International lift o

‘If you gain your own ministry, it’s over. Your responsibility is to minister to me’ Whilst I of course understand the role of individuals and ‘ ministries’ I am incredibly grateful for the reminder to keep my attention and my focus on Him

Internationallifto

After a wonderful year of UK travel and partnership with God and our friends 1999 I ventured into my first international trip. Firstly over to Wisconsin on to a snowy Canadian border Indian reserve fellowship and then to Seattle. This was made possible by my friendship with Jim Ford at Penkhull Christian Fellowship. We had worked together a number of times at the Potteries Museum during those late 90s on Saturday evenings, Jim preaching and me leading some opening worship. This first trip was to birth what have been long standing connections with our extended family in the USA and Canada. It was the first time I met Jerry and Barbara Crick in Wisconsin, Joe and Pam McIntyre from Word of His Grace church in Kirkland, Washington State. John and Holly Roddam from St Luke’s in Seattle. Tai and Joy Mostovoy from Beth David Messainic Congregation in Seattle. (Sadly for us, Joe, Tai and Jerry have now left for heaven) They all came to an IFM (International Federation of Ministers) Conference that I was leading worship at. I also met Greg Daley here from Seattle Revival Center and was asked to visit them to lead worship on Sunday. This followed an amazing and crazy night at St Luke’s ‘Circle of Worship’ with Steve Hampton. I’d been involved in some Worship training during the day at the church and this was a brilliant end to the day, including being anointed by the team with a whole jug of oil!

1999 also saw a follow up conference with William and Karen Porter ‘Church in Revival’ praying and imagining a church and communities alive in Christ. This conference was held from the 19-21st February and with the theme 'Released to Grow ' in the beautiful conference Centre in North Wales called Living Waters (Sadly now closed) These early God appointments and opportunities to grow in God and in faith were to prove of much worth as He began to give me the opportunities He’d promised. It was also a time of developing local and National relationships, discovering how and where God wanted us to share what He’d given to us. We were learning that this was how He was teaching us to operate. Out of heart conenction and not promotion. In these few years that followed there was a steady stream of visits to local churches and visits back overseas, all the time remembering who God had called me to be and where He was leading me to. I remember