What Happens When you Pray For Burglars!

This is an amazing story of how God worked in a situation that the enemy intended for evil. The story comes from Steph Lambert, who used to work for NLI and is now back home in New Zealand studying law.

Steph Lambert

Steph Lambert

Steph writes…

It was just another week facing yet another law exam. I left my house around midday and got a call on my way home around 7.30pm to say we had been burgled. Instantly my heart dropped. I had been rushing to leave the house in the morning and been less vigilant than usual. I had left my Macbook and hard drive on the shelf in my room. Unless the robbers were blind, these were taken. The hard drive contained all my graphic art work from 2004, as well as my image library, music library and personal documentation. I instantly prayed, quite boldly, that God would make my stuff like a curse to the people who had them, that they would have no rest. I had no idea where that prayer came from and thought, “man Steph that was a bit mean”. I carried on praying mostly for the right perspective. I got home and my suspicions were confirmed. Not only did they take my Mac and hard drive but they took $120 book vouchers, my iPod and headphones. After praying with some friends I felt the peace of God and went to bed and slept.

During Tuesday I was blessed as by the end of the day, a close friend had promised to underwrite the cost of the computer and hard drive replacement. I had no contents insurance. But in my spirit I really didn’t want the purchase of a new computer to be the answer. Sometimes when things happen we find ways in the natural to fix the situation. But it seemed that this is what needed to take place. After my exam on Wednesday I went and got quotes for a new Macbook and hard drives and got really excited. My model of Macbook had undergone quite substantial improvements so by the end of the day I was ready to get a brand new Mac.

Around 5pm I was at home baking bread where timing is everything. I got a call on my cell from a private number. I answered the phone and a male voice said, “I want to meet with you about a laptop and an iPod”. I was thinking that I didn’t have time to meet him there and then because my bread would be ruined. I wanted to meet him the next day, but when I suggested this he said “No, I’ve had your stuff for two days and God has been hounding me to get it back to you! I have to meet you tonight!”. So forty minutes later I’m sitting in Starbucks waiting for a man that I’ve not met, who had bought my stuff from the burglars and I was unsure whether he would be aggressive, but I knew that God was knocking on the door of his heart and so I prayed that God would give me the wisdom and the words to speak.

He arrived and we began to talk about faith and God. I had an opportunity to pray for him and also offer some help and I gave him my iPod so he could continue to listen to the preaching and the Bible on there. It was a God-appointed opportunity but one that could easily have been missed out of fear or anger. He returned my computer to me at the end of our conversation along with someone else’s charger. A week later the hard drive is still missing but I have my laptop back and more importantly I had an opportunity to speak and pray into a man’s life that I would not have had but for the burglary. I have learnt to look for God-opportunities in the good, the bad and the ugly. God answers prayer especially bold prayers and I have felt the hand of the most generous Father, a Father who loves those in their sin and those in relationship with him equally.

This week the words of Plato reverberate in my heart “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle”.

In chatting to the guy, Steph discovered that he is a gang leader from Wellington. He told Steph he had also listened to the music and preaching on her iPod and had understood the preaching. It turns out that many years ago he had been a Christian and someone had spoken a prophetic word over his life – he would either be a leader for evil or for good.  The guys girlfriend was fairly suicidal and so Steph has also been trying to find a Christian counsellor to help her.  They are going to meet again to see what God’s redemptive purpose is in this incredible miracle.

Just goes to show what can happen when we pray bold prayers!!

categories Faith Stories | Judith | datetime July 20, 2009 6:58 am | comments Comments (0)

Artem’s Diary

Artem Kurdov is a young man living in Armiansk (Crimea). He’s been involved in coordinating American mission teams in the Odessa area. We’ve invited him to be the NLI missions coordinator in Crimea as we believe he has the skills, experience and personality to fulfil this role effectively. Artem travelled with us to Kerch as our driver, interpreter and guide, but by the end of the weekend he had become our friend! Here’s his story of our time in Kerch.

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The port of Kerch

I spent last weekend with three great people from England – Judith, Greg and Mathew. We took 4 hours drive down to Kerch city where we spent 2 days serving the churches and people there.

On Saturday evening we had church meeting and Greg and Judith shared God’s word about faith. It was interesting to see how God gave that word to each of them and it matched together. What touched me is that our faith should be visible. Therefore, people who are watching me can see my faith.

Saturday evening service in Kerch

Saturday evening service in Kerch

Sunday morning we went to a church that was planted by the Kerch church in the village of Liebknechtovka. The church of 12-15 people may not be the biggest one, but I can tell for sure these people love God with all their heart and souls! Most of them are elderly people and each of them is facing their own struggles and problems. Still that does not stop them worshiping and praising God, taking care of each other, encouraging each other, praying for each other and helping each other.

Matthew prays for Maria who is virtually blind

Matthew prays for Maria who is virtually blind

After a nice Ukrainian lunch, we went to see two more villages where new churches are planned. They have already started to send teams of leaders to share the Gospel and there is already a small home group meeting. Therefore, we are looking to great changes there for God!

Church plant in Liebknechtovka

Church plant in Liebknechtovka

In the afternoon, me, Greg and Judith had a great meeting on where we discussed the possibility for me to partner with Next Level International as a Mission Coordinator for the church planting project in Crimea.

So, thank God for new opportunities for the ministry! Please pray God will give wisdom in this new ministry.

categories Faith Stories, NLI News/Travels | Judith | datetime July 11, 2009 9:53 am | comments Comments (0)

The Expo Trip That Wasn’t: Part II

So, you wanna know what I’m up to with the gun eh? Be patient and all will be revealed. At the end of June,  Greg Swinamer, his 19yr old son Matthew, and myself ventured out to Crimea for 6 days. We used the time for meetings, meetings and more meetings!! We met with project staff to hammer out some of the practicalities of the project and deal with one or two hitches that have arisen in recent weeks. I do find meetings like this quite draining and my concentration waivers considerably, but I have to admit it was time well spent. I’m learning so much much about  the groundwork and relationship-building that needs to be done to establish church planting initiatives effectively.

Dima and Sasha lay hands on the quails eggs

We also visited some church planting locations on the outskirts of Simferopol. A couple of guys we met (Dima & Sasha above) have ‘hatched’ a business plan to sell quails and their eggs to restaurants. It’s a growing market in Crimea. As you can see from the photo, we laid hands on and prayed over the first batch of eggs! Maybe McDonalds will soon be flogging a McQuail Sandwich!!

crimea-map - Copy

We also had an incredible weekend in Kerch. If you look closely at the map, you’ll see that Kerch out to the east of Crimea, a mere stones throw from Russia. Kerch is also going to be another church planting hub for us.

In a separate article Artem Kurdov (our guide/interpreter/driver) is going to tell you about his experiences of the weekend, but I must just tell you about another incredible guy we met. His name is Sergei and he works as a prison dentist. He gets his ‘clients’ in the chair and then tells them about Jesus. From the photo below you can see that God has used him to help many troubled young men come to faith and be baptised.

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Sergei has his own incredible testimony. In short, God rescued him from the gates of hell. It took him an hour to tell us his story, and that was the short version! Basically he was on 3 bottles of vodka a day. Unbelievably he was still able to work as a dentist. Not sure I’d have let him anywhere near my mouth! But one night he was quite literally taken to hell in a trance/dream. After many nights enduring this nightmarish experience God rescued him and he was radically saved and set free from his alcoholism. (More info to come soon…)

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On Saturday and Sunday evening we ended up at Sergei’s (above right with Greg). He cooked us shashlyk! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shashlik) for supper. Whilst we waited for the shashlyk to BBQ we did a bit of shooting with Sergei’s pellet gun. Hard to believe, but even as a cop for 15yrs I’d never fired a gun until a couple of years ago (also in Crimea). I was useless: couldn’t hit a barn door. I blame the gun! So, you’ll understand me not wanting to embarrass myself in front of a load of blokes. But after a few shots, I was cajoled into having a pop. You can imagine my absolute delight when I hit the target first time. You can just see the tin can lid on the photo below. I promptly hit several other (intended) targets and was well chuffed with my display.

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As a resuly of our trip we have finalised which church plant locations will be part of the initiative being launched in January 2010. We also believe we’ve found the potential staff we need to manage the project in Crimea, and hope to agree these positions in the next few weeks. So once more it was a very worthwhile trip.

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The photo above shows Matthew & I with Vova (far left) and Viktor who are both pastors in Crimea. You might recall on our last trip to Crimea, we preached at a church meeting in a chiropractic business. This is where Vova and his wife Irina have planted a church.

categories NLI News/Travels | Judith | datetime 9:43 am | comments Comments (0)

God Keeps His Word

Just have to tell you about something that happened to me today. I hope it blows your socks off like it has mine. I’ve been up in Colne, (Lancashire) preaching at New Life CC. I’ve known Tony (the pastor) for years as he used to be drummer in the worship team at Burnley. I’ve just begun a journey with Tony and NLCC: hoping to engage them in partnership with NLI, starting with a mission team next year.

During the worship time I spotted a lady a few rows behind me. She looked familiar, but I couldn’t place her. Then I looked at the guy next to her and the penny dropped. I’d been introduced to them by some mutual friends (Dave and Carol Clarkson) back in April 2004. In fact we’d shared lunch together at the Clarkson’s house.

It helps to know that at this point I’d only been on an Expo trip to Ukraine with NLI and was going to lead a mission team from Burnley back to our partner church in Ukraine later that year. I had not even thought about joining NLI!!!

After lunch we had a prayer time during which Harry said God had given him a word about ‘missions’. Originally he thought it was for Dave, but then realised it was for me. He asked if I was involved in missions. I explained my current position. He said I was going to be doing a lot more missions stuff and maybe even move out of England. I told him I’d just come back to England after being away in Australia and felt called to stay here. (I think that was my way of saying ‘no way God!’) Harry said that maybe I would be based in England and do lots of trips and that God would use my gifts and abilities in this area.

As I stood up to preach this morning I was filled with emotion. God has been 100% true to His word. Glory to God!!!Of course I also reminded Harry of the words he’d prophesied over me 5 years ago.

Be encouraged: If you have received a word of prophecy or God has promised you something, He will be faithful in keeping His word. Just be faithful, trust Him and stay on His paths.

categories Personal News | Judith | datetime July 5, 2009 1:53 pm | comments Comments (0)

The Expo Trip That Wasn’t!

If you read my Spring newsletter you’ll know that I was planning to be involved in an Expo trip to Crimea in June. NLI runs these trips during the first year of a church planting initiative. They help us recruit partner churches, national staff and future mission teams, as well as providing a great ‘shop window’ for NLI’s vision in Europe.

But it seems that everyone wants to go on the October Expo, so it was down to me, Greg and his son Matthew to fly the flag in Crimea.


Looks interesting eh? If you want to read more and find out what I’m up to with the gun then you’ll have to be patient. I’ve run out of time today. Come back in a day or two and satisfy your curiosity.

categories NLI News/Travels | Judith | datetime July 4, 2009 2:00 am | comments Comments (0)

The Happy (usually) Wanderer

“Oh I love to go a-wandering along the mountain track, and as I go I love to sing with a knapsack on my back…” I think you get the gist. At the end of May I went on a mammoth 12-day trip, incorporating a Leadership Conference and management trip in Crimea, preaching in Kiev, visiting staff in Czech Republic and a church planting summit in Poland. You can read all about this in my special ‘trip’ newsletter. Faith Partners will have already received this via email/post earlier in June, but if you haven’t seen it – check it out.

If you click on the link below you can download the pdf. It might take a few seconds.

Trip Special – June 2009

categories NLI News/Travels, Newsletters | Judith | datetime July 3, 2009 12:11 pm | comments Comments (0)

So Far So Good…

Ok, so we’re up to April now. No overseas trips this month. Instead I went ‘up north’ to spend Easter weekend in Burnley, then crossed over into Yorkshire to visit my mate Alison (below) and her hubby Matt.

Whilst in Burnley I took the opportunity to visit one of my favourite places in England – Bolton Abbey, near Skipton. Ever been? It’s beautiful!

Across the river Wharfe to Bolton Abbey

The Strid. Doesn’t look much on the photo but people have tried to jump the gap and never been seen again!

Ok, that’s enough for now. I’m off for a bike ride before watching Andy Murray attempt to become the first Brit to make a senior Wimbledon final since Virginia Wade in 1977. I’ll be back later with some more blog posts.

categories Personal News | Judith | datetime 5:55 am | comments Comments (0)

The Graduates

At the end of March I was back in Slovakia for the end-of-project graduation. I’ve been involved in every aspect of this project – the launch in 2006, training events, prayer and STM teams, and site visits – so it was an incredible honour to be present at the graduation of these courageous church planters.

Each of the couples had an opportunity to share some highlights from the last 3yrs. I was dead chuffed that so many of them recalled how the mission teams had made such an impact. Some of these were missions that I’d helped to coordinate. Talk about job satisfaction! Many also shared how the prayer teams had encouraged them. “Like an oasis in the wilderness’ is how Marta Tothova described them. That’s gold! Another couple, Otto and Suzanna, shared how one year the prayer team had prayed that God would give them a car. As a growing family they badly needed one. Not long after, one of Suzanna’s relatives gave them a secondhand car.

Graduation dinner

I caught up with another couple, Lubor and Daniela (below). I hadn’t realised, but the neighbourhood where they live (Linciaska) is pretty rough: not the sort of place you’d want to raise your kids. Yet they’ve chosen to live here with their young family and are clearly making a difference.

As I often say, I take my hat off to these young couples. Planting a church, even with a lot of experience and support has to be one of the toughest ‘jobs’ in ministry. But we heard story after story of God’s faithfulness and blessing over the last few years, even when the going has been tough. What’s more, although the NLI project has officially ended, the national leaders have incredible vision for more churches to be planted. It also looks like we might have another prayer team in Slovakia next year.

Receiving our graduation gifts: Al and Yvonne Downey, Greg Swinamer

On Sunday I preached in Brezno where Peter and Lucia have planted a church on a housing estate. They have a particular outreach amongst the local kids. Lucia is also an NLI staff member in Slovakia.

Sunday morning in Brezno

All-in-all it was a short, but memorable, trip.

categories NLI News/Travels | Judith | datetime 5:02 am | comments Comments (0)

The Story So Far…

I must apologise for the lack of posts over the last few months. As you’ll soon see, life has been very busy and unfortunately the blog has suffered!! I have a bit of time this weekend to remedy that and am going to endeavour to bring you up to speed. So get ready for a mammoth blog catch-up!

Firstly, some personal adventures…

Back in early May I had a week away with my Mum. It was her first holiday in 4 years so as you can imagine she was really looking forward to it. We went to Whitby, on the N.E. coast of England. It’s an ideal holiday spot with loads to do – beaches, 11th century abbey, walks, shops, steam railway, and of course, some beautiful scenery.

Whitby harbour

Enjoying the sun in Staithes

Bizzare cloud formation over Whitby beach

Whitby Abbey

199 steps leading up to the Abbey – we did them all!

Stunning sunset

If you know anything about British TV then I’m sure you’ve heard of ‘Heartbeat’, a long-running police drama series set in 1960s Yorkshire. The program is filmed in and around the village of Goathland, which becomes Aidensfield when the TV company is in town. Mum and I are both keen viewers, so we just had to go on pilgrimage.

Outside Scripp’s garage with one of the cop cars used in the show

Goathland/Aidensfield

Running through Goathland station is an 18-mile stretch of railway line: the second longest heritage line in Britain. Originally closed in 1965 it was restored and re-opened in 1973 as a heritage attraction. You never knew I was a steam engine buff did you? I think it must be in my genes, either that or I was brainwashed by my Dad as a child!!

Peppercorn Class A1 ‘Tornado’. The first steam loco to be built in UK in 50 years

Mum gets a bit brave!

Hanging out the train window: another trick I learnt from Dad!

We had a great week’s holiday, and the weather was perfect, unlike the rest of the country which experienced very heavy rain. Well, they do say the sun shines on the righteous!

categories Personal News | Judith | datetime 3:23 am | comments Comments (1)

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