"Acclimate" is not a word in Britain...

Apparently you do not acclimate to a new environment in England, you "acclimatise".

Sorry again for the silence between posts. We have much to be thankful for and much to pray over.

Chris led a Seminar for Parents of Teenagers on Saturday. We had a low turnout, but we WERE competing with a Bank Holiday weekend and BRILLIANT weather! In the end, I was happy with it all.

From the seminar, we are starting a parenting community (with Tim and Sheila) that will meet for 6 weeks from 13 May (and hopefully continue on from there). I received a phone call from a parent yesterday who had received a flyer for the seminar and was very interested, but her family was away on the day. She asked if we had another seminar planned in the area. Currently we don't have another seminar in the diary, but I did tell her about the parenting community. She and her husband are now very excited to be a part of this community and wants to invite friends. I have had similar responses from 2 single mothers as well, not to mention the contacts that Tim and Sheila have.

So, all in all, it's rather exciting. It's all so new, but we have glimpses of great things.

You can see our upcoming schedule to the right. Please be in prayer over these things - not for our own fulfillment, but for the glory of God.

He gives beauty for ashes, strength for fear, gladness for mourning, peace for despair...

I just received one of the most exciting phone calls that I've received in a long time. We now have our first official registration for the Parents of Teenagers Seminar! We have just begun putting out flyers in local businesses and distributing them through our social networks. Please pray diligently that God will stir the hearts of parents, especially fathers.

-We have begun a conversation with a local partner about coming under their umbrella for Limited Liability Insurance. We hope to know this week if their insurance would extend to other locations.
-A new member to our London team arrives on Thursday. Christie will teach one of the children of a family on our team and work with South Asian women teaching English classes. She has arrived in a good time of year (the sun is beginning to peak through the clouds and the days are getting longer), but she still has a difficult three months ahead of her as she adjusts to this drastically different culture.
-We will begin inquiries this week into space for our art exhibit as long as I can muster the motivation. Honestly, it's the one part that I'm least excited about.

Life can only be put into perspective by death...

So we stepped away from it all for a bit to holiday in Rome and hit the ground running when we got back. I really don't feel like I have taken a breath since. Sorry for not updating our prayer space in SO long, but thank you so much for your prayers.

We received news on Monday that my brother, Philip's, best friend since he was young died in a tragic accident (as if any accident wouldn't be tragic). I grew up with Logan. He has always just been part of the family, and since I moved out it has never been uncommon to see his face when I walk through my parents' front door. It's a bit surreal for me right now. Even after talking with my family and Logan's mum, I can't imagine the shock of it all for them.

So I'm going through these days with a bit of my heart back in Texas (more than usual). But God is so good in so many ways.

-Both Acton High School and Twyford High School are VERY keen to partner with us on the art exhibit for teenagers that we will host in May. Praise God!
-We are still looking for a location for thie SPACE.
-We have reserved a space at Elthorne High School for the Seminar for Parents of Teenagers on 2 May. Every step of the way I realise how much our success with parents has little to do with us and everything to do with God's plan for His Glory.
-Elthorne High School is requiring us to have Limited Liability Insurance in order to use the space. I am hoping that one of our local partners will serve as an umbrella for us on this.

Keep checking this space for updates or subscribe to our RSS feed.

When's the last time that you stepped away from the chaos and stress in the middle of it all?

I am sitting in Rome right now updating this section. It's a bit surreal sometimes when I look around and realise where we are and where we have been. By American standards this probably isn't the best time for us to be away for 6 days, but it has been SO GOOD to have little responsibility and no stress. We have a seminar for parents of teenagers coming up on 2 May and an art exhibit for teenagers on 28-30 May. That's just around the corner and several pieces to the puzzle have yet to fall into place. But with your prayers we have no doubt that God will bring glory to His name through our efforts to follow him closely.

We are...
1) still searching for a space for the art exhbit. A space on the high street in Acton with a large enough open plan to ehibit art and interact with teenagers.
2) waiting to hear anything from Elthorne High School about providing a space at the school for the parents seminar.
3) developing some new relationships with some guys in London that have a heart for teenagers and passion for Jesus with a vision that matches up with ours. (www.regenerateuk.co.uk)

What's God doing? We can't always see it but recently we have seen...
- our UK license for sponsorship granted by the Home Office. This means that we will be able to keep people with our company in the UK and will allow new personnel to enter the country.
- Acton High school agree to provide art from their students for the art show. We hope that this will open a door for continuing partnership.

We're in Rome until 11 March, soaking up the sunshine!

When your internal motivation fails you, what makes you press on?

Nick and Shannan have settled in Lisbon, Portugal for the next 4 months. Thank you for praying for them while we all listened intently for God's direction.

Visas
We have been informed by the UK Border Agency that our company can apply to be a sponsor of our own personnel in the UK since we pay taxes and own property here. This is a huge answer to prayer!

Our business office is applying this week with the UK Border Agency. We have to submit a letter from the company stating that we operate in the UK as International Board, as well as information about what we do, and lastly, proof of property ownership and payment of taxes. It seems pretty straight forward, but we need all the prayer support we can get.

The good news is, the UK Border Agency said we can apply for as many “Certificates of Sponsorship” as we need. We have two new team members meant to arrive in April who need visas. We are praying that God will grant our sponsorship by the end of the month.

Art in Acton
We are working towards hosting an art exhibit by and with teenagers at the end of May. This space will allow us to begin building appropriate relationships with local teens who are distant from the church. At the event, we will promote a photography club for teenagers. We are still developing the details of the club, but basically we will meet up each Saturday and go somewhere to take pictures together. We will set a schedule of themes (like landscapes, architecture, urban graffiti, sport, etc) for each week and the group will share ideas and knowledge. The point is to regularly be alongside of the same teenagers.

Ultimately, we desire to see teenagers recognise the life that they can have following Jesus. Everything that we do is about sifting through to find where the Holy Spirit is already working. We hope that through this club we will find a handful of teenagers that God begins to speak to and we can begin to disciple (not just do Bible studies with but truly disciple in life).

We are praying:
1) that we find a space for the art exhibit in May.
2) that the art teachers at Acton High School will be keen to partner with us.
3) that this will build a natural bridge into the community.

Have you ever actually seen the crystals of a snowflake with your naked eye?

Today we were blessed with a London blizzard! Eight inches of snow in 24 hours. It was gorgeous. The entire city ground to a halt and families came out to play together. We are so blessed by the friends that we have here and their constant example of humility before God. We spent the day with two families from our team and a friend who is praying about coming to work with us here. It is good to slow down and just be.

To follow up on our last note, we have been unsuccessful in our attempts for Nick and Shannan to enter the UK. On Friday afternoon we received word from the last possible sponsor, and informed Nick and Shannan on Saturday. We are disappointed to say the least, but we press on with them in faith that God does not cease to remain the creator and Lord simply because we cannot understand life.

Nick and Shannan (along with two other interns who were bound for Cardiff) should make a decision this week about their new home for the next 5 months. Please pray for them as they sort through God's direction in their life and make disciples of Jesus as they go. Pray that they will have opportunities to talk about the hope that they have and the courage and faith to share life with these people.

The grant application for the Hoodies youth centre was sent in today. Pray that this group will receive the proper funds to continue in the vision.

Angie and I will be working this week on our vision and goals for the next 6 months. God has begun to give shape to some of our passions. Pray for wisdom and guidance.

Landree has been with us for nearly a week now and will return to Texas on Wednesday. Please pray for her as she listens for God's voice in the midst of the chaos of this world. Right now we look forward to her joining us in the autumn, but we always want to leave room for God to change directions. For now we will begin a conversation about her fit within the vision that God is shaping in front of us.

When it all goes wrong...

I am amazed by the number of people that have told me recently that they are praying for what God is doing through and around us in London. Thank you for your love and encouragement.

I have meant to update this section for over a week now but have been bombarded with unexpected events. Some of you will know that our Hands On interns were meant to arrive this past Sunday. Well, unfortunately they have yet to put their feet on the ground in London. After a brilliant week of orientation in Paris, we headed for the train to journey across the channel. But it wasn't to happen. Border control had questions about their entry and in the end decided that they would not be allowed into the UK.

On 24 November the visa regulations for the UK drastically changed. However, a colleague had attended a seminar to learn about the changes and was assured that the volunteer sector would not be affected until later this year. On Sunday we found out the hard way that he had received bad information. After about a half hour of waiting for the border control's decision, Nick and Shannan were issued papers outlining their denial to enter the UK. Confused and taken off guard, we wandered back into Paris. They are still in Paris with colleagues while I work with our company here in the UK to sort this mess.

We have researched and are currently pursuing our options. Without going deep into the details, we must locate a sponsor willing to serve as an umbrella organisation in this instance. We have several contacts that are considering their involvement. All we can do now is pray fervently for God's glory. Please pray with us today that God would provide for Nick and Shannan (and two other interns meant to be in Cardiff, Wales) a sponsor to enter the UK. They have all followed God's direction in their life and prepared dilligently to be here. We are praying that God will receive glory in their obedience.