Hello friends and family!
I pray this letter is reaching you well. It has been a couple of months since my last newsletter, so I thought it was about time I gave you all an update on all that is going on over here! God has been doing so many amazing things. It has honestly been hard to keep up with sometimes, but we are just so excited for what is happening, and what is still to come.
I have the joy of being involved in so many things here including worship ministry, church leadership, and youth ministry, but one of the biggest ministries I oversee is The Link Coffee House. Because of that, I thought I would spend most of this newsletter focusing in on that ministry. After only being open since mid-November, we have seen so much favor and grace from the Lord in this place.
One of the greatest blessings for me is getting to see this place become a part of people’s lives and routines. We are finally hitting a place where people from the community are coming into The Link regularly, calling it “my coffee shop”, and taking ownership of it in their own lives. One of the prayers I have prayed over this place from the beginning was that people would experience the presence and peace of God when they enter our space. As an answer to that prayer, one of the businessmen in town has started using The Link as his base of operations. He and I were talking the other day and he said, “I just love to be in here. I know I don’t believe like you believe, but I can feel just a peace and calm when I come in here.” I was almost brought to tears. We were able to talk more about it, trying to explain the Holy Spirit to someone who has no understanding of it is a bit complicated, but he understood that he was experiencing something beyond himself. To me, this is one of the greatest ways these types of ministries shine. Creating and consecrating a space for the Lord to manifest His presence and allowing Him to reveal Himself to them is just one of the most beautiful things in the world.
A couple weeks ago, two people I didn’t recognize came into the shop and told me they were from a news publication called Wales Online. They spontaneously interviewed me about The Link, and we were featured in an article that was published online reaching so many beyond our ability to reach! It was such an amazing God encounter!
On top of all that, we have been able to start using this space for other community and ministry events and now host a toddler play group here every Wednesday. This is a time for nannies, moms, dads, and grandparents to bring their little ones and spend some time with others! We play, laugh, sing songs, and just spend time building relationships. Additionally, this week marked the start of FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) here in Bridgend and they have asked to use The Link as their meeting place. It was so great to see these young athletes get to delve into the Word together and challenge one another. I am so excited to see how God continues to use these ministries to grow His Kingdom and reach the people of Bridgend.
Compassion Bridgend
The Holy Spirit has truly been on the move in so many ways. Over the last few months, many of our services have taken on a whole new form as the Holy Spirit has interrupted and sometimes completely thrown out our plans. As a church, we are going deeper and encountering more of the Holy Spirit and allowing Him to just have His way in our midst. We have had to keep our baptism pool up for over a month because so many people have been getting baptized! We are so excited to see how God continues to move and push us out of what is comfortable and into greater measures of His presence and His kingdom.
Compassion Students
As many of you know, there are sometimes seasons of change that occur in ministry and those seasons can sometimes lead to unexpected things. Well, we have just gone through one of those changes in our youth at the church, and as of a few weeks ago, I have taken over as our interim youth coordinator. This was not something I was expecting by any means, and honestly am still trying to wrap my mind around it fully, but I can truly see what God is doing in the youth. Just last week we hosted an event where 45 kids showed up and there were 6 salvations! I desperately want to make sure there is a place where these students can come and build friendships, have fun in safety, and most importantly, grow in their relationship with the Lord. The cultural differences here really stand out when working with the youth; it’s unlike any place I have ever served this age group. Our conversations about God and His word are weighty and you can see them truly wrestling with what they are encountering in their lives. The beliefs and Biblical understandings vary so much from student to student, but it does give us space to talk about things in a diverse way. Overall, with all the challenges that it brings, I am so excited to see God move in these students’ lives. They are all so incredible and have so much in them that I know God is going to use to rock this community!
Ways to Pray
- Pray God continues to grow The Link in the community. We are still young, and getting established as a business is not a quick process. Since we opened, I have been working here full time on my own. And though I love it, I would really love to get to a place where we can hire help to work here with me! To do that, we need to bring in the finances to allow it!
- As a church, we have been praying diligently for a new building. We love our chapel, but as we continue to grow, we are running out of room. We want to stay in the area of course, but we just need some more space to house all that God is doing through this church!
- Please join me in praying for the youth to be drawn and engaged in our meetings, to feel safe and at home when we meet, to grow closer to each other and grow closer to God, and that they would encounter the Lord in their lives!
- Pray God would bring a permanent leader for the youth. We are praying that God would bring them someone who feels called to them and for them!
- Finally, that we would continue to be in an attitude and posture ready to partner with God in what He is doing here in Bridgend!
