Dear Friends and Family,
We held a "Celebrating the Light of Jesus" celebration at a recent Sunday worship and meal. We had about 70 total adults and children present. Just under half were not followers of Jesus. There were a variety of songs, prayers to Jesus, and a teaching from 1 John, followed by a bring-a-dish veggie meal. There were fun activity stations for the kids, including cultural activities such as rangoli-making with coloured rice, and applying designs on hands with henna. It was neat that pretty much everyone from what feels like a smaller church plant all of a sudden was pitching in to help host a worship event that had more guests than regulars. Both regular Sunday attendees and guests pitched in to help serve the food and clean up.
Each Oct 31, I now give thanks that on this day six years ago (in 2016) the Lord protected my life when I was hit by a car while cycling. It was just after I finished a prayer walk with our teammate Chris. I could/should easily have died or had major brain/body damage, but I didn’t. Praise God! Thank You, Jesus!
Luke's school situation seems to have settled down at his current school which is an answer to prayer. There are no open doors elsewhere, so we are trusting the Lord to continue to provide for him in this present school. Arielle is doing wonderfully in her new school which is where she will be going for the last two years of high school. She is making good friends, loves the subjects she is studying and is encouraged. We thank God for this.
Praise God as last week Jenn and I had a chance to take Arielle and Luke to visit Malachi at university in Edinburgh for the first time after only Jenn and I dropped him off there in early September. We had a great visit. He seems to be settling in well on multiple fronts and we are grateful for this! Please continue to pray for the Lord to establish his steps there and be near to him.
Praise God for some good street outreach opportunities (which I'll write about more in a later update). Another believer from our church and I were handing out free chai tea in a major shopping area recently. If people asked us who we were we explained that we were handing out the tea as an act of love, and give them a leaflet that talked about Jesus being the King of Peace. If they didn't ask, we just gave them tea. Many people stopped and were very happy to chat and we had very positive interactions overall. But someone took a photo of us (without us knowing) and it was forwarded to many in the wider community along with a message warning people about Christians "seeking to convert the gullible godless" and made its way back to us through third parties! We have no idea how many people saw it! So please be praying for the woman who snapped the photo and shared it, that the Lord would bless her and that the good news of Jesus would continue to spread even in the face of misunderstandings - and even opposition - like this.
Please pray for the Lord to bless the seeds that were planted at the “Celebrate the Light of Jesus” celebration. Pray that God would help these seeds to grow.
Pray for breakthroughs of the Light of Jesus into the lives of the people to whom we are ministering. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. Isaiah 9:2 NLT
Pray for Jenn as she serves as a monthly co-facilitator for one of Serge's leadership foundation cohorts.
Pray for a gathering in Oxford I am helping to organise on 23 November which is trying to encourage reflection on how to reach out to the people we serve.
Continue to pray that the Lord would sustain and grow New Life Suwarta Sangat as a church. He continues to open up wonderful avenues for outreach. God continues to provide in so many day-by-day ways. But the core of the church continues to be a bit smaller at the moment, so pray that we would be able to encourage one another well, enjoy one another, and be unified in purpose. Please ask the Lord to add to our number, including younger leaders.
With love in Jesus,
Matt for the Irvines (edited by Joan Beinetti)