It seems as though our posts have mostly fallen into descriptions of daily life. But I suppose that is primarily what we have been doing these first three months - figuring out life. Now that the Christmas holidays have come and gone and our feet have been on the ground for 3 months (yes, TODAY was our 3 month mark in London) we are starting to move our focus on to things other than life.
Most close to my heart right now is an opportunity to support parents of teenagers in London. I have had a heart for the parents of teenagers for quite some time now. Without going into too much detail, I am burdened by the lack of informed parenting that happens around the world when children become teenagers. Since we have been here, God has brought this back to the forefront of my mind. As I've prayed over it, God has continued to lead me down this path. Then, in November we met a woman called Sheila that has a 16 y.o. daughter. I began to talk about how God was moving me and her face lit up. She told me that she has had a burden for other parents of teenagers as well and had even talked to six other couples who have teenagers that are interested in some sort of support group. We will meet with her next week to discuss the possibilities. In addition, we met with a teacher from a local high school this past Saturday. She was very helpful in beginning to understand the teenagers in London and also suggested that there may be a significant opportunity to support the parents of teenagers through the school.
The current vision for all of this is to offer a seminar on parenting teenagers. Out of this we hope to spawn support groups that meet weekly for six or eight weeks. These support groups would be hosted and led by followers of Christ who currently or have previously parented teenagers. During these six weeks the host will rub shoulders with these people and share the hope that they have in Christ. At the end of the six weeks the participants will be invited to continue the weekly group for a period of time and discuss the implications of the Biblical story on their parenting. Even though I am not yet a parent, I can't imagine parenting without the assurance of Christ.
That is the current vision. Please pray that we follow God in what He is already doing and that I don't try to create my own thing. Pray for wisdom as we step into uncharted waters. Pray for doors to be opened into schools. Pray that Sheila will catch the vision and that God will equip and empower her to lead her peers. Pray for the soil to be plowed and ready for planting.
