An Adventure in Ministry

From Christmas day 2024 there were a few days of intense fog. We were travelling back and forth visiting family, and often while driving through the fog, you couldn't see anything in front of you. As we drove down country roads we felt completely alone as we couldn't see anything that surrounded us. Familiar roads became eerily unfamiliar as the fog obscured anything recognisable.  On Sunday 29th December the fog finally lifted. and it was glorious! As we drove to worship the world seemed lighter and brighter and the sun shone once more. I didn't realised how the fog had obscured everything until once more we were able to see the distant hills with the sun shining upon us. Those hills were so appealing that I simply wanted to go and climb them, sit at the top and look out at view that stretches for mile upon mile.  Each year around this time, I take the opportunity to consider all the things that God has done in the year before and ask God to reveal to me a word I can carry...

Sometimes God wants us to hear a message from him so much that he will use people around us to hammer the message home, and this week, God has certainly been trying to talk to me as I have heard the same message four times from completely unrelated people! Last week, a couple of the officers (ministers) from a Salvation Army church in South Wales came to spend the day with us. They came to see what takes place in the church my husband and I are officers at, and to discuss some of the ways we deal with the challenges we face. Our friend’s corps is very similar to ours and we had a lovely morning discussing how God is transforming lives and making messy situations clean again. But what really struck me was their big God-inspired vision. Even though the vision was costly (both financially and personally they were making giant leaps of faith and God was honouring them. As I sat and listened to their passion and enthusiasm, I felt God say to me “Dream big.” This really challenged...

Recently I heard  lady talking about her own struggle with infertility and something of what she said really resounded in my soul. She talked about how she has chosen to be  ‘Fruitfully Barren’ Fruitfully Barren Is sounds a bit like a paradox doesn’t it?! How can someone barren; i.e.         not producing or incapable of producing offspring; sterile         unproductive; unfruitful:         without capacity to interest or attract:        mentally unproductive; dull; stupid.         not producing results; fruitless:        destitute; bereft; lacking (usually followed by  of ): be fruitful; i.e.          producing  good results; beneficial; profitable: fruitful...

As I stood worshipping in our Sunday service yesterday I had a vision from God. The building of the Salvation Army in Mold is very unique. We have a charity shop and coffee shop on the ground floor and our worship hall is on the first floor. Through the week we have various acts of worship in the coffee shop and our hall is used for Sunday worship As I sang ‘What a faithful God have I,’ God gave me a picture. It was a picture of the white walls in the worship hall. As we corporately worshipped together, it was like someone was pouring red paint over the walls. It started at the very top corner of the hall and seeped down the walls. The more we worshipped, the further the paint trickled down. It didn’t just stop at the floor of the worship hall but down to the walls of the shop and the coffee shop. The more we worship him, the further the blood of Jesus will spread into everything we are and everything we do. So let’s worship God today in spirit and in truth. 

It’s been a bit of a week! It was the first week back in full swing after Christmas which is always difficult. It’s one of those weeks that is spent trying to get back into the routine of things and getting up to date on all those little things. It has been busy to say the least! It has also been a week full of vision and dreaming, with meetings looking ahead and God laying heavy on me an urge to think big and to start walking in it! Our church is growing and God is miraculously providing. There have been moments that have felt like the ascent at the beginning of a fairground ride. The anticipation of what might be ahead that excitement mingled with nervousness and that little bit of dread that you cant make it on your own. It has also been a week of brokenness. There have been so many people through our doors this week screaming out for Jesus. There are people struggling with illness, grief and addiction. It really has been heartbreaking, but I am so grateful that we are able...