Summer Daze || 2015

 

"When the Lord brought back the captive ones of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with joyful shouting; Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord has done great things for us and we are glad." Psalm 126:3

I have struggled to put into words what has happened here these last two months. I was meant to send this update out a few weeks ago but I have not been able to wrap my mind around all that the Lord has done. It has been an absolute blur and I cannot believe summer is gone and it's nearly September! "The Lord has done great things for us and we are glad." God has given us an absolutely incredible summer. The GapYear Team, Summer Interns, and short term mission teams have all accomplished so much. In so many ways it is the combination of a years worth of relational investment through our Gap Year team combined with the energy and freshness of interns and mission teams that creates such a stir. Take a moment to read below, scroll through the photos and watch the highlight video from one week of this crazy summer!
The exciting thing is we get to do it all over again beginning September 1st! As you read this we have a team of forty-six GapYear workers assembling here to launch a new team for the new school year. They are packing, praying and preparing to take the baton and begin their leg of the journey. It is so exciting what the Lord is doing here. Eighteen of our current team will be staying on from last year so be praying for the twenty-eight new ones who will be joining us to make up the new team! They will each be placed with a local church to help support or in some cases start a youth or kids ministry. Exciting! "The Lord has done great things for us and we are glad."
 

We have had so many great partnering churches and organizations come alongside us these last two months. It has been absolutely amazing. Servant Life sent us our first team from Colorado! Plum Creek Church served at Project Week at Ian Ramsey School and led a Camp of Champions at Ropner Park. SouthCrest from Georgia sent a second team this year across to help us lead another Camp of Champions. The Heights Team from Dallas, Texas served in two locations. One team served again at King's Academy and the other helped us launch our first Camp of Champions down in York. Liberty Baptist from Norfolk, Virginia came back again for the fourth consecutive year to help us run our largest Camp of Champions of the summer at Preston Park where we had over 160 children attend! Idlewild from Tampa, Florida closed out our summer sending us a team of 55 to serve in Guisborough, Billingham and Eaglescliffe. That final week we saw so many amazing conversations and breakthroughs. Several young people in Billingham gave their lives to Jesus as the students from Idlewild shared their stories of faith in Christ. I am in awe of all the Lord has done and so thankful for the constant support and encouragement both here and across the pond!

We had an amazing time with the 285 students and leaders from Prestonwood in Dallas. Click on the King's Project photo on the left to watch the highlight video for the week. They did service projects each day from 9-3 and then we hosted 13 Camp of Champions simultaneously all across The Tees Valley reaching out to hundreds of kids and teenagers. They performed six different concerts sharing Christ to thousands in the NE of England and Edinburgh, including singing at the Mayor's Induction Service in Stockton on Tees. Every time they sang I sensed the spirit of God moving across the crowd. It was indeed an extraordinary week of mission and ministry together and one we will not soon forget! The Lord has done great things and we are glad!

As we begin this new school year with this new team we are always so grateful for your prayers & financial support. It is hard to believe we are starting our fifth year here in The Tees Valley. We continue to have a God-sized Gospel Dream for this place! We are so excited for the days ahead!

In His Joy,
Mike & Kookie

3 P E A K S Reflections

Our God is majestic and His creation is overwhelming. The greatest HD photo can never compete with the snapshots in my mind from our journey up Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike, and Snowdon. Every step I was constantly reminded that we are loved by an incredible God!  His handiwork is definitely on display in Scotland, England, and Wales. When we were hiking so many things went through my mind. Often I found myself singing, praying, and hoping that I could actually finish this crazy challenge! Many times I thought of Christ and the painful road up Calvary...only to be reminded that His suffering changed the course of history and I was simply out on a Sunday hike. Below are some of my reflections and lessons learned over 3Peaks || 27 Miles || 24 Hours.

Run with a young crowd--they will inspire you to reach for more.

Do life with adventurers--you will go places you likely might not go alone.

Do hard things. Quite simply we are way too comfortable. Physically, spiritually, and mentally we can grow stale so quickly. When we push ourselves it sharpens us. It makes us stronger. It gives us confidence- both in ourselves and the Lord Jesus Christ! When we risk and try something challenging or difficult it causes us to trust Him more...to lean into Him more. It creates a dependency that leads us to a deeper place with Him. Risk. Dependency. Intimacy. Those are three words that I want leaking from my life. Risking and doing more for Him. Living in total dependence upon Him and gaining a fresh and more intimate relationship with Him as a result. If you find yourself in a stale place...Risk. 

Team is always better. We are better together...period. The Scripture in Ecclesiastes  4:9-12 and Hebrews 10:24-25 is true. 

Encouragement goes a long way...the first few miles you can tend to go alone...but to finish something hard you have to have people around you speaking words of encouragement and life into you. We are wired by God to be connected to people and to have people in our lives that walk side by stride with you every step of the way. 

Discipline in the present leads to success in the future. I would not have made it with out putting several months of disciplined training in to prepare. 

Proper kit is essential. Boots. Poles. Layers. God has kitted us out with all we need. Are you appropriating all that He has given you? 

Stay hydrated. Water is essential to our physical bodies. We cannot excel, or for that matter, exist with out it. If we are going to 'reach for more for Him' we must stay hydrated spiritually. Our lives must be saturated by the water of the word of God daily. We must drink from the well of living water that perpetually sustains our souls!

Aches, pains, and blisters area by product of 27 miles of steep and deep terrain. It is inevitable. Pain and challenges in our daily lives are equally as inevitable. How we prepare for it and walk through it will define us.

Thanks so much for praying for us as the TVYFC Team took to the 3 Peaks! As always your prayers and financial support sustain us here! We are grateful for your part in advancing the Kingdom in The Tees Valley!

In HIS JOY,
Mike and Kookie
 
 

Life in Darlington

To be honest I don't even know how to start a blog post...because I don't write really.  However, I'm gonna attempt to show/tell you guys a little more of the city in which I am working.  Darlington is a little city about 25 min away from where I live in Stockton.  Sage (who wrote the last blog post) and I have been partnered together to work along side some other people in a project.  The main thing we're going to be working on is a coffee shop! Actually, it's opening in two weeks and I'm stoked to see all that God does through it.  The shop is about a 2min walk from a college campus, which means hundreds of kids who probably don't know Jesus will have access to The Gathering Grounds.  Which is the name of the shop...probably should have said that before hand.   It's our prayer that every single soul who walks through the doors will hear the name of Jesus without it being shoved down their throats.  I believe that people can be impacted lots more through our actions, and us loving them instead of just preaching.  Does that make sense? So anyways, it's a lot easier to explain things through pictures which I take millions of, so enjoy!

I decided they were best friends

so I took pictures of them through the store window :)

Darlington! I love this city so much and am excited to see what the Lord does.

Train stations are my new favorite thing, partially because of the architecture.

The inside isn't finished yet, but these are the work in progress..

The inside isn't finished yet, but these are the work in progress..

The inside isn't finished yet, but these are the work in progress..

Now you have a little bit better idea of what the city looks like, slash coffee and the inside of our shop.  That's all!

Kiki - Summer intern

Beautiful Feet

Mission...

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” Romans 10:14-15

One of my life verses from Scripture is found in Romans 10:15 ~ “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring Good News!”  I am constantly challenged by the thought that as a carrier of the Good News I am obligated, according to Paul in Romans 1, to take the message of the Gospel to everyone. Every opportunity. Every moment. Every step. Beautiful feet. Back in the day the only way to get news from the battle front was to send out a runner who carried the message from the front line as to how the battle was going. Victory or defeat? Freedom or captivity? Beautiful feet. What a privilege we have to run with the Good News of the victory that can be had in Jesus! And that we can talk about the freedom that comes from knowing Him and the peace that follows as we surrender our lives to Him! Mission is a mindset. It isn't necessarily 5000 miles from home. It is across the street or down the hall. Do you have beautiful feet? Are you carrying the Good News to those you meet? Are you living life on mission?

One of our core values is short term missions.  Over the last month we have been blessed to have five mission teams from four different churches come here to serve alongside our existing team here in Teesside. When short term teams come across they bring energy, enthusiasm and encouragement to each project and to the leaders that serve there year round. It is a flurry of activity that stirs things up...it is exhausting but so worth it! Below is a snap shot of each of the teams!

Champion Forest 1 and 2: 
Champion Forest has been coming to the Tees Valley since October in 2005! Nearly 10 years of investment and partnership in the NE of England! Over the last 10 years CFBC has been working in The King's Academy and they have an amazing and unique relationship with the school. Each year CFBC sends a team here and The King's Academy sends either an RE group or a Football team across to Houston and Dallas. Champion Forest 1 had another amazing week in King's highlighted by an after school Texas Party with a mechanical bull. Over 300 young people stayed after school to participate and hear the 'Good News' shared by Vincent Sacco who is from CFBC but lives and serves here now at Coulby Newham Baptist and King's Academy. Amazing! Champion Forest 2 spent the week in the Town Centre of Middlesbrough serving alongside St. Barnabas and our GapYear team led by Sarah Beecham and Liz Wilson. They also had an opportunity to serve with Kath Dean in an amazing but very challenging project in Grove Hill. I will not soon forget the tears and brokenness that I saw as they wept for this town and the children of Grove Hill. Beautiful feet. 

Heritage Park is another church that understands our need here for longterm partners in ministry. Kyle Jackson brought his young people once again to Stokesley and Great Ayton to continue relationships built in years before. We had an amazing week of mission hosted by Jared Bredeson and Becci Smith. Jared is on our GapYear team and Becci is a tremendous youth worker in Great Ayton. "Stokesley American Week" was a huge success! Dodgeball Tournament, Cafe Church, Texas Hoedown, Crazy Golf and Talent and Testimony night were all fantastic and were well attended. One of the most powerful encounters that happened during the week were home visits with some of the elderly in the town. Beautiful feet. 
 
Nassau Bay 
Nate Jordan led the team from Nassau Bay for the third year in a row. They served alongside the Hartlepool GapYear team of Stephen Merkey, Angela Hall, Daniel Greer, Bethany McNeeley and Jill O'Dell.  The Hartlepool TVYFC project was actually birthed on the heels of this team coming over in the spring of 2013. We have seen so much growth relationally with our TVYFC working across Hartlepool. TVYFC  and churches are locking arms together to make an impact in the town. Nassau Bay had another great week serving in the schools, kids clubs, youth groups and churches highlighted by a fantastic turnout for 'Talent and Testimony' night on the last night! We are seeing the Gospel flourish as lasting relationships are being built. Beautiful feet. 

St. Thomas, an Episcopal church just outside of Houston,  came across for the first time this year to work in Nunthorpe with the legend, Ste Corner. Ste is an amazing youth worker who has served in Nunthorpe since 2007.  Joshua Orsak brought a team of five and they served in the schools, church, youth groups and kids clubs across the town. They had a tremendous first experience here with St. Mary's and are already talking about coming back and establishing a long term partnership in Nunthorpe! Beautiful feet.

Prayer Points: 
From now until August 9 we will have thirteen more short-term teams coming from Texas, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, and Colorado and they will be serving all across the NE of England! Two of these teams arrive this weekend for an Easter Break Camp of Champions!

We also have a team of summer interns arriving on May 20.  They will be supporting our existing TVYFC teams and leading Camp of Champions throughout the summer months. 

3Peaks Challenge! 3Peaks || 26Miles || 24Hours. The National 3Peaks Challenge is climbing the tallest peaks (mountains!) in Scotland, England and Wales in 24 hours! We hope to have a team of 10 take the challenge the 3rd week of June. I will be raising money for TVYFC as well as for The Vine Church project in Thornaby. If you want to sponsor me check out this link https://my.give.net/TVYFC3Peaks or you can give a donation to uk-usaministries and we will get it across to TVYFC. Please pray for our safety and God's provision!

Please continue to pray for God's favor, provision and protection as we seek to serve this community and have beautiful feet.

As always thanks so much for your financial support, prayers and words of encouragement! We pray you have an amazing Easter Weekend remembering His death and celebrating His resurrection! 

In HIS JOY,
Mike and Kookie

Changed Lives...

 

2015 has started with a fury of ministry activity here in The Tees Valley. Our team of Tees Valley YFC Staff and volunteers kicked off the New Year at the National Youth For Christ Conference in Manchester. We had a great time reconnecting after the holidays with each other and the wider National Youth for Christ family that serves all over the United Kingdom. We were challenged in our personal walk with Jesus and to take our young people and the ministries we lead out into deeper water. Wes Stafford from Compassion International shared his personal story and challenged us daily to make a difference in the lives of the children and young people we serve. It was a great way to start off our year!
Our team assembled together again at the end of January for our annual Partners Prayer Breakfast. Our theme this year is 'Changed Lives' and we are crying out to the Lord to blow through this valley by the wind of His Holy Spirit and bring life change. It was good to share all that the Lord has done and is doing with the faithful ministers and supporters here in Teesside. Take a moment and watch the video below and hear from the TVYFC team how God is moving in hearts here in the Tees Valley. 

Southcrest and Global Focus Week: February 8-13 Josh Willson, Kookie and I went to Liberty University to be apart of Global Focus Week to share the story of what God is up to here in the UK and to recruit more volunteers to come serve with us. On the way I had the privilege to preach at Southcrest Church just outside of Atlanta and we had an amazing time together. Southcrest has been a tremendous partner with us here in Teesside sending teams and Gap Year Vols each of the last three years! Global Focus Week at Liberty University was unbelievable. God is definitely up to something special on that campus. We had so much interest in what God is doing here and it was so encouraging to hear college students feeling called to the nations and especially to Europe. I believe God is going to bring about another revival that will once again touch the Continent. Check out some of the photos below of our time at Liberty and Southcrest. 

St. Luke's in Thornaby: Nearly two years ago a group of us prayed in and around a church property that had closed down in the town of Thornaby. Churches are closing their doors all across the UK so this is not uncommon. However, Thornaby is a town that we believe God is calling us to impact. We have a YFC team serving in there with Pete and Paula Madden who are Youth and Community Outreach workers from The Vine Church that we lead. They live right in the heart of some of the most challenging parts of Thornaby. St. Luke's is a five minute walk from their home and the hub of our outreach to Thornaby. We are very close to having this building given to us to take over, refurbish and use as an outreach to a very needy community. Can I ask you to join with us in prayer about St. Luke's? We hope to hear soon and begin the refurbishment of the building to make it fit for the purpose it was intended...to make Jesus known to Thornaby on Tees! Check out some of the photos of St. Luke's below and pray for God's timing and provision!

Help us tell the story of what God is up to in the NE of England. Share this newsletter with your friends. Check out the Social Media links on our website and stay connected with us on this journey. 

As always thanks so much for your support, prayers and words of encouragement! We feel His Spirit and power at work in and through us. 

In HIS JOY,
Mike and Kookie

UK-USA Ministries 2014 Rewind!

It has been an amazing year of ministry together! Take a moment and watch this video to hear what is happening across the Tees Valley. We are thankful for all the Lord has done in 2014 and looking forward to the coming year of ministry together. We are so grateful for all your prayer support and generosity!

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DOULOS

Doulos is a journey of faith and leadership development for young people from the Tees Valley. In June 2013 we introduced the idea of going on a three year journey to become next level leaders. During the three years, they will be learning about Servant Leadership; Living Life Through The Lens Of Scripture; Excellence In All Things; England's Spiritual Heritage; Visioneering and many other leadership topics. We had 12 young people sign up and go through Doulos 101 and participate on a mission trip to inner city Dallas in partnership with the 58 Foundation. They have each grown tremendously in their personal walk with Jesus. This year we have a total of 25 participating in Doulos 101 and 201 combined. They are all being stretched in their faith and growing in their leadership. We believe that Doulos can serve as a trigger point to see faith rise in young people across the Tees Valley. The photos below are from the 2014 Doulos Retreat at Marrick Priory in the Yorkshire Dales. 

Jack Sutton from Doulos 101 sharpening his Archery Skills!

Foot Washing Service lead by Doulos 201 students Ben Driver and Daniel Johnson.

Short Term Mission

Short-Term Missions is a tremendous way to extend the ongoing ministry of the local churches and Tees Valley Youth for Christ. Check out some of the photos from teams in 2014! In 2015 we will have 20 different Mission Teams come serve in The Tees Valley! Please pray over each of these teams coming and the strategic UK-USA Ministries partnerships they represent.

Radiate Student Ministry from Burnt Hickory Baptist, Atlanta, Georgia (July 2014) singing at Whitby Abbey.

Liberty Baptist Church, Hampton Virginia July 2014

Axiom Sports Team, June 2014

Hadley's Fish and Chips in Whitby with some of the leaders from Radiate Student Ministry, Burnt Hickory Baptist Atlanta, Georgia. (July 2014)

“
The Great Commission is not an option to be considered it is a command to be obeyed.”

— Hudson Taylor

Thank you for your partnership with UK-USA Ministries!

Our mailing address is:
UK-USA Ministries
PO Box 11555
Spring, TX 77391

Meet Ashley: Gap Year Highlight

Ashley is one of our new 2014 gap year volunteers and is working in the Eaglescliffe project with All Saint's church in Eaglescliffe. With her kind and loving personality, you'd never suspect her to be a black belt in Taekwondo! Watch the video below to learn more about Ashley and the ministry she's providing to the Tees Valley.

Here's how you can pray for Ashley and her ministry in Eaglescliffe:

Ashley wants to see her youth group to continue to want to dive deeper with God. They're currently at a good basic level, and have even learned how to share their faith and present the gospel. Now, she'd like to see them become more confident in their faith and become a part of the outreach ministry. Please pray for the effectiveness that can be gained from having youth reach out and serve other youth.

Personally, Ashley would like prayer for continued strength and encouragement while serving in England. She wants to always be sure that she's serving in a way God wants her to and that she's fulfilling His purpose.

Meet Alexa: Gap Year Highlight

This month we are highlighting the gap year workers in the Yarm area of the Tees Valley. Alexa, a 22-year-old Texas native, works in Egglescliffe with Saint John's Church. Watch the video below to learn more about Alexa and how she serves in the Tees Valley. 

You can pray for Alexa and her ministry in a few different ways.

In January, Alexa is beginning a new after-school program at the Egglescliffe Primary School for year 5 & 6 students. She is hoping to build relationships with new students who may then begin attending local church activities. Alexa would love to enlist the help of her current youth group students to run the program, hoping this will create a cycle of students serving students. 

Finally, Alexa would like prayer as she continues to build relationships with her current youth group kids. She wants to see the relationships strengthened and become deeply rooted in Christ. We pray that the students will not only see Alexa's love for them, but Christ's love as well.

Bonus Video:

December Update

As the first term comes to an end and we look to Christmas I wanted to give you a quick update of what the Lord is doing here in The Tees Valley! We have had a great first term. Our GapYear team has done an amazing job of building relationships in their Youth and Kids clubs and getting to know folks in their churches and assigned schools. It is exciting to see them so engaged in the community! This is a great team and I believe that we will see a great harvest in the coming year! We hold on to this passage of scripture in 2 Corinthians 2:1-5: "And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power."  We are praying that we will see God move powerfully! 

St. John’s of Egglescliffe and Northern Ireland:

Egglescliffe is a quaint village that overlooks Yarm. St John’s is an 11th Century church nestled right in the middle of this village. For over 1000 years it has served as a beacon for the Gospel.  It now finds itself struggling to engage the community. Its greatest struggle is to reach out to the children and young people in the village in a relevant way with the Gospel. It is in many ways a microcosm of the challenge of all the churches in the UK.  How do you reach this generation of kids and young people? I believe the only way is through relationships. Building intentional relationships that lead to a conversation about the living Lord Jesus. In September, Alexa Spence joined the Gap Year team. She is living and serving in Egglescliffe alongside Sylvia Wilson the “Priest in Charge” at St John’s. Together they are bringing the Gospel relevantly to this community! Pray for them as they try to make Him known!

Northern Ireland—We are still hearing good reports from our time serving there in October and they are open to us having a team from the USA come serve and support them in the summer of 2015. It is really exciting to see UK-USA Ministries expanding to other areas outside of the Tees Valley!  

Café Church:

Café Church continues to grow across the Tees Valley. Each Tuesday somewhere in Teesside there is a group of young people gathering to connect with each other and experience church in a new and relevant setting. We are seeing more and more young people attending as well as leading in each of the Café Churches we help support. Check out this quick video for Yarm Café Church! It meets on the second Tuesday of each month. Please remember to pray for them this week!

December Schedule:

We will be in the USA for the month of December for Christmas and Grammer's 80th Birthday! During the first two weeks I will be speaking and casting the vision of UK-USA Ministries. Please pray for each of these gatherings.

• December 3-4 Idlewild; Tampa, Florida
• December 8-9 Houston, Texas
• December 12 LifeWay; Nashville, Tennessee
• December 13-14 Burnt Hickory; Atlanta, Georgia

We are so thankful for each of you! It gives us great confidence and courage to know you are praying for us on a daily basis! 

In HIS JOY,

Mike and Kookie

Mission in Northern Ireland

All across the UK most schools begin half-term break today. It's a bit like fall break in the USA.  Families with kids love it as it signifies the halfway point of the first and longest term of the year! It is a chance to take a break and get some holiday time. This year during half-term break we decided to do a mission week together as a team. One of the great dreams we have as an organization is to lock arms and support the work of existing ministries across the United Kingdom. 

This summer some of our team helped run a Salt Factory Sports camp and had up to 30 kids attending.

So tomorrow through Friday, our team of gap year volunteers will travel to Lisburn Northern Ireland to lead a VBS/day camp in partnership with Christ Church Belfast and Salt Factory Sports. We are expecting over 50 children and young people to participate each day! Our theme for the week is “Who is God?” Each day we will have a Bible story centered around that theme. We will begin each day by dividing the kids into 4 different teams. We will do music and learn a different memory verse each day. They will participate in a new sport each day and also do a craft activity building a solar system to illustrate God’s amazing creation!  Teams will earn points so that a champion can be crowned at the end of the week. Please pray for our gap year team this week as they minister in Northern Ireland.  You can learn more about both of the ministries we will be working with here:

Your continued prayer support and financial giving continues to sustain us here in The Tees Valley and is now helping us reach out to Northern Ireland! Thanks so much for your partnership in the Gospel.

“And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news?” - Romans 10:15

In HIS JOY,

Mike

After a lesson on prayer this summer, campers let God know what they were looking forward to.

Meet the New Team

We have had a great start to the new school year here in The Tees Valley! God has given us an amazing group of leaders from across the UK and the USA to serve as Youth and Kids Workers in Teesside. Our Gap Year team of 27 hail from 12 different states- Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia! We also have team members from England and Northern Ireland! We have added a new page to the website and you can read their brief bios and follow them on instagram, twitter, and read their blogs here throughout the coming year. We are so grateful to God for His provision of these amazing and talented leaders!

We are seeing signs of faith and hope rising all across Teesside! God is definitely using this ministry and the local churches we are serving alongside to affect this area for the Gospel! As always we need more folks to join us in this endeavor to take the Good News in a relevant way to The Tees Valley. However we had several churches and towns that we were not able to supply a GapYear Youth Worker to that wanted one this year. 

Luke 10:2 "He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.""

We continue to pray, cast the vision, and recruit folks willing to give a year or two to come lock arms with us in the ministry here. If you know anyone that you think would be interested in serving with us please send them here for more information. 

Thanks again for your continual prayer and financial support. 

In HIS JOY,

Mike and Kookie

Summer 2014

I just wanted to take a moment and give you a quick update on the last three months here in The Tees Valley. It has been such a busy but incredibly fruitful season of ministry. Our 2013-14 GapYear team have all but gone now and they did an excellent job serving faithfully across the area. We have 7 of the current team that are continuing on for another year. They will link up with our new team of 20 arriving around September 1st to carry on and sustain relationships and projects that have begun to grow and develop. We have just finished leading and hosting 15 different Short-Term Mission Teams with 322 participants serving on mission here in Teesside. It has been incredible! These teams for the most part come in and serve alongside our existing projects and help us fuel new relationships with their energy and enthusiasm! In some instances we use teams to break new ground in areas where we do not currently have a project. During the summer we hosted 8 different Camp of Champions in Hartlepool, Hardwick, Thornaby, Middlesbrough, Coulby Newham, Stockton, Billingham and Eaglescliffe! Over 900 children & young people attended camp and heard about the Ultimate Champion Jesus Christ. Dozens put their faith and trust in Him…it was amazing! Our UK-USA Summer Interns arrived in May just in time to help us facilitate and lead all of these short-term trips and spearhead Camp of Champions! They worked really hard all summer and did an incredible job demonstrating servant leadership! Our first Doulos Team of 13 youth and adult leaders are over in America serving in Inner City Dallas with the 58Foundation, The Heights , and The Village Church. Doulos is a 3-year leadership journey to develop the next generation servant leaders in The Tees Valley. They have spent the last year learning about qualities of a leader and they are being launched in Dallas this week. We will start Year Two with this group in September and launch a new team of Doulos 101 participants at retreat in September! Finally, on July 13 we had a Baptism Service out at Saltburn beach and we baptized three young people and one adult!  We are definitely seeing new life spring up all across the Tees Valley. We are growing as a ministry in size but what is really exciting is we are definitely seeing signs of fruitfulness and growth spiritually as well! These are exciting days! Please join us in praying for God to continue to move!

We could not be here without your prayer and financial support and for that we are forever grateful. As often as the Lord reminds you please continue to pray for UK-USA Ministries, the Tees Valley, our family, and please continue to give as He directs and leads. 

In HIS JOY,
Mike & Kookie

Holy Island of Lindisfarne

Just north of where we live is a an amazing place called The Holy Island of Lindisfarne. In 635AD Saint Aiden arrived from Ireland and established the first monastery in the Northeast of England. The period of the first monastery is referred to as the "Golden Age" of Lindisfarne. Aidan and his monks came from the Irish monastery of Iona and with the support of King Oswald (based at nearby Bamburgh Castle) worked as missionaries among the pagan English of Northumbria. In their monastery they set up the first known school in this area and introduced the arts of reading and writing, the Latin language and the Bible and other Christian books. They trained young men as practical missionaries who later went out over much of England and across the world to spread the Gospel. Christians have been shaping culture through education and mercy ministries for two thousand years. Aidan saw an opportunity for the gospel and began to invest in the community around him. The spiritual heritage of of England is so rich. We often say that we are standing on the shoulders of those who have come before us-great men and women that God used to touch countries and entire continents. Our prayer is that we will once again see this place ignited for the glorious Gospel and that we will see generations of young people trained up as they were in Aidan's day to be sent all over the world proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ! One way we do that is through Camp of Champions. This summer we will be hosting a Camp of Champions nearly every week during the months of June and July. We set up camp in local parks and utilize sports and crazy fun games as a way to build relationships for the Gospel. Please begin praying now for God to draw kids and young people to Himself during Camp of Champions and that He will use the Summer Interns and Gap Year workers to make a lasting impact in the lives they come in contact with!

In HIS JOY,
Mike

March Madness: First Four In

Tonight we have 4 USA mission teams coming across to spend the week serving here in The Tees Valley. Each church has been here before and we are beginning to see some very strong relationships forged which is one of our core values. Champion Forest Baptist has been coming here since 2005 and they will be working in partnership with The King’s Academy and Coulby Newham Baptist Church. They will be speaking in King’s Academy each day as well as leading a youth group and a kids club. Heritage Park Baptist will be serving with churches from Stokesley , Great Ayton, and Hutton Rudby. They will be speaking in Stokesley School as well as Café Church and several youth groups. They will also be putting on a Volleyball Clinic. Nassau Bay Baptist will once again be serving in Hartlepool. They will be working with several different schools and speaking in youth groups and hosting a talent and testimony night with local youth! Legacy Bible will be serving primarily in Stockton. They will be speaking in several different schools across the town as well as leading kids clubs and sports camps. They will also be sharing at Yarm Café Church. These are very exciting days here with so much potential for God’s Kingdom to be advanced!

Prayer Points—

Please pray for the teams as they travel across the pond.

Please pray for great spiritual conversations to be had!

Please pray for protection and safety at all of the events and gatherings.

Please pray for the churches, ministers, and youth workers in The Tees Valley.

Please pray for a real sense of freedom both to share and respond to the good news.

Please pray for spiritual breakthrough and awakening across The Tees Valley.

Please pray that God will “call out the called” and that several mission team members will pray about coming to serve a Gap Year in The Tees Valley.

Please pray for sustainability and that God will produce fruit that remains.

“I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:3-6

Thanks for locking arms with us as we continue to minister in this amazing place.

In HIS JOY,

Mike

A Life Well Lived—

Today this side of heaven lost a champion. I have been privileged to serve alongside some amazing men and women in my thirty plus years of ministry. Everyone is unique and different…designed by a creative God who seemingly weaves people’s lives together for His purposes and for epic moments. Jim Patterson was a follower of Christ, a disciple in the truest sense of the word. He lived for Jesus. He did not live his life in a compartmentalized fashion of Christianity. He lived his life moment by moment serving the Lord and the people he came alongside on a daily basis. He was faithful husband, loving father, tireless worker, faithful friend and a servant leader. He and his family faced these last five years with a tenacity that I have rarely seen. To stare fear, suffering, uncertainty, and death in the face and never waver in their faith is a lifelong lesson we will all take with us. The legacy of his life and his story will continually be written through his children, grandkids and those who have been influenced by him. They will flesh it out for generations to come because Jim passed on the principles of a life well lived.

 “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.”

Psalm 116:15

Mike

Martha... I AM.

"Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" She said to Him, "Yes LORD; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world."' John 11:21-29

I am often like Martha... I think I know the answer and I think there is another way/goal/solution to something in my life other than simply Jesus. 

I forget what happens when I put all of my trust in the weight of His words. I think I know how He will work and how He will conclude a scenario (martha: "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day"). But Jesus Himself looks to His beloved Martha (who He knitted together in her mother's womb btw...crazy) and said to her the two most powerful words in the history of the world..

 "I AM... the resurrection AND the life..."

-LIFE HIMSELF

It's almost as if He is saying, 'You don't quite understand, Martha. I am enough. I am life. I am the one who restores to life what is dead. I am the one who makes possible what is impossible .. because if you believe in me you are never going to DIE...even if you die. You will live. In this life and the life to come. Do you believe this? Do you really actually believe this?'

He is asking us too.

Martha responds with "Yes, LORD; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world." In saying this... she references Psalm 118:26: "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD." 

She needed to remind herself of what her soul knew to be true.... she had to take action herself to remind her soul of what she was existing for and where her hope was rooted. She was acting like a Pharisee in her acknowledgment of the resurrection and lack of faith in the Jesus in front of her (Acts 23:8). She was forgetting to rest and be united with Christ.

The I AM, the Eternal Deity, is in front of us asking if we believe that He is who He says He is... because if we truly believe it, we will not be spared from pain. We will not be spared from tears (Jesus wept, obvi). We will not be spared from confusing and hurtful circumstances. We will not be taken away from situations that lead us to having patience and trust in Jesus as He sovereignly orchestrates our lives according to His glory and pleasure and our good. 

...And although we will not be spared from all of those discomforts, I think I have a greater glimpse of why He has chosen such a pattern for His friends and followers.

He wants us. 

He wants us to see Him as He is... not as what we "think we know." He wants us to experience life as He gives it... not life as we "think we know it." He wants us to see life through death. and death through life (during this temporary stay in a country not our own) (ex: 1 Corinth 15:31; Mark 8:34-35, Gal 5:24, etc).

The phrase, "believes in me" automatically implies a personal trust in Jesus and not a pharisaic outlook on religion or the ideas of God.

YHWH wants us to be in such close fellowship with Him that we break off our other patterns of thinking and begin to be "renewed in the spirit of [our> mind[s]" and put on the new self as a result of putting off the old self that is corrupt and stupid (Ephesians 4). He wants us to take hold of the freedom of being His and transform our way of thinking and make use of having "the mind of Christ." WHAT A GIFT.

He wants us to behold His glory and not the empty satisfaction of our manufactured circumstances.

"Did I not tell you, [Hannah], that if you believed you would see the glory of God?"

-LIFE HIMSELF

Life is so empty when Christ is not seen as glorious. Life is so empty when He is forgotten as Lord and is instead seen as our demanding and controlling slave master or boring duty. Life is so empty when we try and do life on our own… having the knowledge of Him but missing out and not comprehending what He means by saying "I AM….” There is so much more to His promises… so much more to His friendship… so much more to HIM. 

Yes, He wants us. That is why He waited two extra days to go to Lazarus… “that they might believe” (John 11:15). He waited because of His love. He waited so He could use the situation (that seemed hopeless from worldly eyes) as a testament to His power and as a captivating model for how He pursues personal relationships with His disciples. He was willing to let them endure discomfort, pain, loss, impatience, confusion, irritations, and even death so He could give Himself the opportunity to display His irrational love and affection for His followers.

He calls us to Himself and He is relentless. 

Despite our blame, pride, bewilderment, and even anger towards Jesus, He is so very patient with us. He is so very sympathetic (see verse 33 in John 11 for cryin out loud). He is so pleased to show us more of who He is and show us that He knows best… and above all else, to show us that He actually cares.. actually loves… actually knows what He is doing. He is offering Life to those who believe that’s who He is.

"Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt."

JOHN 12:15

(PS: remember that this verse {which is also referencing the psalm Martha quoted from Psalm 118:26} which is found in chapter 12 is saying that “the KING is coming… sitting on a donkey…” huh. a DONKEY y’all.

Good golly… we must wake up. He is trying to show everyone that He has come for THEM… for us… {heart, mind, soul, and strength}… not to conquer by force as earthly kings on fancy stallions would come.. no no. My Friend came on a donkey.. He came in captivating confidence. He is true religion… and He extinguishes my fears, doubts, worries, and distractions. How dare I look away from such a great GOD. 

"Hosanna! Blessed is he who coms in the name of the LORD, even the King of Israel!" 

May we forsake our old ways and BELIEVE HIM. and in doing so, may we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength, mind, and may we love our neighbor as ourselves.

-Hannah Taylor

The Power of God's Word

I'm reminded again today of the power and life that comes from a daily reading and saturation of the Scripture in our lives. We live in an 'Information Age' but if that information doesn't speak life and hope and truth into us it is simply just noise. Listen to God's word to Joshua  "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." Words like 'meditate' or 'be careful to obey' and 'give careful attention to' all ask us for more than a casual glance. 2 Timothy 3:14-17 challenges us to be convinced of the power & authority of Scripture. "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

If we want more out of life we must guard our time and attention to God's word. It will become a bedrock of truth to guide and inspire our life. Walk with Him daily through the pages of scripture and reap the promised benefits and blessings that come from knowing him. A steady intake of God's word will...

Quiet your spirit, 

Enlighten your path

Sharpen your perception 

Clarifiy your direction 

Increase your faith

Enlarge your view of God

Keep you aware of God's presence and power

Guide you to success

Will you give God's word your time and attention today?

A Glance Back and A Look Forward--

It has been a great year in here in The Tees Valley! We have seen the Lord do some incredible things in our midst. We began 2013 on top of Roseberry Topping, an iconic rock that rises above Teesside and serves as a chapel for us to teach the word and pray over this valley with regularity. As the clock struck midnight last December 31st we were on Roseberry Topping praying over the Tees Valley. It was freezing cold and windy but a beautiful night as the stars danced in the sky! As we began to pray 2013 in I was not prepared for what was going to happen next. The Valley erupted with flashes of light and color as fireworks went off all over Teesside. It was spectacular! As we prayed I had this thought…Father that is exactly what we want You to do in this valley….we want the light of the glorious gospel to shine brightly and for you, Father to erupt in every town and village that we are ministering in. In many ways the Lord has begun to answer that prayer. The ministry at The Vine Church is growing. We are seeing new faces and families each week and the venue we meet in is definitely at capacity. We are continuing to experience the movement of God in our services and lives are being changed. The partnership with Tees Valley Youth for Christ and UK-USAMinistries is also blossoming. We had 15 different short term mission teams bring over 250 youth and adults across the pond to serve and share the love of Jesus in the Tees Valley in 2013! We also had an amazing team of  20 summer interns that lived here for two months and they served and supported the ongoing youth and kids outreach projects.  Then in September we launched the current Gap Year Team for 2013-14! They are an amazing group of 25 servant leaders that God is using in a tremendous way!  They are serving in 25 different schools each week and leading 31 faith based Youth and Kids clubs every week.  They are faithfully sowing the seed and praying for God to bring forth fruit that will remain! I believe we will see it soon… “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9

We often hold on to that verse and claim it for this labor of love that we have here in The Tees Valley. I believe we are on the verge of seeing some real fruit this spring and summer!

I love this time of year because it is a natural point in our yearly journey to look back and remember and also to raise our head and peer down the road into the unknown. I cannot say with certainty what the New Year will bring.  Each of the next 365 days holds so much potential for the glorious gospel and for His Kingdom to be advanced. I can say that He is faithful and that by His grace I will be as well. I can say that I am excited to join Him where He is at work…and I believe He is definitely up to something here in Teesside. Our team is growing. We will add 4 more Gap Year Volunteers this next week. We are also adding Tyler and Nicki McClure tomorrow as the get on a plane to come here to head up Axiom Sports in partnership with Tees Valley Youth for Christ. God is rising up people to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this valley and we are going to see this place transformed by the power of God. As we grow, we need you to continue to go and grow with us. We count it a privilege to be in partnership with you. Will you please continue to support all that we are doing here both in prayer and financially? If you will pray with us for this coming year will you please send me a message on Facebook or Twitter? That will help me to know who all is praying for us on a daily basis. If you would like to support this ministry over the next year or send in a 2013 year end gift you can send a check to uk-usaministries PO Box 11555 Spring, Texas 77391 or you can give online at uk-usaministries.com.  You can also help us by sharing the story of what God is doing in this place with your friends.  I believe 2014 is going to be the most fruitful and exciting year yet. Please join us and pray to that end.  Thank you so much and we are praying God’s richest blessings upon you in 2014!

In HIS JOY,

Mike

A Merry Christmas Blog by Hannah Taylor

Today is Christmas Eve. The sun is already beginning to set on the valley and I can hear the faint laughter and conversation of loved ones downstairs. The wind is blowing through the trees and the wispy clouds are moving swiftly to reign briefly over someone else’s gaze. The Christmas music from my iTunes account is singing of the cradle in bethlehem. Snow is lacking out my window. The temperature is not as cold as the tales of the white christmas’ of old idealize… but I am yet joyful.

I am joyful because tomorrow is just like any other day as a follower of Jesus. I used to be sad as the clock struck 11:59pm on the December 25th’s of my childhood. I truly would be sorrowful that it was over. I love Christmas lights. I love holiday festivities. I love cold weather and warm sweaters. I love fires and warm drinks, flannels and my mom’s cooking. I love Christmas trees and family being together. I am delighted in all of these things and so much more, but my outlook has changed this year. Those things that once had dominion over the happiness in my heart for this season have been paled. They are great things.. but He is far greater. Their true colors have been dimmed in the majestic light of Him. 

It is not that I have just met Jesus this year, but I have grown to know Him deeper. I have learned more of His unchanging, eternal character and how that relates to the ever-changing, death-deserving human that I am. I have learned how joy unspeakable is offered and given to whosoever will receive with every new breath. I have learned that the maintaining of my worthiness for love is a fool’s game and I must put away all my notions of striving rather than receiving. Why would my striving do anything for the Living God who made Himself nothing, taking on human flesh, becoming obedient unto death FOR me? Why and how could my state of worthiness rest on my own works? Jesus Christ came as a baby on this planet that He created. He is making the sunset that I’m watching. He is dwelling in me. THIS IS THE CRAZIEST NEWS I HAVE EVER FATHOMED. I can barely hold it in!!!!

Life passes away and His word remains firmly fixed in the heavens.

His word is true and my soul knows it.

We are broken pieces of pottery, but we are held safely in the hands of the Great Potter… and He has not left us to fend for ourselves. That is why He came to us. That is why we celebrate, not only on December 25th… but everyday.

His πνεῦμα shakes the earth. None can stay His hand. I have been reminded of my First Love this day. Even the strongest of trees cannot stand completely still against His wind. The reality of Christmas is much like the strong wind I feel rushing through my open window… but 10293284 billion times stronger.

Jesus Christ came to give life to those who were wallowing in our own blood, to give the human race true, abundant, and eternal life and freedom, to give man the undeserved and [literally] AWEsome blessing of knowing Him intimately in this life and beyond. 

We are alive forever all because of the poured out life of YHWH. The Living Word. Veiled in flesh. The incarnate Deity. 

It is a Merry Christmas. It is a merry LIFE! It feels like Thanksgiving in my heart. This joy surpasses the 25th of every December. It surpasses the trials and annoyances of life. And although the lights might be coming down and the trees will begin to brown, my soul rejoices in Jesus.

Grateful.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” John 3:16-17

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:12-17

God’s Word is so rich and is just drenched with a call to live our lives with grateful and thankful hearts. I hope today as you pause to say “Thank You” for all you have been given in this life, you will remember God’s greatest gift. That He will be on the forefront of your mind and heart. Grace…Forgiveness…Redemption all came at a cost. God gave us His one and only Son that we might know Him and experience the fullness that comes from having a personal relationship with Him. When I look back to August 1978 (and yes, it seems like forever ago) to the moment that my life collided with Jesus and I was introduced to a loving, merciful Savior, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for all He has done in my life! Yes, for the things He saved me from but also for the things He saved and called me to…a personal relationship with Jesus! Knowing Him is transformational! I am a blessed man today and so thankful for all that The Lord has done for me! I hope wherever you are that you have a great Thanksgiving with family and friends!

 “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.” Psalm 107:1

 In HIS JOY,

Mike