tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71016352814658869552024-03-05T12:09:07.091+00:00The HuntEncouraging reflections, updates & testimonies from Medway and across Kent as we step out in faith to see God's mighty power displayed in supernatural encounters...Gordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7101635281465886955.post-32349849185794136412011-05-31T13:47:00.003+01:002011-05-31T14:02:32.245+01:00Prayer on the Square - Update<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJUynmXLaBctPCrVqWfACmivs39UM04yxvdsq1e44QJ6DcqGuhItUUrOHuePotDn1lMcLiX0R7-ciVyQTUH6oWZmLjOsqEUMhwSbtRffqHCuPOxn46CCH-2rX5pzM1Y7ucOkyo1wAraiU/s1600/pic+-+front+of+flyer.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 289px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJUynmXLaBctPCrVqWfACmivs39UM04yxvdsq1e44QJ6DcqGuhItUUrOHuePotDn1lMcLiX0R7-ciVyQTUH6oWZmLjOsqEUMhwSbtRffqHCuPOxn46CCH-2rX5pzM1Y7ucOkyo1wAraiU/s400/pic+-+front+of+flyer.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612862417704972994" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlpxonBnrS87AxfHAVeiitApQXw81ObnMnHo8EYOVh35Mk77D1-QJJlt0DQEz7loMxZAbOXBAbb4w9l5B9nZuiF7Zbrkt_XLzVlniL9U57gJMP5d4QuSj1qKWdfQVoiM-2fEj5jkTbfVE/s1600/pic+-+Back+of+flyer.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlpxonBnrS87AxfHAVeiitApQXw81ObnMnHo8EYOVh35Mk77D1-QJJlt0DQEz7loMxZAbOXBAbb4w9l5B9nZuiF7Zbrkt_XLzVlniL9U57gJMP5d4QuSj1qKWdfQVoiM-2fEj5jkTbfVE/s1600/pic+-+Back+of+flyer.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 287px; height: 400px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlpxonBnrS87AxfHAVeiitApQXw81ObnMnHo8EYOVh35Mk77D1-QJJlt0DQEz7loMxZAbOXBAbb4w9l5B9nZuiF7Zbrkt_XLzVlniL9U57gJMP5d4QuSj1qKWdfQVoiM-2fEj5jkTbfVE/s400/pic+-+Back+of+flyer.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612862313617794402" /></a>Hello friends,</div><div><br /></div><div>As it's been a while since we uploaded any content or testimonies I thought I would upload our new flyer that we will be taking out with us on our next POTS which is on Saturday, 4th June 2011.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm really expectant for all that God will do as the team head out onto Chatham High Street to reveal the love of God to those that pass by.</div><div><br /></div><div>Hope for the hopeless, rest for the restless, healing for the sick and love for those that have been rejected - God is awesome!</div><div><br /></div><div>Will post up testimonies as the come in!</div><div><br /></div><div>Gordon Watson</div><div>Medway Family Church</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Gordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7101635281465886955.post-27555432293438725402011-03-11T17:27:00.003+00:002011-03-11T17:52:04.737+00:00An update of where we are at at MFCHello Hunters!<br /><br />Sorry that there haven't been many updates over the last season.<br /><br />During the last few months we've come into a season as a local church where we felt that God had told us to do the following:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Isaiah 54:2-3 </span><br />‘Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, <span style="font-weight:bold;">strengthen your stakes.</span> For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities’ <br /><br /><br />Part of this we felt was in not spreading ourselves too thinly as a church but prioritising ourselves in particular areas, making them our main focus for the coming season and doing those things well rather than doing lots of things but not effectively.<br /><br />Obviously there is of course the God factor! - It's not about the effort we put in but there are underlying principles relating to practical stewardship of resources, both with people and time.<br /><br />With this all taken into account we felt that as we had 2 street outreach ministries in operation (Treasure Hunts & Prayer on the Square) and that both had the same means to an end (praying for people) that we would be best served to really put our weight behind one for the next season, to develop a team and do it effectively.<br /><br />We decided to emphasise the Prayer on the Square model. It is much like the <a href="http://www.out-there.org/">Healing on the Streets</a> model that the Vineyard churches are using, but with a few adjustments.<br /><br />We felt it was both visible and targeted, also allowing for use of the prophetic in the same way as a treasure hunt, so as to get clues for people you may meet in the morning.<br /><br />We've found in previous times we are seeing the same people walk past week after week and are starting to build up some relationships with local people through the regularity and location of it.<br /><br />I am happy that for this season we have made a good decision and that in the future we will be able to re-engage with the treasure hunt model in some shape or form, but the tools and skills we have learnt as a church, the confidence in moving in the prophetic and approaching strangers has been invaluable.<br /><br />I long for myself and others not just in our own church but in others to really grasp the fact that God wants to speak to us, to have us living supernaturally, not just on church organised outreach vehicles but in the day to day of everyday life, at the school gates, in the supermarket, at work, in the home, in the park, the tennis courts, gym, wherever - God wants you to reach out and impact the world around you with His mighty power displayed through your compassion and obedience.<br /><br />I will try and keep the blog updated with testimonies over this coming season and can only apologise for my rather long delay in posting anything up here!<br /><br />Happy hunting!<br /><br />Gordon Watson<br />Medway Family ChurchGordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7101635281465886955.post-89218624390233181872010-07-18T08:04:00.001+01:002010-07-18T08:08:16.496+01:00Team B - FeedbackWe went to Chatham this morning, hunting treasure in the highstreet. One of my clues was CRUTCHES, and it didn’t take long when we saw a lady walking on a pair of CRUTCHES. She just went into a shop, so we waited outside till she came out again and then approached her explaining what we were doing. She thought it was all a bit ‘freaky’ but she was quite interested. Her ailment (arthritis) was not on our treasure map, but she let us pray for her. She thanked us sincerely, she seemed to have felt quite honoured by this encounter. Encouraged, we continued and a minute later we saw a man sitting, with a CRUTCH in his hand. I had expected that he would quickly dismiss us, but instead we got into an open and friendly conversation about his life and God. Jenny and Mape gently provoked him to think about God and Jesus, and although he kept saying he dealt with his life in his own way, he also understood what we were saying. We left him in faith that he will remember this encounter and will start to ask himself questions about his beliefs and God.<br /><br />We continued to the BAKERY, and waited there for a short while but we didn’t see any potential treasure. We continued to BLOCKBUSTERS; for some strange reason I was convinced that this was a clue of one of the others, and they followed me graciously. It turned out later that this had never been a clue on our treasure maps, but we did find treasure... Jenny and I went inside to see if anyone matched our clue, while Mape started chatting with a young mother with BLUE JEANS. She was waiting outside with her children while her husband was inside. When we came out we went through the clues with her. Again, she didn’t find any other clue on our maps that she recognised, but she did say that we could pray for her as she had recently found out that she has brain tumour! So we prayed for her while her husband came back. She said to him ‘Isn’t this amazing, these three ladies just came here looking for someone they could pray for, while I wanted prayer!’ She told us that some of her family were Christians, and others were Muslims, and they were all praying for her healing.<br /><br />After this amazing encounter, we finally went towards FORT PIT HILL in a hurry as we were running out of time. We had just passed some GATES, and went up into the park when we past a man with BLUE JEANS WALKING DOGS. He didn’t have jeans, but he did wear blue trousers and the dogs convinced us that he was our treasure so we went up to him. He was very friendly and went through our treasure maps. It appeared that he had BACKPAIN and he was quite happy for us to pray for him. He couldn’t feel anything different after our prayer, but he was still very friendly and interested. He also told us that his wife goes to church sometimes, so hopefully this encounter will encourage them both.<br /><br />We felt quite encouraged; we didn’t find many of our clues, and even went into ‘wrong’ directions, but we did find God’s treasures. We didn’t see any dramatic instant healings or salvations, but the people we approached were really friendly and interested. We went back confident that God had used us to sow seeds into their hearts which He will continue to cultivate.<br /><br />Helena PosthumusGordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7101635281465886955.post-30682965202875485862010-07-17T12:37:00.007+01:002010-07-17T13:10:03.244+01:00Treasure Hunt @ MFCHello Hunters,<div><br /></div><div>We had 8 people this morning stepping out in faith to share the Kingdom with those that God led them to.</div><div><br /></div><div>We worshipped, prayed with one another, got our clues and then split into 3 teams:</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Team A</b> - Natalie, Laura, Aurelie</div><div><b>Team B</b> - Helena, Mape, Jenny</div><div><b>Team C</b> - Andrew & Gordon</div><div><br /></div><div>Myself and Andrew approached several people that matched several clues but the highlight was definitely when we approached a young lady because she had a <b>TAN RUCKSACK</b>, she was in the <b>PARK</b>, near the <b>PLAYGROUND - </b>When we spoke to her we asked her name and it was <b>ELLIE</b>!!! - We encouraged her, she went to a local <b>SCHOOL, </b>her parents are Christians, we told her that God knows her and loves her and encouraged her that He wanted a personal relationship with her - She was really moved that God had led us to her - Praise God!</div><div><br /></div><div>More to follow...</div>Gordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7101635281465886955.post-57110322616631049372010-07-16T15:02:00.004+01:002010-07-16T15:10:46.752+01:00Treasure Hunt Training at Bedford (Kings Arms)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6mqy_VRHWAgRsOF3_ySTYpH4l-GgqcjQuUB6DBWPOmPN3gzlRoXz1PmaNRD3i8okvsEuWpLpAFLiXsSZx8rXIbIsTya3TblQjU4ilo7Yoy1-xgvyzIiCGnXuHs0NYp99sYoW9Ip4MupI/s1600/71633257.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 360px; height: 111px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6mqy_VRHWAgRsOF3_ySTYpH4l-GgqcjQuUB6DBWPOmPN3gzlRoXz1PmaNRD3i8okvsEuWpLpAFLiXsSZx8rXIbIsTya3TblQjU4ilo7Yoy1-xgvyzIiCGnXuHs0NYp99sYoW9Ip4MupI/s400/71633257.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494505109552335778" /></a><br />Hi Hunters!<div><br /></div><div>On Saturday, 11th September the team over at Kings Arms in Bedford will be hosting another of their excellent Treasure Hunt Training Days.</div><div><br /></div><div>Click on this link for more information...</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Arial;font-size:medium;"><a href="http://www.kingsarms.org/cm/component/option,com_events/task,view_detail/agid,538/year,2010/month,9/day,11/">http://www.kingsarms.org/cm/component/option,com_events/task,view_detail/agid,538/year,2010/month,9/day,11/</a></span></div><div><br /></div><div>Happy Hunting!</div><div><br /></div><div>Gordon Watson</div><div>Medway Family Church</div>Gordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7101635281465886955.post-73031518989249425562010-06-19T13:00:00.004+01:002010-06-19T21:21:53.278+01:00A Party in Heaven - Hunt @ MFC<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXy4FVY2r-_K8hW5MizkjEZQPpsProvpQri2Xk0gHp6FYpnl9NXjYngVC14fGCON3rVmO64b8w1n9ZN4d2J-Cl-xk1CRDjUrZMvsx3ofHwr2GPmzoH2JAfCKEMtWOCBgAZxGQZ-ipi_-w/s1600/782128_38b28699.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXy4FVY2r-_K8hW5MizkjEZQPpsProvpQri2Xk0gHp6FYpnl9NXjYngVC14fGCON3rVmO64b8w1n9ZN4d2J-Cl-xk1CRDjUrZMvsx3ofHwr2GPmzoH2JAfCKEMtWOCBgAZxGQZ-ipi_-w/s400/782128_38b28699.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484578801931799250" /></a><div><br /></div><div>Hello Hunters,</div><div><br /></div><div>This morning we had Laura, Jenny M, Aurelie and myself together to bless the people God revealed to us.</div><div><br /></div><div>We headed off to <b>BLUEBELL HILL</b>, as we had this clue and also <b>HILL</b>.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the carpark we spoke to some guys in a <b>59 </b>plate BMW, but nothing really came from that.</div><div><br /></div><div>On the way there we were joking that because I had <b>BEREAVEMENT</b> and also a clue about <b>FIRE/SMOKE </b>that perhaps we should pop into the crematorium next to <b>BLUEBELL HILL.</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Personally I didn't have faith for that but Laura pressed me with a bit of gentle ribbing so we thought we'd give it a go and really step out in faith!</div><div><br /></div><div>We parked up, walked around the grounds a bit and then Laura approached a lady who had a <b>BLUE JACKET</b> and <b>DARK HAIR.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>At the same time Jenny and Aurelie went after a lady on a <b>MOBILITY SCOOTER, </b>again I bottled it so backed up Laura (I had more faith for that then the scooter lady!).</div><div><br /></div><div>It turned out our ladies name was <b>JULIE</b> and she was wearing <b>GLASSES. </b>We had a chat with her and her sister, encouraged them and then offered to pray for them - It was great to leave them as they drove off with beaming smiles on their faces - God's always in a good mood!</div><div><br /></div><div>Meanwhile Jenny and Aurelie had spoken to the <b>MOBILITY SCOOTER</b> lady - Her daughters name was <b>SALLY</b> and they got to speak briefly with her.</div><div><br /></div><div>They then approached an elderly lady and got talking to her - She had been going to church but wasn't a Christian yet. She basically struggled with not being able to be good enough and feeling completely disqualified to come into Gods presence/family.</div><div>Jenny explained that to have a relationship with God depends solely on the effort of Jesus, not on our own works or performance (thats legalism!) and that all she need do was move into the grace and mercy of God, accept Jesus free gift of salvation by repenting (changing her thinking) and offering her life to God - Jenny asked if she understood this, she said she did, so Jenny then gently offered her an opportunity to lead her through a prayer of commitment - The lady responded to the essential gospel and heaven had a party!!! - COME ON!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>God is so amazingly good and gracious - The way He had already primed this lady for Jenny to come along and invite her into the Kingdom was a real inspirational moment.</div><div><br /></div><div>But the most humbling thing was the way that Jenny just took it all in her stride and loved the lady like Jesus would without even entertaining the fear of man that could have quite easily prevented her from stepping out into the conversation when the time came to act in faith - Praise God!</div><div><br /></div><div>I love the way that God moves in spite of me, not because of me - It was such a blessing to see Laura, Jenny & Aurelie just doing what they felt the Father was telling them and giving the angels a good cause to have a knees up - Life don't get much better than this! haha - God you're awesome!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>Be encouraged - Happy Hunting!</div><div><br /></div><div>Gordon Watson</div><div>Medway Family Church</div><div><br /></div>Gordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7101635281465886955.post-17393550739406912402010-05-22T12:37:00.002+01:002010-05-22T12:58:20.434+01:00Treasure Hunt - MFC - May 22nd<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCwHwYU460KPnPKlUoEchxT18IqtE4-DfrKilcxJzTD_uHQPxlxwkeVGRQDGFlK_qH7SoBklnHkKLBFarWxUsib-W0dQu2J_scgAd59hsw4UW1I6Hp7ImfWjy7Fv5D3MrIIQkUnHXaJ1E/s1600/DSC00145.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCwHwYU460KPnPKlUoEchxT18IqtE4-DfrKilcxJzTD_uHQPxlxwkeVGRQDGFlK_qH7SoBklnHkKLBFarWxUsib-W0dQu2J_scgAd59hsw4UW1I6Hp7ImfWjy7Fv5D3MrIIQkUnHXaJ1E/s400/DSC00145.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474057286382180786" /></a><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></span>Hello Hunters,</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">We went out again this morning as one team of 4 people. There was Helena, Mape, Natalie and myself.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">We started off at the PARK at the bottom of ROCHESTER CASTLE. We strolled around for a fair while but God didn't open anything up, although Helena was really taken with the idea of starting an outdoor gym (there were people exercising on the grass area).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">We eventually headed onto Rochester High St. passed the ARCHES, the COFFEE SHOP and the TREE WITH BENCHES AROUND IT and then Helena noticed a young girl with BRAIDED HAIR who was walking with her mum. Helena & Natalie approached the lady and asked if she had ALLERGIES, which her daughter did! They chatted for a while, talking baout the families faith and questions surrounding it and then the opportunity came to pray for the daughters asthma (ALLERGY!) - It was a really encouraging first encounter of the morning and set the 4 of us up for what was to come!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Helena & Mape approached a guy who was sitting on the wall selling the Big Issue. Usually there is a woman there (she has been prayed for on previous Hunts) - It turned out that the woman is the guys sister. They prayed for him, for him to get a job and encouraged him - More Lord!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As we walked down the street we noticed a temporary ONE WAY SIGN in the middle of the High St.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Mape then saw a guy wearing an ARSENAL top. I originally thought it would be a red on but it was a BLUE one. We chatted with him briefly but he wasn't the treasure but he held us up just long enough for our next encounter...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">...as we walked on down the street a woman fell out of a shop, down the step and crashed into Natalie, grabbing her to stop herself falling over. Amazingly the woman had a WALKING STICK. We asked how the lady was, if she was she ok? Then I asked if the reason she had a walking stick was because of her KNEE - It was!!! We then asked her name got to know a bit about her and then commanded healing upon her knee and gave thanks for the lady and her new baby granddaughter.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">While we were praying with the lady Helena & Mape were talking with a STREET CLEANER, encouraging him and laughing with him - We were in a real hotspot in that High St.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It was such an encouraging morning, starting off seemingly slow with little happening and the all of a sudden God opened it right up and brought us person after person with impeccable timing.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Our next hunt is sometime in June - Really looking forward to it. God seems to have really changed our outlook and expectancy as a team now and we seem to have a real understanding coming that it's all about what God is wanting to do rather than what we feel we should do.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Be glorified God, you are amazing!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Happy Hunting!!!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Gordon Watson</div><div style="text-align: left;">Medway Family Church</div>Gordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7101635281465886955.post-17371453747672237632010-04-17T20:00:00.002+01:002010-04-27T20:17:25.674+01:00MFC Treasure Hunt<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Hello hunters!</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times; min-height: 14.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We were only with four of us, two for their first hunt, one for her second hunt, and myself. It is always exciting to go on a treasure hunt with ‘fresh’ hunters and to see God speak through them so I felt quite privileged.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">After an amazing time of worship, we asked God for clues. Although not many, we had a few distinct clues and some matching. We went to Rochester, first to the </span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">train station</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, where there were also some </span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">roadworks</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> going on. There we saw an </span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Asian</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">man with a beard and dark coat</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> walking purposefully towards Chatham but we were too late to pick up the courage and speak to him. So we asked God that we might meet him again later in the morning. After waiting at the station for a couple of minutes without seeing anyone matching our clues we walked towards Rochester </span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">bridge</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Again, here were </span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">roadworks</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> going on and we certainly felt we were in the right place. However, we saw no one matching our clues so we moved onto the nearby </span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">park</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> where there are </span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">trees and bushes</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. There were also a father and son </span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">playing with a ball</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> (cricket) which we felt was another clue for the location. However, again no one matched our other clues. We talked to two ladies on a bench but they didn’t recognise any of our clues and didn’t want prayer so we moved on, back to the bridge. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Then, suddenly Aurelie ran across the road, where a young </span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">man with a long black coat and dark clothing</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> was approaching. I catched up with them, and we explained to him about our treasure hunt. He then said that he was Roman Catholic but that he was in a stage of life where he was not sure whether God really exists. Aurelie spoke powerfully truth in his life, encouraging him to be serious about searching God, looking for the truth and also to look for light and not darkness. He then let us pray for him, so we asked God to reveal Himself to this young man. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">At the same location near the bridge, we spoke to another man with a beard and dark coat, and his wife, who were visiting Rochester for the weekend. Although friendly, they didn’t want recognise any of the other clues nor wanted prayer so we blessed them. As we were about to go back, we then saw the same </span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Asian</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">man with a beard and dark coat</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> again, crossing the road coming towards us. We were amazed, as he went in the opposite direction when we saw him at the </span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">train station</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> earlier on, which is about a mile away. But here he was again, just as we had asked God. So we spoke to him and explained what we were doing. He told us he was a Sikh so didn’t want prayer but we just responded that God loves him.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As we made our way back, we saw another </span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">man with a beard and dar </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">coat near </span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">roadworks </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> and a </span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">green jumper</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> but he was not very responsive to us. We had an opportunity to pray with the lady who sells the Big Issue in the high street though and had a lovely chat with her. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">All in all, we had a great time, enjoying the lovely spring weather. All of us felt we had learned again on how to hear from God, how to act (don’t hesitate, opportunities are easily missed!), but also how to receive God’s grace when we don’t act. His love and grace never fails.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Happy hunting!</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Helena Posthumus</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Medway Family Church</span></span></p>Gordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7101635281465886955.post-66866314616390904562010-03-20T15:00:00.004+00:002010-03-25T15:59:21.697+00:00Hunt at MFC<div style="text-align: center;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPSQODPyX7QS5i47AVe2isnEMs0KcwvHQmzDoj4qnJHLSw4mt33WvHhBPA4jecE3q9GfsMxNS-Z6jKwVwvdZWyUxbQpblr39HI5LQWYg8T6bemW3_y0pTpBHDX1O5Q9SsC3O85D6igNiE/s400/DSC00133.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452598159373485042" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Hello Hunters,</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>We went on a hunt last Saturday and had a great time. God really spoke to us clearly about a few people and situations and it was a pleasure to pray for a few people too!</div><div><br /></div><div>We got our clues and headed off to Strood. Adam had the clue BIG WHEEL so we were bowled over when we saw one opposite the train station in a travellers compund. We also had the clue GARAGE and again were bowled over as we pulled over right outside Watsons GARAGE (Watson is my surname!).</div><div><br /></div><div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 192px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqSmvtYvV_p-y5pj5Kbi0Dgvd_kM7g2j7xlnuYSc_IdA2DLnGhKEEnvCghBZAuedUp7Rztb8fqzb2tWaWDRtZEqRHbE0xxWCKajEO1BbxsR3JNi6O_Mdh_uDiZdrEjwpYvsdmsaEtx49Q/s400/DSC00132.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5452598831237476818" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Adam & Bola met a lady right near the BIG WHEEL and opened a conversation. They prophesied over her and encouraged her - It was a real God encounter.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Natalie, Colette and myself were near the SHOPS in Strood, outside SPORTS SHOP. There was an elderly lady walking with her disabled daughter, she was struggling to walk with 2 walking sticks, we had 2 clues about opposite knees. We approached her but she said her neck was bad. We prayed for her, she saw a small improvement, then we all prayed for her again and she said it felt better...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">We met a few other people. Adam met a man ALL IN YELLOW (wearing Hi-Vis gear) but he couldn't stop to talk. We found many other clues and had a few other conversations but nothing of real note.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Anyway back to our lady with the sticks... She asked how much we charged! We obviously said £10 a prayer - haha - No really we obviously said it's all free, that Jesus loves her and doesn't charge! She asked us for a card and we blessed her and left her there outside the shops.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Anyway on the following Monday I went into the town centre and as I was parking my car I saw this little old ladies daughter walking right next to my car. I couldn't pass up this God appointment so I jumped out of the car and got talking to the daughter. I walked with her to the shops (about 10 min walk). We spoke about God and I asked her about her disability.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I let her know that God loves her and values her, then I asked after her mum and her neck - She started telling me I was a genie! I said "genie?" She said "No - a Genius!" - She then went onto say her mum had been pain free in her neck since our prayers. I explained it wasn't us but that the power came from God in heaven. That Jesus had healed her and he loves her - It was quite remarkable really!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And that was that, I left her outside the same shops we had met at on the Saturday and just pray that God will really get a hold of that family!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Be encouraged - Happy Hunting!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Gordon Watson</div><div style="text-align: left;">Medway Family Church</div>Gordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7101635281465886955.post-26235213417137631592010-03-13T16:00:00.001+00:002010-03-25T15:42:15.271+00:00Hunt in Oxted - Kings Church<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Hello Hunters!</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Here is a selection of testimonies for your encouragement from a Treasure Hunt in Oxted on Saturday, 13th March.</span></span><div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana; min-height: 12.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">1. James</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Eddie, Ray and I had three location clues between us - </span></span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">spice</span></span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> (which we took to mean an Indian or similar restaurant), </span></span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">station</span></span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> and </span></span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">flower beds</span></span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> - which took us eventually to the area between the Cinnamon Lounge and the pub opposite, near the station and bordered by raised flower beds. We had previously tried some other locations along the High St with a few contacts but no obvious treasure.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">We felt it was right to stay in that area and trust God to bring the treasure past us. Again, several contacts but no definite hits. After a while Eddie started talking to one of the people who came out of the pub for a cigarette. He was a young man who was amazed to find that Eddie had his name, </span></span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">James</span></span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">, written down as a name clue. He also felt that Eddie's reference to someone with a </span></span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">heavy burden</span></span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> applied to him. Eddie said afterwards that he'd started talking to James as he felt prompted to do so, having caught his eye a few times (this was following a word that Dale had passed on to the TH team earlier in the week, about following the Holy Spirit's prompting). Ray and I joined them and James explained that he felt very much as though his life was empty, despite being outwardly successful at work and in his wider life (though he'd broken up with his girlfriend a little time ago). We gave him some testimonies - including Eddie's and Ray's - and encouraged him to see God's hand upon him that day, to find abundant new life in Jesus. He said he was really interested to talk more and this was what he needed to hear, and if we could wait he would go inside and finish his breakfast (!) and come out again. We agreed and he duly came back a few minutes later, ready to carry on. We talked more and asked if we could pray for him to feel his Father's love in a new way from that day on, with which he was happy - so we did. We gave him the church contact details and the "Knowing God" leaflet and he agreed to come to church at the first opportunity, this coming Sunday (he lives in Oxted but couldn't come yesterday because of his pub manager work in East Grinstead). We advised him to expect obstacles to that coming up during the week, but he seemed determined to be there next Sunday. It will be great if we can pray him into (a) King's church next week and (b) the Kingdom! We left on very good terms, having told him that it really blessed and encouraged us to talk to him too and we looked forwards to seeing him again, at church. </span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">We all felt greatly encouraged by that encounter. Often we've said that there seems a natural time limit even to a good conversation, but in this case we each felt that he was ready to drink in everything we were telling him about God, and that from his face he seemed very open and ready to move forwards. As a team we had a word as we set out that chains would be broken and we prayed afterwards for James that that would apply in his life, shown by his coming to church and getting saved.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Verdana"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> </span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">2. Brian</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">He was a man with a </span></span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">walking stick</span></span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> near the </span></span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">station</span></span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">, who said he didn't think God could help with his "hole in his spine" but we said we'd pray anyway </span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana; min-height: 12.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">3. Brazilian family Eddie knew who were reluctant to commit to coming to church but the husband Nelson asked us to pray for their financial/business situation.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Verdana; min-height: 15.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">4. Alison- her father had died a couple of years ago and her mum lives 400 miles away. Her mother, Kathleen, can be lonely and so we prayed for Kathleen, and also for Alison and her family. She was very open and it was a very positive first encounter of the morning.<br /></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">5. Caroline- her husband has just got the job as deputy head of a local secondary school and she is looking for a lively Church for her and the family. Pippa gave her the King's Church card.<br /></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">6. Janice- she is recovering from a hip replacement and asked that we pray later rather than on the street.<br /></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">7. Harvey- he is a Christian but doesn't go to a Church. Charleigh told him about youth and has invited him along.<br /></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">9. Emily- looking for a job. Told her about job club and gave her the information about it.<br /></span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">10. Shann - with her mother and brother, had a sprained ankle, was about a 7or8 on pain scale, we prayed for it and she said it was feeling a bit better.<br /></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">11. Dawn- Had shoulder and neck pain, we prayed for her and chatted to her, she was very open about things such as her beliefs. Said her shoulder/neck was feeling a bit better, and would have had more prayer but she had to go and meet a friend.<br /></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">12. We were outside </span></span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Oxted Electrical</span></span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">, and saw a woman with a </span></span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">blue top and red scarf</span></span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">. She said that she was a German Catholic and a Scientologist… one of our clues was </span></span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">confused</span></span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> and this could refer to her spiritual state! She had a </span></span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline ; letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">bad hip</span></span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> and so we offered to pray for her and ask Jesus to heal her. We laid hands on her and prayed and she said that the pain had gone down and the hip felt better. We also prayed for a young lad who was with her who had a broken arm. We gave them both tracks about the gospel and asked them to take some time to read about Jesus.</span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Happy Hunting!</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Dale Barlow</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Kings Church Oxted</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 10.0px Verdana"><br /></p></div></div>Gordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7101635281465886955.post-31519671919451211532010-02-16T19:16:00.007+00:002010-02-16T19:32:01.279+00:00Encounter Weekend - Town Invasion FeedbackHello Hunters!<div><br /></div><div>Just wanted to fill you all in on the amazing time that was had by all at the Encounter Youth Conference last weekend over at The Town Church, Sevenoaks.</div><div><br /></div><div>We had the pleasure of having Julian Adams come and teach/minister to us over the Friday evening and all day Saturday - He spoke on the Fathers heart and many people encountered God in fresh new ways. The worship was electric and it was such a pleasure to see 100+ young people going all out for Jesus!</div><div><br /></div><div>On the Saturday afternoon we had approx 30(ish) youngsters signed up for the Town Invasion.</div><div><br /></div><div>We had a short time of teaching and instruction on Treasure Hunting before heading out into Sevenoaks to bless the people that God led us to.</div><div><br /></div><div>All of the teams came back having found clues and being led to people. Many of the teams had some really exciting encounters where the love and power of God really touched peoples hearts.</div><div><br /></div><div>Some of the youth had tried this method of evangelism before but for a few it was their first time out and they were all hugely encouraged as they realized that hearing from God can be an everyday occurrence and that it's not as difficult to share the Kingdom with people as they originally thought!</div><div><br /></div><div>Some of the testimonies will be posted soon... watch this space!</div><div><br /></div><div>Happy Hunting!</div><div><br /></div><div>Gordon Watson</div><div>Medway Family Church</div>Gordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7101635281465886955.post-12438731243287272052010-02-16T19:12:00.003+00:002010-02-16T19:15:54.802+00:00Oxted Hunt Testimonies - Jan/Feb 2010<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;">Here's a few testimonies from Kings Church in Oxted.</span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial"><span style="text-decoration: underline"><b>Orange Hair in Nero’s</b></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial">As soon as we set out, David found his first clue and blessed someone whom I had already had contact with through a woman2woman event. She was open to be blessed and prayed for which was an encouraging start.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial">It was a bitterly cold day so Kate and I were keen to move on to my next location clue which was <b>NERO'S</b>!!!! We were incredulous as we saw our treasure, sitting at the back of the cafe. A woman with <b>LURID BRIGHT ORANGE/ RED HAIR</b>. Bulls eye!! She was deep in conversation so Kate and I decided to sit nearby and wait until we had a chance to talk. When our ‘treasure’ did eventually get up to leave we decided to ask her about her amazing hair colour; she needed no second bidding and sat down next to us with great eagerness and gave us a moment by moment account of her last trip to the hairdressers. We finally managed to explain why we were drawn to talk to her and showed her not only the hair clue but also the words <b>GRIEF </b>which Kate had written on her card. She was astounded that God had spoken so accurately, especially as she had just confessed to her friend to being up to her neck in grief moments before. It transpired that she was a Christian and had been in an abusive marriage for 23 years. She felt bitter that God had saved her on her wedding day but since that day, her life had been very difficult and she was so angry with God and feeling guilty because she had just separated from her husband. We spent some time bringing truth and words of comfort and life and we prayed for her. The tears flowed and we felt that God had made His point - what love He has and what mercy and grace was flowing in spite of her anger and confusion. We really felt that we had brought His presence and that this precious Christian really knew that she was on Father God's heart and that He wasn’t angry with her as she had previously thought. </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial">It was an extraordinary meeting and we are sure that she left us feeling that God would never let go of her and that she was loved. </p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 5.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial"><span style="text-decoration: underline"><b>Rescued by Eddie</b></span></p> <p style="margin: 5.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial">After we left Nero’s, Kate and I headed out for our next location, but on the way there, we found our next clue; a lady with <b>JET BLACK HAIR</b> and the skinniest pair of<b> BLACK SKINNY JEANS </b>stood before us. We explained what we were doing and were met with a very suspicious response- partly due to the fact that her English was poor but also because she clearly didn’t trust us. I was fast beginning to wish that we had never stopped her as we could see that the shutters had gone down. At just the right moment, in perfect timing, Eddie and his team walked by and he immediately saw our predicament. He began speaking to the lady in Bulgarian, and assuring her that we were safe. It transpired that she and her family were Bulgarian and Eddie had witnessed to them in the past. The transformation was astonishing, she started to smile and was open to hear what we had to say. We shared about Jesus with her and although she was very busy and life was stressful, she conceded that she might come to visit us one day at church. She left us looking happy and realizing that God sees her. </p> <p style="margin: 5.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 5.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial"><span style="text-decoration: underline"><b>Flat Cap by the Legion</b></span></p> <p style="margin: 5.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial">We made our way to the <b>BRITISH LEGION</b>, looking for a man in a <b>FLAT CAP</b> who had a <b>WALKING STICK</b> because of his bad back and whose name we thought was <b>BERT</b>. Having waited in the cold for a few minutes and seeing no one we suddenly saw a man walking up the hill about 100 yards away. He had a flat cap and was clearly in pain from the way he was walking. We caught up with him and it turned out that his name was David (not Bert) but that he did had a bad back. The doctors thought he had a trapped nerve but were unable to offer any solution and he had been in pain with it for 6 years. We asked if we could pray for him and when he said that was ok we laid our hands on his back and commanded the pain to go and for healing to come. We then asked him how his back was and he smiled and said that the pain had definitely got less. So we prayed again and encouraged him to walk up and down and see how it was. By the end of our time praying for him he said that the pain had been 8/10 but was now below 4/10. We encouraged him to keep thanking God for what He was doing and to keep asking Him to heal his back completely.</p><p style="margin: 5.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial"><br /></p><p style="margin: 5.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial">Happy Hunting!</p><p style="margin: 5.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial"><br /></p><p style="margin: 5.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial">Dale Barlow</p><p style="margin: 5.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial">Kings Church, Oxted</p>Gordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7101635281465886955.post-90390225351892537902010-02-06T20:00:00.001+00:002010-02-06T20:16:11.279+00:00TOWN INVASION - Saturday, 13th February 2010<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi18YiiuFyt8gK7MCSn0mFl5kFRDrLsj5Cu0wW7R-Oaiya3KwmHPMG2lPSVFHlYd5TtQZQRTDXJwoEpOutFrxcdmyLNENuIZ-uzEg4t3FgM96Lms0C2mU4tLLZCBbAI6es_LtKg_iAFXFQ/s1600-h/22547_261950324866_261912239866_4509452_782742_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 283px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi18YiiuFyt8gK7MCSn0mFl5kFRDrLsj5Cu0wW7R-Oaiya3KwmHPMG2lPSVFHlYd5TtQZQRTDXJwoEpOutFrxcdmyLNENuIZ-uzEg4t3FgM96Lms0C2mU4tLLZCBbAI6es_LtKg_iAFXFQ/s400/22547_261950324866_261912239866_4509452_782742_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5435223632292449490" /></a><br /><div>Hello Hunters!<div><br /></div><div>Just to let you all know about the Town Invasion (Treasure Hunt) this coming Saturday, 13th February, that is happening as part of the Encounter Weekend youth conference with Julian Adams.</div><div><br /></div><div>We will be at The Town Church in Sevenoaks, with the invasion preparation starting at around 1.45pm.</div><div><br /></div><div>There will be a quick time of instruction and testimony before we get our clues and head off into Sevenoaks in teams of 3/4 people to find the people that God gives us the clues to find.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm expecting God to really impact some people on Saturday afternoon through the power of His Holy Spirit!</div><div><br /></div><div>Each team will be out for about an hour before heading back to The Town Church for a de-briefing session (military stylee!) so we can all hear about what God has been doing.</div><div><br /></div><div>Feel free to message me via the Encounter Weekend Facebook page (just search for Encounter & you'll find it on there!) if you have any further questions.</div><div><br /></div><div>I look forward to meeting many of you there.</div><div><br /></div><div>Happy Hunting!</div><div><br /></div><div>Gordon Watson</div><div>Medway Family Church</div></div>Gordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7101635281465886955.post-74779952038069498882010-01-23T16:30:00.001+00:002010-01-23T16:52:33.781+00:00Roadshow at Oxted - 23/01/2010Hello Hunters,<div><br /></div><div>Today we had churches from across Kent meeting at Kings Church, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Oxted</span>, to bless the people in their town by going out on a treasure hunt.</div><div><br /></div><div>There were loads of testimonies fed back after the hunt. Needless to say it is amazing just hearing testimony after testimony of how God has given people clear words and descriptions of people and their needs so that we can introduce them to the King of Heaven!</div><div><br /></div><div>The highlight for me today was going to the SUPERMARKET, where there was a young man walking out of there wearing an ORANGE JACKET. The lady walking with him had HIGH BOOTS on and was also pushing a SHOPPING TROLLEY. I ran over to approach them with Laura from our team and explained what we were doing and the lady said that the young man was autistic. She is his carer, he lives in a home and that his parents were coming to visit him today. I nearly fell over!!! My self and Laura had the words FATHER & MOTHER between us. I explained that I felt that God wanted us to pray for the young man. She introduced us to him and I spoke briefly with him, he kept saying "I'm in charge, I'm in charge!"</div><div><br /></div><div>We didn't end up praying for him there and then, I asked him a couple of times, but he didn't want us to, just said "I'm in charge!" and it felt wrong to be forceful and push it further. But I came away from this encounter both humbled and stirred.</div><div><br /></div><div>Humbled because God had led us to this young man, bound up in himself and not fully engaged with his surroundings. And then stirred because as a church we have had prophetic words about us being a healing centre for autism (amongst other mental conditions).</div><div>God won't you please accelerate this promise into becoming reality!</div><div><br /></div><div>My heart felt so compassionate towards that young man, but I was also aware that maybe whatever was saying "I'm in charge!" wanted things to stay just as they were. If I was a disciple I'd have had a pretty good idea what to do!</div><div><br /></div><div>Move in power Father and help me overcome my unbelief!</div><div><br /></div><div>Watch this space for further testimonies from today - I'll post them as I receive them...</div><div><br /></div><div>Happy Hunting!</div><div><br /></div><div>Gordon Watson</div><div><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Medway</span> Family Church</div>Gordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7101635281465886955.post-19425159465865283482009-12-05T14:20:00.005+00:002009-12-05T14:55:43.617+00:00MFC Treasure Hunt - 05/12/2009<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn1TMmOVvfTyP33BD1hJrFfMQUglTsRoPoQjfz0RA6owSdmTFB2oCbhcPl0LKLw1LgGuxVehNXRH3PQ4XmASuYS5U17xWjsyNJ7XCEZoY8t3mwKzAc008PCQSGxp8Nc6rEDFTbnJ2qLjw/s1600-h/Dickens.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 268px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411764313427197170" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn1TMmOVvfTyP33BD1hJrFfMQUglTsRoPoQjfz0RA6owSdmTFB2oCbhcPl0LKLw1LgGuxVehNXRH3PQ4XmASuYS5U17xWjsyNJ7XCEZoY8t3mwKzAc008PCQSGxp8Nc6rEDFTbnJ2qLjw/s400/Dickens.jpg" /></a><br /><div></div><div>Hello Hunters!<br /><br />It was a pleasure to go out into Rochester this morning with what was one of our largest contingent of hunters to date.<br /><br />We had Aurelie and Hannah out with us, both on their first hunts. Plus we had the added encouragement of some friends from The River Centre in <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Tonbridge</span> joining with us following on from last weeks Roadshow in <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Gravesend</span>.<br /><br />Helena confidently led us and encouraged us as we met together to worship Father God.<br /><br />We split into 3 groups and all headed off to Rochester <em>(which wasn't planned!)</em> - It was a great encouragement that today was the Dickens Festival so the town was heaving with people, at points so much so that there was barely room to move!<br /><br />All of the teams identified people corresponding to the clues that God had spoken to them, approached them and most were afforded the privilege of praying Gods blessing and power into peoples lives.<br /><br />Personally it was a huge encouragement to see both Peter and Naomi<em> (both from River Centre)</em> stepping out to approach their 1st person in a WHEELCHAIR. After this they were hugely encouraged and approached another 6 people in wheelchairs and were able to pray Gods love and healing power over 4 of these people. It's great to think that God chooses to move through us, to reveal his love to others through our obedience to his word - Amazing!<br /><br />This was our last planned hunt of 2009 and was a huge encouragement as I look back to when we started Treasure Hunting as a church back at the beginning of this year. We have seen so many people come into encounters with the living God. Many have come and stepped out in faith without knowing what to expect. We have seen networking blossom amongst like minded (and hearted) local churches as we have stepped out united into each others communities and asked God to bless those that live amongst us but so often get overlooked.<br />We have learnt what it is to serve a God that is compassionate, that knows people by name, who has revealed His plan for the lives of the lost and the broken - I could go on for hours....<br /><br />God is good and we're looking forward to more, more, more in 2010.<br /><br /><strong>1 Peter 4:11</strong><br />If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God.<br />If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever.<br />Amen.<br /><br />Happy hunting & have a great Christmas!<br /><br />Gordon Watson<br /><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Medway</span> Family Church</div>Gordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7101635281465886955.post-80293784998050624362009-11-28T14:30:00.003+00:002009-12-01T13:17:01.518+00:00Roadshow at Gravesend - 28/11/09<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP8aUGktPPXDDBsbF7TQ-wIdBAsfM7pACCoeeB3M2Sq68Z2o3iV1LKAvtCfvPHe2eAdjVNkYew668mlt-KgWDATCZ_881XLSrPheYJqbsCsHzZtMXL9ZSrDrAp-2yZg3rsBDZqx1fYJBY/s1600/High+street+location+in+Gravesend.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP8aUGktPPXDDBsbF7TQ-wIdBAsfM7pACCoeeB3M2Sq68Z2o3iV1LKAvtCfvPHe2eAdjVNkYew668mlt-KgWDATCZ_881XLSrPheYJqbsCsHzZtMXL9ZSrDrAp-2yZg3rsBDZqx1fYJBY/s400/High+street+location+in+Gravesend.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410248690415865506" /></a>Hello Hunters!<div><br /></div><div>We had the great pleasure of seeing Treasure Hunt teams from across Kent all descend upon <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Gravesend</span> for a morning of seeing the presence of God move in the local community for NKCC.</div><div><br /></div><div>We met at Emmanuel Baptist Church (it was great that they loaned us their building!) in the morning and had a time of testimony and worship (led excellently by Dave Webster) before splitting into teams and getting our clues.</div><div><br /></div><div>There were around 20 people spread across 6 teams and every team went out and most came back encouraged with testimonies of how they had found clues and found treasure.</div><div><br /></div><div>One team approached a lady who matched several clues and said to her "God wants to do something amazing for you today" - The lady immediately responded, whilst choking back tears. Recently her experience of life had been really difficult with death and illness running through her family and effecting her in many different ways. The team encouraged her and prayed for her and left her with a massive hug and a beaming smile - God is good!</div><div><br /></div><div>Really looking forward to the next hunt this coming Saturday at MFC - More Lord!</div><div><br /></div><div>Happy hunting!</div><div><br /></div><div>Gordon Watson</div><div>Medway Family Church</div>Gordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7101635281465886955.post-15751241323648190832009-11-12T14:19:00.004+00:002010-01-23T16:49:14.866+00:00Treasure Hunt Roadshow Flyer<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbV4uWrJQmrQOBL_-Txq0dFxjYv5GSwXfh_Nx1YPKuk4REAHLChDZUO8F3qaKanCi292H8idVRPkoYxW_p1eP8EKu-5yW3G8F49NwWkAWjRkr3hJx_v92w9vs_A6clCAHsHHf3HRi0qKE/s1600-h/Treasure+Hunts.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 355px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbV4uWrJQmrQOBL_-Txq0dFxjYv5GSwXfh_Nx1YPKuk4REAHLChDZUO8F3qaKanCi292H8idVRPkoYxW_p1eP8EKu-5yW3G8F49NwWkAWjRkr3hJx_v92w9vs_A6clCAHsHHf3HRi0qKE/s400/Treasure+Hunts.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429978296698874898" /></a><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div>Hello Hunters!</div><div> </div><div>Our next scheduled Treasure Hunt Roadshow is on Saturday, 28<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">th</span> November at <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Gravesend</span>.</div><div> </div><div>We look forward <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">to</span> seeing many of you there!</div><div> </div><div>Happy Hunting!</div><div> </div><div>Gordon Watson</div><div><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Medway</span> Family Church<br /></div><div></div>Gordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7101635281465886955.post-56507825304781930702009-10-24T15:00:00.002+01:002009-11-04T10:20:06.641+00:00Roadshow at 7oaksThis morning we met at The Town Church in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Sevenoaks</span> for our 2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">nd</span> Kent Treasure Hunt Roadshow.<div><br /></div><div>We had teams from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Oxted</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">NKCC</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">MFC</span> and also a team from The River Centre in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Tonbridge</span> - There was approx 40+ people in attendance representing a varying degree of ages and backgrounds.</div><div><br /></div><div>We had a great time of worship and wrote down our clues during this time.</div><div><br /></div><div>We then split up into our teams and headed out into <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Sevenoaks</span> to find and bless God's treasure.</div><div><br /></div><div>Watch this space for testimonies....</div><div><br /></div><div>Happy hunting!</div><div><br /></div><div>Gordon Watson</div><div><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Medway</span> Family Church</div>Gordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7101635281465886955.post-34316255594688959092009-10-10T16:32:00.003+01:002009-10-10T16:42:58.062+01:00Another great morning! - MFCHello hunters!<div><br /></div><div>Laura, Michelle (1st timer) & Jon (2nd timer) and I went out this morning.</div><div><br /></div><div>We headed off to Rochester and here are the highlights of Gods leading...</div><div><br /></div><div>A guy sitting on a bench opposite a PHONE BOX, he had a BEARD, WALKING STICK, GLASSES and a WOOLly hat.</div><div><br /></div><div>He told us he had CANCER and was open to us praying for him, we shared the Gospel with him and encouraged him that God had led us to him to comfort him and let him know He's there.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was amazing that afterwards Laura pointed out that there was a shop to his left called the Deaf Cat - I had the clue HEARING PROBLEM and Laura had CAT - God has an amazing sense of humour!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>Also...</div><div><br /></div><div>A man near Rochester Castle, with a STICK, 2 of us had his NAME as the clue and we also had his sons NAME. He told us his son is ill and that he is was also LONELY due to recent relationship break up. We had a great time of conversation, encouragement and prayer (the man was already a Christian) before heading off home!</div><div><br /></div><div>We are coming into a season of increased expectancy and also a much higher hit rate with clues (particularly names), but most importantly God is being revealed to people, which is what it's all about - Glory glory, glory to the Lord God Almighty!</div><div><br /></div><div>Amen!</div><div><br /></div><div>Gordon Watson</div><div>Medway Family Church</div>Gordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7101635281465886955.post-79614129184418485752009-09-26T16:56:00.000+01:002009-10-10T17:00:51.228+01:00Roadshow Testimony - MFC (2)Hello Hunters,<div><br /></div><div>Just a quick testimony from the Roadshow at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">MFC</span>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Myself and Ian (the older one) from 7oaks approached a man who had a BLUE SHIRT on. We were at Capstone COUNTRY PARK near the POND.</div><div><br /></div><div>The man was with a young boy and they were fishing. I saw that the BLUE TOP was a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Gillingham</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">FC</span> top so asked how the fishing was going and we talked footy for a bit. I then felt compelled to ask if one of them was called JAMES. The man said "That's my sons name!!!"</div><div><br /></div><div>We then got into a much deeper conversation with them about God, their Christian faith and affirmed the father to the son and encouraged them in Jesus name - It was a pretty amazing time really - God is great!</div><div><br /></div><div>Happy Hunting,</div><div><br /></div><div>Gordon Watson</div><div><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Medway</span> Family Church</div>Gordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7101635281465886955.post-71746072177934504922009-09-26T16:50:00.002+01:002009-10-10T16:55:39.497+01:00Roadshow Testimony - MFC<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; "><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0cm; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, serif; font-size: medium; ">I quickly typed up our treasure hunt before I'm off to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Bedford</span> this afternoon and forget about it. It was a struggle at first, but we were very encouraged by the ending of our hunt!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0cm; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><o:p><span style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0cm; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;">Dale, Kate, Emma and I went up to Victoria Gardens first to the <u>playground </u>and <u>bandstand</u>. Dale and Kate approached a boy with a <u>yellow t-shirt</u> and <u>red hair</u>. They chatted with him and two girls for a few minutes, but they said they were alright and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">didn</span>’t need prayer. We then went over to an elderly man who sat on the bench. Although he <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">didn</span>’t match any of the clues we just started talking to him. I noticed the bandages on his legs and he told us he had a skin problem. He let us pray for him but we don’t know whether God healed him or not. When we finished praying we say that two girls and a boy were hanging around at the <u>bandstand</u>. So we went over to them and I asked them whether the names we had written down meant anything to them. But they <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">didn</span>’t recognise any name so we moved on to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Chatham</span> high street.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0cm; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">We went along the <u>music shop</u>, I looked quickly inside but <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">didn</span>’t see any obvious clues, so we walked further. In the second <u>music shop</u> we approached a customer who had a <u>check shirt</u>. I explained to him what we were doing, but he said he was an atheist. However, he was willing to run through some of the clues with us, and then he told us that the owner of the first <u>music shop</u> had the same NAME that we had on our list. “That is as far as I can help you” he said; I found it quite encouraging that an atheist was willing to help us to find the clues given to us by God! ;-)</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0cm; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;">We went further down the high street but <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">didn</span>’t really see anyone that matched our clues. At the <u><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">McDonalds</span></u>, a man was sitting outside begging, with a <u>striped shirt</u> and <u>coins</u> in front of him. I often see him there on Saturdays, and buy him a burger and have a chat with him. So we approached him. He said he prayed himself every day, but I could see he was really touched when we prayed for him.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0cm; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;">We went back, looking for our clues. We approached a women with a <u>pink shirt</u>, but she <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">didn</span>’t want to know anything about God or religion. Immediately after, a mother and her daughter came towards us with <u>pink skirts </u>as well. We stopped them, again explained what we were doing. They recognised some of the names as friends, but <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">couldn</span>’t think of anything we could pray for. I asked the mother if she believed in God. She said she believed in something, and perhaps one could call that something God, but she <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">didn</span>’t go to church or anything. We moved on as we had to go back (and now I realise I should have told her about the Alpha course - stupid me). A guy walked passed us, with his <u>elbow in bandage</u> and a <u>sling.</u> So we quickly stopped him, his name matched with one of the names we had, but he <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">didn</span>’t want prayer. He said his arm was nearly healed and the bandage would come off next week.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0cm; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;">We had our last stop at the first <u>music shop</u>. There were no customers, but one guy was standing in the doorway smoking, with <u>spiky hair</u>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0cm; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;">That’s <u>NAME</u> I thought, and so he was. I started explaining to him what we were doing and he was very interested. Then he told us he was a Christian and that he and his mate were looking for a church.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0cm; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;">Just this week his mate had said that he had heard that there was a good church on Jasper Avenue, and maybe they should to there one day! Hey, that is us! </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0cm; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;">We chatted with him for a bit longer about the church and gave him the details. He was really amazed and knew this was a sign of God. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0cm; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;">He said he would tell his friend about our encounter, and hopefully his friend will come to church. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Isn</span>’t God good!?!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0cm; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Calibri;">By the way, the other encouraging thing was that, as we shared afterwards, I realised that quite a few of the clues we had but <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">couldn</span>’t find, matched with clues of other groups who did find their treasures based on those clues!<span> </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0cm; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;">Another amazing treasure hunt – I’m looking forward to the next one!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0cm; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:100%;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Calibri, serif; font-size: medium; ">Helena</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-left: 0cm; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Calibri, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Medway</span> Family Church</span></span></p></span>Gordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7101635281465886955.post-83050116193650042882009-09-26T15:07:00.003+01:002009-09-26T15:23:37.788+01:00Roadshow at MFCHello hunters!<div><br /></div><div>We had our 1st Treasure Hunt Roadshow this morning and it was great.</div><div><br /></div><div>We had 20+ people attend, with the majority being experienced hunters and 4 newbies who were experiencing it for the 1st time.</div><div><br /></div><div>We hosted the 1st of 5 planned events, this one being at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Medway</span></span> Family Church.</div><div><br /></div><div>Teams from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">NKCC</span></span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Oxted</span></span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Sevenoaks</span></span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Dartford</span></span> descended upon <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Medway</span></span> under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and every team came into contact with God's treasure, which was found and blessed in Jesus name.</div><div><br /></div><div>As testimonies are fed back I will post them on here, but I really just wanted to come on here and thank everyone that came out in faith and blessed the people in our local community, thank you all!</div><div><br /></div><div>God is doing something amazing amongst us and as we meet together and press into what he has for us as a region of churches in unity I'm trusting that the Kingdom that we are all a part of will invade our towns and bring freedom - <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Yay</span> Jesus!</div><div><br /></div><div>I can't wait for the next one now at The Town Church, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Sevenoaks</span></span> on Saturday 24<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">th</span></span> October at 10am.</div><div><br /></div><div>Happy hunting!</div><div><br /></div><div>Gordon Watson</div><div><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Medway</span></span> Family Church</div>Gordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7101635281465886955.post-73399604738575028702009-09-20T12:00:00.000+01:002009-09-23T23:27:20.848+01:00The Treasure Hunt RoadshowWe are pleased to announce that the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Newfrontiers</span> Kent network of churches is hosting a Treasure Hunt Roadshow from September 2009 through to at least February 2010.<div><br /></div><div>Treasure Hunt teams from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Medway</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Sevenoaks</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">NKCC</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Oxted</span> & <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Dartford</span> will take turns in hosting each Treasure Hunt in their towns.</div><div><br /></div><div>Every morning will start at 10am with tea & <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">coffee</span>, followed by a short period of worship. We will then head out to find and bless the 'treasure' that God leads us to before returning back to base for a short time of feedback and encouragement before ending at approx 12:30pm.</div><div><br /></div><div>The roadshow kicks off at <a href="http://www.medwayfamilychurch.org.uk"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Medway</span> Family Church</a> in Rochester this Saturday, 26<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">th</span> September at 10am.</div><div><br /></div><div>All are encouraged and welcome to attend regardless of previous Treasure Hunting experience.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is the perfect opportunity to step out in faith and give it a try for the first time or even just come along as an observer and see what a Treasure Hunt actually looks like!</div><div><br /></div><div>Happy hunting!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>Gordon Watson</div><div><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Medway</span> Family Church</div>Gordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7101635281465886955.post-23230199602575033852009-09-13T22:00:00.002+01:002009-09-15T23:56:49.461+01:00Gods Sense of Humor - MFC<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Hello Hunters!</span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Here is an excerpt from an email that Helena sent to me after a recent Treasure Hunt:<br /></span></span> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />Just a quick update on the treasure hunt yesterday. Obviously you were there when we found our treasure John who matched many clues. although he clearly wasn't in the mood of talking or praying, I hope that our meeting encouraged him.<br /><br />Damien and I went to St Margarets church afterwards. it turned out that the church was open because of the Heritage weekend (?). anyhow, we chatted to two people outside (who were involved in this 'open day' event - Peter and another lady, I forgot her name) explaining what we were doing. Although they were interested, we didn't get anywhere, except on the rooftop of the church. because of the open day we were invited to go up the roof and Peter went with us. while enjoying the lovely views, we chatted with Peter and he was telling us he goes to the Salvation Army and they meet on sunday evenings in Emmaus church. He invited us to come along that evening because they were going to 'send out' two cadets.<br /><br />long story short, I went to Emmaus church (</span></span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">old church</span></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">) in the evening, and really enjoyed the service. Nice people, good preach on God giving us Christians a purpose and a mission (very much NF style message). Anyhow, I was sitting next to Peter's wife Sue and she was wearing a </span></span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">green skirt</span></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. i thought 'that's funny'. Then, it turned out that the two cadets they were sending out was a </span></span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">couple in their 50s/60s with the woman with brown hair</span></span><em style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></span></em></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> The Salvation Army band was playing, and their choir was singing, so there was a lot of </span></span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">live music</span></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> in the place. And then I spotted the tattoos on the left arm of the biker sitting in front of me. Believe it or not, he had planets and a small </span></span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">spaceship</span></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> tattooed on his arm! I nearly fell of my chair! God has a great sense of humour. I didn't feel prompted to talk to or pray for anyone regarding the clues. Obviously, they're all christians and know God, but also the focus of the evening was on this couple that was sent out and people were crowding around this couple afterwards to have a last chance to say goodbye, so I left after having a few friendly chats with people. Sometimes God reveals His clues more to have fun with us (in a positive sense). I felt very blessed during the evening, as the service (with the band and the choir) reminded me of the church in my home village where I grew up, it was a privilege to hear the couple's testimony of how God had broken in when they went through a rough time, and my fear for (or rather, my prejudice of) bikers has now gone! You know these scary bikers with shaved heads, large beards, earrings and tattoos...? Two of them were sitting in front of me, and when the band was playing their last song, these two men were joyfully joining in, singing along with the band and praising God. It was hilariously funny (no disrespect here), it really made me laugh. whenever I see another sturdy biker again, i have to think of these two men and can't help myself but have to smile.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Helena</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I was so encouraged to have received this email and also by the fact that on that day we had our largest team out on the streets doing a treasure hunt! We had it straight after our Sunday morning service (which was a first) and noticed an increased sense of expectancy amongst the team - More Lord!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Gordon Watson</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Medway Family Church</span></span></div>Gordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7101635281465886955.post-87825261115087291102009-09-12T17:30:00.001+01:002009-10-10T16:46:12.804+01:00Treasure Hunt - Oxted<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma">TREASURE HUNT – <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Oxted</span> Saturday 12<sup><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">th</span></sup> September 09</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma">Pictures During Worship</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma">Picture of many angels flying up and down the high street. Then I saw them flying over the park and various other places in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Oxted</span>. I had a sense that God was saying that he had sent the angels out before us.<br /><br />1. 30 seconds after leaving the church office going up Amy Road towards the <b>BIKE SHOP</b> we saw a big guy leaning on his car just outside <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Sainsbury's</span> waiting for the rest of his family to return to the car. He had been a <b>PROP FORWARD</b> and he had a <b>KNEE PROBLEM</b> and was standing on the <b>KERB</b>. This blew us away as the ink was only just dry from our having put these very clues on our list back in the church office. He was so obviously the treasure but said there was no point in praying and would not let us. His family arrived at that moment. Whilst he was taken aback and slightly defensive, he was pleasant. Once we had moved away we prayed for him anyway asking God to keep working on his heart and to keep reminding him that he had been identified as treasure.<br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma"><br />2. We found another <b>PROP FORWARD</b> with a <b>KNEE PROBLEM</b> (shortly to be having an operation) this time also with a <b>BLACK TEE SHIRT. </b>He was happy for us to pray for him as he went (but he was carrying a bag of tools and clearly about to start a job).<br />There were an alarming number big, bald people (!) (including some with black tee shirts) in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Oxted</span> on Saturday and we talked to a good few of them - always pleasantly received; never once did people refuse to talk to us.<br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma"><br />3. We found a <b>BALD/<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">SHAVEN</span> HEADED</b> guy in the<b> BIKE SHOP</b> with whom we ended up having quite a conversation about Christianity. He muttered that it was interesting that we had "struggling to get free of <b>ADDICTIONS</b>" on his list but was clearly not about to discuss why he thought that was interesting (and as there were quite a few people around it did not seem right to start talking about that there and then). He thought that he was being "more Christian" than a lot of people by going on a bike ride to raise several hundred pounds for a children's charity the next day. We asked for his email so we could sponsor him. We also told him about Alpha and invited him to the Alpha supper which he seemed interested in. We pray he will come. (Alex and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Korbus</span> who own the bike shop and are Christians were quite interested to see what was going on. I must explain treasure hunting to them sometime.)<br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma"><br />4. Later in the day when sitting with my children on a sleepy train going towards London from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Oxted</span> with only two or three other people in the carriage I noticed a <b>BALD</b> guy who looked like a <b>PROP FORWARD</b> wearing a <b>BLACK TEE SHIRT. </b>He looked quite intimidating and I really <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">didn</span>’t want to talk to him - and surely the treasure hunt was over. But I couldn't stop thinking about whether he might be treasure so I did what I thought was a pretty safe deal with God. "OK God we are getting off at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Riddlesdown</span>. No one gets off at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Riddlesdown</span> on the London bound train. If he is treasure may he get off there too." Imagine my relief - and I confess a twinge of disappointment - when he stayed firmly rooted to his seat when we got up as we drew in to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Riddlesdown</span>. We were the only ones to get off. And then there he was. On the platform too! I still had my treasure map with me so told him what we had been up to that morning. He was delighted to talk and had a look at my list. He said he had been a <b>PROP FORWARD</b> at school and happened to have a bit of a<b> BAD LEG. </b>My courage failed me to pray for him there and then (and he was not in any obvious discomfort) and we were both going our separate ways but I did mention that we were having an Alpha event in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Oxted</span> and gave him an invitation. We blessed him on his way and again pray that he will come.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma">5. We saw a lady with a <span style="text-decoration: underline">red top</span> walk past Deep Blue fish and <span style="text-decoration: underline">chip shop</span> but <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">couldn</span>’t talk to her as we were the other side of the road. After crossing over and standing outside the fish and chip shop for a few moments the same lady came back carrying two bags for the charity shop nearby. She was struggling so I offered to carry the bags which she gratefully accepted. Whilst walking to the charity shop I explained that we were on a Treasure Hunt and she said that she had a bad back. I offered to pray for her back, which she agreed to, and then we walked back to the fish and chip shop where the rest of the team were and we prayed for her back. No immediate improvement but we were able to share some testimony with her and give her an invite to the Alpha supper and course.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma">6. Our first encounter was with two ladies standing at a <span style="text-decoration: underline">bus stop</span>, one was holding a <span style="text-decoration: underline">walking stick</span> and had an <span style="text-decoration: underline">injured leg</span>. The lady with the bad leg was very happy for us to pray for her when we assured her we weren't Jehovah Witnesses! We didn't have time to ask her if there was any improvement, because the bus arrived shortly afterward. As they were getting on the bus the other lady asked us to pray for her <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">un</span>-saved husband 'Jim'.<span style="color: #0000ff"> </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma; color: #0000ff; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma">7. Dale had <span style="text-decoration: underline">bike sale</span> on his list and I had <span style="text-decoration: underline">swings</span> on my list so we headed off to the park where there was a bike sale. We had only just got to the park when I looked at the swing and saw a <span style="text-decoration: underline">green top</span> with <span style="text-decoration: underline">white blobs</span> on it which could be flowers but it was quite far away so I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">wasn</span>’t sure. Dale said that Emma, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Charleigh</span> and I should talk to her. We were all a bit nervous because none of us had ever done the main bit of talking but we started walking to the swings and then I saw a <span style="text-decoration: underline">pram</span> in the back ground . This gave us a bit of confidence so we kept walking and just as we got to the gate which leads into the park we saw a party with <span style="text-decoration: underline">balloons</span>. When we finally got to the lady Emma said “hi we’re from Kings Church and we’re doing a treasure hunt and we think you are the treasure because you have a green flowery top and your by the swings does anything match with you on our lists?” So she looked at all of our lists and said no so we asked her if there was anything she would like us to pray about. She took a while thinking and then said that her friend has been trying to have a baby but <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">couldn</span>’t so could we pray for that. Then she said that she went to church in Camden and they did something the same at her church. So we said goodbye and walked back to Dale feeling thankful that our first person who we talked to on our own was a Christian and a really nice person.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma">8. At the beginning, I was worried about starting the treasure hunt because I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">hadn</span>’t got many clues and everyone else had thirty more than me!! About half way through our time treasure hunting, we walked over to the older part of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Oxted</span>. We had the clues <span style="text-decoration: underline">post box</span> and <span style="text-decoration: underline">bench</span>, so we sat down on the bench by the post office. One of my clues was ‘<span style="text-decoration: underline">long <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">blonde</span> hair’</span>, so as we sat there, a lady with long <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">blonde</span> hair was about to walk past, Dale was asking me is that the right person and I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">didn</span>’t know so I just left it and let her walk past though if she came back I said we should talk to her.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma">Funnily enough, she walked past again so Dale and I walked over and started talking to her. After introducing ourselves, we showed her our sheets and asked her if any of our clues had anything to do with her. I had ‘<span style="text-decoration: underline">Ankle</span>’ on my list and she said that she had broken her ankle and that it had nearly fully recovered but she can’t play football without it hurting. We carried on talking and we asked if there was anything she wanted praying for and she said that she had had lots of family problems earlier, and Dale had <span style="text-decoration: underline">‘uncertainty’</span> as one of his clues. She then went on to say that her dad had tried to commit suicide and is an alcoholic and that her step dad had had a heart attack which has all cleared up now but she is uncertain all the time in case it comes back. We then prayed for her and gave her an alpha leaflet. As we were about to leave, she mentioned that it was her birthday the next day and that she was thankful that she could enjoy it and not have to worry about her dad.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma">9. The main clued which attracted us was <span style="text-decoration: underline">beard</span>. The chap is called Graham. When I approached and showed him my list of clues he initially said no, nothing matches. Instead of then rushing away I remembered what Dale had once said about building a relationship with your contact, so I then just chatted to him, with Danni joining in. He then admitted that his wife of 48 years had recently died (I had <span style="text-decoration: underline">lonely</span> as prayer need on my list of clues, Danni had <span style="text-decoration: underline">sadness</span> ). He said that he used to go to church and that his wife sang in the choir at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Limpsfield</span>. He told us that he plays the cornet in the local brass band (Danni had <span style="text-decoration: underline">musical instrument</span> on her list). He seemed so ready and pleased to stand and chat. We gave him an invite to the Alpha launch and told him that the course would be held in Costa Coffee. He thanked us and as we parted we knew that it had been right to have a conversation with Graham that day.</p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma">Dale Barlow</p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma">Kings Church, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">Tandridge</span></p>Gordon Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08650703050043537817noreply@blogger.com1