God's goodness

Well, as you can see, my last blog post was dated over a month ago. What a month it’s been! here goes:

On 27th September I spoke at Cheam, to a fellowship of about 6 people.There was some initial confusion, as they thought my mum was the speaker, and couldn’t quite get their head round the fact that it was me, and that I would be speaking on my own. After the meeting however, i received a lot of good feed back, everyone came and spoke to me and said they had enjoyed what I had said and found it helpful. They also joined in with me singing “some day the silver cord will break” which was a very special moment.

On sunday 2nd october I set off with my dad at midnight, ok, it was really 6:40 am, but it felt more like midnight! to travel to Bristol. I was booked to speak to Kensington Baptist church that morning. in the morning service i was given a 20 minute slot, and there were 300 people present. I spoke and sang, and then the pastor, Andy Paterson, gave the short sermon. he, very fittingly, preached on the through the roof story in Luke 5. he did it very simply, saying that we have a responsibility to bring people to Jesus and show them his love. After the service there was a church lunch then we went back to Abi’s house. Abi and I went to the Budapest conference together in May and it was she who had instigated the invitation to this church. It was lovely to see her again and spend time with her and her family.

Later we went back to church where i was booked to speak to about 45-50 children aged from 5 to 11. They listened well, were very interested, and had lots of questions! These were mostly very practical questions such as “how do you know the difference between jam and marmite”, but these were important to them, and I feel its important to answer children’s questions as they then become comfortable with you, and accept your disability as part of you, instead of seeing it as something strange and being worried about how to approach you. Unanswered questions lead to a lot of uncertainty.

After this group, our last call was to a youth group being held at one of the members houses. There were about 10 people aged from 13-18. Again they listened and had a few questions, some about my mission trip to Guatemala, some about what i did for TTR and other practical questions about how i cooked. One boy even whispered that he felt ashamed because he could only cook things if they could go in the microwave.

all in all, it was a blessed day. i had again a lot of positive feedback, but the most wonderful part was when the Pastor asked Abi if she would organise a group who were keen to include people with disabilities within church, as he knew this was close to her heart. that is what we all long to see, churches taking responsibility and initiative to start including themselves.

On the Tuesday after the Bristol Sunday, Tim and  I were interviewed on the Urban Saints Leaders TV about Through The Roof. This will go out to their 700 groups across the country.

After that, i have been catching up with emails etc. I have had a lot of technical hitches, a lot of frustrations but after a system restore for my new computer i hope these issues will be a thing of the past!

I praise God for his help and his guidance. He daily gives me the strength to carry on, the words to say, and the places to go and people to speak to. without him, my work would be in vain, and my life would have no meaning. i am grateful for his daily blessings and blessed to say that someday, “i shall see him face to face, and tell the story saved by grace!”

please contact me on philippa@throughtheroof.org if you have a group you would like me to speak to.

technical hitches

written on september 20th:

I have had such a blessed time recently. I have spoken at two different meetings. The first was a Fellowship of Youth meeting and was to about 20 young people and 6/7 adults. It was a good time of fun and they listened very well. 

On Tuesday night I was booked to speak at a churches together meeting in Hitchin. This was a very nice meeting. Everybody responded well and they were all so welcoming. I pray God will use that meeting to make Through the Roof more known, and that maybe some more bookings will come from it. 

The rest of the time since I last wrote has been spent on emailing people. Slight technical hitch though as most of my emails are sending as blank messages! Very frustrating! I have also been finding it difficult to log in, and have to get to know a new computer as well. Its all fun and games! It's such a blessing to know that when we talk to God we will never get the message "error" or "can't display page", and he will never have to say "sorry can you send me that prayer again please?"  Even a silent prayer is heard! 

I had a meeting with Alan the project manager of Integr8 last week. We discussed the project and the trip to Guatemala, and reflected on the last six months. It's incredibly hard to believe that it is really six months since this job began! I feel privileged that God has made it possible for me to do this work, and want to continue to do all things to his glory. 

This morning I had an early start. I was on Biggles FM-my local radio station, talking about Guatemala, TTR, and giving the thought for the day. 

Next week I am speaking in Epsom. I have also been encouraged to be given a cheque from a series of meetings that one church (who heard me talk at a ladies Rally in March-Cambridgeshire) have collected together and kindly donated to Through the Roof. This is a real blessing and I'm pleased that they have done this. 

So all in all, I am a little tired, but still thankful. I know that God has his hand on this work, and that "strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord". 

If you wish to know more or have a group that you would like me to speak at please contact me on Philippa@throughtheroof.org