about the word of God and what it says about subjects relevant to life. It’s an amazing open door!
The Scottish government has presented a guideline to schools called ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ which requires that Christianity be taught in schools as an expression of the tradition that is part and parcel of Scottish life. Other world religions are taught as a sort of cultural tolerance issue, but the truth of God stands firm in the marketplace of ideas.
3. The mid-week Bible study is running strong. We have worked through Ephesians, Colossians and are now wading into 1 Timothy.
4. We are planning to start a Sunday evening study through the entire Bible starting with Genesis this summer. Outlines are done and some sermons are brewing. Please pray for opportunity and ready soil for the Word implanted. The way I envision it is Bible survey on Sunday night, a topical Sermon the next Sunday morning drawn from the previous Sunday night text and home groups that week discussing the chapter and the sermon that followed.
5. We have had a multi-church, multi denominational worship service at the church in April and plan to again in June. Folks from several Baptist, several Church of Scotland (Presbyterian), Bretheren!, and Free Charismatic churches all got together with music and banners and the word of God and prayer (and tea & biscuits) and raised the roof! Nothing wild, but everybody saw unity as the fruit and suffered the differences in culture and method while we lifted up Jesus Christ as Lord and praised our Father in heaven. It was well cool.
We will stop here so you will come back some other time.
Prayer:
· For our little boys to be protected (heart, mind & body)
· Priorities in ministry
· For stoney hearts to hear the gospel
· For the elderly of our fellowship: health,
encouragement and inclusion in the life of the church
· For worshipers
· For youth workers.
Where has the time gone?
We are so busy with God, Family and Ministry.As our friend David Simpson at Calvary Motherwell has said:” if you get your priorities straight with God, the other parts fall into place”
On the one hand, David is learning to seek the Lord and follow; rather than bound forward to show Him what he is willing to do in His name. On the other, is a desire to be found diligent and faithful. The healthy balance between ministry to family and to community is struck in a place of constant tension.
Elizabeth is catching a rhythm with the three boys and school and church (and Judo). We have carved out some time for sane, quiet (snot-free) mommy-time. She is moving into a time of rest, focusing on homemaking and artistic expression through writing and photography. Being near to family is a blessing.
We are getting over the fact that, while the grass may in fact BE greener on the other side of the Atlantic, it is not the panacea that one might have imagined with regard to our hopes for change in the pace of life and the intimacy of family relationships (though there has been some free baby-sitting!).
Easter was just GREAT! We saw one fellow baptized on the Sunday morning and several other baptized believers joined us in the mission of the church. Alva is a congregational church, so membership gives people a say in how we pursue ministry together. Not easy to pastor, but not as miserable as a benevolent dictator might think. Still, it is odd, but that’s where God has us right now.
We see people responding to the gospel.
Salvation, yes.
And discipleship too!
This old church is growing in grace and love.
We saw one family that was growing so near to us, just, up and walk away.Ostensibly attributed to the Hymns and lack of youth work.What can we do but reach out to families and pray for a worship team and some young Christians?
It kind of hurt to be identified as the lame church and left for better offerings. I had hoped that they would be part of the start of a new church culture.
Please pray with us for relevant worship music and youth work. We currently enjoy a children’s ministry of two women and ad-hoc helpers and are planning a crèche with two ladies for infants (we have three babies in the church!)
On the action front:
1. David was honoured to be invited to sit on the board for a new Hillfoots YMCA trust. Together they raised over 50,000 pounds (mostly through other members' grant writing) to hire a youth worker for three years to work in the towns along the Hillfoots area (Menstrie, Alva and Tillicoultry). As part of his service, he was also asked to sit on the hiring committee for the worker and then was chosen for the three person panel to interview the worker. In the pinch we were able to influence the choice for a competent, experienced person who was the right fit for the community to get the job (and very strong Christian as opposed to a person who merely ‘ascribes to the YMCA ethos’). God willing, assuming that the references and background check turn out fine, this person will start in mid-July.
2. With regard to the Chaplaincy at the local public high school Alva Academy, David comes home every week like a happy puppy having run in the park for an hour! They let him come into the lunch room and hang out with the students answering Any Question about God or the Bible they may have. He is a resource to the school for crisis counselling and also takes morning assemblies where he gets to speak to the students about the word of God and what it says about subjects relevant to life. It’s an amazing open door!
The Scottish government has presented a guideline to schools called ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ which requires that Christianity be taught in schools as an expression of the tradition that is part and parcel of Scottish life. Other world religions are taught as a sort of cultural tolerance issue, but the truth of God stands firm in the marketplace of ideas.
3. The mid-week Bible study is running strong. We have worked through Ephesians, Colossians and are now wading into 1 Timothy.
4. We are planning to start a Sunday evening study through the entire Bible starting with Genesis this summer. Outlines are done and some sermons are brewing. Please pray for opportunity and ready soil for the Word implanted. The way I envision it is Bible survey on Sunday night, a topical Sermon the next Sunday morning drawn from the previous Sunday night text and home groups that week discussing the chapter and the sermon that followed.
5. We have had a multi-church, multi denominational worship service at the church in April and plan to again in June. Folks from several Baptist, several Church of Scotland (Presbyterian), Bretheren!, and Free Charismatic churches all got together with music and banners and the word of God and prayer (and tea & biscuits) and raised the roof! Nothing wild, but everybody saw unity as the fruit and suffered the differences in culture and method while we lifted up Jesus Christ as Lord and praised our Father in heaven. It was well cool.
We will stop here so you will come back some other time.
Prayer:
· For our little boys to be protected (heart, mind & body)
· Priorities in ministry
· For stoney hearts to hear the gospel
· For the elderly of our fellowship: health,
encouragement and inclusion in the life of the church
· For worshipers
· For youth workers.
Thank you all for your prayer and financial support,
Dave & Liz Fraser
