STAY,
PRAY, DO
stay
at Bethanie
pray
& be still
do
gardening, painting, barn reclamation
For more info email [email protected]
Download A5 word doc flier to print:
Download 090927 heart2bless the land @ Bethanie flyer
*
The fee is all inclusive while at Bethanie. You will, however, be responsible for
your own travel arrangements to Bethanie.
Matt & Bex have been members of Rising Brook
Baptist Church since 2001 but have been in Birmingham for the last 3 years where Matt has been a Youth Minister at an Anglican church . We are both 25, have been married for 4 years and now have 4 french chickens!
For the last few years we have become increasingly
involved with The Bless Network through PRAYERhouse and Go to Bless summer missions.
We moved to Bethanie two weeks ago and are slowly but surely figuring out what community life looks like and how we fit into Gods plans. We have several starting
places…
·
Living
out daily, weekly, monthly rhythm of prayer, shared meals & study
· Co-running
the centre and practising hospitality to all who visit
· Getting
involved with the training of the Year to Bless-ers (Bless’ year out programme)
· Getting
involved with the Youthwork at La Source
Church in Lisieux
· Exploring sustainable living by developing the land and starting a small holding
We are blogging here if you want to follow our adventure
This year we used the
metaphor of ‘setting sail’ as a theme for PRAYERhouse. We wanted to invite
people to ‘set sail’ into the unknown with God; learning by doing on their
journey.
To echo this emphasis on
journey we put together a range of themed rituals which were participatory and
progressive in nature – they built up, changed and transformed throughout the
weeks as different people engaged and invested.
Each ritual had three
approaches; DO, READ, THINK
Wave Wall:
Do: Grab a paint brush
and some pens and add your wave to the wave wall. Write scripture, reflections,
promises and prayers in the flow of the waves.
Read: An ode to a
surfer’s soul arch.
Follow link:
An ode to a surfer's Soul Arch
Think:
Look closely at the wave wall in front of you. Look at the colours and
contrasts and textures and surfaces and juxtapositions. Notice how the paint
has run and dripped and been worked and reworked. Make out the marks and
characters and symbols and words. Reflect on its journey.
Reflect
on your journey. How have you got to where you are now? How has the picture of
your life been painted? Where is God in the picture?
Driftwood:
Do: Take some sandpaper
and work away at the driftwood until you’ve created a smooth surface. Now take
some oil and rub it into the grain of the wood.
Read: Jesus the carpenter
story from Intimate with the Ultimate
Gerard Kelly
Download Jesus the carpenter Story-1
Think: Are there rough,
unworked areas of your life you need to bring before God the carpenter? Allow
God to remove the splinters and rub healing oil into your life.
What is God teaching you
at the moment? Close your eyes and allow God to take your hands and begin to
show you something new.
Dinghy:
Do: Sit it the dinghy and
put on the headphones and press play. Listen to the waves crashing around you
and imagine you’re at sea.
Read: Excerpt from John Ortberg’s ‘If you want to walk on
water, you’ve got to get out the boat’. Ortberg on Amazon
Think:
All human beings give their lives to something. Between this day and your last
you will give your life to something. The only question is; what will you give
your life to? Will it be worthy?
Is
it time to use your God-given talents in response to God?
As
you get out of the dinghy think of Peter stepping out of the boat and walking
towards Jesus on the water. Think about where and when you might step out in
faith?
Pool:
Do: Create an origami
boat by following the instructions. Set your boat afloat on the water and
gently blow on your boat so that it sails.
Read: Set Sail Prayers –
Inspired by Safespace community in
Telford
. See www.safespace.me.uk for more details or Download Set Sail Prayers-3
Think: If you were a ship
would you be stuck in port or sailing on the high seas? What are the deep
God-given desires of your heart? Are you aware of Gods calling on your life?
Where are the ‘unknowns’ God is calling you to set sail into with him?
Do: Sit in a deckchair.
Get comfy. Lose yourself in the images on the screen.
Read: Charlie Brown visits Lucy the psychiatrist Download Charlie Brown visits Lucy the psychiatrist-1
Think: Imagine being at
the back of the ship; where have you been? God says; I am who I am – I am your
God. I have seen all your history and I have heard all your prayers. Now I am
coming to transform you. Remember who you
are by remembering whose you are!
[Exodus 3]
Imagine being at the
front of the ship; where are you headed? God says; I know what I'm doing. I
have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to
give you the future you hope for. [Jeremiah 29]
Imagine not being able to unfold your deckchair; what is stopping you? God says; Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly. [Matthew 11]
Coracle:
Do: Take some ribbon or wool and add your own layer of
weaving
Read: Story of St Brendan
– Extract from Navigatio Pocket
Liturgies Follow Link: Navigatio PL on PROOST
Think: Weaving is hard
work on your own, but adding to something is all about threading your own
creativity through something that’s already there, making a richer more diverse
pattern and getting involved first hand, interacting.
When you row a boat on
your own it’s hard going to get moving even slowly!
When you row in a team
the boat takes off with speed and eventually rises out of the water and when
you’re totally in time you glide out of the water skimming the surface with
almost effortless ease!
Think about how God made
us for one another, to interact with others, to enjoy each other’s company and
to make each other’s lives glide like an eight man canoe…
Can God use others to
reach you?
Does God use you to reach
others?
Do you let God speak into
your life like this??
Acts 2:45-47 Everyday
they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their
homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying
the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who
were being saved.
We spent new year with more than 40 of our community, enjoying each others company, partying, and renewing our hearts and minds as we looked at the past, present and future of all that God has and is doing within Bless.We met in Brussels and enjoyed good food and wine, it was so wonderful to just have some time to relax together but also share our faith together. Always so great to be able to spend time at the very begining of the new year to think about the whole person, physical, spiritual and emotional health and to encourage and pray for each other in these areas.! Enjoy the pics!
ARe you considering a year out to improve your language and serve in a mission situation? Here is an update from Ceri and Sophie (both university under graduates studying languages) two of our year2blessers, who took a faith decision to come to France. If you are looking for an opportunity to get on the mission scene year2bless could be right up your street!
[Ceri says]
I’d been looking forward to Year2bless for so long, but I
don’t think that I’d really thought about what it would be like before I came.
Having been on a few Go2bless summer missions, I suppose I was expecting
something a bit like that but longer...! For the first couple of weeks it did
feel a bit like a holiday, but then suddenly you get to a point where it sort
of stops being easy and fun, and this took me by surprise! But God is so
faithful and always gives me the strength to carry on – I’m learning this more
and more each day. The truth is, while this year has already been so much
harder than I’d imagined, it has been so much better than I’d imagined as well
– better than I ever thought possible. I’ve been here about two months now, and
I can see how much I’ve grown, and I truly believe we are being a blessing to
the church and people here. It feels so good to be giving something back to the
God who has given me so much, and we gain so much ourselves when we give. if
you’re thinking of becoming a Year2blesser – don’t hesitate, God’s got great
stuff in store for you if you come.
Ceri
Feedback from a go2blesser!
I wasn’t really sure of my
expectations before I went out there – it was sort of a last min decision to
go! From previous experiences I
had a rough idea of how things would most likely pan out, but I can say that it
more than exceeded my expectations.
I think one of the biggest things I noticed and valued was the longevity
of the mission. We were only there
for two weeks, but I know that it was part of something bigger. It was a real
blessing to be able to build on the work of teams in the past, and add
something to those that will follow in the future. As well as knowing that there are people (both Croatian and
internationals) there full time that we could encourage by what we did, as they
were such an encouragement to us.
It was an honor and joy to join
internationally with different teams with an amazing sense of unity in the body
of Christ as a whole across the nations working to see his Kingdom come.
heart2bless Croatia 29 Nov until 6 Dec
come and join us for outreach, craft and prayer find out how God wants to bless you.
Look on the right hand side of this blog for a heart2bless application form and contact [email protected] for more details.
The Bless Network is a Christian mission agency based in the UK and working across the continent of Europe.
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