A Week In Norway

Well I ended up spending a week in Norway (30^th Jan-5^th Feb), which was pretty amazing. It was all a bit random, the way it all happened. I was talking to one of the other people who I work with here on the base, about being mentored; this was the Monday before we left (24^th), about the sorts of things that we would be walking together in, and it came out that she would be heading to Norway to do teaching about a lot of the same things. So she suggested that I go away and pray about coming as well, and let her know the next day. Being part of a mission’s organisation, and having a faith in Christ, I thought this was probably a good idea, so I did. This is where it gets fun, having prayed about it I felt that God said yep I should be going, for more than just the teaching, to see what was happening at the base we went to, and also to meet the people. The amazing thing is on the Monday, when we had talked, I had just under £30 to my name, and on the Tuesday, when I got up and checked my bank, I had had a deposit of about twice what I needed for the ticket. The next totally mind blowing thing was, when I went to book my ticket, I was able to book onto the same flight both there and back, which really was crazy, as when she had booked her flights two months earlier, there was only 2 or 3 seats left. Then another thing happened; when we checked in we had seats next to each other in both directions (all I can say is, God, WOW).

Norway itself was stunning; the temperature was at around -10, which felt very cold, but it did mean there was snow knee deep, which, compared to English snow, is amazing. I do not think I have ever seen snow lie so deep on the ground. The base we were at was on the edge of a huge frozen lake, with mountains on the other side, into which the sun would set, but it would linger on the tops of the mountains for a while, which just made the place breathtakingly beautiful.

(a picture which really does not do it justice)

The thing that we went to be apart of for the week is a 24/7 prayer room, in which you always have someone manning the room, with times of worship, intersession, and communal prayer mixed into the week. It is hard to describe really how amazing the place is, God’s presence is so strong, and the leaders of the room are the most humble guys I have met, so open to learning and growing. It was such a privilege to be able to visit. I also learnt so much during the week, and am now going back over it all and spending some time putting it all together. All in all I saw so much more of God’s faithfulness when we step out in the things he is telling us to do, and the blessing that comes with that.

Let the Adventure...continue!

Well since this is the first post on the blog I guess I should probably tell you all a bit of my story and why I have set this blog up.

Who am I? Well my name is Philip Summerton, but every calls me Phil. I am (as of this post) 26 and I live in the UK. I set this blog up so that those of you who are interested can share in the adventure, and if you want, share what you think, and your stories as well. I guess it all started shortly after Uni (which I graduated from in 2005 with a degree in marine biology from Liverpool University), wandering what I should be doing I somehow managed to end up in the Seychelles working in marine and terrestrial conservation. I know, pretty cool, I spent just about 3 years in total working, and really enjoying one of my greatest passions, the natural world, especially the ocean. I ended up spending a lot of time under the water doing reef surveys, and generally enjoying the fish life, as well as the turtles, dolphins and whales. You would think I had it all, but there was something missing, there really was, and during my time I had a number of experiences which completely changed my life. The most significant was in July 2009, I ask you to be open minded when you read this, but I met an angel, and from that moment on something changed. I started asking questions and reading my bible again, and I have been through that night so many times, that meeting, and the only logical thing left is that I actually did meet an angel, as so much has changed for me. For a start the heavy depression which I had been struggling with for years no longer seemed hard, it was not completely gone at first, but I did not feel the heaviness like I did before; today I no longer feel it at all. There is too much to put here, so I will ask you to take my word, and that off my friends and family, who all say there is a major difference. So what did I do, I started to e-mail people I knew from the church I went to when I was a kid and asked for there advice, and by Christmas/New year 2009/2010 (a year ago) I was desperate to find out who God actually was, and if he was real. So, after much looking on the internet (wonderful invention) I did a crazy thing and quit my job and returned to the UK to join a missions organization called youth with a mission (YWAM) to do a 6 month discipleship training school (DTS). This had been recommended to me by some Christians I know to really be able to ask those questions I had, and find out if God was really real. I had an idea from growing up, but was not really sure about it (this was April to October 2010). When I joined I thought this will be good, it will help to set some answers in place, then I can go head back to Uni and do further study before heading back to the Seychelles, where I had a job if I wanted it.

So I got my answer to "is God really real", and my other big question "does he really talk to us", which were both yes, and my life turned upside down. Mainly in the fact that I am no longer heading back to Uni, but becoming a full time missionary with YWAM. Yes I asked God a question, which may not have been the brightest thing to do, and he asked me one back which lead to this whole conversation with God. At the end of which resulted in me agreeing that God knows better than me, and that I should probably follow where he suggested rather than where I wanted. Now I had a choice, like we all do, and I think I probably made the harder for me, to go into working full time for YWAM which involves trusting God to provide for me as I am not paid. If, however, I had gone back to Uni, I would become better qualified and be able to push my career on a few steps. Honestly though, for me, that decisions has been the best I have ever made in my life because of what I have seen God do these last few months as I have been getting ready for this. So many little miracles and coincidences that all add up to who I have found God to be, it’s all totally mind blowing.

So the purpose of this blog is really to share the things I see God doing, and my adventure with him. Which 5 years ago would never have even been a possibility as I had shut God out of my life. So check back every so often to read about what God has done, and please leave your views, I like to have two way communication.