3...2…1…Launch

It has been an exciting weekend here in Harpenden. One of the tings which I personally love about working with YWAM is the values, and I saw several of them actively lived out this weekend, with the launch of an album by a band here on the oval.  The band in question is called Evergreen (which comes from the verse in Hosea 14v8) (http://www.evergreenband.co.uk/ or http://www.facebook.com/evergreenbanduk), and is made up of 4 guys, one Mexican, one Englishman, and two Americans. Their heart and focus is going into pubs etc where not many people currently reach out to and playing music they have written as praise to God, alongside over bands, with people also praying and chatting to people in the places they pray. It is an amazing ministry opportunity and has lead to so many amazing stories of Gods faithfulness. I love these guys, and they had the amazing pleasure of heading to northern Island at the end of last year to record a professional album.

So, on Friday the 4^th March the base hosted an album launch event, to which over 100 people came. They were also supported by a couple of other acts, one guy who helped to start the band but then moved on to other things he felt god call him to, and the other was a band who the boys have played alongside a lot over the last year. The whole evening was amazing, so much fun. The boys really put their all into the gig, and the crowd was amazing, each feeding off each other.  I have always enjoyed hearing these guys, and the heart behind the music, it always speaks of hope.

This whole Launch is in itself a testimony to the way God has had his hand in this journey, and his faithfulness in providing the finances etc to actual come to the point that these guys now are.

So what values have we seen lived out through this? The first has to be “Be Visionary” the pioneering of new ideas, and listening to where God is leading, and these guys have really run after a new way to reach out from this base here in Harpenden. The other is “Champion Young People” I think the guys would agree that the eldership and leadership of the base here has been an amazing support for them as they have sought and run after what they felt God had called them into.

The Call

“If a commission by an earthly king is considered an honour, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?”

~ David Livingstone ~

This quote was used by one of the teachers here on the current discipleship training school while teaching the staff team last week, and it really hit home for me, in a good way. You know when something really significant is said to you, and it really gets you thinking, it really goes deep, this was one of those moments, and I wanted to share some of the things I really felt God challenge me on and speak to me about.

I think the biggest thing was to do with where I came from. When I came into mission I gave up a very good job, in the seychelles, which I absolutely loved. I moved back to the UK to join youth with a mission to be a part of their discipleship training school, to invest into and equip young people to take up the call God has for their lives. I have always said that I would not want to be doing anything else, but I do miss the life I had in the seychelles, which was something I know God had also called me into for a time. I guess deep down I looked at it like I had made a big sacrifice to come here and do this, but in actual fact, what a privilege it is to be asked by the creator of the universe to do something for his kingdom.

This lead to me praying and talking to God about what it is I am doing, and he told me that I am helping to give skills to and equip all those people who come and do a discipleship training school here at the base so they can walk into the different commissions he has for them. Be that in full time missions work, or in business, science, at home, overseas, wherever it is, what a privilege it is for each one of us to embrace the thing that God has set aside for us to do. Paul, one of the writers of the bible, wrote this in one of his letters, and after hearing the above quote, it suddenly meant something more significant:

"For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

We all feel good when we are given a promotion at work, or a special contract, or are recognised for our hard work in this world, this is certainly not wrong, but how do we look on it when God has asked us to give up something, to walk into something he has for us. and how willingly do we do it? I will not lie, it is not an easy thing to give something up we enjoy, but when the king of kings has something that only we can do for him, should we not run into it willingly, I know my attitude has been challenged on this over these last few months.

Truly, what a privilege it is for us to do something everlasting for God's kingdom, I am so excited to see what the next couple of years brings, and where God calls all these amazing young people that I will have the pleasure of spending time with.

A Graduation Happens

Well, if you have been following this blog then I hope that you know I am involved with the DTS (Discipleship training school) centre here at the YWAM (youth with a mission) base in Harpenden. If you did not already know that then…..now you do!

This last week has been exciting for us as a team as we have had the graduation of the school that started in September. Although I was not one of the official school staff, as we run several a year, we all get involved in some way behind the scenes, and it is an amazing privilege to see where God has brought all of the trainees that have been a part of this school. The main focus of the graduation is to celebrate the faithfulness of God in bringing these young people to a new place with him, and it is done by the trainees, with a little help from us as staff.

We had to spilt the September school into three teams for the actual outreach phase of their school, which is where we take them for close to three months of practical short term missionary work. One team went to Chile and Paraguay, the second team went to Thailand, and the third were in Germany and France. They also spent 2-3 weeks in the UK as we are a UK base we always want to do outreach into this country as well, so one group were in Scotland, one in Northern Ireland and the other spent time in England (spending 10 days in Manchester, which is my home).

All the teams came back with incredible stories of how God provided for each team (none of the teams went with enough money, but felt God had said go and so did, and all of them saw God provide what was needed where they went!) They also came back with such amazing stories of how God healed people, such as one guy who was blind, but also of how God had challenged their world view and had broken all of their hearts for the various issues of injustices they faced. The other awesome thing is that they are all determined to return home and make a difference where they find themselves next, some at university, others at home, and a few even feel that God is asking them to return to the mission field in some of the places they visited.

It is always such a joy to see how God has grown them other the time of DTS and to know that they are all on fire for God. The graduation is also a great time to think back on my own DTS and see where God has brought me since, and be so thankful for his provision, and joy in life. God is so amazing, and I never want to live another day without that relationship with him, he saved my life in a very real way, and I will forever be grateful to him.

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.