From Simon, Joy & Family

04/November/2007 02:06 Filed in: Misc

Dear Lesley,

Hey Babes! I’m staggered that it’s a year since we were with you at HG3, how are you? We think about you often and miss your smiley face, encouragement and enthusiasm: your voice and stories are still there behind us urging us on. I know it’s long overdue, but thank you again.

We continue to get brilliant reports of fellow students and what they are up to: sometimes I’m just flabbergasted at what these amazing people are doing! Angie at Pemba, Elizabeth Campbell in Eastern Europe and India and Jeannie in USA …..God is sooo good.

Well, I wanted to tell you what’s up with us Smiths and fill you in with how far we’ve got, so to speak. We went to HG3 with only one agenda and that was to be ‘sent’. Our home church at the time had links with Senegal in West Africa and the Congolese missionary there had been asking for help for a while. So it seemed good to us to have a weather eye open in that direction. Nevertheless, with open hearts, willing hands and French, Wolof and Pular language books at the ready, we cut our ties with England (Our house had sold in the August). For the entire course Joy and I waited for Holy Spirit to speak. By week six I was no longer blasé about having no fixed abode, but was entirely focused. I remember one meeting while lying on my back under the marquee, I began to toy with the shapes the sand and mud had made on the roof material: a bit like you would do with clouds on a summer day. I thought, “that looks like mountains”, without a pause Holy Spirit spoke, “I’m sending you to the Scottish Glens”. Again in another meeting I saw what seemed like white fire blazing down from the Highlands across Scotland. Joy in the meantime had received a word rekindling an eighteen year old prophecy we had shelved from our engagement. We had our direction. Joy is much more open with folks than me, but I thought it best to wait and see if there would be an uninformed third party confirmation.

On our return to England we house sat for a friend for a few days and then accepted an invitation to spend Christmas in Perth, Scotland with my youngest sister. She had rented a holiday cottage overlooking the mountains, forests and glens and another friend had given us a car for the week. Bearing in mind we were still holding our peace about what God had said in Africa we stayed very sensitive. On the flight into Edinburgh I sat next to a retired Faith Missions missionary who had served in South Africa and had visited some of the places we had been to. Christmas morning amongst all the fun and scenery a Christian friend had bought me a book outlining some revival sermons from Duncan Campbell: he of Lewis and Harris revivals fame from the Scottish Hebrides. When I turned it over it was published by Faith Missions of Edinburgh …..mmmm! We both had a number a confirmations over the next few months, one of the funniest being a street sign Joy saw later in the year as she was on her way to a training course with work – “Scotland Close”. We stayed with yet another family on our return before God opened up rented accommodation in Portsmouth. The Faith Missions College was worth a look at since we wanted to remain open, but after a visit there was no peace in that. However, Holy Spirit seemed to keep pointing us to the teachings of Duncan Campbell and his instruction in Sanctification and Holiness. Not long after we were introduced to an author on the subject who invited us to join them on Lewis later in the year.

Knowing that the move north was imminent I started training as a driving instructor, (which is almost finished with one exam to go) while Joy went back to pre-school teaching. In May we spent a long week spying out the land. Basing ourselves in Inverness we toured and prayed and it seemed good, considering the girls schooling, to move just before term started in August. So, here we are living in Inverness, in a place called Culloden just below a famous battlefield and the “graves of the English” (always makes me smile that one). Joy has got a teaching job at a village called Docgarroch near Loch Ness on the side of the Caledonian Canal in what’s known as the The Great Glen. She has got less than half the children to teach for fewer hours at more than double the pay she received in England. Samantha and Kathryn have settled in very well and continue to grow beautifully in every area.

So, what now, now we’ve establish a beachhead as it were? Holy Spirit is leading us very firmly into Holiness and Sanctification as a definite event in a Christian life: to be free from inward sin and the body of that death. We preach and share the Gospel and pray for the sick as often as possible. The other thing that Holy Spirit keeps envisioning me with is how to reach the entire Highland and Islands and find and prepare the bride with a cell church movement, but I’ll leave that for another letter.

Don’t worry about answering this letter, I know you’re busy. Just know that we love you and we’re standing with you and that there’s an airport at Inverness and a door plus a bed that’s always open to you.

Luv you kido

Simon , Joy , Samantha and Kathryn XXXX