Update after Half Term!

Harvester UK - Leaders of Birmingham and
 Halifax  Harvester Reformational Churches.

291 hits on this blog yesterday, and as one of my faithful readers pointed out on Facebook, it has been nearly 2 weeks since I wrote a blog! So I am feeling very remiss as I begin to write today! 
First day back to college for Duncan so not an easy day adjusting back to the workaday week, (though easier for me than for him I suspect!)
Last week was hectic but very, very good! (I am smiling as I use the word, 'hectic' as our South African friends use the word in entirely different contexts to where we would use it...hectic steak, hectic reading matter and even hectic body lotion!!! Yes, that does make the mind boggle. Hectic!)
We had an excellent time with our friends from Birmingham Harvester Reformational Church. Graham and Annie Unsworth have been leading the church for over two years now and are the only other Reformational Church in the UK so it was very good to get together and feel encouraged by each others testimonies. 
Graham is a prophet and he brought accurate words to several people present and also spoke very well on prophesy, teaching and explaining in ways we all appreciated. Annie spoke a short but impactful word on dying to self, something she is familiar with and so can speak with authority and integrity.

They certainly left us with much to think about and we are even more certain that we are in the right place at the right time; square peg/square hole, and it is very exciting.


We were a little nervous about absenting ourselves from our Sunday meeting as we have not done so before but we had booked a 3 night stay in a cottage in the Dales and so prepared to leave the church in the capable hands of the body - if you see what I mean! Before we departed we visited Joyce's mum, Marion, and had a cup of tea and a lovely time of chatting and getting to know each other better; she is now the oldest member of our church! 87 and she is brilliant - so lively and interested to know what's going on; wanting to know more and more about the Bible and what God is doing in the earth these days. 

Those of you who do pray, please add her to your list. She is happy and content with her lot, even though she is housebound. Please pray that her inner peace will continue.
So Friday we packed, (less 'stuff' this time as I'm managing to convince Duncan that he can leave some of his books behind! Though he did sneak 5 tee shirts in for a 3 night stay - and 3 pairs of trunks!!)
The cottage was wonderful and we had the most idyllic time. In the heart of the Dales with fabulous views, comfortable accommodation and the use of a sauna and large, indoor pool, we were so happy to be there. We had the pool and sauna to ourselves most of the time!
So coming back was a bit of a struggle and going back to work an even bigger one for Duncan, but we do love our home, and we are looking forward to getting back into the routines of church - though routine is not really a word I would use in the context of our church! When we see what is happening, what God is doing in order to bring reformation to His church in these days, it is amazing. Reform the church to reform the land is something we first heard from Doctor/Apostle Andre Pelser and we begin to see that the church is actually God's Genius at work and when it reforms and comes into line with the plans and purposes of God, then the land will experience reformation too. These are exciting times. 
If you are reading this and you are interested in what we are talking about, you will be most welcome to chat to us at any time - via this blog or at the church building at Tenterfields Business Park, Burnley Road, Luddendenfoot, Halifax. We meet there every Sunday at 10.30am and Fridays for a teaching meeting at 7.30pm. We also have a Women's Meeting at 2pm on Wednesdays. 

Harvester Family Get Together!

Come and join us next Wednesday when Prophet Graham Unsworth and his wife Annie will be joining us to share from Graham's recent trip to South Africa where he attended the Summit Conference and spent time with other leaders. Graham and Annie are the leaders of Birmingham Harvester Church. We are really looking forward to seeing them again and hearing what God has to say to us through them! Do come and join us, you'll be very welcome.
Wednesday 26th. October at 7.30pm.

Tuesday, Tuesday!

There's something about Tuesdays! There always has been for me; 

Tuesday has never been my favourite day.

In my teaching career I was invariably on duty on a Tuesday. Wandering the corridors in search of miscreants, just close enough to the staff room to hear the guffaws of laughter and the buzz of chat that I was missing out on! Department meetings were on Tuesday, so Tuesday was also a loooooooooooooong day!
Tuesday - too far away from the weekend - the one just gone and its memory fading, or the one on the horizon - too distant a vista to begin anticipating.
When I went part time, only teaching three days a week, Tuesday was one of my days off, well, actually, as my other day off was split in bits of Monday and Friday, Tuesday was really my only other full day off, but as it was sandwiched between working Monday and Wednesday I never really got the most out of it.
Now, of course Tuesday is all mine! But as Duncan works Tuesday to Thursday in college we don't sleep well on Monday nights - it's like the night before a new term every week after four days away, so I usually burn the midnight oil on Monday night. But I can go back to bed when Duncan has gone! I am so blessed! That's what I did today and got up (second time around) at 11am! So Tuesday can begin in earnest now! 
We do tend to sleep very well on Tuesday night!

Faith Through A Lens!

Hello Readers
Duncan and I have entered a photography competition and the public are allowed to vote on line if you go to:

 http://www.faiththroughalens.co.uk/category/gallery/ 


We each have 2 photos and at present 3 are on the first page and a further on is on page 2 - though this may change as more photos are added.
The site explains all the judging process.
Hope you like the photos!


The photo on this blog is courtesy of Leigh Collins of Cape Town South Africa.

Registered Office: Congregational & General Insurance plc, Currer House, Currer Street, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD1 5BA. Telephone: 01274 700 700 Registered in England No.93688

That's the number of hits recorded yesterday for this blog!
Two hundred and twenty four!
More comments came in yesterday which was lovely, but I really don't understand this gargantuan increase in readership. Don't understand it but love it. So are we looking at the same numbers today I wonder?

Postman, Postman Don't Be Slow......

I have always loved getting post. I think everyone does really. The 'thwack' as the letter box snaps shut and an assortment of envelopes skids across the floor! When I was a child and growing up I remember the anticipation of the postman's arrival, and the disappointment as he passed by on the other side. Truth to tell, we didn't really receive much post, and what did come was usually the brown envelope type which would often alter my parents' mood for the worse once opened, but that never dampened the desire to hear the 'thwack'! Some days, was it Saturdays(?) there were two deliveries, so the anticipation built twice, and the disappointment stung, also twice if nothing was forthcoming.
It's so much worse now! E mails come in at any time of day or night and I can check for mail whenever I want - so the anticipation and consequent disappointment knows no bounds! 
Both snail mail and e mail are often the same though. Even when the 'thwack' is heard, or the 'You have 14 new massages' is read, the disappointment usually follows, as most of it is guaranteed to be junk.
But when that personal letter 'thwacks' or I see that special name in the Inbox, it is still one of the nicest feelings!

Happy Birthday Duncan!

As I write this blog I am also looking at a photo on my desk, a photo of Duncan on his birthday last year - as happy as Larry in the bookshops of Hay-on-Wye! We had an overnight stay and 'did' all the bookshops and Duncan really was in his element. 
This year has been different - for a start off he is at work three days a week and Wednesday is one of them, so we celebrated when he'd finished a hard day at the chalkface and joined us at the end of our Ladies' Meeting in church for a cuppa and a birthday cake. (See below).
What a lot has happened to us in a year! Birthdays always seem to make one sit back and take stock, don't they?
This time last year Harvester Reformational Church Halifax didn't even exist!
Duncan didn't have a job.
We were wondering what the direction of our lives would be after leaving Elim and spending three months in Cape Town. Everything seemed to have come to a standstill. What were we to do now? 
There were several possibilities but we were praying and expecting God to say exactly where we were to be when all the time, we realise now, God was saying one word: "Reformation!" and as for the where? Well, where did we want to be? 
As soon as we admitted that actually, we wanted to be here, in this place, in this house, everything slipped into place like a well-oiled machine and now we know we are exactly where we are meant to be, doing exactly what we are meant to be doing, in exactly the way we should be doing it! A couple of round pegs in a couple of round holes! And there is such peace in this. 
Oh there are still trials and tribulations - as we were always promised there would be, (1 Peter 4:12-13), but we know we can overcome them and come out better and more mature because of them. We are not standing still; not treading water. We have righteousness, joy and peace! What more could we ask for?


Well, for the calorific value of a slice of birthday cake to be the same as a stick of celery!