Scotland: Teaching the Word and Experiences in Ministry

Hey saints! Nate here to fill you all in on what's going on out here. Sorry we didn't post anything last week, we've gotten several concerned E-mails asking if we died or something (for those of you who couldn't tell by the tone of my type, I'm kidding), which I guess I can understand, but the reality is if we do this blog every week we'll just end up filling the blog with a bunch of stuff you won't end up reading anyway. So we've decided to post every other week so that our blog posts don't end up sounding like this...

Hey guys... well here we go again, another week gone by in the highlands, life sure is exciting out here, Ben and I are having some real personal strife, we've been out here for 4 whole months and Ben finally came out and told me that he likes creamy peanut butter, and I definitely prefer crunchy. Please keep Ben in fervent prayer that the power of God would break this demonic stronghold in his life...

We'd much rather tell you about the highlights and keep things interesting on a bi-weekly basis rather than bore you on a weekly basis. So at any rate, life is great out here, Ben and I have been helping out at the Christian Youth Center where we do our Thursday night Bible studies. It's always good to serve in that way, and it gives us a chance to listen to some sermons that Leo gave us for a discipleship class we're a part of. You can see a couple of pictures of Ben and I moving some rocks outside the CYC in our photo gallery.

Ben and I got to serve at a Valentines day banquet that Inverness Bible Fellowship put on, so our experience serving in the kitchen at Horizon North County and catering for Jon Little came in handy, and a fun time was had by all. Some of the kids from the youth group came and served along with us (you can see the pictures of this in the gallery as well), so that was great, we're having fun getting to know the kids.

The teaching has been going well, so thanks for the continued prayer in that area, Ben and I are alternating teaching days, so I'll teach Sunday one week and Thursday the next week and Ben will do the opposite. We are going through the book of Mark with the Thursday night group and we're going through Proverbs with the kids that come on Sunday. Both of the days have a different dynamic to them, Thursdays are typically more fun because the kids are older and know a little bit more about the Word so we're able to go a bit deeper with them, and Sundays we typically teach in the range of 2-5 kids, and most of these kids are unsaved, so pray that God will break through their hardened hearts and give them new life in Him.

In other news, Ben and I have now tasted the savory flavors of haggis... A unique highland experience indeed. For those of you who don't know anything about haggis (specifically what it's made out of) check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haggis. This dish has long been shrouded in mystery, and many American scholars had assumed it long extinct if indeed it had existed at all. In the past some have believed it to be the stuff of myths and legends, when in reality it's just the stuff of sheep that the butcher couldn't find any other use for. Photographic evidence that this dish does still exist and is accepted in certain circles will be in the photo album shortly. Oh, and it doesn't taste all that bad, Ben really liked it and I kind of liked it.

So thanks again for keeping us in prayer. More coming soon, stay tuned!

This is Nate signing off for Team Scotland.

Scotland: God Works Even in Tragedy

Hey all! Ben and Nate here. Just wanted to give you this weeks updates on what God is doing here in Inverness! If you read our last post you’ll know that our arrival here was in the wake of tragedy as one of the students of a local high school had been killed in an accident. This incident has really shaken the students. In an attempt to console the school has brought in a few alcohol counseling agencies, but the kids can see right through them. The lack of love and compassion that is being shown amazes me to no end. The director of the school actually told some of the students to “Have a cup of tea, stop crying and get over it. Roddy would have wanted it that way.” But we are seeing God work through this tragedy in the lives of the students.

On Thursday we had our first youth meeting at the Christian Youth Center since Roddy’s death. A group of about fifteen kids or so showed up, most of them were first timers. We wanted to be sensitive to the situation so we offered our ears just to listen to the kids. What you must understand about the highlands and Scotland in general is that people are very private about the way they feel, especially in regards to faith. None of the kids wanted to talk, so Leo continued on with the message for the night out of Luke 15: The parable of the lost sheep. As the study was drawing to a close, Leo transitioned to the gospel and upon giving the invitation there were seven kids who responded publicly. The next day on Friday, we took over sound and video responsibilities for the memorial and Leo conducted the service. Once again, Leo shared out of Luke 15 and when he gave the gospel message somewhere between forty and fifty people responded publicly. God is absolutely amazing! Among the people who responded was Roddy’s mom. Not only did she take a bible afterwards but she expressed an interest in continuing in the decision she had made.

God is so faithful! We’ve been asking Him and praying for Him to bring many to salvation through all of this and He has! Thank you so much for your prayers. Now we would ask you to continue praying for these people. Pray that their decision wasn’t just an emotional response like the stony ground but a true conversion, pray that they would come and hear the Word of God that it may take root in their lives and that they would bear fruit.

Nate and I would also ask you to pray that God would enable us to confidently step into the role of teachers, as we will be fully taking over the youth ministry starting this week, and that God would grow us as teachers of His Word and fill us with His Spirit. Also we have a couple new pictures and in case you didn’t know, you don’t have to be a registered user to make comments on our blog posts, it’s open to the public. If you want to read the news articles on Roddy’s death, you may do so by clicking these links: Article #1 Article #2

Keep lifting up the prayers!
Team Scotland

Scotland: The Begining

Hey everyone. Ben here. I just wanted to update all of you on our situation here in Inverness Scotland so here it goes!

God has really thrown us right into the heat of things here in Inverness. Let me explain. As evening was upon us after our first full day, Leo(the pastor) received word that one of the boys in the youth group called Roddy was killed by a train the night before. Roddy was just about to turn 17 so his friends pressured him into getting drunk for his birthday because he had never been intoxicated. When the kids drink here they will add anything they can to the alcohol including meth and cocaine just to get completely destroyed. Roddy had wondered away from the party and was walking down the train tracks at around 3 in the morning when he was struck and killed by a snow-plow train.

I prayed that God would give me compassion on these kids before we came to Scotland and through this event I must say that my heart is completely broken. The thing that stings the most is that no one really knows if Roddy had accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. But through this tragedy God has opened the door for the Gospel to be taken into the local school where the memorial service will be held. While Roddy’s parents are not Christians at all but they are open to Leo giving the Gospel at the memorial service. A lot of the kids are really shaken up over Roddy’s death. We are expecting the majority of the school to turn out for his memorial.

Obviously this will be a huge opportunity and we are praying that God would move in a miraculous way. Please join us in praying that God would soften the hearts of these kids to the Gospel and pray that many of the students would repent and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.