Summer Bar-b-ques and other events...

So summer is offically here! It's nice when it's not raining (which seems to be less as of recently) but the weather can move in pretty quickly.

While I'm not running just yet, the knee is making good progress, and I am walking now with no limp. Yes, it's the little things I appreciate these days :-) Over the next few weeks we're coming to the end of the Alpha course and moving on to bigger things for summer. We had the Holy Spirit day last Sunday, and I must say it went rather well! Kate (one of two DNA students and a youth volunteer) did wonderful work at creating discussions on "who is the Holy Spirit?" and "what does the Holy Spirit do?" The comments from the young people in both groups were fantastic, and in some small way we are starting to see some payoff from this course. We have two weeks to go before we finish this round, and I am already thinking of how to run the next one sometime later this year.

Next week on Thursday we have a youth leaders night. There are a few churches here who are sending youth to Soul Survivor this year (the big summer Christian youth conference) and it has been on my heart to gather as leaders to talk and pray about youth ministry in Bognor Regis and to plan out a day when our young people can meet up before the whirlwind of Soul Survivor hits.

This past Tuesday we had a night out to see The Cross And The Switchblade, the story of David Wilkinson and Nicky Cruz. While the events took place over 40 years ago, the message is still really powerful and relevant.

I am really blown away by how far north we really are. I was standing outside last night at about 10:15 and could still see the last light of day fading in the sky. There is still pretty good light at 9pm! It's funny cause I get weird looks from the locals who are used to longer daylight hours.

Overall, I'm doing ok personally. I knew this first year would be a challenge, but there are times where it is more than I expected, and I wish I could convey more to all of you back home what it's really like (both the very good, and the moments where I want to tear my hair out at the stress and frustration). I do miss all of you, and when I do think of you it is with a smile (sometimes in public while walking down the street by my self and suddenly catch that I've got a big silly smile across my face at some random memory in my mind :-)

I hope this entry finds you well!
Paul