Scotland 2009

 The workshop began with Ben and Jess Cleaver leading in worship, followed by Treg McCoy with some announcements. “Miracle provisions have been coming in,” said Treg, who is thankful that God is supplying. Faye R., an outreach team member, currently unemployed, shared her testimony about how God came through for her financially. All she did was pray, believe and watch God move miraculously. God gave her Proverbs 24:10-12: “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? And shall not he render to every man according to his works?”

Tim went up next and told us to close and open our eyes. He then said, “welcome to Scotland!”  He gave us an overview on Scotland and introduced a 10 minutes recap video from the first-timers training with Earl Stocker, John Weaver, Steve Grace and Ron Ross. The video spoke about dos and don’ts, accountability, humility, expectations and more. It was equally helpful for non first-timers. In the video we learned was a  bit of history about the Scottish people. In World War II, many Scots were killed, and many blamed God for the deaths. Today, young people don’t see God in it and the Scottish people have been feeling very defeated. We are called to Scotland to encourage the churches and their leaders, to reach out  to the community with the love of Christ, to show them that their hope is in God.

Jessi Carrasco then shared with us on practical tips about how to share a testimony. Sharing a testimony is about telling your story just as it is. Every good story has a beginning, middle and end. We were advised to stay focus and stick to one story and not speak “Christianese,” but to just be real and be ourselves.

Info Center  Team

The Info Center Team makes Doodads from old sweaters at the Training Workshop on October 3rd.

We broke into different groups at 11am. In the Info Center team, Wendy Thomas shared about how the idea of  the “doodads” was born, and how making doodads has enhanced her prayer time. Doodads are soft toys made out of sweaters. Wendy was touched by the reports of the team that returned from a missions trip to Haiti in May. Her heart was broken for the children and she wanted them to have soft toys. That was how doodads were born. Her son, Joshua has his own line call “noodles”, and her daughter Rachel has her line call “snoots.” Noodles and snoots are made out of the sleeves of the sweaters. The soft toys benefit ChildCry, a Times Square Church Ministry that feeds hungry children around the world. Each team member wrote a name idea for the Info centere. The name of the Info Center will be announced later.

Daycare Team

In the daycare team, the kids range from 1 to 5 years old. All of them were having McDonalds and enjoying their French fries. When we asked the kids, “What do Scottish people look like?” Emma answered, “Scottish.”  The youngest member said “Hallelujah” out of nowhere. Way too cute!

Hospital Team

In the Hospital team, members were sharing about what they heard during the morning and went to Ezekiel 37:1–11. They are believing that God is sending us to give a word of life to the people in Scotland. As they were sharing, the 5 Stones ministry walked in with some donuts and coffee.

Healing Room Team

Next was the healing room team; a team of 14 praying women. This team is scheduled to go out to the streets on Wednesday, October 7. Fayette Stocker, the team leader was sharing logistics with the rest of the team. They spoke about how to be a considerate roommate, to be kind, meek and to speak in truth and love. First-timers closed the meeting in prayer.