Anna's FirstServe Prayer Letter April 30th - May

Hello once again!

The last few weeks have been very busy! Between sitting exams at home and settling back into a routine at the centre, it has been a tiring time, but God has remained at my side through it all. You may be relieved to hear there is less to report on since I have been home for a week and therefore, less for you to read; but knowing me, I'm sure I'll manage to stretch this prayer letter out like always!

Devotion

As I mentioned in my last prayer letter, I have struggled a lot over the last while with frustration and feeling exhausted. While I still feel this affecting me, God has clearly shown me in the last few weeks that He is using this time to teach me many lessons, not just through His word but in my own attitude towards those around me and in willingness to serve, even when it’s the last thing I want to do… especially when it comes to patience and perseverance! As Christians, patience is intimately tied to our faith in Christ. We live in a world where patience is a quality more admired than possessed. We only have to glance around and we see concepts such as “instant noodles,” “fast food restaurants,” “instant messaging,” etc. We have become conditioned to today’s fast pace environment so much that it now seems normal to be hurried, frustrated, and exhausted. This has made me think - how is this “instant world” affecting my spiritual life? Do I expect instant answers from God when I pray for something? Do I even understand the concept of waiting on God…much less know how to do it?

As Christians, we are called to develop patience. Jesus set us the ultimate example of patience towards Peter’s actions, the crowd’s demands and the leaders’ false accusations. Paul lists patience as a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5 v 22). Patience in a biblical sense is not just a question of temperament; it’s a way of training us to persevere as we trust God to fulfill the promises found in His word. Patience means taking the long path rather than the easy one. It will ALWAYS require trusting in God. When we settle our hearts and hopes on the Lord and wait upon Him, He will carry us through all circumstances.

Travelling home

While a lot of my time at home was spent preparing for exams, it was also a lovely and much needed opportunity to rest, especially after only having a few days at home between Tanzania and France. God was definitely before me in having to take this trip home and it came just at the right time - being able spending precious time with family and being able to go to my home church (and catching up on some much missed sleep!).

I am also so thankful for your prayers for my exams, which went well! The results of these will determine which university I will end up going to, so please pray that God would lead me to wherever He wants me to be in September, and that I would listen to His voice, no matter what the outcome of these exams will be.

Bag packing and Ladies’ Outreach

While I was home, I was able to get involved in a few different things. Mum and Dad were at an agricultural show with GLI (Gospel Literature Ireland), where they handed out free bags, pens, pencils etc. with different Bible verses on them. Last week they had organised a bag packing night to add pens, bookmarks and gospel tracts to the bags that were given out, which I was able to go to. It was great to be involved in the behind the scenes preparation, even if I couldn’t be there in person. Please pray for the conversations that took place at the show and that the verses on the items would speak to people.

I also had the opportunity to speak at Connect, a monthly ladies’ outreach event. After doing a craft and catching up with some of the ladies I knew from previous outreaches, I had the opportunity to tell some stories of my experience in Tanzania and share a short Gospel message. One lady in particular had been really touched on hearing about the work at the centre and I had a great opportunity to have a conversation with her, which was really encouraging. Please pray for this lady and others who come to this event every month and hear the Gospel.

Work at the centre

With summer quickly approaching, more and more groups coming and health and safety inspectors showing up left, right and centre, our workload has quickly become intense. As well as our regular kitchen work and cleaning bedrooms and common areas, we have been doing deep cleans of the basement and more outdoor work. Anna, Rachel, Tirza and I were tasked with trying to remove a large, stubborn tree stump from the ground, which took a grand total of 4 days, countless shovels and 2 vans to eventually pull out of the ground! We have also begun to sort the boats for the summer groups, which has been quite physically demanding. It turns out that even the smallest paddle boats are actually very heavy!

We had the fun of celebrating Rachel’s birthday a few weeks ago… between filling our tiny mobile home with far too many balloons and soaking Rachel after our shift in the kitchen (to hold on to the Tanzanian tradition, of course!), I think I had more fun than Rachel did. But I have been so thankful that God has blessed me with an amazing friend to share all these experiences with, to both laugh and cry together and to encourage each other spiritually.

Prayer points

• For the different groups coming through the centre and that we would continue to be witnesses to those who are not Christians.

• That we would continue to look to Christ for our strength from day to day and for wisdom about how to move forward.

• That we would seek to have patience in an “instant world.”

As always, I am so thankful for your thoughts and prayers. God has used many of you to encourage me in the last few weeks and it has been so impactful. Please do keep in touch and let me know if I can be praying for you in any way!

God Bless,

Anna x

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The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. Exodus 14 v 14