The past few months seem to have been filled with travelling, meetings and writing.
Travelling
I have just returned from two weeks in the United States visiting key evangelism leaders in the states of Alabama, Florida and Virginia. As a result of my meetings with Dr Sammy Gilbreath in Alabama and Dr David Burton in Florida we are now purusing partnerships with the Alabama and Florida Baptist Conventions. The partnerships are around More to Life and we will be exploring ways that we can equip and resource the leaders and Christians to engage in faith sharing through the More to Life programme.
I then went onto Virginia, where I am working with the Baptist General Association of Virginia on a programme called ‘670’. This again has More to Life as a key part of its outreach philosophy. It was great to be able speak at the annual meetings of the BGAV as well as to spend time with Wayne Faison, the team leader for Courageous Churches and develop some strategy for the next few years. I was also able to meet with the Courageous Churches team and to form some really good relationships with them.
As a result of this trip I will be returning to the United States in February speaking at Evangelism Conferences in Alabama, Florida, Virginia and also Pennsylvania.
Writing
Whilst travelling where possible and when not meeting much of my time over the past few months has been spent writing. The major things I am writing at the moment are:
Seek Serve Follow
‘Seek Serve Follow’ is a discipleship course that we have been commissioned to produce by Girls’ Brigade England & Wales. This 8 session pack is being produced to help leaders of Girls’ Brigade across the country to become closer followers of Jesus thus enabling them to encourage the girls and young women they minister to, to become closer followers of Jesus.
I have been writing the teaching material for the 8 sessions as well as working with our media team on the DVD and journal content.
More to Life Enquirers Site
As a result of the expanding ministry of More to Life we have decided to produce a website specifically designed for people who have been encouraged to begin to question whether they could know God but are not ready for church. The More to Life DVD and whole approach to evangelism results in there being many people who are in this position.
This is now live!! If you would like to see it visit http://www.more-to-life.org/
As well as the meetings in the United States I have been involved in a number of key meetings in the UK. I recently met with Roger Batt, the Children’s Specialist for the Salvation Army to talk through the possibilities of Arise Ministries partnering with the Salvation Army to pioneer new children’s work across the UK. We had a very encouraging meeting and I plan to go back soon to meet with his team and explore possibilities.
I have also been involved in exciting meetings looking at the development of Solid a youth festival that Viz-A-Viz ministries runs in partnership with other key organisations in Essex (I am the spiritual director for this event). I have been involved in similar meetings regarding Leading Edge, the Baptist Union Summer bible week which is delivered in partnership with Viz-A-Viz ministries.
If I were to summarise what I have been doing in the last few months it feels as if God is up to something and I am just trying to keep up with it. I would appreciate your prayers
for wisdom as we explore partnerships and developments in all kinds of areas.
for patience, as even though God moves quickly I sometimes still want to rush ahead!
for my family, as I am spending time away and out of the country, please pray especially for my wife Lynn.
Thursday 6 December 2007
Thursday 18 October 2007
My first (but not last) blog.
This is my first ever blog because at last I have caught up the technology.
From now on I will be writing regular updates of what I have been up to and other things that may be of interest. If you are interested, and would like to pray for me in an informed way then please watch this space.
What's been happening?
Back in March I travelled to the United States visiting Virginia, Pennsylvania, Florida and Alabama to pursue an exciting partnership around the More to Life project that we have developed in the UK.
I was able to meet with key leaders in these states and to speak to gatherings of Church leaders and church planters to explore ways ahead.
As part of my visit I also attended the Baptist World Alliance Annual meetings. Last year I was invited to join the BWA Evangelism and Education Executive and this was my first attendance at one of their meetings. It was fascinating to meet with so many key leaders from across the world.
In April I was invited to South Africa by the Baptist Union of South Africa to speak at two conferences and a crusade. The first conference was a National Youth Conference exploring ways that churches could reach out to the emerging generations of young people. The second conference was a National Evangelism Conference which was again exploring ways of communicating Christ in the 21st Century. I really enjoyed having significant input into both of these conferences and many appreciated the emphasis I was able to place on being relevant to people today who are not accustomed to attending church.
As well as the conferences I also spoke at a ‘Crusade’. It was great to have the opportunity to preach Christ to people and see a response to the gospel.
In many ways this was the beginning of what could be ongoing ministry in South Africa.
As well as ministry overseas during the period before summer I was involved in a number of things in the UK.
I travelled to a number of venues with our theatre company Envizage and our tech team to deliver an event called ‘More to Easter’. This event is used by churches to clearly communicate the message of Easter to people who are not familiar with Jesus or church.
I have also been involved in speaking at a national festival Firm Foundations. This festival is hosted by Boys Brigade and Girls Brigade and attracts over a 1000 adults and young people. I spoke at one of the main celebrations and challenged people to see themselves as Jesus sees them and then to commit or recommit their lives to him. Even in the pouring rain the response was both moving and significant.
Soon after this I spoke at the Salvation Army National conference ‘Generate’. This conference was held at the Swanwick Conference Centre and attended by Salvation Army people from across the country who are keen on evangelism.
I spoke at the plenary sessions at this conference as well as a number of the seminars. It was really exciting to challenge and encourage such a significant group of people to more effective evangelism.
As well as the input into conferences and evangelistic events I have spoken at church weekends where the focus has been on evangelism.
There is something quite special about speaking at a weekend where a church has gone away together and therefore has the time to consider what it really is doing and how its weekly programme helps it to achieve that vision. I was able to speak challengingly and hopefully encouragingly to these churches.
Just before the summer I, along with Mike Simmonds, our Director of Evangelism, and Envizage Theatre Company took part in a week long mission in the North of England in partnership with the Northern Baptist Association. During this week I spoke at a number of evangelistic events that local churches had arranged. My most special memory of these evangelistic events was in Newcastle. Envizage Theatre Company had performed a piece of theatre based on the prodigal son, I then spoke about how God welcomes home those who want to be put right with him. I heard afterwards that two women who had been involved in lifestyles that were not unlike the character in the Envizage sketch rushed to our display table to find out how they could be put right with God.
As well as the evangelistic events for adults we presented an evening for young people at which many responded to the gospel. I also spent much of my time speaking at gatherings of pastors and church leaders encouraging them in ways they can reach people today with the Good News of Jesus.
Following this mission came the summer and with it my wife Lynn and my 25th Wedding Anniversary, so we went for a very special holiday with our family Gregg, Scott and Amy to California. It was a great time just to relax and be refreshed. During our time in California we were able to visit Saddleback Community Church which was an interesting experience.
Following our holiday the next thing for me was Leading Edge. This is a summer bible week that we deliver in partnership with Baptist Union of Great Britain. Around 1300 people attended. My involvement is overseeing the adult programme and speaking into that. In addition our theatre company, Mike Simmonds our Director of Evangelism, our band Taste, our technical crew as well as numerous people that are involved with and have been involved with Viz-A-Viz serve as volunteers.
God always does amazing things at Leading Edge and this year the most exciting thing for me was when two children shared in the adult celebration how God was changing their lives and how he was always with them. The result of this was that two adults were so challenged by these children that they gave their lives to Christ!
Straight after Leading Edge I travelled, with my wife Lynn, to Argentina to speak at a national conference in a city just south of Buenos Aires called Mar del Plata. Around 600 -700 young adults attended the conference and I spoke at the main plenary sessions. I had a wonderful interpreter called Phoebe and God really used the conference to speak into the lives of many of those who attended. There was a great response in the lives of so many that attended. My greatest memory is one young lady standing at the front of the auditorium holding my hand and the hand of my interpreter and just saying repeatedly ‘Gracias, gracias, gracias’. I am not sure exactly what God did in her life but it was significant.
In addition to these events I have also been very busy writing a whole number of things.
Earlier this year I was able to complete the ALF Year of Outreach programme which is the first major initiative of Arise. (For more details about Arise please click here) It is my prayer that this Year of Outreach material will help churches to pioneer exciting new ministry amongst children across the United Kingdom.
I am now in the middle of writing a resource for Girls Brigade called ‘Seek, Serve, Follow’. This discipleship course is aimed at helping Girls Brigade leaders across the country, and potentially in many different parts of the world, to become closer followers of Jesus thus enabling them to help the girls and the young women they reach out to, to become followers of Jesus as well.
I also have a deadline of just a few weeks to complete the writing of a web site for people who are interested in finding out more about the Christian faith but are not attending church.
We have started the ‘new year’ with our new group of Optimum Volunteers and I have taken part in their training sessions at St Mark’s, Saffron Walden with an overview of the Bible for the first years and an in depth study of Bible characters for the 2nd years.
So that’s what I have been up to, coming up are a whole number of opportunities and I will be posting regular updates on this blog.
I will keep you posted!!
In Christ
Dennis
From now on I will be writing regular updates of what I have been up to and other things that may be of interest. If you are interested, and would like to pray for me in an informed way then please watch this space.
What's been happening?
Back in March I travelled to the United States visiting Virginia, Pennsylvania, Florida and Alabama to pursue an exciting partnership around the More to Life project that we have developed in the UK.
I was able to meet with key leaders in these states and to speak to gatherings of Church leaders and church planters to explore ways ahead.
As part of my visit I also attended the Baptist World Alliance Annual meetings. Last year I was invited to join the BWA Evangelism and Education Executive and this was my first attendance at one of their meetings. It was fascinating to meet with so many key leaders from across the world.
In April I was invited to South Africa by the Baptist Union of South Africa to speak at two conferences and a crusade. The first conference was a National Youth Conference exploring ways that churches could reach out to the emerging generations of young people. The second conference was a National Evangelism Conference which was again exploring ways of communicating Christ in the 21st Century. I really enjoyed having significant input into both of these conferences and many appreciated the emphasis I was able to place on being relevant to people today who are not accustomed to attending church.
As well as the conferences I also spoke at a ‘Crusade’. It was great to have the opportunity to preach Christ to people and see a response to the gospel.
In many ways this was the beginning of what could be ongoing ministry in South Africa.
As well as ministry overseas during the period before summer I was involved in a number of things in the UK.
I travelled to a number of venues with our theatre company Envizage and our tech team to deliver an event called ‘More to Easter’. This event is used by churches to clearly communicate the message of Easter to people who are not familiar with Jesus or church.
I have also been involved in speaking at a national festival Firm Foundations. This festival is hosted by Boys Brigade and Girls Brigade and attracts over a 1000 adults and young people. I spoke at one of the main celebrations and challenged people to see themselves as Jesus sees them and then to commit or recommit their lives to him. Even in the pouring rain the response was both moving and significant.
Soon after this I spoke at the Salvation Army National conference ‘Generate’. This conference was held at the Swanwick Conference Centre and attended by Salvation Army people from across the country who are keen on evangelism.
I spoke at the plenary sessions at this conference as well as a number of the seminars. It was really exciting to challenge and encourage such a significant group of people to more effective evangelism.
As well as the input into conferences and evangelistic events I have spoken at church weekends where the focus has been on evangelism.
There is something quite special about speaking at a weekend where a church has gone away together and therefore has the time to consider what it really is doing and how its weekly programme helps it to achieve that vision. I was able to speak challengingly and hopefully encouragingly to these churches.
Just before the summer I, along with Mike Simmonds, our Director of Evangelism, and Envizage Theatre Company took part in a week long mission in the North of England in partnership with the Northern Baptist Association. During this week I spoke at a number of evangelistic events that local churches had arranged. My most special memory of these evangelistic events was in Newcastle. Envizage Theatre Company had performed a piece of theatre based on the prodigal son, I then spoke about how God welcomes home those who want to be put right with him. I heard afterwards that two women who had been involved in lifestyles that were not unlike the character in the Envizage sketch rushed to our display table to find out how they could be put right with God.
As well as the evangelistic events for adults we presented an evening for young people at which many responded to the gospel. I also spent much of my time speaking at gatherings of pastors and church leaders encouraging them in ways they can reach people today with the Good News of Jesus.
Following this mission came the summer and with it my wife Lynn and my 25th Wedding Anniversary, so we went for a very special holiday with our family Gregg, Scott and Amy to California. It was a great time just to relax and be refreshed. During our time in California we were able to visit Saddleback Community Church which was an interesting experience.
Following our holiday the next thing for me was Leading Edge. This is a summer bible week that we deliver in partnership with Baptist Union of Great Britain. Around 1300 people attended. My involvement is overseeing the adult programme and speaking into that. In addition our theatre company, Mike Simmonds our Director of Evangelism, our band Taste, our technical crew as well as numerous people that are involved with and have been involved with Viz-A-Viz serve as volunteers.
God always does amazing things at Leading Edge and this year the most exciting thing for me was when two children shared in the adult celebration how God was changing their lives and how he was always with them. The result of this was that two adults were so challenged by these children that they gave their lives to Christ!
Straight after Leading Edge I travelled, with my wife Lynn, to Argentina to speak at a national conference in a city just south of Buenos Aires called Mar del Plata. Around 600 -700 young adults attended the conference and I spoke at the main plenary sessions. I had a wonderful interpreter called Phoebe and God really used the conference to speak into the lives of many of those who attended. There was a great response in the lives of so many that attended. My greatest memory is one young lady standing at the front of the auditorium holding my hand and the hand of my interpreter and just saying repeatedly ‘Gracias, gracias, gracias’. I am not sure exactly what God did in her life but it was significant.
In addition to these events I have also been very busy writing a whole number of things.
Earlier this year I was able to complete the ALF Year of Outreach programme which is the first major initiative of Arise. (For more details about Arise please click here) It is my prayer that this Year of Outreach material will help churches to pioneer exciting new ministry amongst children across the United Kingdom.
I am now in the middle of writing a resource for Girls Brigade called ‘Seek, Serve, Follow’. This discipleship course is aimed at helping Girls Brigade leaders across the country, and potentially in many different parts of the world, to become closer followers of Jesus thus enabling them to help the girls and the young women they reach out to, to become followers of Jesus as well.
I also have a deadline of just a few weeks to complete the writing of a web site for people who are interested in finding out more about the Christian faith but are not attending church.
We have started the ‘new year’ with our new group of Optimum Volunteers and I have taken part in their training sessions at St Mark’s, Saffron Walden with an overview of the Bible for the first years and an in depth study of Bible characters for the 2nd years.
So that’s what I have been up to, coming up are a whole number of opportunities and I will be posting regular updates on this blog.
I will keep you posted!!
In Christ
Dennis
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