CELEBRATION NORTHEAST

Following "Together On A Mission" at Brighton, England I traveled up to Bedford, England for a weekend of ministry with Kings Arms Church. Monday found us flying back to the US for a a few days at home and then an early morning flight on Friday to Boston. It was great to be met by Ian Ashby and to discuss the schedule for "Celebration Northeast" while traveling to Gordon College. Gordon College is a beautiful campus which has hosted "Celebration Northeast" for the past few years. Upon arrival we met up with David and Scila Devenish who, along with Ian Ashby, would be sharing the speaking for this years "Celebration." Over the years David and Scila have stayed in our home and we in theirs, even enjoying a brief holiday together at Lake of the Ozarks one year. David has spoken at several of our events in the past and has always brought powerful and timely words. Later in the week Sam Poe flew in to join with David for our first "New England Cross-Cultural Training Weekend".

Ian Ashby kicked off the Friday night meeting with an excellent preach from Nehemiah with special emphasis on being about a great work and resisting the attempts of the enemy which would distract us. Both David and I dealt with the themes of building the house of God. It is always wonderful to see the continuity of themes building upon each other throughout a conference like this. There were times of powerful worship led by Tommy Stanley, as well as excellent times of ministry and testimonies of healing.

Sunday morning is always the time we receive an offering for the work we are involved in together. We were all amazed when Ian concluded the morning with the announcement that this years offering was the largest ever for "Celebration Northeast." The offering was just over $100,000.00 which far exceeded previous offerings. Praise God for this evidence of commitment to our mission to see churches planted, leaders trained, and the kingdom extended.

Having arrived back where "ONEBLAZE in St. Louis" is in full swing I look forward to speaking to these wonderful teens on Saturday evening. It seems like a long time with all the summer travel since I've spoken at Jubilee. So it is a joy to speak at Jubilee Church on Sunday morning continuing our current summer preaching series through the book of Acts.

I look forward to traveling in August to Oregon for "Celebration Northwest" hosted by Silver Creek Fellowship. I will join with Terry and Wendy Virgo sharing the speaking duties at this greatly anticipated conference for our Newfrontiers churches in the Pacific Northwest.