Latte Art

Christy and I have been apart of the Oval Café team here in Harpenden since November of last year. Our time has been a lot of fun so far, learning how to make and serve many different types of coffee, tea, smoothies and other blended drinks. We have also been able to learn a lot about the management and running of a business such as a café, which is one of the main reasons for us joining the team.

One of the skills that I have been trying to learn during this time is how to make good latte art, just to add that little flair to drinks for the customers. I discovered that it is a more involved process than you may first think. You have to steam the milk in a certain way, pour it into the coffee shot with at least two different pour techniques for each drink. My efforts over the last couple of months have been varied, but I am finally managing to get the hang of them (see picture below).

 It has been such a joy to be able to work in this ministry, and to also help train others. The vision of the couple who manage the café is to be able to invest in others so that they can go and establish a community café where they can meet the people who live in the local area and build relationships with them. To give people a space where they can come and ask questions about faith and life, but not to pressure anyone into anything, a neutral place. It has been great to see how the regulars here have engaged and stated to ask some really deep questions of life.

Knowing that God and his kingdom values are at the core of what we do in the café, and having people around whom can both encourage and challenge us in our own faith is such a valuable environment to be able to work in.

A Quiet Night

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I had the privilege of taking a group to Batchwood part way through February. This is the local club to where we are in Harpenden and a place we do regular ministry at. We try to go at least once every two weeks with bottles of water and lollipops, we also take blankets etc in the colder months, and spend time chatting to and give out the water etc to the people who are coming out of the club, before they head home.

This particular night was one of the quieter ones I have been to, but we still had a good time. It meant we got to spend quite a bit more time talking to the bouncers about faith and why they do what they do, and what they believe. One of them in particular wanted to know more about the church we partnered with and about what it would mean to start coming along.

It is really encouraging to have been doing this over the last couple of years, being consistent, and getting to talk to these guys each time. I really enjoy getting to spend a bit of time with them, giving them something to think about other than when the next fight may be, and to have them ask me questions which gets me thinking a lot about who I am and why I am doing what I do. I have really seen God’s faithfulness over this time, and how valuable individuals really are to him. It is such a blessing to be able to honour the people we meet and show and tell them this.

A Process of Healing

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Over the last couple of years Christy and I have spent time praying each week for her healing as she suffers from a number of different food intolerances. Over the last couple of months we have seen a significant change in her ability to tolerate and digest certain food without the pain that she once suffered, which is incredible. When we started we felt God say it would be a gradual process of faithful and perseverant prayer, not an instant fix. This is why we set aside a time each week to pray. We are not all the way there yet, but God has been so faithful to his word during this time. I am so amazed at what has changed over the last couple of years; the journey God has taken us on in this, and what he has taught us. I am so grateful for this, and look forward to what God is continuing to and going to do.

Finale

Some friends of ours here at YWAM (Youth With A Mission) Harpenden started a ministry as a rock band a few years ago. Just before Christmas they played their last gig together before moving into other things they have felt God talk to them about. Over this time thy have been going into pubs and clubs and playing gigs alongside other bands. Very much witnessing to those who may not normally meet other Christians, such as the other bands, people going to the gigs, sound guys etc. Christy and me have both had the pleasure of helping these guys periodically over this time. Christy with her voice, especially when they were starting off, and me with transport, driving the van for them.

They have really challenged me a lot over this time and the journey they have gone through. Especially the way they have been right in the centre of things and made such an impact on people’s lives. They have just been themselves in those places they have gone too and had fun.

The final gig was pretty awesome. Christy even got the chance to sing with them one last time. A lot of the people they had met over the last few years came down and packed out the venue. For all these guys it was a real bittersweet experience, with tears shed by the most unlikely people.

 Having watched them over the last few years, and seen what they have done, it has really challenged me in the way I see how we live as Christians. What it means to actually have a real relationship with those God calls you to impact, to treat them as people, not just as a project or numbers. Which is really how Jesus treated people, he gave them value and treated each and every person he met as an individual. I know that this is very much a journey and I really look forward to seeing where God leads Christy and me.

A light read...

As a YWAM (youth with a mission) community here in Harpenden we thought that it would be a good idea to kick of the new year with a little light reading. So we set aside 4 days and started to read the bible out loud! We started as the new year started, at midnight, and took hour shifts as both individuals and small groups.

Me and Christy got to get the ball rolling, with Christy leading some worship for about 30 minutes before the new year started. We were joined by two others at about 23:30, before settling into Genesis at midnight. Me and Christy read together quite a few times over the few days, which was great as we got to talk about what we had read after we finished each session.

I think we were both overwhelmed and very thankful for Jesus and what he did after reading big sections of the old testament, especially the sacrifices, regulations about clean and unclean and just how hard it was to be in a relationship with God, before his incarnation, death and resurrection.

It was a really great time to reflect on what has happened since creation and also where we are now and what is to come. Such a great way to start off the year, both very encouraging and challenging.

The Provision of God

I have seen a much greater level of God's care and provision over the Christmas period in the form of a car.

Me and Christy have been praying for a car or the means to purchase a car for the last few months knowing that we will need one for what we feel God is calling us onto. Just before Christmas we were offered a car by a member of my family who was upgrading his. So, on January 3rd, we became the owners of a 5 door Ford Focus.

It is amazing as it is everything we had been praying for, with a few little extras! It will give us the flexibility needed to engage in new ministry and to be able to see family more easily. More amazing still is that we were not only given a car, but we had someone else write to us with a desire to support us monthly, which will greatly help with the running cost of a vehicle. Completely blew me away.

When we first started praying I was not sure if I really expected to receive a car, I have heard of it happening to others, but did not think that it would happen to us. But as we prayed and we started to dream of what we would need and why, I started to get excited about it happening. God is amazing, and I think I know him a little better though this experience. I am so happy that we kept praying, and so in awe of God for his provision of exactly what we were in need of.

Teaching a Passion

I was given the opportunity to teach a few days on one of the schools that we run here in YWAM (Youth With A Mission) Harpenden. The Foundations in Community Development (FCD) school looks at all aspects of how to equip and enable community's to develop in a positive way, both those in developing nations and developed nations.

My Passion revolves around conservation and environmental stewardship and sustainability, so this is what I got to teach on, focusing on environmental stewardship. It was a really fun few of days, with lots of discussions and exploring together what it means to be a steward of this earth and looking at why as Christians we are called to do this.

This is the second time I have been asked to teach on this subject and it has really challenged the way I think about the way I live, especially the way we look after our environment. We live in such an incredible world, such a gift from God, and I for one want to see it flourish.