A holiday....just what's needed!

I've had the privilege of going to lots of different countries in recent years. With trips to Australia to see family and friends and Armenia to visit a church there in the last year or so. A holiday to Turkey last week was very different. For one thing it was all inclusive, meaning all the food was included - i ate well, although it did appeared to be the same meal every day! It was also almost all spent by the pool just relaxing and reading.

Another thing that was different was that Turkey is country known as a 'Muslim' nation. This was both fascinating and faith stirring as it meant living in a place where you would hear the call to pray every few hours no matter where you were as it echoed around the mountains. It served as a helpful reminder to me that you can grow up in a nation like the UK and be taught about Jesus through school (even if you don't take anything in). However in Turkey they will grow up probably not knowing Jesus as the Son of God, the saviour of the world. It was also a helpful reminder to me to spend time with my heavenly Father, speaking to Him and listening to Him - something I needed then and I continue to need more and more!

We, as Declan said a few weeks back at One Way, have a call to the nations on our doorstep but we also have a call to take the gospel (the good news of Jesus) to the nations, to the millions of muslims living out a life praying to a god they don't know and can't know. We have been made alive in Christ, given good news to share with others as we meet them, telling them that they also can know God, can hear his voice and not just pray into emptyness.

Most of you, if not all of you, are on half-term this week. We often want to use our holiday for a social life of seeing friends and family and catching up. This is great! However, why don't you use it this time to spend some of your time with the alive God, hearing from him and asking him for the nations, both living in our town and across the nations of the world. What a privilege to know the living God, the creator, saviour, healer and friend!

I hope and pray you have a great half-term, knowing more of God in your life and being refreshed for the rest of 2011.

Love you guys,

Nath