Anna's FirstServe Prayer Letter - December 12th - January 6th

Hello and happy New Year!! Christmas has officially come and gone, and we now venture into 2024. God has done so much in 2023, and while many things have happened over the past year that I hadn’t planned (including FirstServe!), God has been so faithful through it all and it’s been amazing to see how He uses circumstances that we don’t expect for our good.

Devotions

One thing I have always struggled with in my faith is giving God complete control in every situation. I have always liked to be organised, to have a plan and to know that I always somewhat have control of the situation. However, the past year has already shown me that many times, God has other plans for our lives, sometimes completely different to what we expected or wanted. But it is vital that in the challenges and unknowns that life throws at us, our first response is to call out to the One who holds all of creation in His hands, restores broken hearts, refreshes tired spirits and makes all things new.

We are here in full acceptance of who we’ve been, but also in hopeful expectation of who He is shaping us to be! This year let’s allow His love to work in us so that He can better work through us. Let’s be ready to embrace all He has for our lives, ready to do His will, ready to witness the wonders of His mighty hand, ready to share the redeeming love, the perfect grace, the life-changing salvation that He has given us. This year let’s live our lives for the one who washes away our failures, who wipes away our fear and doubt, for the Almighty God, who makes all things new.

Last week at Regent

Despite it being my last week at Regent, it was still just as busy! We finished up Oaks and Acorns for Christmas with a party and bouncy castle, the latter of which I had the priviledge of being in charge of for the entire 2 hours, much to everyone else’s entertainment!

Matthew and I also got to go to the Sprightly Seniors Christmas party, which was just brilliant! We spent most of the afternoon grazing on far too many cakes, chatting and playing hum the Christmas song! It was a really nice opportunity to chat to some of the older people from the church that I hadn’t really had the chance to talk to!

Carol services

My last week at Regent was mostly made up of leaflet distribution in the local areas for the Carol Services and the Christianity explored course that they plan to start in February. The Carol Services were both really well attended and a great encouragement, despite being a hectic night between singing in the Christmas choir, playing piano and saying many goodbyes. But what an opportunity to share the amazing news of the gospel with people from all kinds of backgrounds!

Leaving Regent

I came back home from Newcastle on the 19th for Christmas. While I have been so happy to come home and see friends and family, there were lots of hard goodbyes with many people from Regent who have become close friends over the last few months. God has taught me so much about the highs and lows of church work, the role that different ministries play in church and the importance of finding our rest in Him when life becomes busy.

Home for Christmas

Despite being a bit overwhelmed between leaving Regent, prepping for Christmas and catching up with people at home, I have really enjoyed getting back home for a bit and having time to rest. It has been a great opportunity to catch up with some friends and see people from church.

Praise night

Although I have been at home for the past few weeks, life hasn’t become much quieter! My friend Sarah and I felt that God was putting it on our hearts to organise another Praise Night before I left with a theme revolving around New Year. The idea behind the Praise Nights is to encourage people in their faith and that they would go away challenged to share the Gospel with others. We had a very encouraging night and it was a great opportunity to see everyone for the last time before leaving. We also decided to put a group together to sing a piece during the Praise Night for the first time. The song ‘Our God will go before us’ by the Gettys is a song that has been a really important reminder for me throughout this year that we have a God who is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. We do not need to fear what the future holds because our Maker and Saviour is the all powerful, eternal Creator of the universe, who loves us unconditionally. The second verse in particular has been a comfort for me during the past few months, but also looking ahead to the unknowns and challenges we may face in the coming year. It says…

Through unknown paths, through shadows
Our hearts fear not tomorrow
For every step His faithfulness
Is the truth that lights our way

Leaving for Tanzania

As I am writing this, I am currently sitting in my hotel room in Heathrow with Rachel. Originally we were meant to be heading to Amsterdam early this morning and then fly out to Kilimanjaro from there, however, with me completely oblivious during my flight from Belfast to Heathrow, our flight to Tanzania was cancelled. Thankfully, we have been able to switch to a flight at 5.30 this afternoon to Nairobi in Kenya, where we can get a flight to Kilimanjaro. Please pray for the rest of our journey today, that everything would go smoothly between luggage and visas and that there wouldn’t be any more cancellations!

On a personal note, I hadn’t been too well over Christmas and as a result, have had an ear infection, which brings a risk when flying. I would really appreciate prayer for the next 24 hours as I try to navigate how to cope with all the changes in pressure during the different flights.

Rachel and I enjoying an unexpected lie in this morning!!

Prayer Points

Please Pray…

• For all the outreach that took place at Regent on the lead up to Christmas, and their Christianity Explored course beginning in February.

• For safety and a straight forward flight as we begin the journey to Tanzania.

• That Rachel and I would quickly settle into Moshi and that we would continue to trust God’s leading in this new chapter in our lives.

As always, I really appreciate your prayers, lovely messages and phone calls, which many days, are very much needed. I am so excited to see what God has in store for 2024!

God Bless,

Anna x

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‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ Jeremiah 33:3