And then there are the people...

I have talked a lot about what we did in Montpellier but rudely, I have barely mentioned the wonderful people I spent the week with. There were 15 of us... 8 girls, 3 guys and 4 leaders :) We lived in a wonderful house together for 7 days and it was honestly, the best and most crazy week of my life.

In the beginning I was apprehensive... as I am in all new situations. I arrived in Croydon laden with my backpack and then walked into the room to see several familiar faces, but some new ones too... it was definitely scary to know that I'd be spending a whole week living with people I barely knew, but I trusted that it'd work out. And work out it did. I have ended up with some fantastic friends who are truly an inspiration to me.

They are kind, funny, caring, clever and ridiculously fun to be with. They all have spectacular gifts: prophecy, insane bible knowledge, fun facts, prayer, and most of all an extremely evident passion for Jesus and seeing people saved. I loved getting to know them, getting to laugh and joke with them, and seeing them again at Newday, even if only briefly, was like being reunited with family. They have set me a challenge... in France our response to everything was to pray and I learnt a lot about prayer on Global. I learnt that it is a powerful weapon and something that God rewards. He loves obedience; he rewards it.

I also loved the fact that I was with people who had felt the same call to the nations and had the same passion as me... it was new and pretty incredible.



At this point I need to mention the "Frenchies"... the people who were part of the church plant out in Montpellier. Being out on the streets with them, getting to know them and being able to pray and support them was a privilege in itself. They were so welcoming and the challenge they faced moving out there and starting a church is something that has been so inspiring, and to be a part of that has been incredible.

God is so good to me, and I really feel like I am the luckiest girl in the world to have been a part of something so special. And I hope that it won't be "been", and that I will keep seeing what is going on out there and staying in touch with the amazing friends I have made.

(This is really soppy and sentimental, but you are all more than deserving of a blog post and I mean every cheesy word :P )

Awkward Tram... We might be a little mad?!

16-19 year olds dancing to disney songs... Us, immature, never! (ALWAYS)

The Lifehouse Skit

While we were in France we had the fantastic opportunity to perform the Lifehouse Skit. It is a dance to a song called Everything by Lifehouse. It is a simple but really effective way of portraying the gospel and can be really powerful.

When it was first suggested that we should make up our own routine to it, I was less than ecstatic. I do not like performing... it terrifies me. But I thought that maybe it was time to conquer this fear, and what better way to do it than by glorifying God? I ended up with some of the most incredible memories and unbelievable opportunities from doing this.

It triggered lots of interesting conversations, and it gave me the insane challenge of explaining the gospel in French. I had never done that before and so to say I was nervous was an understatement. But I was so grateful that God had used me and it was like he was finally unveiling my gifting. I can speak French, and I can use that language to tell others about the hope, life and love I have in Jesus. One man had no idea who the person of Jesus even was, so I had to explain pretty much everything, the story of Adam and Eve, the nativity, and the life and death of Jesus. It was definitely a scary moment, but the man was lovely and he let me pray for him and chat to him for a while. What a crazy night!

Here is the video of what we did, in the busy city centre of Montpellier on a balmy summer night:

The Power of Prayer: Pictures, Prophecies and Healings

We began every day in Montpellier with a time of prayer and worship, we ended it the same way. It was amazing and nearly all the time, people in the group were getting pictures, and words for each other. It was so new to me, to spend every day surrounded by a group of people with such varied gifts and such passionate hearts for Jesus.

During this prayer time people received various pictures. These are just one of the ways that Jesus speaks to us. They are powerful and moving images placed into our heads during prayer and/or worship which can seem pretty random, but they are often very relevant and actually pretty apt.

In worship one day, Dora got a picture of a city in mourning. Its inhabitants were all walking around with ash on their foreheads, as if it was ash Wednesday. Except, they never got to Easter Sunday, so the city was permanently covered in a darkness and a sadness. I thought this was bizarre because it linked almost perfectly with a picture which I received. It was of a phoenix, but one which was close to death. You could tell that it had once been a splendid, beautiful creature, but it had lost its shine, and its demeanour was sad and dejected. Eventually it turned to ash. But up out of those ashes, a brand new phoenix began to appear. It had a coat of fire, that shined in the brightest ambers, rubies and golds, brighter than the sun itself. It demonstrated the overwhelming power and beauty of God. It was gentle, yet its magnificent strength and power was obvious. We are made in God's image, so as we grow and experience God more, so we become more like the phoenix. When God brings us back to him, the complete power and glory of the phoenix is unveiled. The creature is heart achingly beautiful and my description really cannot do it justice at all.

We also had a talk on prophecy, and through this, learnt more about the different ways God can speak to us. We all set ourselves challenges, because sometimes we can stop pushing for more due to fears or anxieties. We need courage to conquer this, and the knowledge that our obedience to God will be rewarded. I, myself, struggle with a fear of getting it wrong. I am a perfectionist and very performance based. This means that I find it difficult when I have a word for someone, because I am worried that it won't be relevant or right. I needed to challenge myself to step out more and just go for it. God loves obedience. Sometimes he tests us and he loves it when we step into the unknown for him. I wanted to be more like one of the girls in the group, Abi, who had been given the nickname "Prophecy bomb". She was always hearing from God and told people when she had words for them. She is courageous and gifted in this respect and it definitely challenged me to have more faith and obedience.

Another thing we were lucky enough to experience was Jesus' power to heal. Each and every day my belief of what constitutes "impossible" is being challenged. I have always struggled to have faith in Jesus when it comes to healing. I found it a challenge to ask for prayer, and an almost impossible feat to pray for others. Spending a week surrounded by 14 people whose immediate response to suffering (be it physical or mental) was to pray, I was constantly being challenged. We saw not only healings within our group, but also in strangers who were prayed for out on the streets. One man had injured his shoulder, and after being prayed for, he rotated it, and looked on at the people who had prayed for him with shock. The pain had gone! Someone else had diabetes, and when they were prayed for they felt a tingling sensation in their head and a change. They are going to go to the doctors to get it checked out. Hannah, one of the girls in our team, had a bad knee. It meant that she couldn't kneel during worship. We prayed for her throughout the week and then one day during worship it was healed. She could kneel! Incredible! Fearghal, one of the guys, had dermatitis on one of his hands, and by the end of the week there was no sign of it! God is so good!

This week has taught me that prayer, instead of being a last resort (as so many see it) should be a first call, and it can be an incredibly powerful weapon. Jesus hears all of our prayers and all of our worries and he is always going to be there for us, to be the strength we can count on when our own is failing. In Him, All things truly are possible!

Stepping Out: Orange Arrows, Fred and French.

Tuesday was our first full day in Montpellier. We met the Radleys in the city centre and were divided into groups so we could split off and begin talking to people. You may not know this, but Catholicism and Islam are the 2 major religions in France. The state now has a strict policy of division between the church and the state called "La Laicite"  Without going into boring details this means that the church/ religion has no place in the laws of the state and it should be separated completely from things like education and the health system. It means that we have to be discreet when we talk to people about this because it is a sensitive subject which isn't normally broached in politics.

I was paired with my friend Harry, who doesn't speak any French (although spending the week with me I know he picked up some :P) so once again I was thrown into my role as resident translator. I was really scared. I had never approached anyone before, let alone to offer prayer and/or asked their opinion on God, and the world in general. Both of us were anxious about stepping out, and so we decided to pray. We simply asked God to point out someone specific for us to talk to and approach, and then give us the courage to act on what he revealed. It was at this point that I saw a man walk past with a guitar case. In true "Helen style" I pointed out the obvious. Harry's response was "Yes, he has a guitar, well observed." But as we walked along, we continued to talk about this man, and upon observing that his guitar case had the word original written on it, I felt even more drawn to him. But he was walking some way ahead of the two of us, and to continue following him would be weird. So, once again we said to God:
"If you want us to speak to him, then please let him sit down at these benches." The man paused and then sat down. Fantastic. I was in a foreign country, being told to approach a stranger, but I hadn't done anything like this before. Eventually we plucked up the courage to approach him, and I, in my best French asked if he had 5 minutes and if we could pray for him. I hadn't paused long enough to notice the confusion in his face, and a distinct lack of comprehension. Surely my accent wasn't that poor?! Then my friend asked if he spoke English. It turns out, after all my gabbling, that his name was Fred* and he was in fact from Cornwall.He had ended up in Montpellier after splitting with his girlfriend. I told him that we felt like we should speak to him, and he asked if we were psychics... I said no, just Christians! I gave him a word relating to the "original" written on his guitar case and Harry shared a bit of his testimony. It was a brilliant conversation and shows just how good God can be. We are still praying for Fred today and I know God has started something in him. I just pray that whatever seed we planted will continue to grow and develop.

That afternoon I also got to have an amazing conversation with a Frenchman and his wife. The lead up to it was somewhat bizarre. I had been talking to people in the morning, but after having numerous refusals in the afternoon, I was feeling demoralised, tired and generally fed up. It was then that I saw the bright orange arrows on the ground. We decided to see what they were marking out and the directions seemed to lead nowhere. But I couldn't get them out of my head and so when I met up with another group we walked around them again. At this point, I wasn't sure if I was just thirsty and deluded or if they were genuinely significant. We then came across a couple with an orange and grey back pack, who I'd seen sat on a bench earlier, and who were now conveniently stood in front of me. When they paused I approached them and asked about their beliefs. The wife was an atheist and the husband, a non practising catholic who held many doubts about the church and God. What was bizarre, was that all the doubts he held, and the things he struggled with, were the same as mine, both now and before I was a Christian. This meant that I could empathise completely and explain how I came to terms with my doubts. It was an interesting debate and I could definitely say that God worked through that situation. I love that it was so random too... I mean who follows bright orange arrows?!

I never assumed that talking to people would be easy, but equally I was surprised by their reactions. Even though many people weren't interested, the number who wanted prayer and who were willing to chat and listen was incredible. All it takes is a few seconds of courage, to walk up to someone and ask if they want prayer and introduce yourself. God uses everyone, no matter how inadequate you may feel. He knows your capabilities more than you know yourself. That is one of the many important lessons that the week has taught me, and it was only my first day there!



*Fred is not the man's real name . I changed it because I doubt he'd want cyber space to know his life story!

The Journey: Taxis, Trains, Trams and a VERY early start.

At 5.30 on Monday morning we left Croydon for the sunny south coast of France. None of us had a very restful night's sleep on the floor of the church in Croydon, but it was safe to say the early start was worth every minute of missed shut-eye.

We made it on time to the Eurostar and by 11.30 we had arrived in Paris-Gare de Nord. But we needed to get metro tickets, navigate it, and then catch our connecting train from Paris- Gare de Lyon to Montpellier. After queuing for a long time for tickets we realised that we had about 20 minutes, to catch the metro, get to the station and get to the right platform. We were definitely cutting it fine! The short journey on the metro was spent praying and hoping time would slow down for us... we arrived with minutes to spare and ran for our train. The amount of praise and sense of relief when we had made it was unreal. Definitely a minor miracle!

We were then set our first challenge of the week, to have a conversation with someone on the train. To me this was genuinely terrifying. I had never really done anything like this, even in England, so it'd be an interesting task to complete in French! I walked into the buffet car, with my friends and we saw a woman and a little girl who were sat there talking. The woman had a similar coloured watch to me, and she seemed kind enough... so I approached her and asked which stop she was getting off at. She then proceeded to explain that the young girl was her grand-daughter and they were visiting the girl's mother in Nimes for the week. We had a really long conversation and I got to explain what our group were doing out in Montpellier and it was a really lovely conversation. A real encouragement for me to just step out for Jesus.

Once we got to Montpellier, I was beginning to embrace my role as resident translator... Ian asked me to ring the landlady and let her know our train was delayed, and then to confirm the way of getting to the house. It was pretty cool because the group had already worked out the same thing, so that was reassuring!

Then that evening we got to visit the house of the people who began the church plant in Montpellier for a prayer meeting. I loved having the worship in french and although it was difficult to adapt to, I really knew that this was where I wanted to be. The holy spirit moved in power and when we were all praying in tongues, it felt like the whole room would start to shake. A truly incredible moment! Team Monty even had the privilege of praying and prophesying over the church and I just loved it. The feeling of fellowship was awesome!

What a way to begin the week!

The Beginning: Holy Spirit, Stef Liston and Lego.

The week began in Croydon. We arrived with our back packs in tow, full of excited energy and anticipation. I wasn't really sure what to expect when I applied for Newday Global, it was bizarre to think that I would be one of those people who goes out to other countries and talk to people about Jesus. For most of my Christian life, that was something only "radical" people did: speakers like Stef Liston scared me rather than inspired me. But over the last couple of years something changed. Every time France was mentioned in Church something tugged on my heartstrings. I couldn't just sit back and let others go there, I wanted to be out there myself. Even if I did have no idea about how to talk to strangers about Jesus (let alone in French!)! And on the 14th July, the adventure began...

The weekend was spent with all of the Global teams, supporting, encouraging and preparing each other for the week that lay ahead in our various destinations. We attended our leader, Jaz's church on the Sunday for the prayer meeting before the service and then had the immense privilege of praying for her before she preached. The presence of the holy spirit has never been more tangible for me, than it has been throughout this week and it has made me realise that I need to begin every day filled with it. After the service we ate lunch at the houses of church members. I ate lunch with a lovely family, and got to spend the whole afternoon having lego races with the vehicles we made...I was 5 all over again! The hilight of that, was being able to pray for the family and encourage them before we went on our journey.

On our last evening in Croydon, Stef Liston spoke about explaining the gospel in conversations with people, and when and how to use it. As usual I was slightly scared by his talk, but this time I wanted to rise to the challenge and run with it. This talk was followed by a time of prayer and getting right with God. I drew closer to him, and made sure that I handed every part of me over to him, so that nothing negative had power over me, however small or seemingly insignificant. It was an incredible night and it was a great way to end the weekend before we split into our teams and headed for France the next day.