Russian Reflections after Re-entry

I was on the phone to Canada yesterday and my friend Marj was giving me a bit of stick for not blogging enough. She's right, I've been getting lazy. Time to type!

So I'm back from Moscow. It was an amazing experience and it has changed me. I've been thinking about what I would write in this blog for a couple of days and to be honest even as I type I am not sure what I am supposed to say and what I am supposed to treasure in my heart.

Maybe I should start by telling you what we were doing and why we were there.

On Monday morning at 5am Malcolm (Regional Director YFC Eastern Europe) and I left Belfast and flew to Moscow via Heathrow. Malcolm is a visionary leader who is pioneering new ministry through local teams of youth and childrens workers working with Kids at Risk. YFC have a small team in Moscow and the purpose of this trip was meet with senior church leaders and organisations to talk about strategy and partnership in working with these broken young kids in Eastern Europe. YFC's vision in this region is to equip local churches for working in this specific area of ministry. It was an action packed three days beating around Moscow and its underground metro in temperatures in the high 30s. Here are some pics.

This is Pastor Pavel Okara. He leads the Pentacostal Union in Russia. This is a movement of about 3000 believers worshipping in churches all across the nation. Pavel was an awesome man of God with a real heart for Jesus. The Pentacostal church is one of the strongest protestant churches in Russia. Although everything here in terms of church is small. Only about 1 or 2 % of the population is evangelical. These guys like most of the guys we met are amazing, serving the Lord and reaching the world, but the reality is they are only scratching the surface. Moscow alone has only 200 churches for its 15 million of a population, thats the equivilent of 1 church for every 75,000 people, slightly different that here in Ulster. Russia needs the gospel.
This is Malcolm and I in Red Square. Amazing to stand in the bastion of Communism on our way back from McDonalds. It was a beautiful place to visit. Today the Kremlin (over my right shoulder) is occupied by Mr Putin, another power crazed Russian leader, we need to pray that his successor will be more open to God. Christians here are really up against it. The state church and the government call evangelicals a Sect and make it nearly impossible for the work of God to gather momentum as they make the believers jump through lots of hoops to do their work. While we were there the YFC Moscow team had to send copies of their proposed Day Camp (next week) to the local government offices to be checked for religious content! Really..we don't know how blessed we are.

Here Malcolm and I are with two amazing servants of Jesus. Pastors Pavel and Marina Savelyev lead Dew 'Rosa' Church in Moscow. It is a large charismatic church which is pioneering Alpha and Youth Alpha into Russia. They are doing some amazing stuff working across the denominations (rarely done here, in some conversations it sounded just like home). This year for the first time Alpha has started making a movement into the state Othodox Church. That's big news...but don't tell to many people. The Priests who have started using it are being thrown out of their parishes.

From left to Right this is Nick (our amazing guide in Moscow) Director of YFC South Russia, Pavel Torchuk (Russian Minstries) Malcolm and Marina (Moscow YFC). It was such a privilege for me to meet and hang out with these amazing believers. These are the guys who are the real greats in the Kingdom of God. They are really giving their all for Gospel. Another wee snap in Red Sqare.

This last guy hugging Mal and I is Pastor Eugene, leader of Baptist Youth for Russia. This guy was really interesting. I was drawn to his passion and strategic mind but at the same time frustrated by his outdated approaches to ministry and his dislike of other churches outside of the Baptists. Our meeting with Eugene was a tough one but a great learning experience for me in Russian Christian Culture.

So what did I learn on my travels...God is Lord over the nations, It is possible to live for Jesus fully, the world still needs reached with the love and grace of Jesus, Russia needs missionaries, McDonalds tastes the same everywhere, Russian people are beautiful, the church in Russia needs annointed for its mission, prayer works and Jesus is Lord.

Being in Russia has led to some deep stuff happening in my own life and heart. I need to treasure it in my heart for a while and then I'll hopefully get to share it with you all.

Prayer and Preparation

Last Saturday night I preached a message at The SummerServe BBQ. If it had a title it would have been called something like "a proper response to the holiness of God"

I challenged the couple of hundred young people to make a response to God's call on his people into mission in the world.

Just two days after ushering such a high call to these kids, I laughed at God's sense of humour when Malcolm Johnston, the Regional Director for YFC across Eastern Europe called asking me to come with him to Moscow. Unfortunately I was moved into a place where I only response was, Yes Lord your servant is listening. So next Monday, Mal and I are heading across to Russia. I am terrified but also excited. I am sure my role will be minor but nevertheless I am willing to do whatever. Malcolm has called our trip a blind date. We are meeting with Bishops from the Baptist Union for Russia and also the Pentacostal church. The meetings are to discuss reaching young people across the nation. Russia is so massive. YFC have a staff member in St Petersburg on the western side, when she travels home to her family on the east coast, it takes 10 days by train.

I have a globe sitting on my desk in the office. Everyday I sit and spin it and then pray for cities, islands, nations, just wherever comes to me as this little ball spins. Since I agreed to tag along to Moscow with Mal, I have found that my globe has not been spinning, Russia is so big, I could be stuck there for a while.

Would value your prayers!

Holiday Reflections

So I have been home for almost two weeks. Week 1 was messed up. My jetlag was intense. I found myself sleeping constantly and even in week 2 I am still having to drag myself out of bed in the mornings. I am starting to feel more normal though. I love travelling but this time it has affected me so much.

This summer has been brilliant. It was just what the doctor ordered. Awesome experiences, adventure, quality time with Becci, new things, great food and good friends.

Bec has put some our holiday pictures online, so feel free to check them out. PICS

My favourite destination was Hong Kong. It was so different to anything I had experienced before. We soaked in the asian culture, ate local cuisine, did some class tours and laughed a lot.

Hong Kong is an amazing place and I think Rebecca and I would like to go back there in the future.

Everywhere we visited on our round the world trip was brilliant. It was like 5 separate holidays, each so unique with new experiences and its own memories engraved into our lives. My only regret was not taking longer in each destination and possibly adding in one or two more stops.

But I should not be greedy. I have lots more travelling to do this year. I am heading to Thailand with YFC in September and Canada later in the Autumn.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pics!

Back home

Just a quick blog to let everyone know Bec and I have arrived home safely. We had a fantastic time away and arrived home last night. Today was spent catching up with sleep and seeing our families. As I reflect over the past three and a half weeks it blows my mind at how much the four of us squeezed in and how much fun we had. Over the next wee while I plan to blog and share some of our adventure but here is a brief overview.
1. 8 flights, some good, some short and a few killers, especially Fiji to LA.
2. Authentic Chinese DimSun. Slimy fishy and difficult to eat with chopsticks
3. Four wheel drive adventure in the Blue Mountains in Australia, wet, beautiful and lots of Kangaroos
4. Skiing, Zorbing and Luging in New Zealand
5. Snorkeling, sun bathing and working out in Fiji
6. Shopping in LA
I'm heading to bed now because I am back to work tomorrow. Can't believe it.
Bec is editing our holiday pics at this very minute so once they are ready I'll give a proper holiday blog.

Dream Team World Tour

One week to go...

The Dream Team, Bec, Sue, Johnny and me head of on our long awaited world tour. This time next Saturday we will be sitting in the departure lounge in Heathrow Terminal 3 waiting to board our first flight of 8! Our itinerary looks like this, London to Hong Kong (3 nights), HK to Sydney (5 nights), SDY to Auckland (5 nights) AKL to Fiji (5 nights) Fiji to Los Angeles (3 nights) and then home.

I am so excited. My summer normally involves missions teams and evangelism. This summer is gonna be all about adventure, making memories and taking in as much of the globe as I can in three and a half weeks. My wee Granny died about a year ago and she kindly left me a few thousand pounds to do something special with. This trip is that something special. Here are some of things I am really looking forward to...

* A helicopter tour of Hong Kong and trying proper chinese food

*Going to the Tri-nations game between Australia and South Africa at the Telstra Stadium in Sydney and popping along to the Hillsongs Conference

* Learning to Ski in New Zealand, visiting Devenport and doing a bungee jump

*In Fiji I plan to learn to wind-surf and possibly some Scuba diving

*Then experiencing LA, Holywood, great beaches, and possibly some shopping.

I am hoping, God willing, that this summer is going to be an amazing time of rest, renewal, fun, friendship, life and adventure. I'll keep you posted.

Stevie & Steve

On Sunday, Stevie P and I were preaching (tag team) at Ballydown Presbyterian in Banbridge. It was a great day. In the morning Stevie spoke at the churches Kids Day Service and then I preached at the Youth Service in the evening. We were supported brilliantly by Pete and the Sebomai (Dromore YFC) worship band and Imagine (Dromore YFC) drama team. The sense of community and life in Ballydown was inspiring. It is a church driven towards relevance, engagement and mission. It was a blessing for us to be there. We had a fab day and even had some great craic hanging out in my garden in the sun in the afternoon. At YFCNI we have been blessed with a team of great communicators, preachers and teachers and yet one of the things I have realised as I have taken the helm at leadership is that these guys don't get themselves out into the local churches to preach God's word. So if you would like any of our team to come and preach at your church, yf, whatever...just let us know.

Loudinderry (Mannafest, Londonderry)

Had the privilege of preaching at Loudinderry on Saturday night. It was a great night, lots of young people, great music from Crave and BlueTree, exciting stories from Strong Words Ministry and then a good dose of the Word from me. It was an exciting event with a real sense of God. Looking forward to more opportunities in ministering in the West and North West of the province.

Here are a few pics from the event
This is me on stage doing the Hammer Test with Strong Words

This is BlueTree rocking out, leading an army of worshippers

Visited Belfast City Vineyard on Sunday morning with friends who worship there. It was really good. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of Bible teaching and authenticity of the gathering. Would recommend a visit to this church.

Getting fit!

A while ago I blogged about some of the things I hope to do in the next two years and two months, before I turn 30. One of them is getting fit. So for the past six weeks I have been back at the gym training hard. I have combined that with a few simple lifestyle choices such as giving up fizzy drinks and chocolate. It has been hard and has meant spending hours pounding the treadmill and rowing machines but six weeks into my programme and I have shed just over two stones, reducing my weight from 16 stone 4 to 14 stone. I still have another half a stone to go to my target of 13.5 and an awful lot of toning work but I am really glad I have gone on this journey. It has been a very spiritual experience for me. I have been having to learn to break some life long habits and praying about some of these has brought break through and strength. Fizzy drinks and chocolare have been in my daily diet for as long as I remember. My bro Glen and I always joke about being weened on Pepsi, but up until six weeks ago I would have been necking about 3-4 cans of Pepsi a day and throw in a few Mars Bars and very basic rugby training and 1 game a week and the result is a steady weight gain over the past four years. Quitting Pepsi is not just about losing weight though, it is about looking after my insides, my heart, my blood sugar (I have been borderline diabetic for the last few years) and also my teeth. I have had to go cold turkey and six weeks in I am now excited about drinking water (I could never have thought that possible)
Getting fit, for me, is not about looking good, rather it is in response to God's call on my life and in obedience to some of the things going on deeper within my soul. Leading YFC is going to take energy, passion, enthusiasm and more energy. As I find my fitness levels increase I find myself sleeping better at night, I am more alert and have higher energy levels during work, my stress levels are low and my clothes fit better.
The next stage of the journey is going to be more difficult, losing that next half a stone is gonna be tough. Diets don't work so I have not gone on one, I want the weight to stay off, so I am just eating what I normally eat, lots of cereal, bread, milk, pasta, chinese, pizza, all the yummy stuff.
I'll let you know how it goes.

Youth for Christ at Windsor Park

So last Saturday YFCNI played Crown Jesus a fundraising football match. We had the amazing opportunity of playing the Northern Ireland kit on the main pitch at Windsor Park. Like all Christian football matches, it got a bit hairy at times but it was a great day, great opportunity, great fundraiser and I got to stand in the goals that have been stood in by some of the great goalkeepers, including Pat Jennings, Paul Robinson, Tommy Wright, Roy Carol and many others...oh and keep a clean sheet. Final score YFC 3: CJM 0

Name dropping!!!

So I was just at Parliament having a photoshoot with YFC and the First Minister!....

Money

God is so good. So this morning I prayed and asked God for money to get a new centre development worker for YFC. Youth for Christ currently has nine local centres with another couple in development right now. It is so exciting for me, as my heart is to see many more works established reaching out into the lives of young people outside of the church. Anyway, the workload in trying to support current centres and develop new ones is huge. Pete Martin carried this baton for many years doing a fantastic job and leaving behind a great legacy. So, to cut a long story short, this morning I said, God I need your leading, your guidance and your provision and this afternoon I got a cheque for £3500. God is awesome, freaky, but awesome.

If I look back over my ministry in YFC over the past four and a bit years I should not have been surprised! Here are a few of the exciting things that have happened on my faith journey, with regards to money

1. When I started in Dromore YFC, there was only enough money to pay me for two months! Four years later when I left the ministry was supporting three paid staff and four interns


2. In 2005 I led a team of ten YFC volunteers to a Leadership conference in Chicago. None of us had any money, we felt strongly that God wanted us to go and so most of the team borrowed money to book flights. When we got to Dublin Airport, we were met at the check in by an Aer Lingus rep, who asked us would we mind flying via London, and for our troubles wrote us a cheque for £7000, the cost of the entire trip, flights, hotel, car, insurance, conference and spending money!


3. In 2006 we ran out of oil in The Base, it was £1000 for a fill, it was winter, freezing and Dromore YFC didn't have any money. I felt God saying that he had already provided the money and that all I had to do was the ask the volunteers? I sent a text round, communicating the need and within twenty minutes exactly £1ooo had been pledged by a group of teenagers!


4. In 2006 my Cell really prayed for us when we were in real need financially, I remember sharing the burden with the men in our prayer group and how they passionately held on to God for me and Dromore YFC for finances. In the post over the next two days I received cheques for £8000!


5. Yesterday I recieved a Standing Order from dear friends for £50 a month, how amazing. I have been trusting God for the provision of my salary and yet again He is providing.


6. This morning I laid the need before God for a new Centre Development Worker for YFC and this afternoon He provided £3500

I am so privileged to have been called to a place where I get the opportunity to see God provide in such amazing ways. At times like this I wonder why I would ever want to walk in ministry where everything is secure and no trust is needed. Without faith it is impossible to please God...

New blogger

Finally talked Susanna into blogging although I had to set her up a blog and compose her first post!
Check it out on http://www.susannabetts.blogspot.com/

Jesus

So last night Rebecca and I paid a visit to our home church at Castlereagh Gospel Hall in Belfast. They were having a special outreach night. They normally just have a Gospel preacher who comes and preaches his we heart out, but last night they showed a Steve Chalke DVD. Rather forward thinking for a Brethren service. Afterwards though I was hearing whispers that Steve Chalke had gone of the rails and had gone away from evangelicalism. I thought I should do some research on this rather than listen to nasty rumours that get spread around. But right enough it seems that Steve Chalke has, in his latest book The Lost Message of Jesus, claimed that he doesnt believe in the doctrine of Penal Substitution. Penal what you say? That's what I thought...

Wikipedia is good on this one

"Penal substitution is a theory of the atonement within Christian theology, especially cherished by Evangelicals of the Reformed tradition. Penal substitution means that Christ is punished (penal) in our place (substitution), thus satisfying the demands of justice, so God can justly forgive. It is thus a specific understanding of substitutionary atonement, where the substitutionary nature of Jesus` death is understood in the sense of a substitutionary punishment. It is also a specific form of satisfaction doctrine which focuses on God's justice being satisfied by Christ's bearing the punishment meant for sinners."

So I was thinking, what does Steve Chalke think was happening to Jesus when he was on the cross... maybe I should read his book and find out. I'll add it to my holiday reading list.

The Mrs

Was so pleased to discover that my wee wife has finally started blogging. She is much better at writing and articulating her thoughts than me so I will probably retire from the blogging world!

Gone home

Bec and I were woken early this morning with a call from Campbell, our Cell leader, letting us know that Lindsay Emerson had passed away to be with the Lord. Lindsay was a member of our home group and was one of the most beautiful people we have ever known. We will miss her. Our hearts go out to Ali and all the family. Please keep praying for the Anderson and Emerson families.

God

I studied Romans 1 this morning preparing to teach it to my staff team at our new weekly Bible and Prayer session. It was good to be reminded of the truth that the Gospel (you know, the good news, the message) is actually God himself. Paul calls it the Gospel of God. God is the wonderful, mindblowing, life changing, grace dispensing Gospel. It's not about him, it is HIM.
The Gospel is not a type of service, a style of music or chosen preaching style but rather it is a revelation of God, it is God. It has the power to save anyone, because it is God, it has the desired goal of faith, because God loves faith, it has as it's substance, the person of Jesus Christ, because He is God, it has as its aim, the renown of His name because we were created for His glory. God is the Gospel, the Gospel is God. I love it. It is not a Protestant Gospel, it is not a rich man's Gospel, although it can save both. It has no preference and it is not limited to creed, nation, caste, class, sex or age. It is the power of God to save, because it is God. I guess we have to be careful not to miss God as we present the Good news. As it turns out, the Gospel, is not a three point sermon on a Sunday night but rather the one who designed night...if you know what I mean

Incase you missed it.

Just incase you missed my wee interview with Stephen Nolan on BBC Radio Ulster, Grierso at YFCNI managed to get a copy onto the YFC Blog. Check it out... I haven't, can't listen to my own voice! The Interview

Before I am 30

So Rebecca, Johnny & Susanna, my wife and best mates went for a walk on Saturday to Peaklands Park. We have great laughs on our walks, we talk about life, experiences, holidays and well, anything. On Saturday during the walk I was asked if I had a list of things I wanted to do before I was 3o. I am 27 now, turning 28 this July. So now I have started to think, what are the things I want/would like to do/experience before I turn 30?

Here are a few, being a strategicly minded guy they include the goal and the plan to reach it.

• Get fit again (Rebecca and I are reopening our membership with David Lloyd's when we move back to Belfast. I am also setting myself the target of making every rugby training session next season and finally kicking my addiction to fizzy drinks. I am currently on day 3 of my cold turkey fizzy drink quit)


• Travel (This summer me, Bec, Sue & Johnny are travelling around the world, stopping at Hong Kong, Sydney, Aukland, Fiji and Los Angeles. I also hope to travel to the Youth for


• Christ General Counsel in South Africa in 2008.)


• Spend more time with my friends and make new friends. (I would love to start a Bible study in my house, wherever that may be)


• Learn to swim ( I can swim, but it's more like survival swimming, I would love to learn to swim properly.)


• Learn how to Ski


• Preach more

So there are probably more and they might not seem very exciting or very difficult but its only two years away!

A day to remember!

So yesterday the coolest thing happened to me. I had an idea over the weekend that I wanted to take the staff of YFCNI to Stormont to spend time intercessing for the new assembly, for the country and for young people in NI. When we got to the top of Stormont at Carson's Statue, who jumps out of his car, but the Rev Ian Paisley!
I waved over the road to him and he waved back, so Grierso said come on and we'll introduce ourselves. Allan and I ran across the road, to the obvious displeasure of the bodyguards who looked ready to pound us into the ground.



We told Ian that we were from YFC and we were at Stormont to pray. He was so pleased and started sharing his heart with us. Amazing. Then to our shock and without any prompting he just got lit up and started interceding and praying for us. I was in absolute shock and was completely zapped by God's power flowing out of this old man of the cloth. Thankfully Allan was just as blown away so I must not have been to stupid looking. It was spectacular and totally awesome. Something to remember. My father in law will be pleased when I tell him that Big Ian quoted JP Nicholson, a very famous Gospel preacher from yesteryear whom my father in law tels me about all the time.

Afterwards we went and had a brill time of prayer on the steps of Stormont. It was great. Garreth Falls from Dungannon started prophesying over us and over me as the new leader of YFC. He was telling us that there was significance in meeting Ian and having him pray with us and give us his blessing. He prophesied a response to my authority and that of YFC. Cool I thought.

After we finished praying a Security Guard approached us to ask would we like a tour of the parliament buildings, something that can only happen at the request of an MLA. Exciting. Garreth was loving it!

It was such a divinely appointed morning. It gives me so much hope and adds value and belief to my blog yesterday.

New Blog

Just started a new Youth for Christ blog today, check it out
www.yfcni.blogspot.com