Autumn

Wallace Monument looking at Stirling

This land is so beautiful!  There is alot to say,
but I will keep this short so you will read it!

Out Standing in the field

We have just celebrated Harvest along the Hillfoots.
When your village is nestled between farms you get a bit more in tune with planting and reaping and lambs and rainfall, etc.  It's cool when you refer to Gospel stories and the agricultural metaphors of Jesus connect without extra explanation.

A cheeky 'spiritual' view toward our Hills

We have been busy in Alva.
(best excuse for no posts lately)

so, 'planting and reaping'.... in a hard land.

After 5 years in June, we continue to see life in this wee local church.




There is ongoing discipleship of believers:
obviously in 'the big room' on a Sunday morning or a Thursday evening, but also in individual relationships.  I am discipling two women together in the church with the hopes that they will continue on to disciple others.  There is also a women's fellowship growing around their desire to come together as believers.

We have called an associate pastor after receiving a one-off gift from someone to cover their salary for a year.  This has created a discipling relationship and lands me training up a young pastor.  I didn't know how different it is to supervise and lead others in ministry. (another layer of thanks to my Pastor Steve Snook at Metro for being so gracious and patient with men - it must be the Holy Spirit!)

Daniel Sturgeon is 22 and a recent graduate of the Scottish Baptist College.  We met over three years ago in a class on Pastoral Care and have been friends since.  He has a heart for young people and I am in the process of handing-off leadership responsibilities for the Scripture Union group at the High School and we continue together with the Chaplaincy.  We have started two youth groups for Jr High and HS.  The HS group is reaching 20+ mostly un-churched people, who actually pray for each other and engage in discussions about salvation, and the veritable minefield that is: sexual ethics, and all that.  The Jr. High group clocks at around 15 and we are seeing real answers to their prayers and demonstrations of cross-cultural reconciliation between different groups of students like 'emos' and cheerleaders.  THAT'S got to be God.

Our Men's ministry is still going, though I completely forgot to schedule the Men's Breakfast for October and nobody else noticed, so maybe that's not going as well.  We get about 6 guys including me: a retired Missionary, two men who could be my dad (if they started young) and two younger men.  We like each other and it's good, but I sense we need more.  I am thinking of asking one of them to plan the Men's breakfast in December. on November we will meet with a larger group of men from other churches.

Prayer Requests:
We are Planning a 3pm Sunday worship opportunity for the mostly un-churched called Alva Worship Experiment (AWE).  Tables with tea and coffee and food, packets of worship, and 'seeding the clouds' for discussion of topics at each table.  It's going to be like a fellowship meals in a café.  We also plan to have fun stuff to keep little fingers busy and therefore be family friendly.  There is a good chance to reach sport families and shift workers (an also overall slacker students who are convinced the sunlight at 11am on a Sunday will cause them to burst into flames!).  It is very different and avant-garde so we will sink or swim at the Lord's pleasure.  Please pray for us.

The High School has a new Head Teacher who is not comfortable with us milling about in the lunch room.  I met with her to discuss it and her initial move was to just stop it, but I told her some stories and I hope it has convinced her to let us set up a 'Chaplaincy Station' in the lunch room.  We are asking for favour with this person in a place of authority that is ultimately established by God.

that's enough for now.  The Fraser boys are well and our family still benefits from your prayers for reconciliation and thank you for reaching out to us.  ~David

Frasers and Schillmiers (who moved away this summer):
Daniel, Jeremy, Hannah, Josiah, Aaron and Timothy.