Day #16

Have you ever prayed a hymn?  I don't mean did you sing it; but have you ever prayed through lyrics that resonated in your heart?

Before you pray this morning, take three minutes to take in this video prayer offered up by Pastor Alistair Begg.  It may inspire you to begin your time of prayer with one of your favorite hymns.

To catch this powerful prayer, click here: alistair begg prayer

Shalom!

Week 6

Well this will be my last blog post from Wales. I have just come from a Bar-b-que where a few wonderful people gathered to send me off. Things have gone really well since my last post. The week in which Pastor Rees was gone began with me leading the sunday services in their entirety. Aside from some timidity in leading forth in singing I believe the Lord blessed the services and it certainly was a beneficial experience for me. The rest of the week proved to be a bit slower than usual, but I did stay pretty active. I had the opportunity to lead a Bible study for a youth club consisting on this night of 4 kids ages 11-13. It was a simply and brief talk which I talked about the reality of sin and our need for a Savior. They seemed very attentive, it was a good experience because knowing that these kids had literally no exposure to the gospel, I had to be very careful in how I explained terms and made sure not to use words which means a lot in the church, but are foreign if use with no explanation. Such practices have been very helpful me in how I present the gospel, to those who have never heard it.

The prayer meeting on tuesday morning also went well. While most were out on vacation or on the mission trip with Pastor Rees, the 8 who did show up came together for a great time of prayer, I am continually amazed at how much the Lord teaches me through the prayer of Christians out here. I also was able to have lunch with a pastor and assistant pastor whom I've come to know while here and who I helped with every thursday at their own youth meeting. It was a great time of encouragement as we said our good byes. Following the youth meeting went well and I'm hopeful and prayerful that as this ministry continues these kids come to accept Christ as Lord and Savior.

Lastly, this past sunday my last was a great joy. I preached the evening service, which was also a communion service. The message which I had had plenty of time to work on this past week was well received and the service went well. Following the service they had a good bye fellowship to send me off. Gave me some presents(a few books and the 200 year anniversary plate) and prayed for me. It was encouraging to see everyone as they wished me well. Many who do not regularly attend worship came out and I am hopeful that perhaps my time here will lead some who are far from the Lord to come out and continue to hear the Gospel which Pastor Rees so faithfully and energetically proclaims.

These past 6 and 1/2 weeks have been truly amazing. I have learned so many lesson about ministry, particularly faithfulness in a land where most are heard hearted to the Gospel. It was not a work the led to the fruit of salvation in the span of my own time here, but Pastor Rees seemed encouraged by my time with him and the church and we are hopeful that such fruit will be sown in the near future. The Lord has been wonderfully faithful in all His ways while I have been here in His provision, guidance, and discipline. It certainly has been a wonderful season in life and I am thankful that the Lord saw fit to use me to encourage the saints and proclaim the Gospel to the lost. Thank you all for keeping up with me while in Wales and your prayers have meant everything to me.

Some prayer request for this last post:

Pray for Bethesda Baptist Church and Pastor Chris Rees and their work as a church here in Narberth.

Pray specifically for these individuals whose last names I am unsure of, but who are unsaved: David, Ivey, Peter, Dominic, Joan, Alec, Vicci, and Rick(these are only some of the many, but certainly ones who need prayer for salvation)

The next 10 days I will spend in London, 3 at the Metropolitan tabernacle and 7 as a tourist. Please pray for safety and that as I meet people particularly in the hostel that I will be bold in sharing the Gospel as the opportunity presents itself.

Thank you all so much!

God bless,
Cole

Week 5

Well, it's now been over a month that I've been in Wales, pretty unbelievable. I have 10 days left here followed by 10 days in London. This past week has been a great week and I have learned alot. This past Sunday I preached twice, the same sermon two different churches. My first sermon was in the afternoon and it's safe to say that I was not as organized with my message as I should have been. There were various things wrong with the sermon mostly in regards to presenting the message in a ways that clearly presented the idea of the text. It was more like a 30 minutes long run on sentence that was hard to understand. It certainly could have gone worse, but it definitely could have gone better. Nevertheless I had a great conversation with Pastor Rees who was very gracious and yet pointed out the weakness that were most glaring. I mention this first account, because I had about 90 minutes to bring all the ideas of the text together before the evening service back at the church I am based out of. The wonder of God's grace in it all is that those 90 minutes were incredibly productive and the message that evening was one of the most well received I have preached. In fact due to no eloquence of my own, one man in the congregation is reported to have stated to a friend that he finally understands why we all need Jesus, that was hugely encouraging and I hope to see him act on that understanding. Certainly many practical preaching lessons I gleaned from that experience and very glad it was a redeeming experience for me.
The rest of the week flew by. I was able to share the story of Jesus bringing Jairus's daughter back from the dead, with the local elementary school. The next day I was a finishing judge for the school's sports day, which is equivalent of field day back in the states. It's been great as the kids get to know me more, it's fun to see them around town and be recognized. I also got to play golf with Pastor Rees and Rick, which proved to be yet another humbling experience. But that time was a joy for all of us. Rick as I mentioned in last weeks prayer request is a man who is asking alot and thinking alot about the Gospel, but there are lots of bad habits he has that are huge stumbling blocks for him. It was a great time for him I think in being relaxed and that night along with conversations later on in the week were very helpful for him I hope.
This past thursday night I had the privelege of speaking at a monthly outreach meeting. I found the message to be much more difficult in preparation than I had anticipated, I preaching on Matthew 11:27-3o, but I believe the work and prayer resulted in a sermon which proclaimed the Gospel clearly and was well received by those, though few in number, who were there that night. In some respects there was some disappointment about the meeting, because there had been much effort and prayer involved in planning the meeting and getting out the word and yet really noone beyond regular churchgoers showed up. It is a testimony of the difficulty for ministry in this area. Nevertheless, the fellowship was sweet and God was glorified!
Lastly on the touristy side of things, I was able to go to the smallest city in the world. It is really a village, but because it has a Cathedral it is officially a city. The cathedral, St. David's Cathedral, was a beautiful cite. The building dates back to the 1300's, but Christian's have been meeting there for 1500 years, so just the history by itself was amazing. It's been wonderful learning of the Christian tradition which is so rich in Wales, including the revivals Wales is famour for over the past 200-300 years. There is certainly hope, but the current situation is dire and all prayers are greatly needed.

Some specific prayer requests are :

Pastor Rees and 4 other members are away for the week to Northern Wales for a outreach mission. Pray for their time in LLandedno.

For the two services this Sunday which I will be leading in every respect as Pastor Rees is out.

For my ability to see everything through which needs to be done, this is a great opportunity for pastoral training, as I'm the "acting" pastor for the week.

I'll be going to a youth meeting on tuesday night, and thursday afternoon pray that the Gospel be proclaimed and the youth come to know Christ.

Pray that I finish strong in my time here and that the Lord use me to be a blessing as I depart.

Thanks for your prayers!

God bless,
Cole

Week 4

Well I only have a little over two weeks left, these past four weeks have truly flown by. My time in Wales is actually being cut short a few days, because the church has arranged for me to go to a conference in London at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, which is Spurgeon's old church, they are still going strong! I'm really excited about that conference it'll certainly be a change of pace, but nice to relax a little.

This past week has been much like the others, busy, fast, and great! I preached at a Baptist church in a little town, Pontardawe which is about 45 minutes away from Narberth where I am staying. That proved to be a great experience, the church was very encouraging and it was great to meet more Christians and to be able to encourage them along the way.

I got to do a little more speaking in one of the 5th grade classes, this time it was more American based topics, but they did ask several questions about faith to that was good. I have a huge ego from that day because all the girls asked for my autograph, it was quite flattering. It's been neat that I've been in the school a few times, I'm now recognizing and being recognized by many of the kids when I'm out and about and hopefully that will lead to some fruitful interaction with them and their parents. I also spent more time at youth meeting I've been going to for a few weeks and it's been good to get to know those kids a little more, they ask some great question during our Bible study, so it's encouraging that they are atleast thinking about such things as the Gospel.

The weekly Bible study on Tuesday night at the church went well, I taught on 2 Peter 2:5-11 if anyone cares to look it up. I'm still so thankful for the prayer time we have on those nights, the Christians in the meeting have such affirming prayers and I have even found that as they reflect on the message I have just given through their prayers they point out things I hadn't even thought of. It's a great feeling being instructed in such ways.

I also spoke at the women's meeting which is every wednesday. That proved to be a great experience, it is interesting talking to a group of much older women and being the only male, but they were very kind and the American factor helped me get along with them cause my accent is just so darn cute!

This week as usual was not without it's touristy moments, I went to a local amusement park, which didn't hold a candle to most American parks, but there were no lines as we were there on a school day, so I rode everything several times. I also got to go to the local mountain range one day. What was awesome about that is that one hour I was on top of a mountain the next I was sitting on the beach, truly the best of both worlds!

All in all things are still going great. The Lord is teaching me alot about preaching and being a pastor in general and it's been a great time of stretching in regards to sharing my faith. In many respects it's sad that my time is so close to an end, because I'm really starting to get a feel for the area and I believe I'm more help to Pastor Rees now as we've gotten used to the way each other works. That being said it will be great to be back and see everyone!

Some prayer request for this week:

More prayer for my involvement in the schools and in the youth club on thursdays. I'll be in the schools twice this week once for an assembly and once to help with their equivalent of field day.

This thursday I'm preaching at an evangelistic service in Whitland a nearby chapel, pray that local unbelievers would be drawn to the meeting and more importantly drawn to the gospel.

I'll be playing golf with a man named Rick, once with Pastor Rees and once without. He is not a believer but he's asking lots of great questions, pray that this time would be profitable and that I would not ruin my witness through the frustration I experience due to my golf game which will inevitably stink.

Pray for Eric an elderly gentleman whom everyone know in Narberth. He's a character and a half. We've become friends and I visit with him several times a week, he also needs the Lord.

Pray for this upcoming sunday June 28th i believe. Pastor Rees will be out of town that day and actually for a whole week. I'll essentially be the fill in Pastor which means I'll preach both services and lead in singing. Pray for those services as well as all the responsibilities I will have that week.

Thanks for your prayers and support!

God bless,
Cole

Week 3

Well, my third full week in Wales proved to be very busy but equally great with the first two weeks. I preached in a small church meeting in a community center on Sunday Morning. It was very different from the other churches I've been in, namely because it was very informal in style and even in dress, I felt odd being the only person in a suit. The people were very kind and seemed very receptive to the sermon, so I'm thankful for that.

As I mentioned last week I had the opportunity to go into the schools this week as well. I went into an elementary school on Tuesday and was able to talk infront of the whole school for about 10 minutes. That portion was mostly on being from America though I got to speak about what I had come over to do and my time in seminary. I was then able to spend about 30 hours with small groups of 5th graders and we just talked and they told me things they knew about America and that proved to be a good time to share more about why I had come to Wales and who Jesus was and everything. The best opportunity proved to be the next day where I was able to accompany another local pastor into a high school class where he had been asked to speak on why he disagrees with evolution, his talk was amazing. Towards the end of the class the teacher who is a Christian asked me if I'd like to share how I became a Christian as such things came up in the evolution talk. So for 5 minutes I shared my testimony talked about sin, talked about Jesus being God and free from sin and spoke of how I came to understand my need for a savior, it was great. I've seldom had such a rush evangelizing and the kids asked some great questions afterwards, so that was great.

I also go to share the gospel to a group of middle schoolers that come to a church for mostly fun and then some Bible study. These kids are all unchurched and have no idea about the gospel, beyond what they learn for 20 minutes every week. I was able to share about sin with them and then elaborate on our need for a Savior. They were receptive and asked question and watnot, so overall my interaction this past week with kids of various ages was very encouraging.

I'm beginning to know many of the people in the church a lot better. Even most of the people within the church are unsaved and searching for answers. In the next few weeks I'll likely play golf with one man who has just been diagonsed with multiple sclerosis(not sure if spelled correctly) and he is really seeking out the answers, so I'm prayerful about that. Others have invited me over for tea or to come look at pictures, so I'm glad to be connecting more with them now as I'm approaching having only three weeks left.

This week also proved to be great for touristy related things. I walked around Skoma island the most populated area for bird breeding in the world or something along those lines. The landscapes were amazing and there were 1000's of puffins all over the place. I also visited a castle which was still full intact, Pembroke Castle the birthplace of Henry VII. I'll have pictures of these places posted shortly on facebook.

So all in all it was another great week. Here are some prayer concerns for the upcoming week.

Tuesday night Bible Study, I'll be teaching on 2 Peter 1: 5-11, I did verses 1-4 last week.

Wednesday I'll be back in the Elementary school to work with some 5th graders.

Wednesday I'll be speaking at the Ladies fellowship.

Pray for Pastor Rees and other pastors in the area, I am becoming all the more aware of their need for prayer and encouragment as there is so little fruit to be seen in all of Wales.

Pray that I continue to connect with people, especially those who need to hear the Gospel.

Thanks for your prayers everyone.

God bless,
Cole
God bless
Cole

Week 2

Well my second week here in Wales was great! I spent the better part of saturday and all of sunday in Melksham, England where I preached the morning and evening service. That night I was taken on a tour and saw a Saxon chapel which dated back to the 10th century! The history is just amazing I'm told that within a few miles of the house I'm in here in Narberth there are ruins from a 5th century Celtic chapel! Anyways, the services were great, it was the first time I had to run the whole service, announcing the hymns, leading in prayer, and then preaching, and closing with a hymn. The church seemed pleased with the preaching and they couldn't have been any more kind and gracious to me, it really was a great time.

I got back to Narberth here in Wales on Monday afternoon at which point in gorgeous weather the Rees family, some church members and I went for a picnic on the beach! On tuesday night I led the church Bible study, we studied the Judges Ehud and that was a lot of fun to teach on. I was able to establish a connection with a youth minister/evangelist from another Baptist church in the area and I believe I'll be going with him on wednesdays to hang out with some local middle schoolers and do a Bible Study. These middle schoolers are not Christians but I am prayerful for fruit, they asked some great questions this past Thursday.

Also, this past thursday the men from the church had a Bar-b-que. I was the youngest there by far, which made it intimidating to give my testimony, but I emphasized that what I had been saved from was not different nor less severe than any thing they needed to be saved from regardless of our age difference and life experience difference. Most of the men there were not Christians so it was a great time to share the Gospel and how it's has proven true in my life. They seemed to receive it well and over all the night was great.

On a few occasions this week I simply sat out front the church, which is in the middle of the town, with a table and some tracts and talked to whoever stopped by. I got to share the Gospel on various occasions and certainly had some interesting conversations. I am prayerful that this ministry will be fruitful.

Overall it was a great second week. Pastor Rees and I are getting along quite well and he teaching me alot, so I am very thankful for that. I'm also getting to know others in the town, so it's neat to go out for a walk and just randomly see people you know. Some prayer requests are:

Please continue to pray that I meet some people my own age. The lack of Christian presence among anyone remotely near my age is depressing and I'd love to have the opportunity to share the Gospel with such people.

This next week I'll be speaking at an elementary school assembly and then having further interaction with a 5th grade class. The laws about sharing your faith in the schools here are much less restrictive than in America. Pastor Rees told me I don't have to hold anything back, so this is a great opportunity, please pray for this.

I'll be preaching in a Small town called Kilgetty at a local church that I believe is Pentecostal, at least in name. Pray for that message that it honors God and affects the people.

Please pray for the youth meeting I'll be attending on Thursdays.

These are the specifics but of course my whole time here needs prayer. Thank you all so much for your prayers and I'll have more updates in the next week!

God bless
Cole

Week 1

Hello everyone,



I arrived in London safely at about 7 am in this time zone, which was 2 am eastern time zone. Then met up with Pastor Chris whom I am serving under and we proceeding on the 4 hour journey to Wales. During those four hours Pastor Chris essentially learned everything he wanted to know about me. The truth of the matter is that we had never had any phone conversations and he had never heard me preach or even read any of my sermon outlines. I'm not sure if he was ancy about things working out well or not, but if he was that was certainly understandable. He made it clear that these 7 weeks will be weeks of preaching and along with actually preacing, he has me reading several great preaching books and listening to great lectures. We got along quite well during the drive and in learning more about him, it was quite clear that he would be a great minister to learn from in these coming weeks.

The very next day a deacon named Richard took me on a tour of some of the western Wales coast, it is truly one of the most beautiful places I have seen, I hope to post pictures either here or on facebook soon.

Then on Sunday, I was able to meet the church which consists of about 50 regular members, an number which is actually above average in these parts at least for a Baptist church. Of those fifty Pastor Rees in uncertain of most of their salvations as there is very little fruit. Needless to say, there is a lot of need for true Gospel preaching in these parts. I was able to preach my first sermon at the evening service to about 30-40 people and even from the Christians the response was very reserved. Had I called for an amen I am sure that there would have been an awkward silence, I'll have to work my way up to that! But that response was not out of the ordinary even for the best of sermons and Pastor Christ seemed very enthused by the sermon and I would imagine relieved to see that I at least had some ability to preach. I really did enjoy preaching the message and despite the reserved nature of the service I felt that God really blessed the sermon and I was more lively than usual. In fact I was also quicker than usual I only preached for 20 minutes, probably because I spoke so fast due to nervousness I would imagine. But it was a great first opportunity and I think the church is excited to have me.

I also had the opportunity to preach at a church in St. Clear a local small town nearby. It was an evangelistic meeting and about 20 showed up. I preached on the cross and believe it was well received. It was an interesting experience, because the feedback was so minimal I almost felt silly preaching with any emotion, but of my source of strength came from the Holy Spirit not from feedback.

Today, being friday, Pastor Rees and I went open air preaching with a megaphone an experience completely new to me, but it was a great experience none the less. Several stopped to listen, one cursed me out as he walked by, but most just went on their way. But for those that stopped to listen I am prayerful that the Gospel convicted them. I spent the rest of the day manning a table in front of the church handing out tracts and talking to anyone who stopped by. It really neat that since the town is so small people are already starting to know me and vice versa.

This first week has truly been a blessing to my soul and very eye opening. I've met one Christian in my age group and the church is totally void of teenagers. There are easily two times as many pubs in any given town as there are churches. Yet those who are believers are a great encouragement. The times of prayer with these believers has been some of the most encouraging times of prayer I have ever known. There is a huge need in Wales and it is a blessing to seeing ministers like Pastor Rees who faithfully proclaim the Gospel even in the midst of seeing less that one conversion a year. I am certain such small numbers is in no way indicative of his ability to minister. There is a wonderful history of revival here in Wales and the Christians here are very hopeful and prayerful that such a season will once again spread through the land.

I know many are praying for me back in the states, for which I am so grateful. Some specific prayer requests are as follows:

That I might form relationships with youth and young adults in the area and share the Gospel with them.

This weekend I'll be in Melksham England preaching 2 sunday services, pray that that goes well.

A spirit of enthusiasm, as even in this first week I have found it easy to grow discouraged.

That I might serves as a much needed aid and relief for Pastor Rees as he has much more on his plate than any man should bear.


Thank you all so much for your prayers and I'll update this blog regularly.

Cole