we be church

Treasure Hunting in Huddersfield – Part 2 of Afros, Ice Cream and Tattoos

This is the second story from our time in Huddersfield working with the Ark Church (If your from or thinking of moving there check them out they are friendly bunch). Read the previous posts for an explanation of Treasure Hunting. This could be a long one.

So at the start of our week we went out in groups after worshipping, praying and listening to God for prophetic clues (words and pictures) that would help us find the people he wanted to share his love with. My Treasure Map had Afro, Converses, Tilly, Jack, Knee Hurt, “Crunch”, Trebor Mints, Father, GameStation. Sam and Sarah had the clues Ice Cream Factory, Pizza Hut and Cherry. (Correct me if I missed anything out) It’s worth mentioning that we had other clues that we didn’t find.

We figured we must have been rather hungry while writing down our treasure maps and started our journey looking for Trebor Mints, finding them in a market sweet shop but alas the shopkeeper didn’t match any of our clues. We had spotted an ice cream stall in the street so wandered over there with Ice Cream Factory in mind. Again the stall operator wasn’t on our map however a lady approached the stall with an Afro and proceeded to purchase a cone for her small son. We said hello showed her the map but due to a language barrier we didn’t get much further in chatting. We decided to move on stopping near the library chatting to a young couple with Converses which turned out to be fake. We walked up to the main street deciding to look for Pizza Hut. On the way we bumped into a band of boys, some who were wearing Converses (genuine items) and holding GameStation bags. They looked at the maps seeing they were on the list but didn’t want to be prayed for, I believe one had an injury. By the looks on their faces they were either trying to work us out but we left them knowing we were not crackers. We side tracked to the GameStation shop but there was nothing there and continued our exploration for Pizza Hut. All the time we were on the look out for people with limps. Seeing a lady near Pizza Hut limping Sam and Sarah chased after her (which wasn’t that difficult) and then prayed for her coming back to join me. All the time I was looking for clues, but didn’t realise we were very close to the clue Cherry. Sam noticed from his map the Cherry Tree Pub right bang next to Pizza Hut. Three men were stood in the doorway, two in crutches. We explained who we were and that we were on a treasure hunt. We showed one of the gruff Yorkshiremen in cruches a map to see if he was on it. His mate in the cruches began to complain that he didn’t have a map so I offered him mine saying we had plenty to go round. Ha ha! He went down the list and spotting the names Tilly and Jack exclaimed that “This is freaky!” He explained that Jack was his son who had died and that Tilly was his daughter, he was a Father. To prove it he showed us the names tattooed on his neck and wrist. I encouraged him to see if there was anything else on the map that related to him. “I Crunch that’s the sound my leg made!” I offered to pray for his leg and he said I could. Putting my hand below his knee I prayed that the Kingdom would be revealed. I asked him if anything had changed. He said he felt pins and needles and again the word “Freaky” was used as God had met with him. By this time everyone in the doorway knew that Jack and Tilly were on our map and their eyes were wide as saucers, “how did they know”? We told them that Jesus was alive and wanted to speak to people today. We were suddenly joined by one of their friends from inside the pub and they told him what had just happened while looking at the map and tattoos. He was obviously moved and asked that we pray for his heart, he had been to church at some stage when he was younger but knew he was distant. We obliged. Having to leave we reaffirmed that God had revealed himself to them all and wanted to know them personally.

It was a wonderful time adventuring with God and stepping out of our comfort zones. What struck me was that listening to God and inviting people to take hold of his Kingdom should be done with ease like you would introduce a friend but with the added trust and expectation for God to work.

Treasure Hunting in Huddersfield – Part 1

I love hearing from God. Recently I went to Huddersfield to be part of a team encouraging the Ark Church who were putting on an Alpha launch party. We got up to all sorts that week, lots of flyering, questionnaires and Treasure Hunting. Treasure Hunting is where we take time out to listen to God and then write down appearances, locations, ailments, names and even things that don’t make too much sense which we then use to help us find people the “Treasure” on the streets (See Acts 9:11 for a Biblical example of Saul and Ananias). We then share God’s love for them. After a fantastic time doing it earlier in the week we did it again. In the morning I had the clue blind. I felt God give me faith to pray for a blind person that day.

In a team with Ben & Hannah we did our hunt and found the boy who’s mum’s friend was Julie in a Chequered shirt with Asthma and Eczema opposite Wilkinson and a Charity Shop while a Policeman with a Helmet walked by (correct me if I missed anything out guys). Which was great! But no blind person. I was a little frustrated, and a little disappointed (sorry guys), that we hadn’t found a blind person during that hour. The reality was I was focused on success. I began to realise that God was after much more. Later that day I was giving out leaflets to the Alpha Course with Simon and in my own heart I told God that I didn’t want to be there just to have success but to appreciate working with him. I wanted to share who he was because I loved him. 10 – 15 minuets later a couple from South Africa took my leaflet and we got chatting with them. I quickly discovered that the gentleman had a cane and was partially blind! We offered to pray with them and they agreed. Although he wasn’t healed, God healed my thinking, sounds cheesy, but it is true. I was able to share God’s love with them with the right heart motive. It is awesome to befriend God and work alongside him. I’ll share another Treasure Hunting story in a different post, I just thought it was important to highlight the journey that you go on with God in these adventures.

Proud of Our Youth

I thought I would write a post on how Im really proud of how our youth group, level-x. It has been great to see them growing and maturing in the past year. They have been taking on some big projects such as leading an Easter Sunday and putting on a Fashion Show with Auction to raise money for Compassion in Haiti. It would be fair to say that they are punching above their weight.
At our last Ignite (a monthly youth service) we got them to write down their questions about any thing related to God and the Bible and they came back with loads of great questions which we aim to get answer after the easter break. Hopefully this will become a regular feature and will create a culture of asking questions to the leaders in the future. Here are some of them below…

• What happened to Judas when he died? Did God plan this?
• What made God decide that Mary and Joseph were “the ones” to have the baby Jesus as their son?
• Is Goliath a descendant of the people who had sex with the angles in Genesis?
• Did Satan fall before Adam and Eve, during or after?
• If Adam was 800 years old why do people say the oldest person was 128?
• If it cost only one rib to get Eve, what would he have been given if he gave a whole arm?
• Did Abraham really hear from God when he thought he was told to sacrifice Isaac?
• Can Jesus/God read our thoughts and can people in heaven know what we’re doing like God can?
• Can God change anything he wants whenever he wants to? Is that how he answers people’s prayers?
• Why didn’t God make everyone equal? (Poverty)
• Why does he allow babies to die?
• Does God exist on other planets?
• If God is about love, why did he demand so many wars?
• What about other religions?
• If God is real how come we have so many floods and wars?
• Predestination?
• Why did God make us so we didn’t have to learn everything but know everything?
• Why did God allow the Israelites to pass through the red sea and allow the Egyptians to die?
• Why does God allow death?

Project Huddersfield

This last week I been in Huddersfield to do some design research with good mate & graphic designer Viv to produce a logo and promotional material for the Newfrontiers Huddersfield Church plant (The Ark) that will stepping up a gear in the coming months.
We felt as well as getting a tour of the place our research needed to included interviewing the multi ethnic population about what they felt about the town, the wider area and the general sense of community. We endeavoured to talk to as much a wide mix of people as we could including students, graduates, market workers, pub frequenters, council staff, families and even tourists.

Huddersfield is a unique blend of rural and urban due to the industrial revolution of the late 18th and 19th centuries. Large cotton mill architecture is still very prominent along with towering chimneys. Today shops and the up and coming university are the main magnets. The cities Leeds and Manchester are easily accessible from the town making Huddersfield an ideal place to live if you like the Yorkshire country side and are willing to commute to work.

The older people desire to hold on to past history which frequently comes into conflict with seeing something new come out of the area. Although the university does keep old mill architecture, there does to appear to be a struggle for visual identity in Huddersfield. Despite some valuing the cosmopolitan vibe the community is divided down ethnic lines. A Church that gathers the various ethnicity’s and ages together in Huddersfield will be so vital in bringing visible transformation to the area.

The favourite place of most people we asked was the landmark “Castle Hill”, a tower built on an old iron age fort situated just outside Huddersfield Town overlooking the area. This tower was constructed to mark Queen Victoria’s 60th Jubilee Year and in its opening attracted thousands of people.

A big thank you to the friendly Pape and Bunce families for showing us round, we couldn’t have done it without you! Thinking of joining this loverly bunch? Ill let Steve Hurd have the final word.

Steve Hurd. Huddersfield from Box-head* on Vimeo.

First Night for Ignite – Changing the Landscape

So we have our first Ignite this Friday for our youth group called “Level-x” at County Church. Ignite is basically a youth service where we have a short game, worship and a talk with the youth having a chance to hang out at the end. We have about 20 young people coming regularly now, which is fantastic, with more lads which has been a answer to prayer. We have previously been meeting in the living rooms of generous people but have just moved to a hall on an housing estate which means our youth have more space but also means that we have a consistent place for our youth to meet which is near to them.

We have been living with the theme of Identity and have a series of related talks lined up. Some of our older youth have begun taking responsibility for leading in various ways which is mega awesome and I have been really proud to see them growing in this area. The growth we are experiencing means we need more practised leaders with time to serve, particularly a female leader for our young girls, we are praying and seeking someone who is called in this area.

As it’s our first event we are still learning what will work and wont work but in a typical youthful passion we are going for it! My prayer is that God meets with our youth and that it becomes a highlight in the monthly calendar for our young people. I continue to hold on to what James says “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you” there is absolutely no reason we can’t encourage our youth in this way. You can find out what is happening with our youth on our Level-x facebook page.

Over 4,100 languages needing Bible translation

Jesus is pretty clear that all nations will hear the gospel of the Kingdom before the end of the world.

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:14)

So what are the stats? How many languages still need the Gospel translated? Here are a few figures from Wycliffe Bible Translators.

How many languages have Scripture?

2,454. Of these, 438 have a complete Bible, another 1,168 have the New Testament. 848 others have at least one book of the Bible.

How many languages still need translation?

In addition to more than 1,900 active projects, work needs to begin in over 2,200 languages.

How many people have no Scripture?

196 million speak these languages where translation still needs to begin.

How many languages is Wycliffe currently involved in?

About 1,415 languages (around 73% of all translation work currently being done)

In how many languages have Wycliffe been involved in the completion of a New Testament?

721. Over 80 million people speak these languages.

Wycliffe do an amazing work coordinating an effort to reach nations with the gospel. I would really recommend reading a book called Unafraid of the Sacred Forest: The Birth of a Church in an African Tribe to see how their work can practically be done alongside planting churches. I will do a proper book review in the weeks to come.