Dear Family and Friends
My newsletter is coming to you late this month because I have been in the middle of moving so this letter will cover two months. I moved most of my things into a friend’s house in Slough to keep for me until my moving date and Dina and I moved out of our old flat at the end of July. I stayed with her for a few nights on a blow-up mattress – not fun. From there, I went with a few suitcases to a family’s house in Slough where I stayed for a few nights and then went to Youth Camp for 2 ½ days! After camp, I came back to the family’s house until I finally moved into my flat this past Wednesday 11, August.
I’m sitting here in my kitchen a week later, still surrounded by most of my boxes finally having the opportunity to write you because my WIFI was installed today! There were a few issues when I moved in with areas of mould that have now been treated and this week, I have started the process of painting the flat. The old tenants did a terrible paint job and I have asked permission to repaint with a better colour. Hopefully by next week, I will be able to put furniture in and unpack the rest of my things.
Thank you so much for all of your prayers! God has provided amazing people to help me through this whole process and I know He will continue to provide everything I need to make my new place an incredible home for this next season!
Right before the moving process began, I was able to preach online for our Cyprus church plant - specifically speaking to singles. Here is a picture of our Zoom meeting.
I then continued to train for Youth Camp with this year’s theme being Activate. This year’s camp was very different because we were only allowed to have 30 teens on each camp because of Covid restrictions so we made the camp only 2 ½ days instead of 5 to where we could have 2 camps back to back with our older teens on the first camp and younger ones on the second camp. I was a leader and speaker for the first camp – speaking on Wake Up – salvation is here. Here is a picture of that evening and as you can see, we still had to keep the teens one meter apart in the meeting room. Both camps were amazing, and we saw incredible ministry times and new relationships with God and with each other!
This past Sunday, I also preached again in Slough at one of our picnic services on Letting Go and Leaving Behind. You can watch the sermon here on YouTube – https://youtu.be/94wrKDR-XCk.
Again, thank you so much for all of your prayers. These past few months have been quite tiring and emotional in so many ways and I know that it is your love and support that has been helping so much!
In the coming weeks I am looking forward to getting settled in my new flat, getting into a good routine of working and living in Slough and taking a week of much needed holiday at the end of this month!
Loads of love
Traci
Dear Family and Friends
I found a new place to live! Thank you for your prayers in finding a new home in Slough. It took a few weeks of looking for places within my budget and also close enough to the church venue and community, but God is always faithful! I found a flat that is only a 7 minute drive (when I get a car) and 30 minute walk from the church. Also, I didn’t know it at the time that I said yes to the flat, but it is literally a one minute walk to the front door of one of the families in our church! It’s actually the family of one of the teens I am mentoring at the moment, and I have known them for years. God is good!
I won’t be able to move in until 11 August but the packing and moving process has begun. My housemate, (Dina) has also found a place so we will be moving out of our current flat at the end of this month and I will be staying with friends until mine is ready. Please continue to pray for provision for all the costs that are involved in moving and refurnishing, etc. in the coming weeks and months.
Another thing I am celebrating this past month is that I passed my Driving Theory Test! It’s so funny that I have been driving since I was 16 years old in America, and now I have to go through it all over again to be able to drive here in the UK. I’ve never really needed to drive in London because the transportation is so good, but in Slough it’s a necessity. Once I have moved, I will take a few driving lessons and then my practical test.
Finding a new home and passing my driving test were personal wins for me in June but I also continued to do discipleship with people here in Slough and across Europe on a weekly basis which is always exciting for me.
I taught at our Follow 3 Course in Slough for the first time a few weeks ago and I have begun training for our Summer Youth Camp coming up at the beginning of August. As many of you know, youth camp is always a highlight for me every year. I’m really looking forward to being able to build new relationships with our Slough teens on this camp. We had to do camp online last year, but this year we get to do it in person! Because of Covid, the teens themselves have been so limited in even connecting with each other so I’m really trusting that they will not only encounter God on this camp but also build new and strong relationships with each other.
Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support – you have no idea how valuable it is to me!
Loads of love
Traci
Dear Family and Friends
I am continuously blessed by being able to reach the nations here in London! Thank you so much for your faithfulness in praying and supporting me in doing what I do. This is your fruit!
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending another wedding for some of my spiritual children! I mentored Razel throughout her college and university years, which is where Ruffy came into the picture. Razel is now working for our church here in London in our Kids and Youth Department and she and Ruffy also mentor many of our teens.
That same weekend I preached my first sermon in our Slough congregation on What Jesus said about Grief. If you have experienced loss of loved one, a dream, or a big change or trauma of any kind, I hope this sermon will encourage you to embrace grief and allow God to bring you comfort.
This past Saturday I also had the opportunity to speak to some of our Female Campus Missionaries who are
serving in countries across Europe – Ireland, Northern Ireland, Germany, Armenia, France and England. My talk was on facing our realities and embracing grief to be able to go forward in the transitions and changes coming up in this next season.
Thank you again for all that you do!
Lots of love,
Traci
