Sea of Galilee

When our team met up with the other Nazareth team mid-way through our projects, we spent a day visiting the Sea of Galilee and various places surrounding it, such as a synagogue at Capernaum where Jesuspreached, the place where he fed the 5,ooo, and so on. When on the boat, moving slowly with a gentle breeze, all sorts of music played, some worship, some comical. Embarassing videos on Facebook depict the fun we had. But soon the boat stopped, as did the music, and someone read from Scripture about when Jesus called Peter to step out of the boat and walk on the water, which can be found in Matthew 14:22-36. It would have happened somewhere close to where we were. We reflected in silence as the words were read.

I thought of how God had called me to be in that place and lead the team, doing kids work, all of which are relatively new experiences for me. I reaised how faithful He had been to us all, in equipping us for the tasks He had called us to. I rededicated myself to Him again and prayed Isaiah's famous prayer once more ('Here I am. Send me. Wherever!').

Peter was walking toward Jesus on the water as instructed, but when the wind came, he began to doubt, and then began to sink. I prayed that for the next week of the mission, with 104 12-15 year-olds at the camp, that our faith would be strong enough to keep us above the water. And I can honestly say that by the grace of God this is what happened. Many people were praying for us whilst we were away, and every prayer I'm aware was prayed was answered. God is so faithful, and I have never been on such a unified, one-minded, healthy, energetic, fun-loving, servant-hearted misson team before in all my life. Happy days!:)

Another highlight from that day was helping one team member to renew his baptism vows, meaning we got to dunk him in the Sea of Galilee. A lowlight was the fish I ate before I went in. It was served complete with its eyes still there. I had to ask someone else to remove its head, and seriously considered reverting back to vegetarianism. But I got better.;)

Name badge

On the camp I wore a name badge, mainly to help people remember my name, including myself, should I forget it. This caused a lot of laughter, especially for the younger children, as apparently 'Matt' means 'died' in Arabic. It also didn't help that one girl got me walking around saying 'my name is carpet' in Arabic. But anyway, how can I be dead and yet still alive? Well, Matt did die, two years and four months ago, and ever since he has been alive in Jesus Christ. Hallelujah!:)

Some reflections from Nazareth

I haven't been on here for a while as my internet at home is temporarily unavailable, so here I am at a local library, reflecting on some key moments from the recent mission I went on with Highway Projects, working with Arab children in Nazareth.

After the orientation days where every team visited many historical and holy sites, each team then went to their individual projects on Sunday 6th-three to Jerusalem and two to Nazareth. St. Margarets Summer Camp, where my team were based, was a very welcoming hostel, situated very high up with a great view of Nazareth below and the mount of the Transfiguration (Mark 9:2-13) in the background. On our first night there, we spent a lot of time on the balcony checking out the view. It was the day before the first group of kids arrived (64 in total). so it was quiet apart from the Islamic call to prayer coing from miles below, and the sound of a nearby stylophone...

It was dark, and I saw something nearby. Constructed entirely from shadows and the angles of rooftops, I saw what looked like a statue. It was a man, looking out away from St. Margarets, hands outstretched as though to welcome. Then I remembered Mark 10:14, when Jesus said Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. How fitting that the imaeg was facing the Arab side of the town, as the sumemr camp was for the Arabs, who get a really raw deal over there. Perhaps this is why 'do not hinder them' was relevant.

I didn't share this experience with any of the team as I believe it was for me (especially because it confirmed a word from God that a friend had given me the previous day about Jesus being a gift), but I realised there and then just how awesome a responsibility we had been entrusted with. This camp for the children was their only holiday and possibly even the highlight of their year. They went through checkpoints to get there, at any of which they could have been turned away for no good reason. We had the privilege of, as his disciples, effectively 'being Jesus' to the kids. He bid us welcome them, teach them-have fun with them, as he did during his earthly ministry. Even though I and the team didn't know exactly what we'd be doing for the next thirteen days at that point, I knew we were in for a great time. And truly, I have never in all my life bonded with or enjoyed being with children so much. This is because with Jesus all things are possible, and loving others with his love is both life-changing and also th emost powerful thing we can do.

On Mission!

I am in Nazareth until 19th July, working daily on a Christian summer camp with 50-60 8-14 year-olds. There are seven of us on the team, working alongside local Christian clergy. There may be a language barrier, particularly with the younger ones, and none of us have been to that part of the world before.

Please pray for us-for protection as we travel to Nazareth and stay there, for our health, for unity within the team...and most importantly of all, that God has His way and uses us however He wills, so that we can be a blessing to the kids and see their lives changed by the love of Jesus.

Thanks.

See you on the blog after the 19th:)
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