Thank you so much for your prayers and support this past month! As I mentioned in my last letter, I was invited to preach at a local church around the corner from our own church. The name of the church is West London Family Church and the congregation , like ours is multicultural but predominantly African and West Indies. It was great preaching in such a different environment!
This month I would like to introduce you to Aoife, pronounced EE-FA. Hi readers! I’m from Dublin, Ireland and I’ve been working with Traci as a campus intern since January. What an adventure I’ve been on! I’ve had the privilege of mentoring some of the students in our church and watching them grow in
their relationship with God. It is a joy to see how some of those students are now mentoring their friends and peers.
As well as mentorship, we organise monthly student socials, from Karaoke nights to BBQs. I also reach out to un-churched students by setting up a coffee table on Sundays (we have our services on a medical campus). Through this we are slowly making connections with students on their way to study. Many of them have gone from trying to avoid eye-contact with me to thanking us for caring enough to provide them with coffee early on a Sunday morning!
I am learning so much during my time here. Traci is an amazing mentor- she has walked me through my first few months of full-time ministry and is always willing to share her wisdom, experience, and sense of humour! It is such a blessing to work alongside her and the team here to make disciples and make a difference here in the great city of London.
Thank you for praying for my holiday! I went away for a week with one of my housemates and her elderly parents. It was very slow paced and the scenery was beautiful! What’s also amazing is that the weather here in London has been wonderful and we are having an actual Summer! Being able to wear shorts, short sleeve shirts and flip flops is like being on an extra long holiday for me.
Lots of Love
Traci
This has been a busy but good month for me! It’s been a stretching time as I am moving more and more into a role where I am speaking more, so I have been finding my feet and finding a new rhythm of doing things.
I am continuing to mentor teens and adults as well as being involved with people in the community but I am also making space for preparation for different speaking opportunities. I love the fact that I get to be involved in reaching the lost as well as raising up and equipping leaders!
This past month I had the opportunity of speaking at our annual Empower Worship Day. This day is where we invite worship team members from our London churches as well as our other Western European churches to come together for some equipping and encouragement on how to lead worship. Having been involved in worship pretty much all of my adult life, I know the struggles and joys of being on a worship team. Taking my experience as a worship team member and as a pastor, I spoke on the topic of being Fit to Fight. This talk focused on our own spiritual walk “How are you and God doing?” In worship, we are bringing an attack on the devil so we need to make sure that we are prepared for the fight!
We also just recently started a series called Soul Detox in our Sunday services, where we are focusing on being spiritually healthy. This past Sunday I preached on “The Wounded Soul.” I have to say, it was one of the hardest messages I have ever spoken on. Many people have wounds in their souls as a result of hurts (physical, mental and spiritual) that they have experienced. Many people have not properly grieved and have got stuck in the grief stages and those wounds have become toxic and have not allowed a person to experience the abundant life that God has ordained them to have. My sermon was focussed on recognising this and encouraging people that there is hope and healing for their wounded soul. The service was a heavy one but the response has been incredible!
I would love to say that you could listen to the recording of this message but the recording did not come out… If you would like my notes then please feel free to email me and I will send them to you.
This coming Sunday I have been invited to preach at a church around the corner from ours! It’s a church in our local community that we are friends with and the pastors have been wanting me to come and speak for a while so I’m excited about being able to join them this Sunday.
Thank you so much for all of your prayer covering for me. I am loving what I am doing and you are a part of it all. People are experiencing Jesus, some for the first time and many are experiencing the fullness of what He did for us on the cross. Thank you sooooo much!
A few of you have been concerned about my busy schedule so I want you to know that this coming week I have holiday and I plan on relaxing a lot and enjoying God’s amazing beauty outdoors. Please pray for a refreshing time and continued health in my body and spirit.
Lots of Love
Traci
This past month was filled with lots of discipleship/mentoring, training and building up small group leaders, teaching Bible School, and Baptisms!
I have been focusing more over the past few months on my small group leaders. Making sure these leaders feel supported and have the training they need to lead their groups confidently is important to me but also making sure that they themselves are connecting with God is even more important. I have loved meeting and praying with them over the past few months as well as hearing the testimonies coming out of their groups.
I am also teaching and overseeing Bible School for part of this term which is something I love! This month I am teaching on Spiritual Disciplines. This past Monday I taught on Daily Devotions and Fellowship. In the coming weeks we will cover Communion, Fasting, Worship, Stewardship and Tithing as well as the Sabbath. If we are going to have a fruitful walk with Christ – we all need these disciplines!
Finally, one of the biggest highlights of last month was Baptisms! I love seeing people get baptised and I especially love it when I have been walking with them and get to take part in baptising them! Six of our teens were baptised as well as five adults. Five of the teens come from families that don’t attend church. Two of them have parents that don’t even believe in God. This is exciting for me! What made it amazing is that the parents who don’t believe in God all came to watch their teens be baptised! As a church, we had a wonderful opportunity to show them love and show them how much we love their teen. Please pray for more opportunities to share Jesus with them.
One of the teens that I had the privilege of baptising was Jessica. I have been mentoring Jessica and I have loved seeing her fall in love with Jesus. I truly believe that Jessica’s love for God will be a huge instrument in bringing her parents to Christ. Her comment that she made on Facebook afterwards shows you how much it meant to her – “This morning was definitely something! It was such an amazing morning. I'm feeling great & like a new person to be honest! Would just like to say a massive well done to everyone who got baptised today! I'm so proud of you all & I'm so blessed that I've been able to share this experience with you! Also a massive thank you to all of my youth leaders, pastors & friends/family that have supported me through this massive step I've taken today!”
Your love and support have been such an amazing blessing to me. I would really like to ask you to please remember to pray for me as well. God is growing me in SO MANY WAYS! I actually feel like what I am truly called to do is coming to pass. I am teaching and preaching loads more and I am beginning to feel the weight of the responsibility of a pastor more and more. I am loving, it but at the same time I realise more and more that your prayer covering is so essential.
Also, please remember that you have a part in every life that is being touched here in London.
Thank you again for all of your love and support!
Lots of Love
Traci
