Dear friends,
This week I returned from a refreshing three months of sabbatical - so forgive the long update! It has been a great blessing to spend time resting, thinking, praying and spending some valuable time with my family and church. I've enjoyed catching up on reading and was particularly blessed by Henry Scougal's The Life of God in the Soul of Man and John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.

I read Bunyan as I walked 'St. Cuthbert's Way'. The route is a long-distance walk of roughly 62 miles over 5 days in the border country. The weather was good (if occasionally chilly) and the scenery was beautiful. There is something in walking long distances and on your own that allows space and time for the mind to wander, for a deeper awareness of God’s own presence and work, and a chance to take stock of where we find ourselves in the pilgrimage of life. I chose this route because it required less than a week to walk, was noted for being one of the top ten long distance walks in Britain, and a fairly easy one at that.

I found the pace to be freeing. No rush, no high speeds, no significant changes of direction, just a steady plodding – there is much to be said for plodding! As I walked, the mind would wander, often alighting on people and topics that served as prompts for prayer. I thought much of my family and my circumstances and enjoyed a deep thankfulness to God for such blessings. At the end of each day, I would read a section from Pilgrim’s Progress which resonated with me more deeply after the long trek. 

Two prayers from my edition of Pilgrim's Progress struck me as I walked:

Father, sometimes I forget the burdens I am carrying are ones of my own making – fear, worry, regret, and more – and not the greatest burden of all, my sin-sickness. I bore on my body the shroud of death, and You swept in with the sacrifice of Your Son and removed that burden forevermore. Turn my gaze on you now, when the worries and cares of this world come in and threaten to steal my joy in salvation. Nothing should be able to steal that joy, nothing, and nothing can steal my salvation, nothing. You have lifted the burden of guilt and sin off my shoulders and carried it straight to its fiery home. Remind me today that the cares of my life, the Sloughs of Despond that I am so prone to becoming mired in, are mere hurdles set along my journey home to be with You. You promise to remove every weighty thing from my shoulders, for Your burden is easy and Your load is light. And for that, I thank You. Amen.

Father, there have been times when I have rested and been refreshed and forgotten to continue to hide Your Word in my heart. But there have also been times when I have been so anxious about studying Your Word that I have neglected the offer of quietness and trust that You give as well. Teach me what it means that Your Word is mine and Your presence is eternal, and teach me to enter into Your rest, but not go  lackadaisical in my sleep. Keep me alert; but most of all, keep me hidden in Your Word and not in the refreshment the world offers. Help me know the difference. Thank you for the gift of Your Son who shows me the way through his example. Amen.

I enjoyed spending time thinking about mission in dialogue with the work of The Southgate Fellowship (TSF). Their 'Affirmations and Denials Concerning World Mission' is an interesting document that seeks to integrate practical mission strategy and biblical theology. Sometimes it can be difficult to know how to evaluate our approach to mission as individuals and as the church. TSF has some really helpful guidance on how to contextualise the gospel well in different cultures, how to interpret missiological trends and statistics (see these encouraging reports from IFES [About the report · IFES] and the Evangelical Alliance [Finding Jesus - Evangelical Alliance]), and how to think about metrics of success in mission and evangelism (so often we fall into measuring our success in business-like terms instead of biblical terms).

Much of the material from TSF draws on the work of Dan Strange's book For Their Rock is Not as Our Rock: An Evangelical Theology of Religions and the insights of 20th century missiologist, J. H. Bavinck. It was great to meet with Dr. Strange early in the sabbatical and take the time to read his work and the work of Bavinck. Their thinking is stellar! If you are the kind of person who enjoys reading theology, I highly recommend their work. If that's not you, Strange has written a more popular summary of the ideas in his book Making Faith Magnetic. It's a great example of a theologian using his research for the benefit of the church. [Five recurring themes that every culture can't stop talking about]


Making Faith Magnetic
 
There is also much to give thanks for relating to recruitment. While I've been away Ogbonna has been working hard on his mission partner development and has raised enough to start work with us. We're now just waiting on his visa to be processed. There have been some frustrating delays in this so please continue to pray for him and his family as they work through this process and look ahead to moving to Loughborough over the summer. 
 
I was encouraged to hear that Divya Priya, who we appointed for the Centre Team Leader role in Derby, has sufficient funds to begin work this month thanks to some generous grants. There are a number of churches in Derby excited about reaching international students. Please pray for Divya as she settles in, gets to know people, and equips the church there for international student mission.


The Cheviot Hills - Day 3 of St. Cuthbert's Way

The team in Loughborough have done a great job of continuing to run our weekly International Fridays program, with escape rooms, board game sessions and fish and chips organized by our friends at Grace Church. Two Indian students also enjoyed dinner with local Christians on our Local Link scheme. Thanks to everyone who has been involved in running and organizing things while I've been away!

As I return I'm beginning to think more about the next season of ministry in Loughborough. We have been getting a small group of students weekly but we would love to see more students engaging with the work. It can sometimes be discouraging when volunteers outnumber students. Please pray for me and the team as we think about our strategy going forward, how we can reach out to more students, and share the wonderful news of Jesus Christ.

Prayer Points:

Pray for me as I settle back into working in Loughborough and as I supervise my colleagues in Derby, Nottingham, and Coventry. Pray that I would have wisdom to know what to take up again, what to give to others, and what to put down.
Pray for me and Miriam as we continue to balance our family life, jobs and church leadership in Long Eaton.
Pray for E, who has returned to Turkey and is looking at different churches. Pray that she would have the courage to meet Christians in her own country and that God would send Christians her way.
Pray for Ogbonna and his family and for the visa to come through quickly. Pray that they would know God's presence and sustaining power. Pray too for Divya as she starts work in Derby. Pray that she would meet all the right people and be given wisdom as she thinks about how best to use her time and talents. Pray that she would continue to have success as she develops her network of mission partners so that the work in Derby can be sustained long-term.
Pray for me and the team as we reach out to students this term and over the summer. Pray for us as we strategize about how best to witness to Jesus in this next season, how to extend the work, and where God is leading.
Pray for Zoe, the former CU international Coordinator as she enters her final year of study. Pray also for Natasha who takes on the role this year, that she would be encouraged in her faith, by her team, and by fruit as she leads the CU's Globe Café on campus.
Pray for me and my colleagues around the region as we seek to expand our network of church partnerships, prayer and financial supporters to develop this valuable ministry.

 
Thank you so much for your support and for praying with us as we seek to work with the church to declare his glory among the nations.

Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

With best wishes in Christ,
Tim, Miriam, Boaz, and Elijah