As I sit down to write this letter I have the old hymn Great is thy Faithfulness coming to mind. The last 3 months have truly reflected His Faithfulness, His mercies every morning, strength for each day and hope for tomorrow!
The last 2 days of 2017 and the first few days of 2018 were filled with unexpected financial blessings that had me overwhelmed and asking God - “What are you preparing me for?!”
Within the next few weeks I would know the answer to this question as I was awakened to texts and phone calls telling me that my stepfather had a stroke. From one day to the next I was flying to America to be with my parents and praying that all would be well. Those unexpected financial blessings covered my flights and rental car!
While my mum was visiting family in Florida, she tried calling my stepdad all day with no answer. She was finally able to get a neighbour to drive through snow and ice to find him. The miracle, which we later found out, is that he had probably had the stroke 24 hours earlier. It was a miracle he was still alive and did not have worse complications!
Three weeks of being in the hospital and one
major surgery on his left carotid artery, my mum and I were able to bring him home! On
the outside he looks perfect! His right arm and hand still need therapy but his memory has been the most effected in problem solving and remembering how to use a computer, etc. Everyday though, he is making progress! He also had another surgery on his right carotid artery and will possibly need more surgeries in the future.
After helping my parents get settled at home for a week with a new way of doing life, I flew back to London to catch up on work as well as prepare for our European Every Nation Campus Conference! Our Conference this year was in Krakow, Poland with over 140 leaders and students from campuses across Europe.
Our theme this year was Kingdom Come!
We were excited to take 11 students from
London and I had the privilege of speaking on The King's Kingdom - Jesus Lord of all.
It was incredible to see the nations come together and be impacted by the teaching and ministry on this weekend. We are still hearing testimonies on how their lives have been touched!
I will be sending more updates from the
conference in my next letter.
Thank you so much for your prayer covering and your financial faithfulness. I could NOT do what I do here without you partnering with me on God’s call to reach the nations!
Loads of Love
Traci
Brrrrr it’s cold here in London! This is where my Florida blood cries out for sun and warmth. I’ve started taking Vitamin D supplements this week to give me a bit of a pick up as I have noticed the lack of sun does make a difference in my energy levels. Here in London we joke about having Summer for only a week or two whereas in Florida you only have a week or two of winter and sometimes just days!
Even though it’s been cold it’s been good! Our church recently did a series called “What Jesus
said about…” and I had the privilege of preaching one of the messages on the topic of “Waiting.” If you would like to hear the message, especially if you are in a waiting period, you can listen HERE. I focussed on 2 questions: Why do we wait? 1. To change us, 2. To learn to trust patiently and 3. To bring glory to God. The second question was: What do we do while we wait? 1. Put your HOPE in Him, 2. Don’t wait alone and 3. Wait expectantly.
December is also full of Christmas parties!
Here are pictures from our staff party and campus party!
This year I have really experienced God’s love, provision, peace and joy and I know that a lot of that has to do with your prayers and support! Thank you so, so much for your faithfulness!
Loads of Love
Traci
Warning – this is a bit of a long one but there was so much to share from this past month!
If you ever attend a service at an Every Nation Church, you will most likely hear them mention students at one point or another in their services. Reaching students is a huge part of who we are. Most people choose a faith
during their student years and it’s the students on campus now all across the world, who will one day be our world leaders!
October in Europe is usually the time when
most Universities have an influx of thousands
upon thousands of students from all over the world start their academic years. Imperial College ranked in the top 10 of
Universities in 2017, is one of the Campuses
that we focus on in London.
This past month the campus welcomed students from all over the world as you can see on their steps. We had a stall at on their Freshers Day and used many tools to engage with Christian and non-Christian students including poster board questions, the God
Test and a 30 second Survey. And what’s exciting is that we have seen both Christian and non-christian students coming to church and getting involved in our events! We are trusting for student salvations this year and deepening relationships with God.
As many of you know, doing missions trips is also a huge passion of mine! I loved being part of team and not only watching lives change in the city where we are ministering but also the lives of the team members being changed! I also love being able to encourage the churches we are supporting and coming alongside during the time we are there.
This trip was no different and God certainly did not disappoint! Our team consisted of Americans, a Romanian and Ukrainians. We had Ten Days to help our church in Lviv, Ukraine to launch their Campus Ministry. Our goal was to start English Clubs on one of the local Universities to build relationships with the students to where our Ukrainian team could then continue walking with them and introduce many of them to a relationship with Christ.
There was such HUGE favour on the campus with the director that he even went around to the
classes and encouraged the students to join the clubs. We did God Tests and passed out flyers inviting students to the clubs.
Over 50 students arrived on the first day and we were able to divide the classes into Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced. For 5 nights students came for 3 hours an evening to learn vocabulary, have discussions around a Bible story and play games!
In the Beginners class we had students from different classes and universities all tell us that it was common all through school and university to be told that they were stupid, terrible and the worst students ever. Coming to
our clubs they were overwhelmed by our acceptance, encouragement and approval of each of them! Most of our team were able to share our testimonies during the week with many of them.
By the end of the mission our goal had been achieved and the campus ministry was launched with an amazing lady named Tanya leading the ministry! Students sent Facebook messages to the team saying that it had been the best week of their lives!
This ministry is at the beginning stages and Tanya needs lots of prayer to keep moment going and to also build a team of young leaders in the church to help her out. Please remember her in your prayers.
On my return to London, I have hit the ground running! I can’t believe that Christmas is around the corner. For those of you living in America – Happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you so much for all of your love and support. Please pray for more people to join our team in the coming year.
You are an amazing blessing!
Lots of Love
Traci
