This is normally the time of year when I am gearing up to travel out to the USA for a Third Day tour, but they are taking things easy at the moment, and we won't be doing a full tour till end of Feb. although we may do some dates in early Dec.
Therefore I have been getting stuck into ministry here in Wales, with City Temple Cardiff, Elim in Wales and Waleswide. Here's a snapshot of the last week or so:
10th September- spent all day with Rob Burns and Rob Jones, two friends who I work with on the Wales Mission Coalition, along with 6 American pastors who were finishing off a whilstlestop tour of Wales. Rob, Rob and I are in theb process of forming a clearing-house type of ministry for US churches who are serious about investing long-term into the mission field of Wales. The day finished with a great curry together.. always interesting to see Americans attempt curry for the first time!
11th September- in the evening the 40 Days of Community group that Gill and I hosted had a social get-together at our house... complete with Mutton Biryani made by our Indian group members.... curry is a recurring theme here!
12th September- evening spent at a prayer night for City Temple's 2 new congregational plants-which launched on the following Sunday in Llanishen, a Cardiff suburb, and Wenvoe, a village just outside the city boundary.
14th September- most of the day spent with Chris Cartwright, Elim regional leader, and others, discussing a potential new training package for potential leaders in Wales.
16th September- spoke at Caerphilly Elim church at the leaving service of their pastor, on behalf of Elim in Wales, to show our ongoing support as they seek a new pastor. Cooked a meal for Bethan and Gill in the evening.. guess what? yep! Chicken Korma.
17th September-officially a day off, but met with the City Temple team heading off with me to India, so we could plan for our mission in November. No curry eaten, but plenty talked about.
18th September- piloting a new initiative from Waleswide offering 'Welsh context' training for leaders/churches/ministries, especially those newly coming into Wales. It's the brainchild of David Ollerton, the visionary behind Waleswide itself, and I'm pleased to be playing a small part in this process.