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Goodbye to the GAP Team. Part Three.
31-07-2009 | Christchurch Blog | Evangelism | GAP Team »


This is our final instalment of GAP Team reflections.  Today we hear from Janelle Leach and Taige McMahon.  Before you read their highlights let me take just a moment to thank you all for the way you have served the team as examples, hosts, and friends.  And thanks for the way that you have given generously.  Without your kind giving we would never have been able to get the Gappers here!  I know that the those of the team who are moving on will miss you all greatly.  And we as a pastoral team understand why!  



Teen Girls- LIFE, Bettws, and VJ
A highlight that has streamed consistently throughout this entire year has been the privilege to work with young teenage girls. Whether it was chatting over coffee with my LIFE girls, days dedicated to doing make-up and hair, or a day out in Cardiff; teaching in Bettws High School building relationships and learning names; or at VJ or VJ Extra meeting friends of those I already knew, or seeing new faces to catch up with throughout the months, I see God pursuing and wooing the hearts of young girls in the Newport and Cardiff areas. What hope and joy fills my heart as I see Jesus’ commitment to His Bride, The Church! His faithfulness to shed light in darkness, reveal sin, bestow lavish grace, and save souls…I count it a tremendous honour to watch up close as He does His work. Praying for difficulties with “friend situations” at school, conversations with LIFE girls about the gift our moms are to us, or how to answer a difficult question about God’s sovereignty to an unbelieving friend- have been woven throughout the year. These remind me of the blessings that are countless in my life (my mom being at the top of the list!), that God’s promises to us seem sweeter during trials- no matter what they are, and that God’s love displayed at Calvary answers all questions we may have about His love and goodness. I have been sobered by how easy my life has been as I hear from girls at VJ extra what is going on at home and the extent to which their family is broken. In these moments, I take comfort knowing that Jesus heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds. No hurt or pain is beyond His reach. It is through the means of these precious souls that God has chosen to reveal Himself more wonderfully to me. He has increased my love for Him and my amazement at the Gospel. I see His blessings more in number and more ill deserved. It is then that I take refuge in Christ’s righteousness and rejoice that He has not yet finished His work in me!

Church life and families
Flying over the ocean on August 25, 2008, the number one thing I was excited about was YOU. Christchurch. I was eager to meet he families and singles and children that composed this local church in Newport, Wales. The first listeners of the “In it to win it” series—I couldn’t wait to see and hear how those messages impacted you and what changes were made in your life as a result! Impact and change that I knew I desperately needed in my own life. I was thrilled that the word “evangelism” was surely going to take on a whole new meaning for me this year. And it has; oh, it has. I have loved every moment of being in your homes- enjoying tea (whether that’s the drink or the meal!), watching your children, or simply hanging out for an afternoon. Lingering after Sunday’s service to swap stories about our week or discuss the message; Home Groups that were full of laughter, encouragement, and challenges…you have been a gift. I dare say, the thing I’m most excited about as I enter this next year with you all, is getting to know you better in a more “normal” season of life. I am eager to pioneer with you for the sake of the Gospel amidst the mundane. I’m excited to meet your un-believing co-workers and neighbours and maybe see them go through “Starting Point.” I can’t wait to cheer as people are baptized…people who have been challenged by your example and changed forever by the Good News you’ve shared with them. Thank you for your example, for your friendship, for your love for the Gospel and the way you proclaim it to the world around you. I am learning so much from you!
  


As I look back on the last 11 months I am in awe of all the ways God has worked in Christchurch, the GAP Team, and in my life personally. There really are innumerable highlights and blessings that would take pages to articulate. I will however try and describe a few of my biggest highlights of the last year: The first for me would most definitely be Christchurch Students. As I was considering the GAP Team last year, God had really placed students and that aspect of the GAP Team on my heart, and though I was excited about the other areas of the team, my main desire was to see the student ministry grow and be strengthened. It’s been so great over the past year to see how, by the grace of God, Christchurch students has transformed from a disconnected group of students to a close-knit group of friends who partake in life, church, and pursue Godliness together. I have been so encouraged by the students that God has brought to Christchurch and their heart to pursue and glorify him in their lives. They are to be commended for the way they have pursued discipleship, sought to bring the Gospel to their unbelieving friends, and desired God’s glory to be displayed in their lives. I have also been overwhelmed by the friendship that these students have extended to me, and I’m extremely grateful for the way they have taken me in as their friend. It will be the hardest thing I do to say goodbye to all these people I can so wonderfully call true friends.
    
Another huge highlight of the GAP Team has been the ability to be involved once a week in Bettws High School on Thursday mornings to do assemblies and put on workshops for the kids. It blows my mind that we have been able to explicitly share the Gospel to the year 7 children every week for around eight months. It’s been such a privilege to be able to take the glorious light of the gospel to the dark places in Bettws. I praise God for the observable fruit that He’s produced in the children over the past year in confessions of faith in Jesus to a general affinity and friendship between the GAP Team and the students and teachers from Bettws. This is only the fruit that we can see over a year, but it is encouraging to think that God will use Christchurch to continue to produce fruit and bring his Gospel forward in Bettws, and I can’t wait till the day when we won’t see in part, but we will see all that God has done in Bettws.

Finally, I am so grateful to Christchurch for the way the way you guys have accepted, cared for, and served the GAP Team and I. It’s been such a privilege to be a part of a church that so willingly and joyfully serves others. I couldn’t recount all the ways that I’ve been blessed by people who have offered their possessions, time, and care to me while I’ve been here in Wales. I’m so grateful for all the friends I’ve made in this church from young to old. Thank you all for the way you’ve made me feel welcome and have cared for me in so many ways. Thank you for giving of your time and serving me in various ways throughout my time here. Thank you for your financial giving so we as a GAP Team could have the privilege of serving such a wonderful church. I really feel like Christchurch has become my home and it is with great sorrow that I turn to head back to the States. Thank you for being such a great example of Godliness.
Dan Gaweda