Meet Ann

It's been a couple weeks since the Cambridge mission trip, but there are still a few things to update you on and ask for prayer for.

Specifically, I want to introduce you to Ann.

Originally from Taiwan, Ann recently graduated from Nottingham University in Nottingham, England and found herself in Cambridge during the first week of Team Cambridge's mission trip. Although she became a Christian 5 years ago, Ann had very little experience sharing her faith and she was eager to join us as we witnessed in Cambridge. We were impressed by how Ann jumped into explaining the Gospel to people who came from all different religious backgrounds.

After sharing the Gospel for the first time, Ann reflected, "It's very important to share your faith. In the past, I was only comfortable sharing with friends, but as Christians, we have not only the obligation but we want to share because it is our calling. It's important to be brave and go beyond your comfort zone. This trip has showed me that in some ways I lived in a Christian bubble and I didn't realize how much the world lacks knowledge of God. I feel sadness because of that but also a willingness to persevere."

After 4 years studying in the UK, Ann is now headed back to Taiwan to work for an accounting firm. Please keep her in your prayers as she makes the transition.

Here's what Ann prays for: "Taiwan is primarily Buddhist with lots of different rituals. Pray that I can overcome cultural barriers. I'm afraid of offending people, so pray that I can overcome my fear and be bold. Pray that I can stay close to God and that He will give me the ability to continue His work in Taiwan. Pray that I can get plugged into a good Christian community. I've been in Western culture for so long, so pray that I can adapt and connect with people in a Eastern culture."

We were blessed to have Ann join us for half of our trip and pray she will continue to shine God's truth wherever she goes!

God Showed Up

As we sat down to debrief our time in Cambridge, we made a list of the ways we saw God's glory revealed. We thought we'd share it with you so you can praise God with us!

Sharing the Gospel
We were stretched beyond our comfort zone in sharing with strangers.
Sharing the gospel with Louis: it was just the right timing (He even asked, “Who sent you?”).
Conversation with Halili about the gospel: “this is like magic.”
Pearl and Rebecca introduced to high school girls for the first time the idea of a personal relationship with God
We are convicted to remember that having a relationship with God is a huge thing!
Variety of conversations that are all good gospel conversations: a universal message.
God’s drawing even the British people to Himself: used cave analogy with girls in the park.
God helped us believe more and more when we shared the Gospel.
God is bringing people to Cambridge to learn English so we can communicate with them.
Getting to start the relationship with Two and Livingston and seeing their desire to learn about Jesus. 

Ministries
God handpicked 24 different people to come to the Jesus film: all stayed for discussion, all different and so many more than we expected.
We’re thankful for the visual representation of the gospel in the Jesus Film.
We are thankful for the materials in other languages at Henry Martin Hall.
God brought more and more people to play games with us in the park.
He opened up a few of the local footballers a bit more towards Christianity.
God opened our eyes to the city during the prayer walk.
Thankful that Pearl and Cree got to talk to Steve during the walk, learning how to pray for people here in Cambridge.
God blessed us beyond our ability and level of preparation in the drama performing.
The drama performance at the park to great conversations in the park and made people think.
The skit taught us a lot about our relationship with God.
Praise God that we learned it so quickly and for Sean’s direction.

Community
Sunday night biblestudy singing "In Christ Alone" with people from many countries.
Community of Christians working together: ministry is very alive in Cambridge!
Team devotions, learning together, praying together.
Grateful to pray with friends international team.
Unity among our team, no major conflicts, we enjoyed being together.

Physical Blessings
God used Pearl's illness by leading her and Rebecca to run into friends from Austria on their way to get medicine.
Great weather! Never had to pack up and move; God denied the weather forecast.
No serious bike injuries.
Cree got to feed a homeless guy.
God provided money abundantly for meals; we never had to worry and were able to take people to dinner.

And lastly, but not leastly, we are thankful for your support! We know the power of prayer and are so grateful to know that we weren't here on our own, but had you striving with us for the truth of the Gospel.

"The International Film Event"

Last night was our big event: a showing of the Jesus Film.

We passed out a bunch of fliers, but had no idea how many would come. We were blown away when 24 international students from Italy, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Japan, China, Germany, Nigeria and Taiwan packed into our room to watch a film about Jesus.

Not only did the students watch the two-hour movie, but most stayed another hour to ask questions. We were able to explain to Muslim students why Jesus, being God, didn't save himself from dying and explain the concept of grace and mercy for the first time to a student from Japan.

Cree explaining the gospel to Michel from Saudi Arabia

Thanks for praying for our big event. Keep the rest of our trip in prayers that we can continue the relationships we've made and take opportunities to share the Good News.

Volleyball and Biblestudy

We have been blessed by the last couple days.

On Monday, we tested out volleyball as a way to talk to people and ended up with a court of people from 4 different countries! In the evening, we attended another international cafe where we played Uno, chatted and joined a discussion on the Gospel of Mark.

Today (Tuesday) was filled with conversations. We decided to dedicate today to inviting students to events and sharing the gospel as we had opportunities. Man did God give us opportunities! Here are some highlights:

• Sean got to have a long conversation about religion with one of the guys we've played football with the last few days. Answer to prayer!
• Ben and Laura shared the gospel with Louis who responded by saying, "Who sent you? I was having a rough time and then you showed up!"
• Pearl and Rebecca ran into some Austrian girls we played frisbee with two days ago. They had diner together and shared about having a personal relationship with God.

There are many more stories, but those will have to do for now. We do want to ask for prayer for tomorrow. We are hosting a screening of the Jesus Film and though we have been inviting people, we have no idea how many will come. Please pray that God will pack out the "theatre" with people who need to meet Jesus.

We know that we can do nothing on our own and so we love having you join with us in prayer to the One who can do all!

A New Week

Last week left us tired.

Friday afternoon, we attended another international cafe. This time we had the opportunity to share the drama we had been practicing all week. The drama was an enactment of the gospel and opened up the door for good follow up questions as we discussed in groups. Some of the students from Japan and Korea had really insightful questions about God and we were happy to answer!

A scene from The Everything Skit we performed

On Saturday we had planned to perform the skit again outdoors in addition to playing music, but Pearl, one of our team members, came down with an ear infection. Instead, we had some much needed down time concluding with a biblestudy with international students on Sunday night.

Now that we've arrived at our second week, we could use lots of prayer for energy and stamina. Please pray:

• for health and energy for Pearl and the rest of our team.
• for iCafe, another international cafe we will attend tonight. Pray for many students to attend and that we can share the Good News effectively.
• for the football game we have scheduled with the guys we played earlier on the trip. Pray for opportunities to share God's truth.
• for good weather for the game.

Thank you for being on our team!

Day 3: Prayer Walk and The Barn

Today opened our eyes to new ministry in Cambridge.

Praying in front of St. Matthew's Church after
2 hours of  small group prayer walks. 

First, Cree led the team in a meditation and discussion of God’s care for cities and the people in them, and then we split up in 4 teams to 4 corners of Cambridge for a Prayer Walk. We prayed for God to give us insight to the spiritual realities and needs around us, and set out. We walked with our eyes open to pray for people, stopped any time we passed a church or a college to pray for the people there and for God to move powerfully in each place. This was a really eye-opening time to explore the city, with a purpose: as prayer agents, not tourists.

There are hundreds of years of Christians coming before us here; we’re praying for their faithful witness to continue and to grow in this city and in this generation.

All afternoon, we practiced and prepared the skit – Everything – and received confirmation that we’ll perform it on Friday afternoon at an outreach event hosted by a group of Christian students at Cambridge Uni.

And finally, we finished Day 4 by attending ‘The Barn’ – a Café for international students upstairs at St. Barnabus Church. We had a great time joining this weekly gathering and interacting with students from all corners of the world through conversation, folk dancing, and bible study. Pray especially for Janine and Qing-Qing who are learning about the Christian hope for the first time, and asking great questions. They are coming to the Garden Party on Friday, and we’ll have more opportunities to talk with them all next week.

Pray!

1. For Janine, Qing-Qing, and many others who are hearing about Christ for the first time.
2. For the Everything Skit: Friday at 5pm at the Compass Cafe outreach event
3. For our Street Performance on Saturday at 3pm in crowded Market Street walking and shopping area. Pray that people listen and are challenged.

Day 2: Ministry Begins

This was a full day.

After a morning of drama rehearsal and other planning, we headed out to Parker's Piece (a local park) to test out our sports ministry ideas.

A few of the girls after a game of ultimate with international students

Praise the Lord! Our "test" turned into a 4-hour game of football (soccer in America), some chatting with the local guys who joined and a potential rematch in a couple days. We pray that these newly-formed friendships will lead to conversation about the Gospel.

Team Cambridge guys with new friends

While the game was going on, some of the team spread out across the field, using surveys to start conversations about God. Many of these conversations were frustrating because so few British students were interested in talking about spiritual things. International students were more open to talking, but most of us left with a sense of sadness for the lostness of those we met. For instance, we asked one student if he was interested in hearing what Christians believe and he replied that he was "27 and set in his ways." Another man we spoke with was willing to share his beliefs in Hinduism and accepting of other religions, but unable to dialogue about what is truth.

We feel we've had a taste of what people believe and our hearts break for those who don't have hope in Christ. Keep praying with us:

• that God would pour out his Spirit in Cambridge and defeat the spiritual apathy here.
• for continued wisdom in our ministry plans.
• that God would bring many international students to the Christian cafe that is going on tomorrow (Thursday) night.

Your prayers are important to us and powerful in the ministry we are doing--even on the other side of the world!

Cheers,

Team Cambridge