Dear Friends

This spring in England was a most exceptional one, following an extreme winter with unusual amounts of snow.  A season where much was hidden, dying and exposed has been followed by an extraordinary time of colour, vibrancy and life.  The forest around me had a ghostly landscape as it embraced a season of death. Now it is hard to remember the same scene, so different is it, as life has sprung up to fill out that which looked so barren.

The Easter story gives us a similar picture - the disciples experienced the season of death in order for extraordinary life to come.  We see in Scripture that in order for resurrection life to be experienced death has to come first; we see it in the life of Jesus but also as God works in individuals in order that they might know His life.

How hard to trust that in the ‘bleak mid winter’ there is a work taking place that remains unseen and necessary for the spring to come.  As different ones of you read this letter I imagine there will be a cross section of seasons experienced  – may God grant you His perspective and enable you to embrace whatever the season is with hope and confidence that He is at work and there is a bigger picture than what we see.

As a ministry there is a sense of us experiencing the colours of spring, as we step out with new initiatives and consolidate familiar ministry.  Following our ‘time of fallow’ we are excited to see a change in the season and we anticipate more of the resurrection life to be displayed as we respond to His invitations.

In May, as we finished a course we had been leading in Luton one lady shared how she had begun the course with a fear of her faith being exposed as inadequate; her anxiety was visible. However, she began to realise over the weeks that she was complete in Christ and He Himself had done it all — it was hers to receive, not try and achieve.  The fear was gone and a smile said it all.

This is one small yet huge glimpse in one person’s life that captures why we do the things we do – that individuals may continue to realise in a transformational way the work of Christ and the good news of life in Him and what that can mean for them day to day.

In the rest of the newsletter we want to share with you snippets of the things we have been involved with in the last few months.  Can I encourage you to read beyond the words themselves?  May God enable you to see something of that which is taking place in the unseen as well the seen.  God is about more than simply the events we do; He is about revealing Himself and drawing each of us to know in deeper measure His life restoring, healing, leading. It is hard to quantify but we trust. I am grateful for the work that He continues to do in my own life, that out of all which He invests in me, I can share with others.

Thank you for your support and interest, we covet it.

Journeying Days

One of the new initiatives we have begun this year is a series of 4 quarterly gatherings for those who have taken part in our Encounters and/or coaching.  We asked two of the individuals attending to write a few lines about their experience:

"An opportunity that life so rarely affords to meet with God in a deeper place, away from day to day distractions, with people who share the same desire and with enough leadership to guide and support but not to get in the way of meeting God alone in that quiet still place. I have found these days, refreshing, restorative, challenging and at times positively disturbing! I am starting to discover uncharted, deeper, calmer and more still waters below the froth of the waves where I have lived so much of my day to day life. "

And...

“The first days of these days, in February, was a great beginning and it was very encouraging to journey with others.  It is a mystery how God works, but I knew I had met with him and experienced his felt presence which stayed with me for many weeks afterwards. The second day, in April was a real encounter for me with an amazing sense of his spirit as well as allowing God to heal and bring light to some of the darker places within my soul.  This truly was a weekend to remember!

What really works for me is the minimal structure and uncluttered style in which TLC present these days, for example a meal together on the Friday night followed by a short reflection and then drinks afterwards with plenty of space in between and no pressure other than just to be. The next day is equally interspersed with plenty of time for God to speak, heal and transform and to be alone. The breaking of bread at the end of our time together has been a very rewarding experience.”

TLC Taster Day

In March we were invited to run a ‘Taster Day’ at St Mary's church, Slaugham in Sussex. This was an exciting opportunity for us to consider what exactly we would put in a ‘Taster Day’!  What would give people a ‘taste’ of who we are as a ministry and what we are about?  In the end we designed the day around some of the central truths of our coaching and training.  We looked at life lived on the treadmill of the achieving system compared with the freedom of receiving life in Christ.  Snatches of teaching were interspersed with opportunity to interact, share and also be alone in reflection.

Looking Ahead

We have a 2/20 Conference planned for the weekend of 16 to 18 September, at the Gatwick Worth Hotel. We used this venue in April this year, and it worked well for us, so we would love to see you there.  Further details can be found on the website.

We are also praying our way towards another 4 week 2/20 Encounter in October of this year.  Somehow we sense a nudge, an invitation from God to plan for this, and a ‘yes’ in our own hearts to respond.  These have always been significant times of profound encounter with God.  They have marked our own lives, as well as those whom God has gathered to join us for the month, and once again we sense that God has something special and unique for us.  Please do let us know if you know of anyone who might be interested in this.  And please do pray for us, as we issue invitations, and seek a venue.

Some STOP PRESS NEWS!!!

This week we set up our first ever office!  It has been made possible by the generosity and kindness of Rebeka and Laurence Hardy, who have offered us space in the grounds of their amazing and beautiful garden at Latchetts in Danehill.  The garden is open on occasions as part of the National Garden Scheme, so if you’d like to take a peek at where we are, the following link will take you right to the very place where we now work...

http://www.ngs.org.uk/gardens/gardenfinder/garden.aspx?id=13175

Needless to say we are hugely grateful to Rebeka and Laurence for this wonderful gift and opportunity for us.