Bigger & Better

It's been just over a week now that Creation Fest 2013 finished... And I don't know quiet yet if I've fully recovered :).  This last week most of us spent trying to recover, while starting the clean up / sort out after the festival.
 
I don't really know exactly how to describe Creation Fest 2013 other than AMAZINGLY BLESSED!  This was Creation Fest best attendance ever... On Tuesday night we had our attendee-high with an estimate 3500 people in the main venue - with the local band, The Grenaways, album launch as well as the well known (and my favourite), Rend Collective Experiment in the line up.  Over the week more than 30 bands performed on 5 different stages and we had over 550 kids registered at Creation Kids through the week.  A prayer answered was really the work that the Lord did in the youth venue, The Tube... The venue had a "make over" this year (in programme as well as appearance) and it was combined with the ever-so-popular Skate Park - and this venue was constantly buzzing!  Although I was working behind the scenes / in the office most of the time, I had the wonderful privilege of sharing the gospel with 2 girls and they both prayed to accept Jesus as their Saviour.  Through the week many came to know and accepted Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour or recommitted their lives to Jesus.  I thank God that I had the opportunity to have a small part to play in this event and just be able to see His hand at work all around.  Thank you to each one of you who had a part in it by keeping me and Creation Fest in prayer.

The Main Stage - thousands worshipping God



Above and Below - the buzzing youth venue: The Tube 



 


One of our pro-skaters - Jud Heald in action

 We have a Creation Movement Road show planned in Camborne, Cornwall the 30th & 31st of August.  This is an opportunity to take Creation Fest to the people - so please keep us in prayer as we prepare for this outreach and God preparing the hearts of those that will attend.  Please also pray that God will open the door for more Creation Movement Road shows - partnering with the local churches.
 
The Boscastle Sunday School is going well.  It is still small, with anything from 2 to 10 kids in the 7-12 year age group.  But I am really blessed by it during my preparation time.  Currently we are looking at God's Creation and I'm just once again amazed at what a wonderful, powerful Creator I serve.  I feel so blessed that I get to read up on God's Creation - and that to be part of my "job".  I wonder how many of us actually take the time to look at God's creation and appreciate His majesty and glory? One of the challenges I gave the kids was just to go out at night, lie on your back and look at the stars... When last have you actually done that?  Do you know that if we count all the stars, only in the Milky Way, and we count 1 star per second, it will take 2500 years!  And that is just our sub-division (which is one of billions of sub-divisions out there). WOW!  And the Bible tells us that God placed the stars there and He knows each stars' name (by the way, He knows yours too and loves you in case you forgot :) ) He just spoke it all into existence. Psalm 19:1 says:  The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork.  God gives us daily reminders of His glory, His BIGNESS, and His power... Take a moment and just look around you... the stars, the sun and the moon, the ocean, the air that you breath, plants, trees, animals, birds!  If you are God's child, be reminded daily through His creation that you have access to His power through Jesus in any situation (at work, in relationships, at school etc.).  If you are not in a relationship with God or hasn't accepted Jesus as your personal Saviour, He has the power to save you from your sins and reconcile you with this BIG and powerful Creator God! God promised that "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved" .

This past week has been the birthday of 3 very dear people... my beautiful niece, Ame (now 2 years old), my precious nephew, Alec (he is 6 years old TODAY!) and my big brother Rinus, (won't reveal your age - haha). I hope you all had a wonderful day and I love you all very much...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Please continue to keep me in your prayers:
Creation Movement Roadshow - happening 30 & 31 August
Boscastle Church and Sunday School - meeting every Sunday
We are struggling getting me mobilised a.k.a sorted with a car :) - please keep that in prayer as the public transport in this part of the country isn't great!
Personally for the adjustments that need to happen as crazy festival time is settling down and to meet new people / friends

Until next time... Be blessed by God's beautiful Creation!

The Spirit and the rain pours down!

We are in full swing of the festival - and while it is pouring down with rain outside (I actually had to go and buy myself some rain boots this morning), I thought to quickly type an update inside our Media cabin (my office for the week) where it is dry!

All of our office staff moved down to Wadebridge last Saturday, 27 July.  Since then I've been staying with "friends", Sophie and her family, and they have been amazing.  I've just met them, but it feels like I've known them for years.  We are one in Christ, aren't we? And how wonderful to once again experience that! As for the rest of last week our time was spent setting up the Creation Fest site, ready for kick off on Saturday 3 August and in the evenings we did an outreach in Boscastle.  The outreach was kicked off by a Sunday morning service at the 'new' church (The Ship), with Sunday School (BLESSED!!), followed by another 3 days of outreach. We took our new "The Wave" bus and parked it in the parking lot.  For the kids, we did some kids crafts in front of the bus and watched movies inside of the bus (weather isn't always great here in the UK :)).  Across the road, we had some of our Creation Fest artists performing outside The Cobweb Inn Pub.  The people really enjoyed it... The Gospel was shared... Met some of the local people as well as some holidaymakers. Praise the Lord for a blessed outreach.  As for Creation Fest - the site got set up - in time - for opening at 4PM on Saturday.  We are 2 days into the festival, and it has been SO GOOD!  The Lord is doing an amazing work and what a wonderful privileged to be part of it.

Kids Craft at The Wave Bus

The inside of the bus - watching movies

Live Music at The Cobweb Inn

Creation Fest Main Stage

 All of these experiences are very new to me - the organisation of the festival but especially the Sunday School part - doing it alone (although I've had amazing help from Lorna all the way from South Africa - THANK YOU!).  Its been such an experiential journey... preparing the lesson, the games, the worship, the crafts... but then also not knowing how many kids will show up, what their ages would be and getting to know the kids here.  I am really learning that I can't do it out of my own strength and knowledge (which is very little anyway)... But with Christ, all things are possible.  During our Creation Fest Prayer Meeting, Psalm 127:1-2 came to mind:

Unless the Lord builds the house,
They labour in vain who build it;
Unless the Lord guards the city,
The watchman stays awake in vain.
 It is vain for you to rise up early,
To sit up late,
To eat the bread of sorrows;
For so He gives His beloved sleep.

 

I can now rest in the fact that it is the Lord building the 'new' church and Sunday School.  He promised to instruct and teach me... 1 Corinthians 1:9 says:  ^"God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord". He just called me to be faithful and obedient - His Spirit is doing the work in the heart of the kids at Sunday School.

 

The Lord Jesus is amazing and He loves you... Do you know Him?  Do you have a relationship with Him? Do you love Him?

 

Please continue to keep Creation Fest this week in your prayer... Pray that the people that are not in a relationship with Jesus will get to know Him, accept His love and surrender their lives to Him.  For their eyes to be open to the Truth.  And please continue to pray for "The Ship" and "The Ship Sunday School"

 

XXX