It's a personal thing...

As part of my intern year I am being given a variety of podcasts to watch and books to read. I completed watching my first podcast this morning. The title of the message was 'Personal Pilgrimage'. My initial reaction to the title, coupled with being from 1985 when video quality was questionable, was that of 'oh dear, what have I gotten myself into?' Little did I know that from the message would come notes, thoughts and a song which would shape my life in some way. The preacher, John Wimber, has a very interesting testimony to tell. In brief, he grew up with little or no connection to the church whatsoever. One evening he found God when he prayed out to Him about a situation with his wife, and God responded instantly. This planted a seed for John that God was real and wanted to work in John's life to make it a better place to live. John speaks about various incidents that happen as a result of finding Jesus away from the church. He doesn't know about the Bible, he doesn't know why people speak the way they do at church, he didn't even know that when he asked God for help that it was called 'prayer'. The most intriguing part of his testimony, for me, is that he found God on his own. It was a personal thing straight away. So often kids are brought up in churches learning about Jesus, about God, being talked at about Noah and his arc, Jonah and his whale (or 'big fish'), Adam and Eve. But they aren't brought up knowing about GRACE, about God's personal relationship with them. They are told that they are unique but they're not told that their relationship with God is unique also. These are quite sweeping statements, I admit. I have visited churches where it is quite the opposite. Where small children are hearing messages from God that are for their friends. We speak so much about having a child-like faith, yet lots of churches fail to fuel that faith in children.  I speak from the experience of having called myself a 'Christian' my entire life. When I was 8 or 9 I found the Lord's prayer in an old book and I learnt it off by heart. When I was 11 I 'prayed the prayer' to give my life to Jesus. I think I always knew that there was something more but I was always quite happy to stay in my little safe Christian bubble. When I was 15 I got baptised. My public declaration of my love for Jesus, God, Father, Son. At this time in my life I was hearing messages from God and sharing them at my youth group. I was starting to develop a prophecy gift which God has blessed me with. I was using all of these skills and talents that God had given me to bless others but avoiding letting God speak to me through these gifts. In the past few years I have been seeing pictures in my mind during worship. The type that suddenly appear and disappear just as quickly, ones which I trust are from God but until I test them out I can never be sure. More recently, however, I have received a picture and then felt a tugging sense of 'this one is for you'. I cannot describe the way I feel in that moment. So I have been writing these down on a notes app in my phone and not doing anything with them. I have also started to write down my dreams. For a few years I have listened to a few of my mum's dreams and been able to interpret what it could mean. As I seek to deepen my relationship with God I have been trying to use this gift/skill on my own dreams, for my own benefit. God blessed me with a gift to bless myself and not only others. I have found that God really does want to speak to me too. One of the things I noticed as I watched and listened to John Wimber was at the moments where I paused the video to give into a distraction, I forgot all about the amazing message I had been hearing. I remembered that I needed to get back to the video to finish watching it but it was only when I clicked play that I got back into the swing of listening and remembering that God was talking to me in an amazing way. I think our relationship with God can be a bit like this. When we get out of the habit of working on that relationship (in this case, getting distracted from watching the video) we forget how amazing it is to be in a relationship with God and we start to view it as a chore which is very time-consuming. However, when we get back into the swing of things we realise just what we had forgotten we'd been missing out on (having an amazing, awesome, refreshing, positively challenging time with God). I have always viewed prayer, when I'm not doing it, as something that can go on for so long and be a bit of a bore. Even though I knew and had experienced countless times that, in reality, prayer is so beneficial, so refreshing, so real. God connects to us on a deeper level when we ask Him to because He's there waiting for us to make that decision ourselves. Our free will is such a precious thing that God has given us because it enables Christianity to be a relationship with God rather than a forced cult. When you need to fill a cup with sand, ping pong balls and marbles there is a specific order that you must do it in. If you were to pour in the sand or the marbles first then the ping pong balls would not fit. And there's always room after the pingpong, balls, sand, for a few beers with friends!

It's the same with God. We must first fill our hearts with Him, then other people, and then things. That way there is always space for God in your heart. He's the best help you can get in any situation.

PODCAST BY JOHN WIMBER:

My First Week as an Intern

Okay, I'm not too sure how to describe how I feel about this week, but it's definitely positive! I saw a post recently which gives names and explanations to emotions that you didn't know had a name. But these were all negative so that'll be no help for me this week. As it was a bank holiday this Monday, I started on Tuesday. I had a fairly busy day with a LOT of information to write down and digest over the next few days. I've had fun this week getting to know different aspects of the organisation and I'm amazed at how many things run on top of the standard 'Sunday Morning Gathering'. God's definitely been challenging me with some choices already, one of which I was lost for how to do even though I knew the right decision and wanted to go for it. And lo and behold a couple of days ago He handed an answer to me on a plate. God is good!
Today I've been in the office preparing a few things for Sunday morning, networking with some people within the church and looking at some personal discipleship. I'm about 10 minutes into a video entitled 'John Wimber Signs Wonders1985 1/12 (Personal Pilgrimage)". It's on YouTube if you'd like to have a listen. Already some thing that has been on my heart recently is cropping up in the video. The difference between "Christians" and those who have a relationship with God. In the next few weeks I hope to have gotten my head around some of the challenges and questions I'm sure this video will present and I plan on writing a bit of a post about what I've learnt from it and what I've found interesting. A quote from the video that is already ringing in my head is that the 'study of scripture' should directly 'affect our behaviour' otherwise it was pointless study. This is quite the sweeping statement to make but it has a very valid point that when we read the scripture our hearts long for things that God longs for and this should, in theory, change our behaviour in some way.

A question to ask yourself as much as possible over the weekend: What would Jesus do? And if you don't know then look it up, the Bible is there for you to use in times of uncertainty as well as every day life.

Stolen Soul is LIVE

Stolen Soul is live!

Please give it a watch it if you can spare a couple of minutes; it's such an important topic that is too often avoided in conversation.

As part of my A level in Media Studies last year we were asked to make a video. I chose to make a short film. We were also asked to write an essay answering a question that we set ourselves. I chose to answer:
How has the representation of the definition of slavery changed in the last decade and how has the media facilitated this, specifically looking at "Taken" starring Liam Neeson (2008), Channel 4's "Captive: The Sex Slave Girl" (2012), and the UK Home Office's "Modern Slavery Ad Campaign" (2014)"?
If you would like to read the 1800 word essay, let me know. It's a difficult read but has some interesting points which I started to explore.

So, yeah, please share the video with your friends!

New Beginnings

Afternoon! Some of you may know that I'll be starting an internship with a local church this year. The church is not one that I am currently a member at but one which I will be working with for a year to gain experience within a church and work on my relationship with God at the same time.  This year has been a busy one for me and a crazy journey with God. I sung true the words 'Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders, let me walk upon the waters wherever you would call me, take me deeper than my feet could ever wander and my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my Saviour'. And God certainly gave me so many opportunities this year to put my trust in Him. It's been so exciting! And it's far from over.  One thing that I hope to write about soon is Fortify. An event God called myself and 3 friends to put together with the help of many for which we are so grateful. The youth and adults that attended this event have had such close experiences with God that many of their lives have been changed! Our God is an awesome God!  From now on I should be posting a little more often. As part of my intern year I will be watching podcasts and reading books. Both of which I will be reviewing. So in addition to some life-style posts I'll be writing a bit about the inspiring things I've been reading and watching. Today I went out to choose a diary and journal which mum and dad kindly bought me as a 'welcome to work' present. I was very excited to write my first few meetings into the diary and I'm looking forward to writing about my first day on Tuesday.  My first day at my internship also coincides with the day I'm planning to release my videos about Human Trafficking onto YouTube. Unfortunately I will only be able to post one of the videos because the other video has too many kids in whom I do not have permission from their parents to release to the public. However, the video I am releasing is still one to get excited about. It's a very deep video with an important message; it's addressing an issue I feel Christians and non-Christians alike should be working to reduce. That's all for now, See ya soon and God bless, Amy My new diary and journal... :)

Immigrant - a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country?

The desperation is real.  They're not an "issue" to be solved  but a people to be helped.  I cannot even think  about the one that died  without realising  'Maybe I saw him/her.  Maybe I even have  a picture of them'  When I visited the migrant camp  in Calais with my mum  we were close to tears.  We could feel the fear  that swept through the camp.  Thousands and thousands of  people  sleeping in tents  and 'shelters'  made of bin bags.  It's all they have.  For a lot of people,  it's better  than where they used to be.  They want the best life,  not for themselves,  but for their families.  I'm sure not one of you  reading this  would sit there and say  you wouldn't risk  your life  saving the one(s) you love  the only way you know how. The truth is: to them  this is the only way.  They hear stories  of Europe the green grass  on the other side  and they want some of that,  who can blame them  when a lot of us want it  so bad that we  wouldn't  give  it  up. In an ideal world,  we'd realise what we have  is a lot more than  what we need.  If we cut back on  big houses  and  expensive belongings  and saw that we CAN  live on less and  still be happy  then we could help  those that need the  necessities. 
One way that I'm doing this is with a group of friends from my church. We're going out to Mexico to build a home for a family without a house. We're going to be living on the bare minimum for the week whilst we build the foundation to the roof and hand over the keys on the last day. We'll get to play with the local children and really see what pure joy they get out of acts of love.   I realised recently that many people base their happiness on the temporary - a new car, a new phone, a Starbucks on the way to school/work. In essence, this is basing your happiness on money.  These immigrants, human beings with feelings, don't base their happiness on the latest IOS update with new emojis, they are happy because they are loved and they love.  The situation I witnessed was terrible. I wanted to give so much - food, water, a fresh change of clothes. Sure, they might've loved that, but the pill of burnt clothes tells me that there are things they need more. Warmth. Shelter. Safety. Maslow's hierarchy of needs says: On a most basic level humans need food, water, sleep. 100 or so of the women and children get two meals a day. The rest of them have to fend for themselves. Having already travelled thousands of miles they don't have money to throw away on coffee and meals out. They need to source basic rations. Yes, the French have given them a clean water supply. The next level up says that they need safety and shelter. It depends what you define as a shelter as to whether this one is fulfilled. But I can tell you right now that they are not safe. Traffickers have spotted an easy prey. Every night is a gamble as to whether they wake up in the same state they were in the day before, or worse, never better.  Disease will spread like wildfire through this camp. If you can't empathise with the adults then at least know in your hearts that the children had no choice too. The child I saw stood half in the straw hut his guardian had built, showing an element of fear and of hope at the sight of our modern car and camera. Were we there to help? Were we there to take away their decency?  I couldn't help then, but I can help now.  Please, just think before you next post about how frustrating operation stack is. Every time I get caught in it. Break, clutch, break, clutch. It hurts my knees. My knees aren't strong and they certainly don't like driving through traffic. But I don't think about that. I think about the poor mother or brother or sister or son that died, risking his/her life to help the ones they loved and themselves. It's not a crime to want the best for yourself either.  Think first, you have a car and a destination. They have neither.
Written after reading this article: ITV - Immigrant dies as 1,500 try to enter channel tunnel.
Matthew 25:31-46 Luke 3:11

A little Disney always helps...

Of course Disney isn't my number one priority in life but helping to encourage and empower people comes high on my list. What better way to do this than with God and Disney?! Power couple right there.  The Bible tells us to become like children (see Matthew 18:3) and one sure way of doing this is with a sprinkle of Disney. So in true child-heart fashion, here are a few quotes for you. Some are not entirely Disney, but most are.

"Life doesn't give us purpose. We give life purpose." - The Flash (DC Universe) What does God say to purpose in our lives? Proverbs 16:9 hits the nail on the head with the fact that 'the heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps'. The Lord gives a purpose to those steps. Recently, in a worship service, Steffany Gretzinger exclaimed "you are most yourself when you are wrapped up in your purpose and not your position". We cannot forget Jeremiah 29:11, one of my favourite verses, because God knows the plans He has for us 'plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future'.

"I'm ready! I'm ready! I'm ready!" - Spongebob Squarepants. This can always be our cry in response to the next place in life that God is calling us to. We need to remember that these two words are spoken to us over 80 times in the Bible: FEAR NOT.

"Some people are worth melting for" - Olaf (Frozen). l.o.v.e. Love. To me, this is the most important thing about being a Christian. It was through love that we have received grace when Jesus died on the cross. He would certainly say you are worth melting for.

"The things that make me different are the things that make me" - Winnie the Pooh. You are unique, you are different. Through God you are not the same as anyone else, you are even different from the person you used to be before you knew God. That's a good thing. We were all made in God's image (Genesis 1:27) and we were all made to be different.

"I can't go back to yesterday - because I was a different person then" - Alice (Alice in Wonderland).

Like in the last quote, we are reminded that we are not the same as we used to be. Because of this we can be free. The lyrics that came to my head were ones that I heard at a Christian Youth Equipping Day in Watford not that long ago. "Oh no, nothing's gonna hold me back. No, nothing's gonna hold me back. No, nothing's gonna hold me back" - sung by Tom Smith. Some other encouraging lyrics that I'm reminded of are:

"I am chosen, I am free, I am living for eternity, free now forever. You washed me sin and shame away, the slate is clean, a brand new day, I'm yours now forever." - Tim Hughes (Holding Nothing Back), and "take the shackles off my feet so I can dance, I just wanna praise you, I just wanna praise you. You broke my chains" - Mary Mary (Shackles).

Alice felt lonely and isolated in an entirely new world which she wasn't used to and didn't fit into. The glorious truth of God's world is that everyone belongs there, no matter who they are today and who they were yesterday.

These are just a few of my interpretations. Below is the entire list of the 50 quotes which I found here.

Please comment or message me if you think you have any thoughts on these or others of the quotes!

I had a lot of fun writing this post for you all, I hope you enjoyed reading it.

I do not claim rights to any graphics or quotes.

These interpretations are just my opinion, I am open to other thoughts. 

God bless,

MEXICO!!

An opportunity that I haven't posted about as of yet is that myself, and a group from my church (comprised of 4 youth and 2 other leaders), are planning to head out to Mexico next march (2016). The group will be spending 10 days in Mexico building a home for a family without a house. Have a look at a video from a youth group that have visited recently to take part in ReBuild 2015.

We've set up a blog to keep everyone updated. If you fancy finding out a bit more visit the blog here: WBC Youth go to Mexico