Tag: growth

Fear is a liar!

2 timothy 1.7

On Monday, I has the privilege of speaking to the Portknockie ladies guild.  It was my first time to attend a ladies guild, but what a fun day it was.  As it was my first time, and Portknockie is such a wee village, I will admit that I had fairly low expectations for attendance and engagement.  Boy, was I ever wrong.  These ladies take their guilds very seriously, and that was so refreshing.

I was invited to this event last fall, so I’ve had plenty of time to come up with my message and I didn’t really feel any sort of pressure or nerves as the date drew closer.  I had intended to use my thoughts on the Lord’s Prayer (the podcast I did in January, for Radio Free Buckie) as it was a pretty easy message from a fairly well-known passage of scripture.  Last week, as I was looking over my notes and praying about my time with the ladies I felt the Lord was leading me in a different direction than the one I’d planned to go in.  In fact, I felt it was pretty clear he wanted me to scrap the Lord’s Prayer message entirely and talk about fear instead.  What?!

As I was praying about the afternoon and looking over my notes, 2 Timothy 1:7 kept coming into my mind, “He has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but one of power, love, and self-discipline.”

Seriously?!  Who was I to talk to anyone about not living in fear?  I’m the kind of person who loves the adjectives, low-risk and secure.  I don’t dislike change like many people do, but I don’t really fancy the idea of high-risk anything.  Bungie jumping, parachuting, swimming with sharks, fear factor kinds of things that get your adrenaline pumping are absolutely, 100% not for me.  I like certainty.  I like organization.  I like well-planned, well-thought out endeavors.

In the end, the Lord won, and I ended up talking about how fear is a liar.  The kind of fear the Enemy whispers in our ear makes us focus on ourselves – on our intellect, gifts, skills, talents, as well as our shortcomings, anxiety, envy, pride, jealousy, fear, low-self esteem, and our past failures, and keeps us from fully relying on God to step in and shine through us.  This kind of fear makes us plant our feet in the sand and say to the Lord, “I will go this far, and no further,” because we cannot control or manipulate the outcome.  In our own strength and intellect, we cannot guarantee a win.  And that’s the point.

Satan absolutely does not want you and I to be reliant on God to accomplish His purposes in this world.  If I only allow myself to be used by God to the extent that I can accomplish the work on my own intellect, gifts, skills, and talents than I’m able to keep all of the glory for myself, and that’s not how God works.  He works best through my weaknesses – in the times when I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that without Him and his intervention, there is no way that I can do what it is He’s called me to do.

Without Him, I am not going to be able to talk to that person about Jesus.  Without Him, I’m not going to be able to serve effectively in this ministry he’s given me.  Without Him, I’m not going to be able to love people like he loves them.  I’m not going to be able to be the kind of encouragement, or teacher, or prayer warrior, or life example He has called me to be.  And that’s exactly what our Enemy wants from us – for us to be self-reliant, mediocre Christians who look only within ourselves for the ability to get things done for Jesus.  Because he knows that when we act in our own power, on our own intellect, within our own gifts, skills, and talents we will be far less effective for Jesus than we would be if we’d just say, “Yes, Lord, whatever it is You want me to do, I’ll do.  Where ever You want me to go, I’ll go.  However You want me to serve, I’ll serve.”  And then for us to fully trust in Jesus to show up and show out when He promised he will.

What about you?  Has the Lord asked  you to do something specific, and you’re pushing back because you know its way outside of your comfort zone?

~Brittan~

Shepherd’s Pie anyone?

As many of you know, in January we kicked off our Sunday night services with a first century church approach.  We begin each week with a common meal, usually something simple and hearty, like a bowl of soup and a dessert.  Occasionally, I’ll switch things up and make a regional favorite like mac-n-cheese, stovies, or this week’s menu of shepherd’s pie for those who don’t love soup (aka. Sam!).  After we’ve eaten we move into the worship center and engage in about 20 minutes of video driven praise and worship, and then Sam spends about 35-50 minutes teaching from the Bible.  Our attendance has been running consistently in the low 20’s each week, which seems really tiny compared to most of our church partners in the States, but for winter time in Buckie it’s great.

This week was a bit unusual in attendance, we have a lot of people out ill with the flu and late winter colds.  To be honest, the day could have been really discouraging had the Lord not provided encouragement for us in some unexpected guests in our evening service.

shepherds pie

Last night at 5:55 p.m. Sam, myself, and two of our faithful ladies were staring at each other over a massive pan of shepherd’s pie, feeling a bit disappointed that we were the only four who had come out for church.  We knew in advance that a couple of folks would be out of town or at another church for a baptism service, but where was everyone else???  We could only assume the worst as I silently contemplated how many freezer containers I would have to come up with to ensure the 10 pounds of shepherd’s pie I’d fixed wouldn’t go in the bin later this week.  As the four of us sat in silence the door opened and an unfamiliar face popped in – “Are you having a night service?”

Suddenly the room felt like it had been jump-started.  “Yes!  We’re just getting ready to have dinner.  Please join us!”

“Oh, you’re having dinner?  What time is the service, we can come back later?”

“No need to come back, we have plenty of food, and we’d love for you to eat with us.”

“Okay, let me go get my husband…”

A few minutes later we were joined by this lovely couple who live near Inverness.  They happened to be in our area for a mini holiday and were on their way home when they passed by our building and saw our lights on.  As we ate dinner together we learned that he is an ordained minister in the Free Presbyterian church in Scotland and he is not currently assigned a church but travels and preaches in a few churches ranging from Dingwall to Oban (on the West coast); and his wife is an American expat from Illinois who came to Aberdeen with the Rotary Clubs of America in 1990 to study for two years at the University.  She met and married her husband and has been in Scotland ever since.  It was fun to hear her accent, which is definitely not Illinois any longer but certainly not Scottish either.

Even though it was just the six of us we had a great time of fellowship, worship, and teaching.  As I flopped in my chair last night at 9:00, having managed to get the remaining pan of shepherd’s pie into the fridge, exhausted and a bit despondent about the low attendance, Sam remarked that the couple told him they were blessed by our service and that they hadn’t eaten all day so the meal was an unexpected treat.  Instantly, my heart broke for them and at the same time my feelings of self-pity and discouragement evaporated.  We may never see this couple again, but I know that the Lord placed them in our path to encourage us, and us in their path to feed them.

Friends, we’ve been in Scotland for six months now, and while I would not say the honeymoon phase is over a lot of the glitz of a new ministry has worn off.  Traditionally, February and March are the most difficult months here, and this February is proving to be a bad one for our community.  Last week 5 people passed away from various illnesses.  The previous two weeks before saw nearly that same number each week.  Yes, the days are beginning to get longer by a few minutes each day but illness and seasonal affected depression are at their peak in our community just now.  Morale is very low and it’s easy to make excuses to stay home and do as little as possible.  The enemy is working overtime to keep people distracted, grief-stricken, and ill so they can’t or won’t come out and hear the Word taught.

Sam’s Sunday night teaching series is appropriately named – Game of Thrones.  There is indeed a battle raging in our world for who will be King on the throne of our heart, and currently it looks like the enemy is making his move.  What he doesn’t know is that we don’t give up that easily.  We know who wins this battle, and the Devil’s time here in Buckie, Scotland is running out!

Oh, look…it’s time to get lunch sorted…shepherd’s pie, anyone?

Ophelia

So apparently there’s a hurricane headed our way today.  It doesn’t happen often, but Scotland has been known to experience a hurricane or two in her time.  Strangely, most of us here are at peace simply because life on the north east coast of Scotland is typically windy with a chance of rain on a daily basis.  Add in the fact that we all live in snug stone houses, many which have withstood worse storms for well over a hundred years, constructed with walls nearly 3-feet thick, double and triple glazed windows, and Ophelia is no more than a blip in our daily schedules.  I guess with all our friends, family, and partners located in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina we couldn’t escape our fair share of inclement weather this year.

It’s hard to believe that we were here in Scotland just one year ago this month (October 5 – November 9, 2016) on a vision trip, seeking the Lord’s will in whether or not we should come back as missionaries.  We prayed for the Lord’s guidance and provision for nearly two years preceding that trip, and many of you joined us in those prayers.  While we were here we prayed like crazy for discernment and wisdom, and when we left we both felt strongly called back to Scotland, and Buckie in particular.

In what can only be described as a series of sovereign events over the last year the Lord has provided every means necessary in order to get us back here as quickly and painlessly as possible, and we are grateful every single day for His timing and provision.

Not a day goes by where y’all don’t cross my mind and my prayers, because without you none of this would be possible.  I am also thankful for the brilliant {and free!} technology that allows us to stay in touch with family and friends so easily.  When Sam was here before he spoke to his parents once a month for just a few precious and expensive minutes.  Letters back and forth took weeks to arrive, and his parents watched their grandchildren grow up in photos with visits back to the States happening once every few years.  Now, we speak to friends and family on a daily basis through email, messenger, and video chats, which make the distance separating us seem minuscule.

But there is a spiritual storm raging here, and it’s pressing us on every side.  Every single week one or both of us have encounters with people who are far from Jesus.  We have conversations with hard-hearted folk who have been left bitter because they have only ever had bad encounters with Churches and people who claim to be Christ-followers.  We’ve seen people failed by a broken secular system and they naturally assume the Church is just as faulty and flawed, and they are extremely leery to have any part of it.  We’ve had heartbreaking conversations with good people who are caught up in bad doctrine, misguided theology, archaic traditions, and are Scripturally illiterate.

The work around us is mentally and spiritually exhausting, but the Lord continues to provide us with rays of light and peace each week.  We’ve had 18 – 21 folks in church for the past several Sunday mornings, with a few folks out ill or on vacation.  Our ladies Bible study group is continuing to grow, and the Lord is revealing Truth as the ladies enthusiasm for His word increases.  People in the community are beginning to take notice of our wee fellowship and asking questions.  And the Holy Spirit is moving and active in our Sunday morning and Monday night prayer services.

In Luke 10:2, Jesus promised his disciples an abundant harvest if they were willing to get out in the fields and work.  So, here we are, Lord…please use us.

 

 

 

Where does the time go?

Hello, friends!

Thanks for stopping by and witnessing the resurrection of our website and blog.  I’m absolutely embarrassed that I haven’t taken the time to write a blog post in months!  I’ve been so focused on everything else that I’ve completely disregarded my writing schedule and y’all have suffered for that.  I’m so sorry.

Rainbow in the middle of Church Street
Roadsign in front of the church
Looking out over the Firth
Lore of fisher folk
Our new (to us!) car
The view from our bedroom window
Sam, enjoying the wildflowers at the square
Walking home from the grocery store
Sam, enjoying his pea soup at Soup & Sweet luncheon
Scarves for sale at the woolen mill in Elgin
Scarves hanging at the woolen mill in Elgin
Baxter’s museum
Mortar and pestal at Baxter’s museum
Copper pots at Baxter’s museum
A general store display at Baxter’s museum
Cash register at Baxter’s museum
This is a 2-lane road, seriously!
Sam, at the beach on a cold day
Us, at the beach on a fall morning
Albino snail
Love this view!
The serving crew at Riverside Soup & Sweet luncheon
Looking over the Firth toward the Highlands
Seals at Portgordon beach
My new friend, Seamoss
The spread at BCC potluck
BCC potluck

First, I want to say a huge “thank you!” to each of you for your prayers, emails, and words of support and love over the past couple of weeks.  Sam is doing really well and is recovering each day.  He was released from the hospital on Wednesday evening and has been very good about taking care of himself and doing what his doctor told him to do.  According to his doctor every one of his test came back with good results and minimal residual damage.  His official diagnosis is angina and high blood pressure, but there are medicines for both and with proper diet and exercise they saw no reason why he shouldn’t live many more years in health and happiness.  He has a follow-up appointment with his GP tomorrow morning, and we’ll find out what we need to do to go forward and get him back to full health as quickly as we can.

We are daily amazed at how much God takes care of us.  If we’d been in the States when his heart attack happened and the two subsequent TIAs (mild strokes) we would not have been able to afford to have him treated at a hospital, as we didn’t have health insurance.  In coming to the UK we had to pay our National Health insurance up front as a part of our visa fees, so every test, scan, blood draw, x-ray, CT, prescription medications, and the hospital stay was covered by National Health.  He received exceptional care, and he even said the food wasn’t too bad.  God certainly held the timing of this event in his hands and allowed it to happen once we arrived here and not before, and I for one am so grateful that we serve a God who cares that much about his children.

Okay, moving onto the news that you really want to hear!

Sam and I have decided that we’re going to use this blog format as a replacement for a newsletter, at least for a while anyway.  We have several reasons for this decision, but mostly it’s simply a time issue right now.  We’ve been so busy trying to get settled and sorted that sitting down for long periods of time to do any real writing has just taken a back seat to other, more pressing matters.   And to be honest with you, life happens every day, not just once a month.  There have been so many funny encounters, awesome stories, and incredible ways in which the Lord is working here and if we wait to share all those things in one newsletter they just lose their potency, for us and for you.  This format will allow us to share things with you as they happen – as if you’re right here serving along side us, rather than as a blip in our month.

I can’t believe we’ve been in Buckie over two months now, the time has just flown by and so much has happened.  We’ve had an incredible first couple of months getting to know the church and the community around us.  Sam has preached every week except for the Sunday he was in hospital, and his sermons have been really good.  He’s decided to do a study through the book of Luke, and each of his sermons have been on point and well received among the congregation.  We have seen a few folks who had fallen away from the church over the past couple of years without a minister have started to trickle in, and many in the town are talking about us, just waiting to see how things go before coming back.

In addition to our study through Luke, Sam has started a study in the book of Hebrews for our adult Bible study which happens on Sunday morning at 9:30.  This group runs between 7-9 people currently, and they have all been really active participants as we’ve really dug into the book of Hebrews and the superiority of Jesus over the Old Testament system of worship, and some of the current trends in Christianity of the resurrection of Israel, the rebuilding of the Temple, and the observation of Jewish feasts/festivals/and laws among Christians.

I (Brittan) have recently gotten involved in a food ministry at a church here in Buckie called Soup & Sweet.  This is a weekly luncheon for the community which raises funds for an addiction and crisis ministry in town, run by our friend, John Coppard at Riverside Church.  I’ve been allowed to get in the kitchen and make soups and desserts and I’ve had the chance to get to know a ton of folks in the community though this event.  The majority of people who attend on the Tuesday lunch are older, some are physically or mentally disabled, and many have been life-long residents of Buckie, Findochty, Cullen, and the surrounding areas.  Several of these folks attend other local churches, but some have never attended church, or are casualties of the Church.  This outreach ministry is strictly food based and open to everyone, but each week I see opportunities arise where I can meet hurting, lonely folks, pray with people who are ill or distressed, and offer a smile and a kind word to people who are very much the fringes of this wee community.  Monday’s (the day we cook) and Tuesday’s (the day we serve) are my favorite days of the week now!

I’ve also had the privilege of hosting our ladies Bible study group at the manse now for the past month and have really enjoyed getting to know these women better.  We’ve been looking at God’s Sovereignty through the book of Ruth.  Its been a fun journey looking beyond the love story at how God is always in control and His plan will always be accomplished.  We’ll finish up Ruth this coming Wednesday and then move right into a ten-week study on Psalm 119, which will take us to Christmas.  I can’t wait to see what the Holy Spirit reveals to each of us as we sift through the words of David.

Like many of you, we’re getting geared up for the Christmas season here, although in Scotland Christmas is a much more low-key event than in the States.  Our first planning meeting for our Christmas service will be held on Tuesday.  I’m super excited to see what ideas the congregation has for this year, and we’ll start brainstorming ideas for next  year as well, especially since we hope to have a year of diligent groundwork in the community done and may attract a larger crowd for next year’s event.

We will be announcing the dates, cost, and rough itinerary for our summer 2018 short term mission trips by Thanksgiving, so stay tuned for more information to come if you’re interested in coming to Scotland next summer!  We’re currently planning two work based trips, a ladies only trip, and we’ll offer a couple of spots for summer internships for college students as well.  We’re really excited to see who God is going to prompt to come and join us in Scotland next summer, and we’re already praying that the Lord will work in your hearts now.

We are extremely grateful to each of you for your continued partnership with our ministry.  We can feel the Spirit of the Lord beginning to stir in this community already.  We’re going to be doing some intentional prayer walking around town over the next couple of weeks, praying specifically for each of the churches in town, and against the strongholds the Enemy has here.  We believe with our whole heart that the Lord has a great revival planned for northern Scotland in the next couple of years, and we know that the best facilitator to revival is prayer.  We have discovered that our wee congregation has some mighty prayer warriors in it already and we’re trying to figure out a way to maximize that in our community.

Much love to each of you, and our prayers and thoughts are with you and your families.

Love and hugs,

Brittan & Sam

 

 

 

 

 

 

Closing a Chapter…

Sam and I both enjoy reading.  Sam tends to be the kind of reader who is able to read multiple books on various subjects, and usually has several books going at one time.  He can read a few pages in each of his books every day and keep up with the content.

I, on the other hand, prefer to read voraciously in spurts.  I favor espionage and crime novels mostly and will cabbage onto an author I love and read everything they’ve written before moving on to the next author.  I especially love it when an author writes a series of books based around a main character or story line, like Brad Thor’s Scott Harveth, or Tim Downs Bug Man, or Patricia Cornwell’s Dr. Kay Scarpetta.  Currently I’m reading a British author, Peter Robinson, who writes the DCI Banks series.

Regardless of which character I’m reading about I always find myself a little bit sad when I finish a series because I feel like I’ve really gotten to know and love these characters, and I hate to see their stories come to an end, even though I’m about to discover a new story line and set of characters that I’m going to love just as much.

Right now, our life is a bit like the ending of a great series of stories.  One beloved chapter is coming to an immediate end, while another, equally exciting one is about to begin.  Our time in Georgia is drawing to a close, and in approximately 10 weeks we’ll be loading what’s left of our worldly possessions into a couple of suitcases and boarding a plane for Scotland where we’ll begin the next amazing chapter in our story.  Our emotions are all over the board, and most days we would sum them up to one word: bitter-sweet.

We are super excited about how God is working in our lives right now, both personally and through our partners.  We have re-discovered just what a big God we serve as we’ve seen him remove barriers, obstacles, and distractions in ways we thought weren’t possible.  We have been blessed daily by unexpected words of encouragement, the faithfulness of our partners, and watching people enthusiastically embrace us and this ministry.  We have felt new life breathed into old and tired bones as discouragement is replaced by vision, purpose, and determination.  And we have been able to rest in the peace of knowing that we’re walking right in the center of the Lord’s will for our life as the pieces begin to fall into place for our move.  Just in case you didn’t already know, we serve an awesome God, y’all!

One of the biggest changes that has happened for us in the past couple of weeks has to do with our farm.  Many of you know we purchased a little farm about four years ago.  At the time, we felt it was our dream property, and an avenue for us to stay in Georgia permanently and live a more self-sufficient lifestyle.  For the past two years as we’ve prayed over and wrestled with this opportunity to return to Scotland we had not felt comfortable with selling our little piece of heaven.  It’s paid for, and it seemed like a good security net should we have to return to the States for whatever reason.  Sam and I have talked at length about renting it out, using it as a short-term home for families in transition, leaving it empty, moving Sam’s children from Nebraska or my parents from Florida into it, and a variety of other options that cropped up.  As we explored the possibilities both Sam and I felt uncomfortable and burdened by each option.  In the last month or so our prayers have seemed to morph from, “Lord, please open the door for us to keep our farm by…” to “Lord, please give us peace about our future, whatever that might be.”

Oh how I love the way our gracious God works when we truly surrender our will to His!!

A few weeks back we were meeting with a friend from church about partnering with us financially.  At the end of the meeting he asked us what we had decided to do with our farm.  We told him we just weren’t sure, and shared some of the options we’d been tossing around.  He listened intently and when we’d finished running through the list of possibilities he just asked us if we’d pray about selling it to him.  WHAT?!?!  In that moment we were totally blown away because he was one of the options we’d thrown around in the early days and then dismissed because we didn’t think he would be interested.

Friends, I would be remiss if I didn’t share with you that one of the most important lessons I’m learning right now about true surrender and trust is to not say “no” for people when God has been preparing them to say “yes”.

As this part of our story begins to come to a close, we admit to having mixed feelings.  We are sad and dreading the emotional roller-coaster of saying farewell to friends, family, our church, and things we have grown to love and cherish; but we are also anxious and excited to move into the next part of our story where we will write a whole new chapter full of new friends, family, and memories.

Thank you friends for being a part of this journey!