One Ends, Another Begins

I leave for home tomorrow.

Or I'll already be there. It really depends on when you are reading this.

It's been an awesome journey, there is no doubt about it. And I am really going to miss the UK. I have come to really love this place and all of the people that I have met here. God has taught me so much and has indeed put many things on my heart in regards for my next year of ministry. So I thought I might share some of those things with you all, and share some stories from my time over here in the United Kingdom. Also, I thought I would sprinkle in some pictures from the trip that I have yet to post.

Serving Others


This is nothing new really. It is something that I have been mulling over now for the past few months in my own quiet times with God. John chapter 15 was sort of the starting point for it all, and as I continue through 1 Peter, these thoughts continue to develop and to grow. God confirmed all of what I had been looking at, predominantly on how selfish thoughts and behavior have no room in our lives, when instead we are called to diminish and lift up the lives of others and glorify God and His kingdom.
¹²"This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.

¹³Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."

John 15:12,13

This is sort of the pair of verses that started it all, the ones that sent me on my journey in selflessly serving others. Acts of which I saw initially in Glasgow, and then later had my thought process confirmed at the Scottish Summer Conference in Arbroath by Hans Bayer, our guest speaker. Hans had been using the Gospel of Mark to illustrate the power of Christ in changing the hearts of men. As I have stated before, I have the notes from that conference on my computer and if you would like them, simply ask me and I can send them to you. But what I got from it was the Christ was working in our hearts to plant within it a seed that can bare fruit, to remove all to the wickedness that can come from the heart and get us to a place where we can forgive and love one another fully(Mark 8:34-37, Mark 11:22-24, Mark 11:22-24, Mark 11:25, Matthew 18:21-35).
It all worked into what I had been reading in 1 Peter so perfectly!

²²Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,

²³for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.

1 Peter 1:22,23

The idea that if we can surrender everything to God and be left with fervent love for our brethren is what I got from those verses in Peter. That if we can allow God to change our hearts, He would leave us with the ability to love people in the same fashion that Christ loved them, to give up ourselves for them.

This is just a little bit of what I have been investigating so far, I have, since starting, found more verses to create a bible study that revolves around serving others, as well as coupled with a practical application.

Tea and Biscuits


Tea and biscuits, perhaps one of the most interesting displays of serving others and evangelism I had seen in some time. In Glasgow, it is called Stall, or a Cheesey. The Navigators students in partnership with students from the Christian Union, set up a stall outside of campus night clubs and serve free tea, coffee, cookies, cakes, and biscuits to any student who walks by them. Of course in this day and age, nothing is without a catch, or at least that seems to be the thoughts of the students being offered free food. But there is no catch. They simply get free drinks and cookies. They of course ask why the students are doing this, and the students then in turn get a chance to tell them. I found it to be an awesome way of getting students involved in serving their campus community as well as learning to share their testimony and faith. This is what I want to bring back to campus in the new school year. This is the practical application to a bible study on serving others that I want to utilize! It isn't about making sure that we fulfill our Christian Check List, it's about genuinely serving others, letting them know we love them, and that Jesus loves them to. That, to me, is very exciting! So if you pray for anything, pray that God sends myself and the person I am working with to get this set up the provisions we need, the food etc. as well as students who are ready and willing!

Story Time!


Of course what blog would be complete without some fun little stories to share.

I suppose this will be just a bunch of small snippets of fun times I had while I was in the UK, not so much stories, my apologies for the false advertising.

I got to swim in the North Sea. This was at the Scottish Summer Conference just after a game of footy on the beach. The North Sea retains its temperature for three months, and even still, its the NORTH sea. Needless to say, it had been raining a little, and a bunch of us figured if we were gonna be wet, we might as well go for it. So we did. Several of us ran and dove into those frigid waters. When it has been in the high 20's and low 30's the majority of ones trip, that sudden blast of cold can come as quite a shock. What I will never forget though is the look on Mark Stirling's face when I walked into the Conference Center soaking wet and covered in sand.



While I was in St. Andrews, I got to fulfill a boyhood dream and roam about the ruins of an old castle. This was made all the more awesome by the fact that this particular castle had a mineshaft underneath of it! I was six years old again on that day, playing underground and letting my imagination get ahead of me!


While in Glasgow, walking back to the flat I was staying at after church, my friend Roger and I ran into a woman from the east side of Glasgow (generally a poor area). She had been tossed into a rather filthy river and wasn't all that sure as to where she was. She had been looking for money, to make a phone call. I watched as Roger walked with her and talked with her, sincerity in his actions. He gave her the money for the phone call and went and got her a sandwich from Subway.


I got to go to the Old Trafford in Manchester, home to Manchester United. Not exactly the team I follow, but it has a player that I really like. Wayne Rooney, and despite a poor showing on the England team this year, he remains one of my footballers of choice. Guy has nowhere to go but up in his ever growing arsenal of skill and talent. During the tour we went into the locker room and I got a picture with his jersey. Some of you no doubt don't care, but football is one of the few sports I really enjoy.


At the English Summer Conference, there was a lot of football related stories. Most of it was just the guys watching the world cup matches on the smallest television in the world. Others were football mishaps in small pick up games. I was told by Bernard Dishman, heads up the Leicester Navigators, that I could get to the UK on my foot handling alone. Of course this is a stretch, but I was told that I was indeed a solid player! Again, most of you may not care, but I was nervous about heading to Football Nation and getting torn apart there, haha.

Well, that is about all I can say for now. Keep checking in as I will be posting more about the progress of the new year on campus! Thanks again for all of your prayers and support! Looking forward to seeing you all again when I get home! I want to send a huge thank you to everyone who looked after me while I was in the UK. I love you all so much, and I will miss you all dearly!

God Bless,

Josh