Lift Off
So I'm going to America. I'm writing this the day before I leave for London, where I'll stop over for one day before reaching the States.
God's been good with exams. I put a lot of work in there but the ones that have really shone is the ones when in the exams I most asked for him in prayer. Advanced Programming for me the second question was too hard, but I prayed, wrote down what I thought was a stab in the dark got an A in this. Databases didnt have a clue what one bit was saying. Same story. Math Methods I prayed about which question to do in the optional questions and instantly forgot a fundamental basic part of calculus which meant I couldnt do the question that looked the easiest. That question turned out to be intractable and its great that I did the other one. Dont know what I got in math methods, its combined into a larger grade but I'm told it was my best physics paper.
Gonna leave Scotland behind for a bit. My parents have been great, they actually are the best parents possible. They sacrifice and strive so much for me, although I still act like I'm still in stroppy teens sometimes. The way they act tells me so much about their faith without them having to say it.
Lookin forward to hangin wi the kids in the camp at the states, and meeting up with international students. Jenette, Amanda, I need your emails!
Some words…
Let worship be the fuel for mission's flame
We're going with a passion for Your name
We're going for we care about Your praise
Send us out
Let worship be the heart of mission's aim
To see the nations recognize Your fame
'Til every tribe and tongue voices Your praise
Send us out
You should be the praise of every tongue, Jesus
You should be the joy of every heart
But until the fullness of Your kingdom comes
Until the final revelation dawns
Send us out
Every tribe, every tongue
Every creature in the heavens and the earth
Every heart, every soul
Will sing Your praise, will sing Your praise
Every note, every strain
Every melody will be for You alone
Every harmony that flows from every tongue
We'll sing Your praise, we'll sing Your praise
We'll sing Your praise, we'll sing Your praise
O GOD OF BURNING, CLEANSING FLAME:
Send the fire!
Your blood-bought gift today we claim:
Send the fire today!
Look down and see this waiting host,
And send the promised Holy Ghost;
We need another "Pentecost"!
Send the fire today!
Send the fire today!
God of Elijah, hear our cry:
Send the fire!
And make us fit to live or die:
Send the fire today!
To burn up every trace of sin,
To bring the light and glory in,
The revolution now begin!
Send the fire today!
Send the fire today!
It’s fire we want, for fire we plead:
Send the fire!
The fire will meet our every need:
Send the fire today!
For strength to always do what’s right,
For grace to conquer in the fight,
For power to walk the world in white:
Send the fire today!
Send the fire today!
To make our weak hearts strong and brave:
Send the fire!
To live, a dying world to save:
Send the fire today!
Oh, see us on Your altar lay,
We give our lives to you today,
So crown the offering now we pray:
Send the fire today!
Send the fire today!
Send the fire today!
Matt Redman and William Booth respectively.
So yeah, gonna be incommunicado for a bit ;p dont know if I'll have access to email either but if youre on my prayer list then woo for you. You should get an email.
Hopefully Tony Blair will still be in power when I return. Hopefully my parents will have recorded Doctor Who. Hopefully I'll still have a Scottish accent (which is a little more pronounced than I thought it was according to my answerphone message).
Altho its great that seriously my hopes can be higher than this as I'm hoping these kids will get that they're cool, and that we can really make a difference at this camp. I'm hoping for more than that and God can do anything.
"People Matter." and church tonight was about knowing the will of God. I think a part of that is knowing in your heart the response of God to something. If you take that people matter, and that God is love, and if you've asked Jesus to live inside your heart, then sometimes you don't puzzle out what the will of God is but you know it you are enabled to do it and compelled to the thing. Don't know how to verbalise that but basically I wanna show God's love for these kids and I want Him to help me do that. If I'm showing these kids God loves them whether in actions or perhaps even in words then I want Him to personally sign that, and that signature to be clear. I want it to look like He's signed it. Metaphorically.
How much of this will make sense to me when I read it in two months? Hmmmm. HMMM. HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.
(its late)
America – T minus 7 days
I just realised I'm going to miss the final episode of Doctor Who
Eyes front
As yous will know I'm for going to America a month and a half. I'm working with a Christian mission organisation there and will be trying to show love to inner city kids by assisting in a summer camp. Theres academic education there and the centre apparently has a great record for encouraging them to learn and giving them opportunities they would not get in a crowded school. It also tries to reverse some of the disadvantages of poverty. Furthermore the kids can take part in bible studies which I'll be helping with too.
I have often felt the need for prayer, but I'm telling you that I feel it right now more than I realised. Not just as a nice idea, afterthought or something. But actually I need prayer for protection when I'm out there, as its a neighbourhood with problems. Before I even go there I actually feel right now that I'm supposed to go but that the devil doesn't want me to go*. And in the last week I've discovered that I need your prayers for protection before I even leave, because I think the devil doesn't want me to go. I use the word need deliberately. I'd also ask you to praise Him for the protection He's given me.
While on the subject, could use prayer for sports stuff as I don't have a clue about american (or british!) sports and thats a small part of what the camp does with kids. Finally I really wanna be able to convey whats on God's heart for the kids, which I reckon is love – and I want them to see it, not to think I'm great, but in some way directly or indirectly to see that its because theyre great and the God that made them is great too. Wanna also be an example that folks outside their normal social setting are ok. If you're up for recieving email updates from me when I'm over there then please reply here or better yet email me webmaster at darthdavid dot co dot uk. Also quite generally please pray for a boy called Jackson from Tanzania.
*I know that sounds a bit extreme, and even more so to people that wouldn't call themselves born-again Christians. All I can say is I acknowledge that but its part of the mindset that I have and actually a part of practical experience too. If it still seems unusual then ask me about it, if not let it sit there.
Far Cry 