- Biomass Boiler - Preparing for a new challenge - YWAM Life - It's been a busy summer with lots of events happening at YWAM Harpenden including a new Mission Adventuresprogram for teenagers and a Family Encounter week, strengthening families in their relationships. We had a chance to take a camping holiday in Norfolk and have also been enjoying our continuing pastoral roles. We hope you enjoy reading this quick update. Biomass Boiler This summer saw the completion of the first stage of the Site Development project the biomass boiler. This is not just an environmentally friendly way for our campus to heat the ageing buildings, but because of Government incentives we can now save 2/3 on our overall heating bills annually. Chris has been very involved at different levels in the project. The next stage will see the completion of a purpose built residential conference centre before we start on the redevelopment of a building called The Factory which will become the main meeting space and offices on our campus. The project will ultimately take many years but will see our campus develop as a hub for missionary and ministry training. A New Challenge On 9th April 2018 we will lead the Crossroads Discipleship Training School here in Harpenden. This 21 week course is about discipleship and missionary training for people over the age of 30. We are currently working on promotional materials, inviting guest speakers and most importantly praying for all those who will come and join this life changing course. It's a new challenge for us. Although we have worked with the DTS before this will be the first time we will have overall responsibility for the course. Please pray with us as we step out out of our boxes into this new role. MORE TO COME ON THIS SOON... YWAM Life Conferences, Workshops and Gatherings are very much a part of our every day lives in YWAM. Three mornings a week in Harpenden we come together for an hour for a time of worship and intercession. We appreciate that these time of corporately seeking God and his heart are foundational. We also heard in one of these times from Loren Cunningham the founder of YWAM about what God is laying on his heart for ending Bible poverty and the future of YWAM. In addition to these times in Harpenden we have also had precious times with Christian workers who form the organisation 'Firelighters', and with YWAM England and Wales, and the Western European Discipleship Training School leaders and staff in Biarritz, France. The general theme coming out of all of these gatherings was our need as Christians to live our lives as a witness of love and integrity before the world, which comes from a greater personal and corporate revelation of God's character and nature. Chris will join with other YWAM DTS staff in Germany in a weeks time to learn more about the practicalities of running the DTS in the DTS staff workshop. Our Family
Phoebe and Jethro have made a great start to the new school year and are both loving their new teachers. Phoebe really enjoys reading and swimming and Jethro is exploring his creative side with lego and drawing lots. We are also being creative and working on lots of projects to raise funds for our kitchen renovation and general needs. Chris has been busy in the workshop making candle holders and recycled pallet crates and picture frames and I'm getting more into cultivating house plants to sell. We loved seeing people appreciate our hard work at our recent Apple Festival in Harpenden where we sold our wares. About 1000 people came to the event which included a hog roast, rides, stalls and an art exhibition. Dear Family and friends, Happy Spring!I am enjoying the fact that we are experiencing a distinct change in seasons here in the UK. I have a new appreciation for spring, longer days, rising temperatures, trees and flowers beginning to burst forth with colour and life. (Last week I told my kids that it was going to be quite warm that day…. It was going to 13 degrees! Oh how our perspectives change. So, all that to say, that I hope you are enjoying this time of the year which ever country or hemisphere you are in. I hope you enjoy this update from us Hattons. Every blessing to you Chris DTS UPDATE... We are rapidly coming to the end of the lecture phase of this DTS. Where did that go? It has been both challenging and stretching for us individually and as a family. We have loved the teaching with some of the teachers being old friends or even my parents as well as people we had never heard of who are now new friends. My favourite week was the topic of the Lordship of Christ. I was personally challenged to look again at the areas of my life that I have not fully allowed Jesus to be Lord of, and to grow to a greater level of trusting Him. As the week went on I wanted more and more to live simply to please the Father. It has been in this time that I have realised that I have done many things out of obligation and fear. Jesus calls us to abundant life (John 10:10) with Him and my prayer is that we can all walk with Him in that promise daily. Last week Carol got to go to the beautiful city of Bristol with the DTS for a week to learn about sharing our faith through random acts of kindness and meeting people in their place of need. She challenged our students to move beyond their comfort zones and bless people. Everyone needs compassion, encouragement, our time and ultimately to know they are loved by God. Outreach At the end of the month I will be flying out with the DTS to Albania for the first 2 weeks of their 12 week outreach. It will be an opportunity for the trainees to put their faith into action through serving the local church, working in schools and reaching out to the local Roma community too - lifting the name of Jesus high in this once Communist country. Their will also be the oportunity to take part the the YWAM Europe gathering with over 500 people from all over Europe. Prayer celebration - Since the last time I wrote we have seen answers to prayers. We are very grateful to say that we have 2 new supporters and we have received some one off donations.
- Phoebe and Jethro are both really enjoying school and continue to be enthusiastic about life here in the UK. - We have seen significant breakthrough in the lives of the DTS Trainees as they have gone deeper with God. For continued prayer -Protection for our family while I am away for 2 weeks. - Provision for additional expenses - £400 for Albania, £200 for unexpected car problems - The next few months as we return to our roles at YWAM Harpenden in Property Services and Personnel. Week one of DTS is always fun. Random strangers from around the world called together by God to live together while they learn about Him.
Our week began with introductions - Where are you from and what do you hope to get out of your time here? We have 12 trainees from Switzerland, Germany, Uk, Brazil, Ecuador, Argentina, and the USA. Their ages range from 18-62years - truly an all Generations School. There was a steady stream of speakers all week orientating our trainees to YWAM, it's foundations and values, life in England and YWAM Harpenden's work and influence. By the end of the week we were all dosed up on information and ready to sleep a long deep restful sleep - but then we introduced work duties... Happy holidays!!! We hope you are enjoying this festive season. In our last newsletter I mentioned that I wanted to be more consistent in sharing with you. So with that in mind, here is what 2017 holds for the Hattons.
Enjoy! Chris First let me say a huge thank you to all who prayed for my visa. I felt very supported and encouraged through it all. As you know I was rejected for this visa 2 years ago, so I was a bit nervous to go through the process again. This time it was so easy, they had processed my visa within 1 week and even coming back into the country the lady at UK immigration was very welcoming to me. So again thank you!! As you already know Carol and I will be staffing a Discipleship Training School in January. We have just completed some staff training which was excellent. We covered topics from 'insecurities of leadership' to 'strengthening ourselves in the Lord'. We have a great staff team and we are looking forward to what this school holds. At this stage we have 9 confirmed students with 1 family still a possibility. This brings me to our first prayer point. The DTS is an intense time of learning about Father God, so would you pray for us to be hearing clearly from God in leading the students to a better knowledge of Him. We also need the emotional energy. Would you pray that Carol and I also get the most out of this school. I know that God is also wanting to work in us through this time. We also want to grow in our relationship as we work closely together. Would you pray for our kids as well as they are also a key part of what we are doing. Would you pray for health and safety for us as a family. Other prayer points are....
We hope that 2017 is a fantastic year for you! Dear Friends,
This newsletter comes to you much later than we had planned this year. It has taken us a little longer than the anticipated first three months to find our feet, but we think we are getting there now, are beginning to walk forward in His purposes for us here in England. Who would have thought settling in ‘back home’ for me would be a culture shock? I’ve not lived in the UK for 15 years, and never before married with children before. To begin with I even found doing the weekly family grocery shop difficult as products were unfamiliar and I had no clue what was a good price verses a rip off. Things are much easier now though. “So what exactly are you doing each day?” I hear you ask… [Carol] Well, each day is different for us both. Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings and Tuesday evenings we have worship and prayer times as a YWAM community all together (about 100 people). Then for the morning I work in the Personnel Office answering email enquiries from people who want to come and serve with YWAM for short periods of time. Once these people come I’m responsible for them and their work schedules. I’m on the review team that looks at long term staff applications too. Probably the thing I have been enjoying the most is my afternoon role debriefing people who have been working overseas for short term outreaches and counseling different individuals in my more pastoral care role. I’ve also just been asked to join the National YWAM Safeguarding Children Team. [Chris] I’ve been stepping out and leading a few of our morning meeting times. Together, Carol and I lead a small group for people interested in local ministry. This team meets to discuss and support each other in local opportunities including the YWAM Skate Park, youth gigs, Seniors lunches (above) and schools outreach. I’m also heavily involved in the maintenance of our amazing facility here, and I have young staff members who work along side me in this area who I mentor. I’ve also been able to meet regularly with some guys with more specific pastoral needs. I’m also involved with the launch of a new ministry that will serve elderly people in the area with free handyman type services. We want to honour the elderly with a helping hand when they need it, anything form painting/decorating to moving furniture or putting up a shelf etc. Phoebe and Jethro too have been stepping out. Both are really enjoying their schools. Phoebe is enjoying learning to read and often reads her school reading books to Jethro. Jethro loves his teacher at school to the point where he substituted to words “Thank you Father” for “Thank Miss Martha” in the grace that they sing before lunch at school. Both have made great friendships with other children here in YWAM and have been spending most after school times playing hard. As a family we have been excited to have friends visit us from all over the world. Each one who has come has done so at a significant time for them as they seek God regarding decisions/future etc. We have been privileged to host these people, and would like to continue to extend the invite to anyone else who wants to come visit us. This is a great place to relax and hear form God. In addition, on the weekend we have been exploring our area and have been to a vintage steam fair, and several summer fetes. We even survived the 'crazy heat' of the past weeks 30C degrees! Its also been wonderful to be able to visit my parents more regularly and help them out with jobs around the house. Especially since we now have our own car (same as pictured above)!!! A HUGE thank you to those who made this purchase possible! We even ended up with a fantastic number plate AU55 SOE. As close to it reading Aussie as I needed to confirm it was the car for us! When we visit them we also visit our Petersfield Church where we have enjoyed on going and meaningful relationships with so many beautiful people. We have tried to visit once a month and are really committed to continue to do this. There is so much more to tell, but that’s enough for now. We’d love to hear from you and any prayer needs you might have. Thank you so much for your generous support of us as we journey on. God Bless! As I reflect on the decision to award me a visa for the UK I am so grateful for the journey that God has taken us on. Since finishing our FCM in March, Carol and I have been madly selling off almost all our belongings that we have acquired since getting married. We knew that God was leading us to move to the UK and also to work with YWAM while we are there. As we continued to seek God over where, Harpenden seemed to stand out for what we believed God was calling us to do, pastoral care. We sent in applications and were quickly accepted, things continued to fall into place. I felt closer to God than at any other time in my life. Easily the biggest revelation I had on my FCM was that I am a son, I am a child of God my Father. When it came time to apply for my visa I felt it was merely a formality. From what we understood, we just needed to apply for the visa and we would get it. YWAM in the UK is an A rated sponsor after all. I sent my documentation in and then 3 days later I received a phone call from the visa-processing centre in Manila, Philippines. I answered the questions the best I knew how, thinking I was communicating exactly what they needed to hear. It was 2 days later that I received my documentation back to say that my visa was denied. I couldn't believe it! Over the next few days it became very clear that I hadn't sent in enough information or given enough detail during my phone interview. They had every right to refuse me. Now if this had happened just 12 months earlier this would have been devastating to me. I would have begun to accuse God of not caring, of leaving me even to doubt who He was and His character. Finally I would have tried to examine what I had done wrong to cause this to happen. Gratefully this is not what I did, or what we did. One thing that has always stuck with me is that satan's 1st attack is always to get us to question God's character. I refused to do this. I made a point of declaring who God is in the midst of this. Another revelation from FCM was that we need to stay in the now. I had no control over what I had already sent in and said to UK immigration, we had no control over what may or may not happen down the track, but in the midst of what was happening we could find God. In the ‘now’ we can connect with God and know His peace, we can know His presence, we can be Fathered by Him. I am so grateful for all the people who prayed for us, who supported us. I am also grateful that no one tried to rescue us if that makes sense. It's very easy to feel for someone who is going through hardship to want to say something to encourage." I believe God is telling you........" But in a way that rescues you. Part of me wanted that, "this is all a mistake, it will all be better next time" type of message. But Carol and I found ourselves seeking out our Father and finding Him in every day, and trusting Him with our process. Now I won't say that we did that perfectly every day but we did connect with Him. One of our next steps in the visa process was to lodge an appeal. We had some people give us some great advice not to panic and quickly submit our appeal, but to take our time to make sure it was right. We did this. We sought out people who had experience with visas, and how to word things correctly. Again as we sent the appeal off I began to stress, what's going to happen, what if they say no again? I brought the whole thing to God. I had no control over who would see my appeal, or in what light they would read it, what their personal beliefs about missionaries would be etc. But the more I thought about these things the more I was anxious, the more I was stressed. My only option was to surrender. I needed to surrender any thought of having control in this situation because truthfully I had none. I gave it all back to Him and as I did this my anxiety and stress levels lowered. Our hope and our trust is in Him. As you all know, my visa was denied again. We had missed our window to go to the UK, we would now need to aim for the January intake of staff at YWAM Harpenden. Throughout this time another idea came to light, maybe we could staff the FCM in Perth before heading to the UK. Obviously that is what happened. We are absolutely grateful to be here. We are continuing to learn more about our Father and about His heart for the broken, whether they be an abuse victim, or an addict, or someone living with HIV/AIDS. There are so many other things that God has taught us over this period, but I wanted to write down how good our Father has been in this season. I want to honour God by saying how faithful He is, how good, how gentle, how amazing He has been with us as a family. How unbelievably great it is to be His son and His daughter. We love you! |
Hattons...We're a family of four changing the world starting with ourselves! Archives
February 2018
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