Never Fails

God shows up every time you make room for Him in your life.

Resolve every day to find the opportunity to share the gospel!

We are firefighters lugging the limp bodies of people overcome by the toxic fumes of life. Just a few words about God's provision for repentance and forgiveness of sin.

today I took the boys to visit Stirling Castle. Alongside the castle is an old cemetary which the boys enjoy wandering through. There we met three young boys, one of whom knew me from our kids club on Friday nights. Of the three, one was too young and just wanted to be silly, but the other two were ripe for the answer to the major question of life: How do you get into heaven.
It was their question.

All I did was point out that angels in the bible are always male and that it seemed odd to me that so many headstones depicted female angels. And the train kept a rollin...

Jake and Ross prayed for God to forgive their little boy sins, convinced that any broken commandment is the same as murder. Stolen cookies and cheeky attitude toward parents was enough to be moved to ask God for forgiveness because Jesus died for all sin on the cross.

Ross said: "I wont remember this, I learn stuff on TV all the time and I dont remember that stuff either" I pointed him toward a cross headstone and said: "See that cross? Just remember Jesus paid for your sin by dying on a cross and remember you are forgiven. And live as a friend of God. Jesus rose again on Easter and we all live forever. And you will definitely be invited into heaven because when you meet God you will have been forgivien."

Will you pray for Ross and Jake to remember what happened today?

This Sunday night we will have the first baptism in the church in a long time. This Monday we will have the first wedding in the church in a long time!

The Gospel, Declarations of faith, Life-long covenants, signs of abundant life in Scotland! It happens all the time.

Love never fails!
~D

Prayer:
Please pray for Liz and David for prioritization in life.

And our marriage as we learn to love well in the midst of an often tumultuous life in service.

Also Dave is on study leave from 9-22 March as he plans for an evening study and Sunday Morning Sermons through the book of Genesis.

And for Liz as she makes friends in and around Alva.

And for the boys as they grow up and are increasingly influenced by the world around them.

New

We are so encouraged.

It seems to follow hard times, but these times of refreshing are a tree of life.

The year started with another funeral, for a person we really could have known better and loved better and served alot more; with whom we just failed to build a relationship.

But it also has come with continued opportunities to reach into the community:

The Chaplaincy is bearing fruit with more invitations to come and speak to kids;
David met with about 200 2nd year students (12-13) to talk about the Bible as a tool to navigate unsure times (Isa 55:8-11). How much could you share in exactly 10 minutes?

Dave then spent 15-20 minutes with the Deputy and Head teacher (who's name is 'Mr. Meany' :) talking about how much we want for these children to be empowered to live significant lives and how David has come to trust in the promises of the God of all creation, and His son Jesus Christ for real and lasting change and wisdom. We also talked about scraping ice from the windshields and how one guy lays newspaper the night before and just peals it off in the morning. What a trip!

The Scripture Union (SU) Christian Club is growing as a new format takes hold:
Any Questions is a no holds barred: Donahue, Oprah, Jerry Springer format where we take questions from a 'suggestion box' and a blog site called (brace yourself for the sheer originality)http://www.bibleanswerguy.com/
This Tuesday's question is "Are you a fundamentalist?"
Feel free to annonymously 'seed the clouds' at questions@bibleanswerguy.com

We extended an invitation to LTW to come along side this work. Lighting the Way Worldwide is an apologetics ministry run by a dear friend of ours from Venice, CA who we met through Life Connections International and the Westside Pastors' Luncheon. They have agreed in principle to help us collect some really useful material for the kids at the secondary school, and perhaps to do more to reach the local Stirling University.

We have already set the date for this year's LCI Mission Trip to Scotland from 25 August to 5 September more information here. If God wills it, we will see some of you here this year. Its a big thing to get up and out of your Comfort Zone. and it is more than a glorified vacation. We plan to see a busy time of ministry to the local community; to get the Gospel preached a bit more of a spectacular, event-based way.

We are enjoying the growth of relationships at our small town's pace, also.

Our coffee morning is now a staple event in the lives of some people in Alva. And we always get to pray for people and see some new visitors each week. It's always perfect. And some people who make the cakes and coffee are really building relationships with one another. Please pray for Carole & Jim and Iona

Our weekly Mums and tots group is bearing fruit with a family coming along to church on Christmas Eve and Sundays since. Hallelujah! Please pray for our leader Amy.

David is meeting with one great guy who wants to grow more in respect to his relationship with God. David actually has had one person, whom he baptized in a local waterfall, ask him to please come by often and could they be friends not just ministry acquaintances. This is purely an answer to prayer. Dave needs friends and not merely associates. Pleas pray for Dave & David and Patrick.

Liz iz seeing light at the end of the tunnel as we enter our eighth month of thee-boys-edness. There are other moms who have passed through or are at a similar stage of life, who have come alongside her. Family nearby is a real blessing. (a challenging blessing) ;)

Daniel is going to start Judo this week with one of his buddies! Ki-yah!
There is a node of like 5 or six kids from solid Christian homes in Daniel's class at school.
We are praying about how to build an anchoring identity into them from an early start.

We are praying about applying for grants to get funding for a community worker based in the church to coach football for the local kids. There are already plans underway for a YMCA Community worker locally, and an SU Schools worker County-wide.

The kids Club on Friday night has about 25-30 kids coming each night. We are overrun!
Pray for training and equipping of the helpers so that Dave is not the go-to guy for EVERY eventuality. AND FAST! Pray for David, and David, and John & Valerie, and Bill & Ann and Jim and Robert; and for Jacqueline who expressed interest and has come under a cloud lately.

We so need a worship leader! We currently have a fabulous keyboard accompanist (Bill) and David sings. Who'd a guessed THAT would ever happen. (Dave's OK, but not good) Today when our keyboardist couldn't make it and there were no replacements available, David had to provide iTunes worship with PowerPoint lyrics. It was just OK. Worship, like Pizza, is still good even when its bad. But good pizza....better still good worship...God digs that.

We are planning to have a Men's Breakfast in February at the Church. Just bacon rolls, coffee and a manly Bible chat. There are guys coming to church!

David is on the verge of finishing preaching through John, the first book of the Bible endeavoured on Sundays. It is apparent that we will go through Genesis next so please join us in praying for the outline and approach.

This week is a deacons' meeting where we get the business done (pray for David, John, Hilary, Carole & Jim, Mary and Moira) and next week is the whole church meeting where David hopes to fling a cravin' for life and ministry upon the whole family.

Keep praying for the Frasers! (It works!!!)

God can do this!!!
Dave & Liz

PS without your generous support we would be alone with God in a strange land (which, lets face it, worked out pretty well for Abraham, Joseph, Moses, etc.), but thank you for your prayer and financial support.

Christmas Eve

The story is this:
Our Father in Heaven gave the gift of God Himself in the person of His son Jesus: The Christ or Messiah or Savior.

God told us He was coming:
Isaiah 9:6-7

God told us how He would come:
Isaiah 7:14

God told us where He would come:
Micah 5:2

God told us why He would come:
Matthew 1:21

Christmas is the celebration of God's great work of saving any person from eternal death, seperation from Him, due to a terminal illness called sin.

God did not begin this heroic work through the battle cry of a heavily clad worrior. Or a governmental coup.

God chose the cry of an infant, the life of a meager man, to effect global change on an elemental level of existence that would change the lives of every person it ever touches.

This Christmas we look back to an event that changed the entire orientation of the world. Look at the date, He is it's referent.

In John 1:14 the disciple of Jesus writes: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." (ESV)

God put on a people-suit like an astronaught puts on a space suit.
God came down and took people by the hand and walked us through life and pointed us to Our Father in Heaven.

Know Him.
Learn about God.
He has shown us who He is and how He sees us,
in the message system He has provided to people called the Bible.

Thats what gets taught here in Alva: The Truth
collected in an anthology of 66 books
written by around 40 authors
called the Bible.

This History book points to the birth of Jesus.
The old testament looks forward to His Advent.
The New Testament tells of the change that resulted from His coming.

Isaiah 9:2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. (ESV)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Whew! Its been a long month.

The ministry calendar is pitching and heaving.

Please pray for our invitations to the community for Christmas Services on the 21st and the 24th. (Postcards to 2000 households.)

We are seeing lots of guys respond to the teaching of the gospel. David is meeting with two adult fellas: David & Patrick and two younger guys for guitar lessons and a bible study: Richard & Simon.
Please pray for these people.

(Not that there aren't ladies coming around too, but men responding to what is going on in the life of the church seems to be more miraculous here in Scotland).

Most recently, some people have volunteered to help with children's ministry. Please pray for us to overcome the obstacles to integrating them into healthy teams. Healthy. Healthy teams.

We are seeing God bring people in need. Some who havent been to church in a while; some transient church-hoppers; some wolves who think they are fooling somebody.

Lots of ministry to youth and children and a significant number of tweens.

This bit from friends' blog ministering in Glasgow:
Scotland suffers greatly from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) which is a form of depression that is thought to be caused by the lack of daylight in winter. 7% of people in Scotland will develop full blown SAD and a further 15% will suffer from a milder version.

Priorities seem to be the most important thing right now. There is enough work for ten ministers.
Dave keeps dragging Liz along through these long schloggs of intense activity and it wears us both out. Please pray for devotional time and ministry planning to establish goals and seek God for direction and insight.
Please pray for David to learn to say "no" as much if not more than "yes".

We moved into a home that (really!) God provided for.
After so much waiting and moaning (and complaining maybe just a bit) But it has all worked out and we are dug-in here. Nothing is guaranteed permanent, but the wife of my youth has a nest!

(sorry folks, realtor's car in pic)

Jesus had nowhere to lay his head so we are blessed through this mercy.

People are responding to the full Gospel as Dave & Liz are learning to enter into the 'Rest' of the Gospel

Thank you for your support and, most of all, your prayers.

Love David & Elizabeth Fraser

Keep Praying for Alva!

Still amazed they want my opinion, but here it is in print:

Epoch

Praise God!
We are all ‘littlefaiths’ aren’t we?
We wait for God and He is faithful.
We say we are patient, but we are not.
We wait because we have to.
We say “your will oh Lord”, but we long for our way.
Praise God!
He is faithful!

How it all works out we can’t even imagine, but it has worked out every time.
Biblical history…
Our walk of faith…
He is faithful.

We are seeing fruit in the lives of kids and grown-ups.
Answers to prayer.
Unanswered prayer for which we are grateful

• We start a guitar class and bible study on Wednesday
• The chaplaincy is going well and kids are asking questions.
• The church is growing and the gospel is preached.
• We are seeing real cross-denominational ministry opportunities.
• We found a house to buy IN Alva.

It had to be IN Alva.
17 months of watching and various disappointments.
It seemed like every six weeks we would find a new option and watch it NOT work out.
We sold a condo in LA (71% return on 5 year investment) and banked the cash short-term in a CD that covered the debt service.
But the exchange rate effectively cut any $ in half.
Just recently, our CD matured to a very small rate of return at rollover, so we moved the money into a simple money market and were looking at paying a bit on the loan each month

But when we finally found this property, and got turned down...again,
the economy began its latest pangs and the sellers came back willing.
We are now buying a small cottage at the lowest exchange rate since we arrived. (Since 2006 actually)
Any time sooner and we would not have afforded this one.

Please do pray:

• Lots of older folks are sick at our church.
• The Fraser family is ‘full of cold’, as they say.
• We are a bit stressed with a house full of boys.
• Liz and I are meeting with a family counsellor to learn how to communicate better.
  (more like a third party to help us honestly apply biblical truth)
• I also have a habit of keeping up my best face for the public and being less encouraged at home so consistency in witness at home is key.
• In the last year and a half: Home sale, international move, new pastoral ministry, missionary culture shock, new baby, home purchase, financial questions = stress…
• Some kids are really giving us trouble at the kids club:
  Pornographic MP3s on their cell phones
  Cheeky influence during the lessons
  So we kicked them out.
  Now I’ve got Prank phone calls and ring and runs at my home.
  Pray. for my witness, these kids aggravate me.
  These feral creatures need parenting and love, but they are infectious and rude.
  I can only reach so many people in a week and I think our investment is better suited to training up good kids and not coddling reprobates who scoff at God!
  Though I learned at SoM how much CC depends on we recovered reprobates!
• That salvation would visit the homes in our sleepy burgh of Alva
• for our home purchase to move ahead

He who began a good work…; I can do all things through Christ….; God is good!

Signs of Life (Fruit)