Post Tuum blues...pre Romania excitement!

This week has been hard because i have felt pretty tired. I usually wake up feeling ok but by lunchtime I'm wrecked again! To make matters worse i had booked my minibus driving test for yesterday! I spent the whole morning from 8am having lessons with an instructor (which were vital!) and then completed the test at 12.30pm. I passed which was a huge relief but felt totally drained afterwards! Today is the first day that i have felt energetic all day! Just as well as i am off to Romania for in the morning on a team of 19 young people from the church. We will be away for 2 weeks doing a mixture of children's and youth camps and some practical work. Please pray for us all and especially Richard & Kate as they lead the team. They have done an excellent job in leading and organising things so far so pray that they will have wisdom to make the right decisions whilst away and strength to keep going when they are feeling weary. The team is made up of a fantastic group of young people who have a range of unique gifts and abilities. They are a group who would not all naturally gel with each other and yet it has been great to see new friendships develop as the group has spent time together. I'm excited to see how they all get on in Romania!

My heart still yearns for Tuum. Each morning when i wake there is a part of me that wishes i was there! Don't get me wrong, i love home and don't think i would want to live anywhere else right now but i could easily have spent some more time in Tuum. I like that i didn't need to wear a watch there. I like that the people there were so accepting and welcoming and they smile a lot more than people in N.Ireland! I miss spending time with Stephen and Angelina and hearing their wealth of stories and wisdom gleaned from 20+ years of serving God in Tuum. I missed church 'Tuum-style' on Sunday as the worshipers there sang like they really knew Jesus. I miss being there and seeing our team of young guys start to come alive as they joined in Kingdom building work.

Stephen has a fantastic strap-line he used several times to describe the ministry in Tuum:

'less church, more Jesus.'

I saw reality of that in practice in Tuum. It was messy at times but it was working and it was beautiful.

I will try to update this whilst in Romania. Thanks for your prayers.