"What A Refreshing Change"

Many moons ago there was a certain brand of cider with the sales line: "What a refreshing change".

We reckon that this could be a good way to describe Christians Abroad.

In our recent meeting it was such a pleasure to be asked things like:
"How can we partner together to better serve the church?"
"What are your expectations of us?
"What is Tree of Life hoping to gain from this trip?"
These are refreshing questions to be asked by the leaders of an organisation that really cares about and for us and they are questions we've never once been asked before!

"Strike Three.."

..But we're not out!

Rather we've just finished our third Roadshow and once again it went really well. We were with Tuesday @ 2 a group of older folk who are a powerhouse of prayers.

We've been thrilled by the turnout for each of them so far and it's been great to reconnect with many old friends.

Aunty Poppy

We were saddened to learn this morning that Aunty Poppy is again seriously ill and has been admitted to intensive care.

She recently had a major heart attack and home life is very hectic and stressful for her.

Please pray for Aunty Poppy!

One More Sleep!

It hardly seems possible but it's now less than 24 hours until we get on the plane for Blighty.

I guess we're at that point where things that haven't been done aren't going to get done.

Thankfully our Roadshow presentation is all finished, though that hasn't stopped me from checking it every few minutes to make sure it still works. Must switch tablet off!

FTM Roadshows

We've begun sending out invites for our forthcoming Roadshows in the UK.

If you're near one of the venues on the dates above please drop in, we'd love to see you!

For more details Like us on our Facebook page where more details will be posted.

Scary Thought

Here's a scary thought...one month from today we'll be boarding a plane for our UK trip.

It's not that the UK is scary, though watching Sky News we're often left feeling like strangers in a land that once was home. The scary bit is just how much work we've got to do before we board that plane.

Blogging From A To Z 2013 Reflections

The 2013 Blogging From A to Z Challenge was a lot harder than last year, mainly because it crept up on me and I had failed to plan ahead so on the 30th March I found myself desperately looking for a theme and subjects for it. Will I never learn?!

Sadly time was a real issue and I failed dismally in my attempts to spend time looking at other blogs. I managed to visit everyone that left a comment on a post but beyond that I probably only blog hopped on a two or three occasions.

Z Is For Ω

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First 

and the Last, the Beginning and the End."

Revelation 22:13

Like the English Z, Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet and a fitting way to sign off from this year's A to Z Blogging Challenge.

It's been a lot of fun for me and good to give the blog some long overdue attention.

Hope you've enjoyed it too!

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This post is part of a series in the Blogging From A To Z Challenge, April 2013.

Y Is For Youth

If you're of the praying persuasion please pray for us at Tree of Life as we have a great set of young adults and kids who join us faithfully every Sunday.

Sadly because we're still quite small and lacking in resources we're not able to offer them much. In fact we pretty much ignore the young adults amongst us. Not because we want to, far from it!  We did ask a couple to lead our youth work but sadly personal issues have prevented them from getting involved and we're a bit stuck as a church.

So please pray for good solid folk who could take a lead in this for us.

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This post is part of a series in the Blogging From A To Z Challenge, April 2013.

X Is For Xylophone

We don't have a xylophone at Tree of Life.

In fact we have nothing that resembles a worship band in any way shape or form and yet we have some of the most liberating and meaningful worship I've ever experienced.

I remember several years ago when Matt Redman brought out his brilliant song The Heart of Worship and many churches responding by stripping their worship back to basics.

W Is For Website

*Updated* Tree Of Life has had a website.

It's not a very good one but it's a start.

We're not very good at keeping it up to date but it's still a good starting point for finding out a bit more about the church and for contacting us.

Feel free to take a look.

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This post is part of a series in the Blogging From A To Z Challenge, April 2013.