Gay Pride Parade Sunday 3 August, 2008

As Brighton is known as the gay capital of England we have a huge Gay Pride Parade event every year. Normally Joel and I stay inside because its a very busy and action packed day, and not normally a day you want to be out and about! But this year we wanted to reach out and love the people who enjoy Pride! So we did and we had so much fun! Two people came down from Holmsted to help out, Drew and Virginia! And a church that is directly on the parade path let us use their church entrance and stairway (the same church we use to do tea and coffee ministry every Thursday with Holmsted). We offered free tea and coffee and biscuits and a toilet for people to use as well!

When we got to the church there were people already standing on the stairs waiting for the parade to start. It was a very rainy and gloomy day so it was a blessing to offer people hot drinks and a dry place to stand for a little bit. The people already on the stairs helped us lure people in which was great. The one thing that made my heart sad was that there was a family of 4 there with 2 young girls who came to watch the parade. I don’t see how they could find this a family event… we saw this type of thing a lot on Saturday families coming to watch the gay parade.

We were there to love and show these people God’s true love for them. And I think we did a good job! It was amazing how many people were very surprised to the church doing something like this for them. many people commented on how they were blessed and happy that Christians were showing love and not hate to them. I was so blessed to see that and to hear that we had made an impact on their lives, and many times I was able to say this is because we love you and God loves you. A few people reacted badly and said really negative things, but overall people loved it.

I am really excited for next years pride, a few people asked if they would see us next year and told just hey were looking forward to seeing us here doing the same thing again next year. I really believe we did what God wants us to do…. love our neighbor.. not judge or preach at them, but just love them. Show them simple mercy and kindness. In a city that is so harsh and cold we feel its important to show mercy and kindness. And mercy looks different in a city setting then in a developing world, mercy here means giving someone a warm drink on a cold day or a place to sit down for a bit, or a free toilet to use or even just a biscuit on their way to a gay parade. That is how I believe Jesus loved people just living life and showing mercy… and I want to continue to do that over and over again in Brighton.

Our June/July Newsletter Sunday 3 August, 2008

Hello everyone, 

 

We wrote a hard copy newsletter as we try to do every 6 months or so..and then we send it out.. but just in case you didn’t get one in the post here it is.. I hope you can read it. 

 

So Sorry Tuesday 1 July, 2008

I know it has been a very, very long time since we have blogged or updated our site. And I am sorry about that. Firstly our internet was just not working after we moved house.. and then once it starting working, after that I do not have much more excuses!

But my goodness how time has flown by and our lives have been very busy! Filled with ministry and times being refreshed with God.

A few weeks ago we spent a week at Holmsted during their staff days. They had a speaker come in from the States and she happens to be a very good friend of mine so I was able to not only learn from her but also just spend some quality time with a good friend. The topic was how to be a leader focusing on subjects of mentoring, finishing well, emotional maturity and others. It was a very good time, but God definitely challenged me in many areas of my life. Mostly with mentoring, and how I do not have one and I need one in order to continue to grow and mature. So I have been praying for just that: a mentor.

Also at the end of May and beginning of June we had a team from a YWAM base in Derby , the team was made of 11 girls and 1 guy. The only guy was one of the leaders and seemed to handle being in the minority well! I have asked them to email me some pictures but they haven’t sent me any, so I am emailing them again to get some. Because we do not have a building any more we had the team stay in our church. The girls slept on the church chairs and Tim slept in a separate room with a huge coach, he definitely got the better deal! They didn’t have any shower facilities for the whole week, but this group dealt with that very well and never heard them complain! They were a great team who did not need much direction, when we asked them to do something they did it and with passion and did it well. We had them working with the homeless project we worked with, and they really embraced the guys they ministered to. They were a blessing to work with, and we wish they were here with us longer!

At the moment we are gearing up for an outreach day this Saturday. We are attending the Paddle Around the Pier charity event which happens every year here in Brighton. We feel this event is a great opportunity for us to do some hands on evangelism and acts of kindness. Some people are coming down from Holmsted Manor to help us and hopefully we will have some friends come along from Brighton as well! We believe it will be a great day and that God will be there with us and meet people at this event!

For the moment this is all until I get some pictures.. because I know pictures are easy to look at then my words some times..

thank you for you patience..

Adriel and Joel

God’s goodness Wednesday 9 April, 2008

Joel and I have been learning about God’s goodness in the last two months. We have seen His blessing and His absolute care for us like we haven’t experience in a while.  Even though our “team” is just us two and we are truly hoping and praying for more team members, we still haven’t lost hope. I think the only reason we haven’t is because we feel God’s hand on us and Him guiding us and showing us daily that this is where we are supposed to be. To hold up YWAM Brighton and the work here until more people can help us shoulder this ministry. But until then He will be our strength and our comfort.

One of the major blessings has been our church. Its been a long time since I have felt loved and supported so wholeheartedly by a church body. people who truly care about us and a couple and a ministry. And the leadership are always extending their hands to help us out and offer what they can to support us. If we didn’t have this church Joel and I would find it hard to want to be here, but with them backing us all the way we know we can carry on.

Another big support we have is from Holmsted, another YWAM base. This base was the place Dennis and Joel came from, where they started from. They have been there for us more than we could have imagined. For us and how we work together should set a standard and an example of how other big YWAM bases help out starting out or small teams. Holmsted always looks for opportunities to support us and be there for us. And also promote us to their students! We love them so much.

I can go on and on about how good God is to us! But I just wanted to share with you a bit of our heart and where we are at here. This has been a good season for us here. And we see God’s blessing around every corner… and again even though its just Joel and i right now… we know God has people called here to work with us. So come on people come to YWAM Brighton work with us!! Brighton is an amazing place!!

A little update Wednesday 9 April, 2008

Hello everyone,

Joel and I are wanting to say a lovely hello you to you all!! I know I didn’t update in March and I am sorry about that. This month like the rest of the year flew by without me really noticing!! At the very beginning of the month of March we went away with our church for a weekend away trip. It was an amazing time to spend with our church family. We got to spend some quality time with families and others that we really don’t get to see or talk to. I think both Joel and I walked away from the weekend refreshed and with a real since of community and friendship.
The month of March was also spent flat hunting. Every spare minute we had we spent looking at flats! It was a fun time for Joel and I! And we might have found one. We handed in our applications in a little more than a week ago and we have a moving date of 19th April Which is a week Saturday. We still haven’t heard back from the agent to see if we got it but hopefully tomorrow we will hear more as we are going around to get a second view of the place we will be renting! We will take loads of pictures. If we do get this flat then it leaves us only one week to pack up and move out. But we have decided that we will keep our old house until the end of the month so we can move all the big furniture we have and find people to take it!
In the middle of all of this we had a DTS team from Holmsted come down and spend their evangelism week down here with us. In our house we had 31 people staying in 4 rooms and sharing only one shower and two toilets! Bless them. It was great to have them down here, they are a great bunch of students who really got a heart for Brighton and the people here.
Not only did we have a DTS here for a week. But the next week we had a young high school team come and do outreach here with us. They didn’t stay at our house, instead they stayed at Holmsted. They were a team from a Christian High school in North Carolina. This school has a big emphasis on missions and outreach so the whole school takes a week out of their schedule and does a missions trip. Some go to local communities and some go overseas. We had a team of 7 come here and it was great to see these young people serve God!
I am not sure if I mentioned it before but I started a very part time job at the beginning of the month, and I have really enjoyed it. I love admin, yeah I know I am one of the few who really does. But I do enjoy my job and the people I work for. Even though most of the time I am by myself, its not so bad because its only 4 hours a day and it goes by very quickly. And when I do get lonely some one always pops in for a little while! The nice ting about my job since its only 12 hours I feel I can have a part to play in YWAM and in this job, so I don’t’ feel like I have lost touch with our YWAM work.
Joel and I have been really blown away this month by how much God truly loves us. We have felt His love and kindness surrounding us more this month than we have in a while. Not that we haven’t before but for some reason this is a season of His tangible love. We have seen His blessings in our work, the people we minister to, the people we are reaching out to, our finances and our friends.We feel so supported and loved by our friends and family.  We feel that God is showing us that this is the place He wants us to be and that He has us here for many reasons. One of the greatest blessings is that Joel was asked to be our friend’s godfather this month. What a blessing that is for us to stand with a family and help the spiritual growth of this child! Her name is Anna Grace!
The last bit of March and the first week of April Joel went to Holland for a YWAM leadership conference. The conference was called the Western European Leadership Consultation.(they wanted to call it a consultation NOT a conference even though everyone called it a conference out of habit!) Anyway, Joel was helping lead worship at the consultation. This time away was very important for us as YWAM Brighton to network and get to know other small team leaders and discuss strategy and other things. Also it was good for Joel to be playing music for a whole week! I couldn’t go because I just started my new job and couldn’t get away.
We had a lovely Easter where we shared a huge meal with some of our friends, ate ourselves silly and then watched movies and the boys played video games all night. It was a great time to spend with our friends who do not know Jesus on the day He rose from the dead!! I pray that we were able to make a slight difference in their hearts in regards to this holiday.
I think that is it for now! I am sure I left out something but for now I will let you get on to other things! I hope all is well with you. Joel and I would love to hear what is going on in your life, if you have any prayer requests or good things God has done in your life, please let us know.

Prayer Points:
1. Our flat situation, please pray that if we get the flat that we will find out soon and we can get a move on moving. If we cannot get the flat then pray that we will find another one that suits us even better and that we will be able to move out quickly.
2. Small teams network: A network of people Joel is trying to set up, pray that they will be able to meet during this month and get a good network of people together to be able to partner together.
3. Our relationships in the city: for our friends, that we will be able to speak into their lives and help them get to know God better and know Him as a friend.

God bless,

Adriel and Joel
PS. I have asked the teams who have come in the last month to email me some pictures and once they do I will put them on our website!!

It snowed Wednesday 9 April, 2008

Yeah it snowed on Sunday… it snowed a lot. Here in England it does snow much.. especially down here in the South East on the coast. The beach was covered in snow.. it actually stuck until the next day. So crazy… I didn’t mind the snow but was glad to see it go.. now its lovely spring weather!!

Sorry its been so long!! Wednesday 2 April, 2008

I am sorry I haven’t blogged in ages… I will this weekend!!

I have lots to say!!

Just to update you Saturday 8 March, 2008

Hello everyone!

I hope this email finds you well! Joel and I are well, and miss everyone very much. We have a lot going on at the moment and are struggling to find time to relax or time alone together. For a week we had a team here from a YWAM base in Scotland. I asked the team to send us some pictures of their time here, so once they send them to me I will put them up on our website. The team from Scotland was a DTS team on a week long outreach trip. It was great to have a house full of people again! And this week we will have the a DTS coming from Holmsted for their evangelism week. They spend a week learning about evangelism and going out in the evenings. We will have all 31 of them will be staying in our house! Talk about a full house!!
The DTS from Holmsted will be the last team we will host in this house. After they leave we will begin to gut the house of all the furniture and other things we don’t need.
One thing Joel and I would like to share with you all is about a part of our ministry here. We feel that as YWAM Brighton we are to create a discipleship community with Christians and non-Christians alike. We feel that in this city most people are on their own and do not have family around, and we want to have people feel like they are always welcome in our home and feel like they are a part of our family. And with a discipleship community comes time and commitment on our part. This means always having an open house and an open ear. Relationships are very important to us and we feel that God has called us to give out to the people around us. Whether that means having coffee with people, sharing a meal with people or staying up late talking to them about their life, we feel that we need to be available. Joel and I realized that even though we are a tight budget for food, we have never run out of food even though for the last two weeks we have shared dinner everyone with our friends.
I know it sounds like we are just hanging out with our friends and not doing anything, but most of the time we end up talking about God and changeling people about their views on or relationship with God. And sharing our life with them.
I am sure you are wondering about what we are going to do about our living situation. Well after praying and discussing our options, we feel God is giving us the chance to live on our own for a while. We feel God say that it is okay for us to get a flat. We feel God is calling us to be a part of the community so in order to do that we as YWAM Brighton will be decentralized meaning that when team members come they will live in flats together or in homes of our church family. We don’t feel like we need a big house or base to be a team but instead have an office or meeting place we get together once a week.
With our case the one thing that we do not want to lose our hospitality. So we are looking for a two bedroom flat. So we can still have people stay when they need to (especially friends and family… hint hint.) That is the big faith leap we are wanting to take.

Blessings,

Adriel and Joel

YWAM BRIGHTON NOW UP Monday 25 February, 2008

www.ywambrighton.com is up and running check it out

still things to work on but its but there

Busy Week Monday 25 February, 2008

The past week and half have been very busy for us. We have had a friend come and visit on her way to Africa for one year, and then we have a team here from YWAM Scotland. They are here for a midterm week long outreach. One week isn’t very long, but from the few ministries they have done so far, they are taking every advantage to try new things and serve God where they can. Last night we went to a ministry our church runs for the homeless in our city once a month called the Carpenter’s Arms. There we share a nice meal with the homeless guys and then a short message is shared about Jesus. Its a great opportunity just to talk to the guys and get to know them a little better. This team jumped right in and met the homeless men and got to know them. We wish that they would stay longer than a week!

Also this week I have started my part time job. I am working 12 hours a week, three days Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. I work at our church as the administrator. I have really enjoyed the first few days and am excited to get into a rhythm. Joel has been really busy with work here for YWAM Brighton and our keeping up with emails and business on that end.

This weekend we are going away this weekend with our church for a church retreat. It should be really fun to get to know the people from our church better. We are really looking forward to some time also to get fed spiritually and have some good worship.