An Adventure in Ministry

In the past week I have heard some beautiful stories while in conversation with people. Each of these powerful conversations has one common theme, an encounter with Jesus. For some they encountered him for the first time, for others it was meeting with him once again and for others still, it was one of many regular encounters.  Over the weekend around the dinner a friend shared about how his life had been completely transformed. The things that once had such great power simply don’t anymore. He was a different man….and the difference was Jesus.  Last week, I had the privilege of hearing another friend talking about how she has recently returned to her faith and how she realised God has been with her all along. She talked about a happiness she now felt and how different everything was…and the difference was Jesus. While away at officers councils and eating the most amazing chocolate fondue, I sat with colleague ministers of the gospel and we shared the good news going on within...

This week I, along with many other ministers within The UK and Ireland territory of The Salvation Army met together for three days of worship and the word at our ‘Officer’s councils’. I have to admit that in the midst of an incredibly busy season, I was most looking forward to a couple of days away with my husband where I didn’t have to cook, clean or do the washing! However, as God often does, he completely surprised me and I had the most powerful time away.  The theme of the three days was ‘Lifting our eyes to the king’ and from the moment our time began I had a real sense that God was doing something. On the first afternoon, our Territorial Commander, shared with us about Peter walking on water and how we need to lift our eyes to the king, especially when we are in the waves and think we may be sinking. He shared with us some verses from Hebrews 12:1-3 and throughout the three days they kept playing through my mind. Five little words even kept me up in the middle of the night, a...

This week is baby loss awareness week. It is a time when we remember all the precious lives that are no longer with us and encourage men and women to talk about their experiences. It is a time to remember, grieve and seek comfort. While this has not been my own personal experience, having journeyed through infertility for over 10 years and through my ministry working with women walking through infertility and baby loss, I have supported lots of people through the grief and pain that is experienced. This year I have had the immense privilege of being asked to speak at the town’s annual baby loss service and to help put together an evening that will help people to remember their loved ones and grieve their loss.  As I sat thinking about and preparing for the service, I was considering the comfort that God brings to us in our grief. One of the pictures painted in the bible about God’s comfort is the idea of us sheltering under his wings. This is something that I often come back to whe...

  I spent some time last week at The Salvation Army’s William Booth College, learning about the history of the church and The Salvation Army, and it has been absolutely fascinating.  I thought I knew a lot about The Salvation Army, However I have realised that there is so much more to know. There were some things in our Salvation Army history that I thought I knew, but learned that in fact it was different to what I had thought and there were some things that were just plain wrong!  One of the days we went on the ‘Booth Cruise,’ a tour of the East London and some of the significant places in the early days of The Salvation Army. As we walked the streets, we heard stories of how Jesus changed the lives of many people through the work of The Salvation Army. The tour culminated in a visit to the graves of William and Catherine Booth and other people significant in the early history of The Salvation Army, and as we sang ‘O Boundless Salvation’ and considered the people who ga...

Last week I spent a few days at The Salvation Army’s William Booth training college, as I began training to become an officer. One morning, I had a wonderful time wandering, praying and eating my way along the South Bank of the river Thames. After sampling the delights of Borough Market (there is a beautiful gluten free cake stall there!) I wondered along to tower bridge and crossed over to the other side of the Thames as I made my way back along, I found myself needing to cross over the millennium bridge to the south side and it was there that God shared with me a beautiful truth.  One of the things I love about God is he shares his truths with us in the most unlikely ways and often in a way that brings a smile to my face!! . Now I have a bit (a lot!) of an irrational fear of bridges! I absolutely hate walking over them, and the millennium bridge is a pretty scary bridge in my books. Its always the one in those end of the world films that collapses like a flimsy rope bridge! As I ...

  One day this week, after taking my daughter to school in the morning, I decided to take advantage of being alone by listening to my Lectio 365 app. In preparation for my studies I have been reading a lot about spiritual formation and spiritual disciplines and so have been trying different spiritual disciplines, including lectio devino. As I walked along, I attempted to focus wholly on my time with God. However, as I walked along I spotted a woman walking towards me who I knew was struggling. I became distracted and paused my phone to chat and encourage her as she went about her day.  I returned to the app and was a little annoyed with myself for ‘ruining my spiritual flow.’ A few moments later, as I got back into the rhythm, I notices another woman coming towards me, a mum from the school gate who I knew was in a tough season. So I paused the app once again to invite her to come and have a cuppa with some of the other mums before pick up. I once again returned to the app, fe...