Martin Lazenby – Malaga, Spain

“When was the moment that you knew that you were all in for the Kingdom of God?”, Maurice Nightingale posed each of us that question as we sat in the living room of River House in the Polish countryside. What followed was story after story of how God had caught hold of the men gathered there, how He had captivated them with a vision for His Kingdom manifest through the local church and the sacrifices that each had made to take the light & life of Jesus into spiritually dark places across the continent of Europe.

The following day we spent a few fascinating hours at the Museum of Solidarity, immersing ourselves in the story of normal people uniting to make a lasting change. I was filled with admiration at their courage, conviction and capacity for effecting huge change in their country, I couldn’t help but think I had felt a similar sense of admiration and respect as I heard each person’s story of commitment & sacrifice the day before and allowed myself to dream about the impact God could have through ordinary but committed people like this.

Over the last year Maurice has been gathering together church planters from across Europe to support one another and to spur us on to apostolic mission in each of our nations. Over the penultimate weekend of April we gathered in
Gdansk to spend time together, building relationships, praying and prophesying over one another & thinking about planting churches and building apostolic families across Europe.

We had a wonderful few days of connecting with one another. Kevin Reilly hosted us fantastically and, along with Maurice, had put together an excellent program that gave much time to having fun and building friendships as well as unhurried time to build one another up, wrestle with big ideas and minister to one another. Each morning was dedicated to spending time discussing themes around apostolic mission and praying into each other’s lives and ministry. Afternoons and evenings were spent enjoying time relaxing with one another and enjoying various fun activities that Kevin had planned for us, although the jury is still out on whether swimming in a freezing lake counts as fun!

Maurice is always keen to remind us that relationship binds us together and building friendships and making memories are key to this. It was a real pleasure to enjoy time with old friends and get to know new ones better. Whether it was kayaking along the river, trying out the local cuisine, enjoying a walk through the forest, wandering through the centre of Gdansk or falling about in fits of laughter.

As we made jokes and told stories around the fire, many happy & lasting memories were made. In fact some of the most impactful times we shared were in these moments as people shared stories of their journeys so far, opening up about hurts and challenges, sharing testimonies of Gods goodness, dreaming about the future and encouraging and praying for one another.

As we said our goodbyes on the Monday each of us was returning to our home context enriched and encouraged, fuelled with fresh faith for the season ahead and with many things to meditate on that had come up in conversations and ministry times that I am sure will shape what each of us does in the coming phases of our ministries.

Thank you Kevin and Maurice for a very profitable weekend, spent in a wonderful location with some great people.