Hello Family and Friends-
So the thought that has been on my heart this week is how wonderful it is to live in a community of believers. As a melancholy and introvert, I would much rather be on my own and live on my own. When I accepted the opportunity to come to England I knew it would be a challenge to live so closely with 10 other people. However, over the past 5 months, this has proved to be a truly rewarding experience.
Author Donald Miller says that we . . . .
“should dig into a community, give himself to a community, humble himself before his friends, initiate community, teach people to care for each other, love each other. Jesus does not want us floating through space or sitting in front of our televisions. Jesus wants us interacting, eating together, laughing together, praying together.” (Donald Miller “Blue Like Jazz”” p 173)
The above statement is true of what goes on my life and in our home. I have made wonderful new friends both on our England team and in the community with other Christ followers. I truly believe that several of these friendships will be lifelong. Whether or not you are closely tied into a church body at the moment, cling to community. I believe this is what Luke talked about in Acts two and that it is in community that we aropportunityng the way Christ intended us to live, a life that is full anabundantnt.
Today we went to York which is where Constantine was crowned emperor of the Roman Empire. It was a beautiful city and it was a refreshing day off after a long week of ministry.
Copy this link and paste it into your web browser to view the pictures.
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/fugazzi02/album/576460762387040409
This week was a good week of ministry but it was very hard at the same time. I had the opportunity to have 4 or 5 God conversations with several of the young people that God has placed on my heart. Other team members had similaopportunitieses. Please pray that God will continue to give us opportunities to have deeper, God conversations and that the young people’s hearts will continue to be softened. Two young people you can pray for by name are Tom and Ray.
We also had some intense moments of ministry as well this week. Thursday night a pretty rough group of guys came to the youth club and started causing problems. One of them was carrying a knife so we had to ask him and his friends to leave. They did not appreciate being asked to leave so they decided to hang around the youth club until we were getting ready to leave. As we were leaving the young people (there were 7 or 8 guys) started throwing rocks, bottles etcAtat the building, were pounding on the doors, yelling at us, and tried to storm in. We were essentially trapped in the youth club and unable to leave. It was a pretty intense moment and we had to phone the police to get them to leave. Once the police had been phoned the young people left us alone but decided they would try to follow us home to continue to voice their displeasure of being dismissed from the youth club. So, we had to avoid our home and go to a friends house so they would not know where we live. They eventually left us alone and we were able to return home.
Please continue to pray for the young people of Salford and pray for our safety as well. We see more and more evidence of God moving each day.
I close with a two reminders of our purpose here in England:
“We fight violence with peace, hatred with love, and oppression with servanthood. While never violating our uniqueness, we move together, united in heart and soul. Our greatness is unleashed in the context of community. When we move together, God is most perfectly revealed in us.” (Erwin Raphael McManus ““The Barbarian Way” p 134)
“We all need to be loved.
We all need compassion.
We all need forgiveness.
We all need acceptance.
And this is why, above all else, we need God.”
(Erwin Raphael McManus ““Stand Against the Wind”” p 69)
Chad Mustain
