Poland

Hello, once again I've been a little behind on the blogging front, but this time I've got some nice pictures to distract you all from my waffling.

Four of us from the year-team have just come back from the lovely city of Lodz in Poland where we've spent the last week.

Whilst we were out there we did lots of work with children, in estates and also in an orphanage. The kids were all amazing, and to see them smile brought us all great joy. We spent our days playing football, doing face-painting and balloon-modelling. Also by the end of the week, we were able to give most of the kids piggy-backs etc, because God had completely overcome the language barrier by pouring love out on these kids through the team.

Also while were out there we had the opportunity to pray with members of pastor Karol's church for various healings.

Heading out with the rest of the team was great, being able to support one another when things got tough. Tom, Josie, Katie, Lisa and Roger- you are all legends and it's been a great honour getting to know you all this last week.

There was quite a culture shock with all the new food, as well as not speaking any Polish. Massive thanks to all the youth who helped with translation. If you're into a heavy rock music (and understand Polish) you might want to check these guys out. They're called Lostenfound and are made up from the youth at the church we were working with.


On top of the other bits and pieces, we've still been trying to run C.U at College. (however, with the exams looming we've had a few weeks wit honly one person turning up).

Kids work is going ok, and we're starting to wind down for the summer.

Other aspects of life are stepping up again, in under 3 months I'll be heading out to Malawi with some friends on a mission trip. In order to help fund this, I'll be spending next weekend in silence. If you'd like to sponsor me please drop me an line at alanbills86@gmail.com.

This saturday is another wedding, which'll be great fun. It'll be good to see the Wong family again. Please be praying for good weather for the happy couple.

Year-team is coming to an end, but things are still busy, we've got a couple of essays left to do and plans for youth and kids work still need to be made. I'm hoping that things will settle down a little more over the summer and God'll give me an idea of what I should be involved with in the church.

For those of you who support me in prayer, I want to say thank you. Each one makes a difference in my life. As usual it'd be great if you could be praying for some of the following things.

• Thanks for the great time we had in Poland, working with the children there. God helped me rediscover some of the passion he put in me for this work

• That the senior management team would make a decision on my role at work soon.

• For some peaceful resolution with family problems at the moment.

• For Matt C & his finacee Nicola, Matt's lukemia means he will need a bone marrow transplant. Please pray for a suitable donor to arise and/or a miracle from God.

• For God to continue to provide the funds for this trip to Malawi. He's been faithful so far and I want to thank Him for that.

• Finally, for all the friends I've made in Oxford that will be leaving this summer, I hope to keep in touch with them all to whatever extent possible.

Blessings and much love to you all.

Alan :D

Mid-April

Hey guys,

Despite my earnest efforts to update you a bit more regularly, April is already upon us.

This month has been rather frantic, but things are settling down at the moment.
I'm currently in the middle of my 'easter' vacation from work. However, due to our bathroom being refurbished, it's a little less pleasant than usual.

However, last weekend I did manage to get away for a couple of days to Wales with some brilliant friends from Oxford. Staying in a lovely bunkhouse, we embarked on walking, uno and general bantering fun. I was awoken after the first night to see the beautiful lake surrounded by hills white with the snow from the previous night. It was sunday morning, and being in the middle of nowhere, we led our own church service in the warmth of the bunkhouse. God was speaking strongly about changing perspectives on situations and seeing things in a new light.

This month, things are settling down with regards to employment and housing for next year. The plan is to stay working with the college and maybe take on more hours, pushing towards a full-time job. Also, the delightful Percy Boys have agreed to take me on as one of them next year. - ROOM UPGRADE.

Sadly, there are troubles and hardships to be endured. Exactly one year ago, my sister, Kirsty passed away very suddenly. I was in Paris at the time on a prayer/mission trip with some friends. So today is a tough time for me. Any prayers would be gratefully received.

However, the plan is generally to keep myself fairly busy, so last week I prepared a mini-sermon for a youth-alpha course a local church was running. I had the joy of giving it to 11 young people on Sunday, and hopefully it went down well. This week we have kids club once again, this month looking at who Jesus is, which should be amazing.

Plans are coming together for the summer kids club week as well, so my summer's filling up already. Also, have a 2-week trip to Malawi planned with some friends in Sheffield. We'll be out there helping with building projects and teaching children and adults. I'm really looking forward to this as it'll be my first time out of Europe and a very different experience to most other trips I've been on.

It's now getting late, so I'll finish with a few prayer points:

• Please continue praying for Matt (His last set of chemo results weren't as good as hoped for, but he's remaining optimistic)
• Me, at this difficult time of year.
• For kids club to attract more kids and leaders to work with them.
• Thanks for a job and housing for next year.
• For the book review due in next week (I'm reading Terry Virgo - No Well worn paths)

Thanks again for all your time, prayers and support.

Alan

I want to say thank you to everyone who's been keeping time for me over the past few weeks.
(Matt, Colin, Amy and Andy, Christa and Helen, Iain, Kay, Hugh and the percy boys, and many more. Each distraction helps my pull my head out of my navel and refocus on the bigger picture.)

March Update

So nearly a week late, here's a brief update on how things are going.

With Easter looming this weekend, I'm involved with organising some kids work for the Easter Sunday service. Children, chocolate and excitement. It's gonna be mayhem.

My year is looking a little more streamlined than it did back in September, as I've handed over leading the youth work to Karen. (Karen you're a star!) I still get involved every so often with leading the group, but mainly it's just informal chats with them on a Sunday morning.

So at the moment, a typical week looks a little like the following.

Monday:
Work in the day, Bible study, eating and relaxing with the house in the evening.

Tuesday:
Technically my day off, but usually I'll pop into the church for an hour to upload the sermon onto the Church website and a few small bits of admin. Though inevitably I'll end up staying for a bit longer to chat to James. A big man with a massive heart. Over the last few months I've been trying to catch up with my friend Matt on Tuesday afternoons. He's been very ill and obviously it depends on my own state of health whether or not I get to see him. Finally, in the Oxford Uni term, I sneak back into my old choir, REV, for a couple of hours and then a quick drink with them.

Wednesday:
Pretty much the same as Monday.

Thursday:
Training day up till lunchtime (what this looks like varies from week to week) , then head off to work in the afternoon to help with interviews. Community group in the evening most weeks.

Friday:
Work till 12:30ish, when I get a break to help Katie run C.U at the college. This is always a great time even if the staff outnumber the students most weeks. We're just starting a series on difficult questions. Last week we had a rather mind-blowing discussion on sin and evil. Then it's usually back to work for an extra hour or so before heading home to finalise plans for the weekend. (Sadly kids work doesn't organise itself). Then we'll usually do something together as a house, either go out or watch a movie etc. Once a fortnight we'll meet together to pray for Kids Club (see Saturday)

Saturday:
Once a month or so, I'll have the outreach Kids Club to help with (messy games and running about for 30 kids), also once every six weeks we have leadership training. So every so often these two clash, which is a shame. On the other weeks, it's anything from essay reading, diary reviewing, shopping, house tidying, sleeping in and buying things for kids work the next day.

Sunday:
In term time, I head into Brasenose college to grab breakfast with the Chaplain and some of the Christians there. Free breakfast and friends is usually a winning combo! Then it's off to the morning service, followed by lunch in a local pub/restaurant with friends. Then relaxing in the afternoon. Some weeks we have discipleship groups in the evening, or Youth Worship or other such fun.


So that's my life at the moment, and how it's looking for the next couple of months.

As usual there are things it'd be great to pray for.

• Matt - that his chemo carries on going well and he makes a full recovery.
• Plans for next year - I'm looking at various career choices for next year around youth work and teaching, but still no obvious choice at the moment.
• Housing - sadly the house I'm living in at the moment is falling apart, so the four of us are moving out in the summer. Dave and I will be heading to the delights of Percy St, so prayers for an uncomplicated move would be great.
• OCVC CU - As mentioned before, the C.U has more staff than students attending.
• Discipline on my part - To carry on leading the kids team effectively and diligently. It's becoming a lot more difficult to lead at the moment with most of the students having gone home!
• Family and friend situations - Many of you will know what I mean by this, and if not then please just pray generally. It all helps!

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all
kinds of prayers and requests.
With this in mind, be alert and always
keep on praying for all the saints.


Pray also for me, that whenever
I open my mouth, words may be
given me so that I will fearlessly make
known the mystery of the gospel, for
which I am an ambassador in chains.


Pray that I might declare it fearlessly as I should.

Ephesians 6:18-20

Thanks and many blessings

Alan

Welcome!

Hi as I've said above, this is a place for me to share some of what's going on in my life as part of the year team at Oxford Community Church.

Those of you who've been receiving my email updates will know most of this already.

So, since September 2007 I've been part of a group of 6 young men and women, looking to give a year of their lives (actually it's only 10 months) to be trained, challenged and hopefully matured slightly in the way we live our lives. This is achieved through a variety of different methods.

1) Disciplines:
We are encouraged to pray and study the Bible everyday, with the aim of reading the entire Bible in one year. Over the past 6 months, I've found this regular reading and prayer has changed my attitudes probably more than anything else.

Other disciplines we're encouraged to try and form habits in include fasting and regular exercise.

2) Study Breaks/conferences:
One of the great pleasures of this year, has been going to Study breaks and other training events. Being able to listen to stories from those who're often a bit more experienced and wiser has been amazing.

3) Regular accountability:
Probably one of the most scary parts of the course. I have meetings at least once a fortnight with a mentor, who asks me very awkward questions about how I'm doing in all aspects of life. He also gives advice and covers me with prayer regularly. It's been a challenge to be honest and open, but leading a life when you know you're accountable regularly for how you act is strangely releasing.

4) Ministry:
The church is very keen on giving us as a team and as individuals responsibility in leading certain areas of church life. So this year I've been doing a few bits and pieces like leading the 7-11's children's work, helping run a Christian Union at the local college, bits of admin with the church website, some pastoral visiting to sick members of the church and most recently, helping lead a discipleship course for guys in their 20's.

5) Assignments:
These vary from month to month, we usually have reading of some kind to do and then a piece of work. Some are essay based, some a little more artistic, I put together a video for the last assignment. We'd been learning about the different aspect of God's nature and were asked to pick the one we found most difficult to see/accept.

This month we're looking at the cross and how it impacts the way we look at our mission.

That's a brief outline of what the year involves. Life still goes on around this, so I find myself regularly praying for peace and strength. If those of you who pray would say one for me from time to time, it'd be greatly appreciated.