Dear Family and Friends
Can you believe May is almost over?! I arrived back in London on 2 May and I hit the ground running. A few days later I was on a bit of a scout with a new church that we have in the south of England in a city called Bournemouth. This church has mainly been working in their community but had never reached out to the university campus in the city. I was invited to come down with two other seasoned pastors from London to walk and pray with the church leaders from the Bournemouth church onto the university campus and the nearby communities where they have student housing. Those of us from London showed them what to look for and how to speak to students on campus. God even set it up with it being an international day on the university where students put on display tables with treats from their countries! We were able to have easy conversations with them. I even got to practice my Spanish with a girl from Ecuador and had the opportunity to pray for her. We left with the Bournemouth leaders excited and ready to go back onto the campus regularly!
Here's a picture of our little team and me chatting to the young lady from Ecuador.
The day after getting back from Bournemouth we had a Freedom Day for our 3 London congregations. I had the privilege of teaching two of the sessions on the day and praying for freedom for some of the women. I love these days!!
The following week we had one of our ENC Picnics taking advantage of the sun after church. These students come from universities all across London. I think we are also representing at least 10 countries as well in this picture!
This month has also been a time of preparing for what’s coming up. Tomorrow, I am flying to Marseille, France for 3 days to help our Every Nation Marseille Church with their Freedom Day. Remember I said I love Freedom days! I don’t speak French but I’m going to help serve the church in set up, catering and praying for freedom with some of their English speakers.
I then head to Rome from 6-9 June for a mission trip! I’m joining Grace Family Church in Tampa as they take a team to engage the millions of people travelling to Rome for the Jubilee celebrations. Many people are taking a pilgrimage to Rome as they open Holy doors in 5 major basilicas where many believe they will get forgiveness of all of their sins as they walk through these doors. We are trusting for many opportunities to share that Jesus is the door to forgiveness and He is the Hope they are seeking after. Rome is expecting up to 35 million people in this Jubilee Year so please pray for me and the team during this week!
I come back to London for a few days before I travel to Marseille again where from 16-20 June, I will be teaching at our Every Nation School of Ministry Campus Track. This track prepares those who are feeling called into campus ministry.
The following week I will head up into the mountains with students and student leaders for our ENC Leaders camp. Whew! You will be happy to know that after all of the above I will take a week of much needed holiday!
Please pray for all my travels and for my body to stay strong and healthy.
I look forward to telling you how all of these trips went in my next letter. Please also continue praying for my monthly support as I have not met my goal yet.
Thank you so much! You have a part in every place God sends me and to every person that I get to minister to!
Lots of Love
Traci
PS – Just a reminder that my travelling is paid for by Every Nation. My monthly support is for living expenses.
Dear Family and Friends
Apologies, I missed sending out a newsletter last month. WARNING this one is a bit longer than usual so I can catch you up on the last few months.
Welcome to those of you who are receiving this for the first time! If you’ve heard me speak for more than a few minutes, then you have heard that one of the many hats I wear and also one of my passions – is being one of the leaders helping to oversee our European university student ministry (ENC) and helping students and the leaders grow in their relationship with God. I wanted to share with you an article I recently read from a student ministry here in the UK that confirms what we have been seeing throughout Europe:
“If you’ve been anywhere online in the past few months, you’ll have seen news headlines shouting about Gen Z and spirituality. The Times recently claimed - “Gen Z half as likely as their parents to identify as atheists.” These signs are hardly new. We’ve been talking about this for years. What is new, though, is that mainstream media is starting to talk about this too. These are big voices. But they are only seeing the tip of the iceberg. This slow awakening runs so much deeper, and I believe we have yet to see how far down it goes. One recent survey says:
• 50% of all students think that the Bible is relevant to today’s world; and
• 33% of non-Christian students would like to read the Bible with a friend.
These findings show the huge opportunity that exists in the current student generation. There is a significant increase in openness. There was also a recent student worldview survey with 76% of students saying they’d go to church if a friend invited them.
For a long time, we have been trying to catch fish that don’t want to be caught. Fish that swim away as soon as they see the boat coming. But now they are swimming in a current that is drawing them in. Some of them are even jumping into the boats of their own accord. We aren’t doing anything new. We have no new fishing techniques, no magic bait to bring the fish to us. We don’t need marketing or attractive ways to generate interest. The spirit of God is enough. The word of God is enough.”
What exciting news! The catch of the century is coming so please pray for me and all those I work with because we need wisdom and hearts and hands that are prepared for this great catch!
At the end of March, I had the privilege of teaching one 2 one mentoring at our new church plant in the south of London. The main reason for me doing this teaching was to help church members learn how to walk with students who are starting to come to church!
I then headed to Prague, Czech Republic for our Build Conference where people from our churches all over Europe gathered for a time of encouragement and input.
One the back of our Build Conference we had our ENC (Every Nation Campus) conference where students and student leaders from 21 nations across Europe and a few from Philippines, Africa and America joined for a weekend of fun and input. We have been so encouraged over the past few years because we have clearly been seeing what you read above. More and more students are saying yes to Jesus and we are seeing more of a hunger and an increase in attendance every year! At the end of the conference, we invited students to lunch who felt like God was calling them into ministry possibly after graduation. Here is a picture of those who came to the lunch!
Here are two pictures also from the conference. The first one is of the campus leaders I get to work with across Europe and the second is the group picture of all of our students and a few leaders we brought to the conference from London.
And finally, here is a picture of all of those who attended the ENC Conference:
The day after the ENC Conference I headed to Florida for my annual support raising trip. It was an incredible time meeting up with old and new friends sharing what God has been doing in Europe. I’ve loved seeing and catching up with people and I’ve also loved meeting new friends!
Last week I flew to Georgia where my family now lives to continue meeting up with old and new friends in person and on Zoom calls. This time in the states has been filled with God’s incredible blessings of provision and I am believing that I will meet my support raising goals. It’s also been a very challenging time…I broke my big toe the first week I was in Florida which slowed me down a bit and has put me in a boot for 6 weeks. I’ve also had to deal with family losses and challenges which has brought about grief and lots of prayer for God’s wisdom in the next while.
None of these things are a surprise to God though! He is good and I am trusting Him for everything I need in this next season. He is faithful.
Thank you SO MUCH for all your prayers! I need them! Thank you also to everyone who has been giving to me financially. I really couldn’t do what I’m doing here in Europe without you.
Lots of Love
Traci
Dear Family and Friends
I know I joked about January seeming like it would never end, but February literally flew by! I can’t believe we are already in March.
February has mainly been a month filled with teaching and preaching as well as my normal monthly meetings with people across Europe.
On 12 February we had a Campus Friendship Event in place of Valentine’s Day for our University students. It was an evening of food, fun and discussion on what it’s like to make friends, friendship boundaries and God’s perspective on friendship. Here’s an Instagram clip from the evening: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGL94n0uFAL/?igsh=dnNybHMzYmV3OWJl
On 16 February I had the privilege of going back to our Slough congregation where I served for 1.5 years. I preached on Mary Magdalene as part of our series on The Cross. It was so good to see everyone and see how the church is doing!
Teaching on mentoring is one of my favourite things and I got to do this with our interns on 18 February. I’ve already heard from one of our youth leaders how implementing some of the tips has made such a difference in the mentoring relationship he had with one of the boys he is meeting with.
Our Every Nation School of Ministry had a residential week this past month. One of the teachers for our Campus Track was unable to attend so I was excited to step in and join Aoife on Zoom to teach a few sessions on 20 February.
And finally, on 24 February I taught on Going to Make Disciples on our Follow Two Course.
Our Every Nation Europe Build Conference is coming up at the end of March which means people will be flying into Prague from all over Europe. Many of those people flying in will need to get visas to travel because they live in Europe but hold passports from outside of Europe.
One such person who needed a visa was my beautiful friend Romona. Romona and her husband Euan pastor our church in Glasgow, Scotland. Romona needed to come to London to get the visa and I was delighted to get to host her for night!
I fly to Prague, Czech Republic on 22 March and will be there for our Build Conference as well as our ENC Conference until 30 March.
I then fly to America for the month of April to see friends and family and raise my monthly support.
If you live in the States and would like to meet up on Zoom or in person, please message me to set a date by 31 March so we don’t miss out on meeting up. I will be mainly in Florida for the first 3 weeks in April and then Georgia the last week.
Please pray for a significant increase in my monthly support. I am trusting for new partners here in the UK and also in America. This month I have received so many notifications of all my bills going up in April. I know the cost of living is going up everywhere so I am trusting all of us will experience God’s provision.
Thank you SO MUCH for all your prayers! I need them! Thank you also to everyone who has been giving to me financially. I really couldn’t do what I’m doing here in Europe without you.
Lots of Love
Traci
