Why me?

Why me? Why has God blessed me so abundantly? Why do I get the amazing thrill of being part of this incredible worldwide family, to share in their lives and in the celebration occasions? I cannot answer these questions but I do believe what the Bible says in Psalm 86 verse 5 "You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you."

So I've just left Bangkok where I was with the YFC family at the International General Assembly, held every three years. 555 of us from 70 nations! It's 70 years since the beginning of YFC. Billy Graham was the first employee - good start! We have lots to celebrate. YFC is now in 133 nations and growing all the time.

Our motto: GEARED TO THE TIMES, ANCHORED TO THE ROCK

We met in a tropical paradise about 2 hours from Bangkok, for a week of great Bible teaching with Ravi Zacharias, who was converted at a YFC rally in India as a young man. We also enjoyed fun and fellowship, deepening of old relationships and making new ones, sharing cultures and stories, learning about each other and new ways of doing life and ministry. I came away feeling filled up with good and with God.

 

 A couple of real highlights for me were meals with two groups of people very close to my heart.

 

There was a team of 20+ from YFC in Rwanda, some of whom I have known since Mal and I were there in 2007, some I met in 2011 and others I hadn't met before. But for me Rwandans will always hold a very special place in my heart.

You can see the white face in amongst all those beautiful black ones. Everyone shared what they are doing now - studying, volunteering or on staff with YFC, perhaps married now with babies. We joined hands and prayed together at the end of dinner, committing each other to our Heavenly Father.

And remember when I spent 3 months in Chiang Mai, Thailand in 2012 learning to teach English and helping to lead a new program to train young YFC leaders? It was called Embark. 8 young women have been through that program and four of them were there plus the three of us who have been in leadership. It was a VERY special time of reconnecting, sharing what has happened for each of us since Embark, sharing plans and dreams and praying together at the end.

Another very special highlight for me was the night we all sang 'How great Thou art' together in English and then someone followed in Cantonese. That set up a chain of people wanting to sing it in their languages. What a treat! We heard this wonderful old hymn sung in Arabic, Russian, French, Kinyarwanda, Spanish, Thai, Korean, Hungarian, Bangla, Danish, German and Dutch. A feast!

I am so privileged to share in the lives of so many exceptional people with a passion for sharing the love and message of Jesus Christ with young people around the world. I'm looking forward to GA in the US in 2017.

Denver Colorado

After a tiring trip with a major delay, missed connection, re-routing and cancelled flight on my way from Kigali to Denver, I arrived 48 hours after I left Rwanda.  Sure I was tired but looking on the bright side, I did get to enjoy a luxurious night with dinner, breakfast and wireless internet at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago. There had to be a bonus and I was sure ready for a sleep, a nice hot shower and good internet access when I arrived in Chicago. I have decided that these small changes are all part of the adventure and have decided I will just go along for the ride and enjoy it! I did!

Staying with David and Jenny Wraight has been great. They also have two other house guests here for various meetings and for GA - Jessica from Holland and Daniella from Germany.

I have been having a fabulous time volunteering at the YFC International office in preparation for the General Assembly and also meeting all the new arrivals as they come for GA.  There will be about 300 participants from 80 countries.

My workmate for most of the week has been a beautiful new young friend, Ellian from The Gambia, a tiny country in West Africa.

Together Ellian and I have hand written greetings and Bible verses inside 300 welcome cards for each of the participants of GA.

 

Really clever cards - I like them.

 

And we have counted bracelets for the Welcome Bags

and then been part of the team to fill the Welcome Bags. There' s a heap of excellent donated stuff going in there!

 

And we helped sort clothes donated for the 'Thrift Shop' at the General Assembly

And we even got Luc (from Rwanda) helping us to cut out trees and leaves ready for some decorating at a dinner during the General Assembly.

It's been such a great experience for me spending time at the International Office.The atmosphere is happy, fun, warm, friendly and a really good place to work and to be. It's been a bonus on my trip and a quiet wind-down after Rwanda and before GA.

Next I'm registered for a 2 day Coaching 101 course for Saturday and Sunday and am looking forward to that. I will have done it by the time you read this though!! GA begins Sunday afternoon and who knows if I'll have time to post anything on the blog while that's going on. But it's going to be fantastic and I can't wait.