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...Sometime in the last week of February 2001...
Greetings from Paisley, Scotland!
Our lives are set to move into a higher gear in the near future (like this week!). Before the roller-coaster commences again, I wanted to take a bit of time and answer some recurring questions from some of you. Basically the questions are along the lines of "just what are you doing over there...we're still a bit fuzzy on that concept?" As I type, I'm not sure just how I'll answer that clearly so I'll get a bit of house-keeping out of the way first:
1. For those of you who contribute to our financial support we want to make sure you know that the name of our church back home (through which we receive the funds), has changed and they are simultaneously in the process of changing facilities as well. The new name and address are at the end of this update in the standard text that usually tags our updates. If this affects you, please make a note of it. This is effective immediately. Thanks! 2. As you may or may not know, our hearts are primarily inclined towards France in our long-term missions direction. As such, we want to make everyone we know who might also have a heart towards France to let you all know of the following up-coming event: An internationally observed 40 days of prayer and fasting for France. This takes place from the 7th of March 2001 through the 15th of April with various prayer emphases throughout that time. You can get more information at: http://www.objectiffrance.org/You can order a prayer-guide there in Microsoft Word format. I also have it and can send it to you. 3. If any of you take Charisma magazine, look at the February 2001 edition on page 32. On it you'll find an article about the conference we attended while in France last fall and you'll also see a small picture on the page. In the upper left hand area of the picture, you can see our youngest daughter Olivia!! She's famous now!
Ok, no more hiding. Just why are we here and what are we doing?
Bottom line: We, as a family, feel called by God to move to France as missionaries and believe that this time in Scotland is one step on that journey. Having said that, I'll try and expound about this time here in Scotland and the future as we know it.
What:
We are on currently staff with "Family Ministries" with "Youth With A Mission, Scotland". The mission/vision of Family Ministries in YWAM, Scotland is to help release families into what God has called them to do, and to do it in the context of releasing others into their God-given calling. (for a fuller explanation of the family ministries vision, see our new Family Ministries web page: (no longer exists in June, 2005)
We as staff members are basically doing two things. 1. Serving in some ministry where we fit and using it as a vehicle to help someone else grow in their own calling from the Lord. This is called discipleship...learning while doing and helping someone else learn while they "do with you". 2. Helping to run a Family Discipleship Training School (FDTS) where we basically demonstrate and involve "student families" in #1. We hope that they will catch the vision of "making disciples" as outlined by Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20. For an explanation of how a DTS is structured (a Family DTS is very similar), please see: http://www.ywamscotland.org/wordpress/?page_id=16.
The "ministry where we fit" looks as if it will primarily be holding Married For Life classes during our time here in Scotland. This is the marriage ministry that was so key in changing our lives back in Colorado. It is just now starting up in Scotland. To see what that course consists of, please see: http://www.marriage.org/MFL_Course/mfl_course.html.
Our first Family Discipleship Training School was what we were doing from July 15th through December 16th, 2000. This included our time in France in October and November. That time in France was entitled the "Outreach Phase" of the FDTS. It was focused on praying for France...in France. This first FDTS pretty much consumed ALL of our time from when we stepped off the plane last June until the end of December.
On a day-to-day basis now, "What" consists of working in the YWAM office 3 days a week for David helping with the computers and finances. Homeschooling the children for Angela. Studying French and going to French class for David. Working on music for the times when we lead the worship at the YWAM base. Meeting with our YWAM team members to pray and brainstorm about how to really establish Family Ministries here in Scotland (it's new here). We'll also be spending time preparing for the Married For Life classes pretty soon. We are gaining new a new staff family next week so there is a fair amount of time involved in helping them come on board. We also correspond with prospective students for the FDTS. And, for those of you who've never experienced it, living in a different culture consumes time and energy all by itself! It's amazing how much less "efficient" one is in a different culture. It would be the same for a Scot living in the USA. We're gaining in that area but it's still a challenge.
Where:
We are in Paisley, Scotland which is a south west suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. It's a "town" of around 80,000 I believe. Check out: http://www.paisley.org.uk/gallery/index.php for some pictures of our town. This is where the YWAM "base" is that we serve at. It's called Stanely House (yes, that's spelled right) and you can see a "wee" picture here: http://www.ywamscotland.org/wordpress/?page_id=11.We live about a mile from this facility.
We believe that the UK is a significant place for us to be right now. While France is still our long-term goal, we think that many people who are called by God to Europe and, indeed, other places in the world from the "Americas" will be passing through the UK as part of their transition from their home country to their destination country. We see the movement of troops in WWII through the UK and then onto the continent as a model or precursor to what God wants to do in our day and time. The kingdom to be fought for, however, is not an earthly kingdom...rather it is the Kingdom of God. You can read more about our "vision" for this at: http://www.leighweb.com/about.htm
Why:
Our time in Paisley is a time for us (our whole family) to do the following:
1. Learn more about living as missionaries 2. Learn about living in a foreign culture...but not have to tackle the language barrier yet 3. Learn about what it means to work in a team (vital for our future) 4. Learn about what it means to continually be in the process of "making disciples" as Jesus commanded 5. Learn French (for me, David, anyway) 6. Take shorter trips into France to continue to see where, when and how God wants us to make our next move. This is easier to do from Scotland than from Colorado! 7. Grow in our relationship to God and with each other in the family 8. Help others walk this same path
When:
Obviously we're here NOW! But with respect to time frames, we feel that we'll be in Scotland for the 2-5 year time frame but if God wants to move us on sooner than that, we're certainly open! Our next FDTS to staff will be in September and will end in February, 2002. We hope to get involved with MMI doing the Married For Life classes as soon as possible.
How:
Only by the grace of God!!!! We are SO dependent upon your prayers for us. They accomplish great things...be SURE of that. We're convinced that God chooses to use people to accomplish His purposes...beginning with praying. We're only people that feel like God impressed upon us to go, and so we have. We've no particular skills or experience for such an endeavor so we need God to work through us as we just try to do what He asks.
Ok, there's the scoop as to what we're about here in Scotland right now. I hope I've answered some of the questions that some of you may have had. If not or if it's raised new questions...well...drop me an e-mail (reply to this one if you like) and ask! I'll do my best to answer any questions you may have.
Until next month...God's richest blessing on you! David
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