10 Years!

It's always getting the first few words on the the page that is the toughest when it's been a while. There are MANY reasons for not having entered a post for so long, but I will condense it and simply say that mental exhaustion meant I needed a break over the summer weeks to refresh my mind. It is always good when we examine our lives and question our priorities. This new term I am prayerful that some of the subtle changes will continue to allow God a channel through my life to work His will in the lives of some. Well, as the title of this post suggests it has now been 10 years Fenella and I have been back home "Fishing for men" rather than me going to sea catching fish. I suppose the best way I can sum things up is by this statement, "My heart was never in fishing, but it is in Ministry!"

When I look at what the church in Peterhead looks like now in light of what it was 10 years ago, I am confident that what God placed on our hearts is happening. God's Spirit has brought about an incredible change in the direction and the thinking of many young people in Peterhead. What we now accept as "Normal" is so different to what was 10 years ago :) The church is now a place where many children, teens and young adults come into a relationship with God. They have created and environment where both the saved and the searching are comfortable together. I am constantly amazed at how God is drawing our young Christians into service and watching their desire to influence and serve the children coming behind them is such a blessing, in fact it is the greatest blessing that can be passed on - the blessing of knowing God.

I want to make a few comments about our classes now that the new term is a couple of weeks in. On Monday night's we work with a group of children from age 5 - 11. Last night was our third class in the term and what a joy! There are so many exciting developments coming as a result of this class. I believe a hugely important factor within this class is the avenue for our young teen Christians to minister. We have Shaun, Jordan, C.J and Megan faithfully serving on Monday nights. They are pretty much covering most of the bases during the class. The part I enjoy witnessing most is the first 20 minutes of class. For this time we let the children play. It is a brilliant time for the teens to chill out and get down with the the kids! The relationships they build are HUGE! When the kids see the faith of the teens it becomes real to them, especially over time. The teens do most of the settling down and checking the kids. Another big joy is seeing them take an active part in the bible lesson times. Over the past while they have been getting more and more involved in the teaching when it comes to bible time. I could very easily see them being responsible for the class before the end of the year! I have to mention Donald too :) He is an integral part of the structure! His smiley and gently encouraging qualities are perfect for the class.

On Wednesday night we have a big group coming together. This is our mixed class when we have everyone from age 5 to 20 :) The first 45 minutes are for relationship building and in keeping with Monday night's all ages work well together. We have seen a growth spurt in our teens coming from Friday night to Wednesday nights. This is good! Last week I got a shock when I had copied 15 lesson outlines and was short! There is a real spiritual appetite growing in this group and I am prayerful it is real and lasting. We have a core that is tight and their influence is having an effect throughout the group. We have around 30 coming on Wednesday night and the spread is pretty even through the ages.        

Friday Nights!!! Just love what God is doing with this time. I am always stressing to the group that the time is so good because of two things, one - they choose to make it so and two - Christ is there! In years past we have struggled with format and when to have the spiritual focus and when to have the relational and social elements, but in the past months we don't even think about it. The group arrive between 6.45 and 7.30. We usually begin the focused worship time around 7.45. We sing for a while and either myself, Thomas or Shaun will lead a prayer. The teaching time is the highlight. The group are challenging to get the depth right, but the results are more often that not drawing them closer to Christ. After the lesson we chill for the last hour and everyone heads out just around 10.00pm. We have a great bunch of young people and there are signs that Christ is beginning to tug on the heart strings of a couple :)

I am blesses to be able to share time through the week on a more intimate level with many of the teens. I am convicted that if they are to grow then Godly influence must be more consistent in their lives. So, in between schools and classes I try to make time for this. It is not easy trying to balance the days and know what is the best use of my time. I am still very much active in the schools. I decided to drop one after school club this term in order to focus more time on visiting and personal study. I am still active with clubs in 3 schools, Anna Ritchie on a Friday afternoon, Crimond on a Tuesday afternoon and Meethill on a Thursday afternoon. I am active in the school assemblies and in fact have started teaching in one additional school - Longside where Mr Imlah, formerly of Central school, is now the head teacher. I am prayerful that my ministry has the right balance between outreach and nurture.

Enough for now, more soon - God bless  :)