June-July Prayer Update 2024
Term 2 – 1 Kings
This term at kids church we went through the book of 1 Kings, following the story of Elijah and King Ahab. It was a challenge to write the program for a book that I realised I’d never actually read through before! In preparation for last term, I read through the book of 1 Kings, and I was really encouraged and especially seeing how God is faithful to his people and his covenant even in spite of them.
At REACH conference this year, I attended a workshop on how to help kids grow in their love for God. I was reminded that for children to love God, they need to know about God. Now, this may seem self-explanatory, but as I reflected on it I was thinking through how much I actually focus on teaching who God is. Not just what he has done (which does show us who he is as a person), but what he is like! This is harder to do, but I wanted this term to focus on what the story of Elijah reveals about who God, to foster a love for God because we can see how he is a trustworthy, perfect, always loving, all powerful God.
My group – the year 4/5 girls – made a poster about God who is the true, trustworthy king of his people. They wrote about how he is better than the human king Ahab, and so so much better than the pretend gods he worshipped! Something I didn’t see coming was how focussing on who God is has made the girls more confident to pray – praise God! They want to come to their King who they know loves them with a forever love and are confident to do so because of Jesus!! In turn, God has shown me how he continues to work in spite of me.
College Break
For all of July, I had a break from college. This went really quick but was a much needed respite from travelling every single day of the week. During this break, I read through the book ‘You Can Change’ by Tim Chester. This was an excellent read, and a reminder that actually you can’t change yourself, but need God to work in you through his Spirit to see change and growth. I was reminded of the importance of relying on God for your spiritual formation, and challenged on my view of grace. God’s love isn’t dependant on our ability to change because “your identity isn’t dependent on your change. You’re a child of the heavenly King.” And yet, God’s love and grace is the inspiration to change our very hearts. I highly commend this book if you’re a new Christian wanting to learn how to live God’s way, or even if you’re someone who’s been a Christian for decades and need refreshment for your soul! I’d love to lend it to you so feel free to reach out if you’d like to borrow it!
PRAYER POINTS
Thankful for:
- The book of 1 Kings and God’s commitment for his people
- Kids church being able to learn about who God is and what he is like
- My year 4/5 girls seeing that God is the best king
- Break from college and being able to read ‘You can change’
Pray for:
- God to continue to sustain me over the last 3 months of MTS
- Josh and I to continue to prepare well for marriage
- Me to be stretched and grown more and more into God’s image
August-September Prayer Update 2024
HOUSE Conference
HOUSE Conference was probably my biggest highlight. I’m very thankful for Youthworks and for HOUSE conference every year that I go. To remind you, HOUSE is a conference that digs deeply into one topic and how it applies to kids and youth ministry. This year was all on SIN! It was a very interesting week on sin and how we define sin and talk about it with children. A phrase that one of the speakers repeated throughout the conference was ‘the gospel of sin’. I’ve been learning about how the good news of sin is that every atom of our being is covered in sin, sin is what we are, and yet all of that has been completely washed clean by Jesus’ blood. What good news for us that is! I’ve been encouraged to think about how I can teach a more real and weighty definition of sin to the kids I minister to – that sin isn’t just the things we do, but also the things we fail to do, sin is a complete rejection of God and failure to live out our purpose to love each other. But even more so, I’ve been thinking through what it looks like to help kids fall out of sin and in love with Jesus! If you have any thoughts to bounce off please please come and grab me because I’d love to chat sin with you!!
2025
Josh and I are getting married in exactly one month! It’s crazy how quick this year has flown by, I remember in January thinking November couldn’t come soon enough. I’m feeling quite nervous and anxious about married life (as well as very excited), but I’m learning to trust God through all different phases in life. Something I’m very thankful to God for is that he has provided a place for us to go next year! I’m hesitant to share on here so please come and ask me if you’re curious as to exactly where we’ll be. But Josh has accepted a full-time children’s and families minister role for next year and we’re getting ready to move there at the start of January! I’m still unsure what I’ll do next year, but I’m thankful for some direction. I’m still very thankful for my MTS training, that even if I’m not the one working in parish ministry, I’ve been raised up to be a valuable and helpful congregation member.
PRAYER POINTS
Thankful for:
- House conference and time to catch up with old friends
- A job and house for Josh and I to go to next year
- You guys, who have supported me constantly throughout my two years here
Pray for:
- Opportunities to use what I’ve been learning at kids church
- Wisdom in deciding what I should do next year
- That I would use my skills to build up Christ’s body
The Marsden Fund 