A Potted History

I have just been listening to my wife be interviewed for a radio programme. Listening to a quick recap of our lives, meeting in Edinburgh, running a kids club in our church which had about 60 kids coming along to it. It was a terrific training ground for how to develop and team, and how to work out how to explain the amazing news of the Bible and Jesus to kids on the Royal Mile.

From there we felt that God wanted us to serve alongside a Mexican pioneer working with street kids in Mexico City. Through that we would visit groups of children on the streets, and then helped to remodel and equip a drop in centre for street youth in the city, leaving behind an incredible team that are still serving.


Of course, the door closed to our time there and we moved back to help the church we had served in Edinburgh to start a new church in a village in the outskirts called Wallyford. How we love this place. We serve a small community with a BIG heart through the Livingroom Church. The Agnews, a potted history. Great interview.

But of course, it is our privilege this summer to revisit our friends in Mexico. Will you follow us and pray for us? We can't wait to give you updates on the work there.

A good team

I am blessed to have been in and continue to be part of some amazing teams. I learned the importance of a strong team when I worked with a children's outreach at Carrubbers Christian Centre when I was part of a team that I eventually went on to co-lead with my wife. We invested into that team, spending training times together, encouraging team members to develop and grow, and even venturing on a weekend away each year to pray, chat through ideas and changes and just hang out.

When my wife and I went to Mexico with One Mission Society, we were part of a superb team that worked in many different areas to tell people about Jesus. We were part of a Street Kid team, there were others part of an English Teaching team, others in a School team, a Bible College team and Church teams. We began to refine our team work and leading more in another culture.

Then we came back to be part of a Church planting team for what has become Wallyford Livingroom Church. A small team began the work, and is still led by a team of elders. I have always loved this team, and we have learned to work so well together. There is incredible wisdom and care in this team.

The team I love the most is of course 'team Agnew,' and the woman that I married nearly 17 years ago. She is hard working, dedicated, and constantly looking for innovation and clarity. We work to teach our kids to follow Jesus in this team.

We can't work without our teams. It is so good to be part of a good team at that. We are so looking forward to being part of the MEFI team again this summer, the UNIFAM La Loma team, and the OMS Mexico team. 2 months to go!

Living in the light of the Resurrection

What a busy weekend! Apart from the normal setting up for a Church service in a building that doesn't belong to you (but you are grateful to use) and celebrating as a church together, we had a church lunch after the service to have time to hang out together for longer. Due to the rehearsals for the Resurrection 2017 concert in Edinburgh, it was a dash off to that for 2pm. Here was my view for the rest of the day.

A collection of musicians and singers from all across Edinburgh and outside Edinburgh too, from many local churches, getting ready for a huge praise event in the Usher Hall in Edinburgh at 7.30pm. With a few breaks we were singing from 2 until about 10pm about our amazing Lord Jesus.
"Christ is risen!"
"He is risen indeed!"

Now that Easter is over, we as Christians live in the light of the Resurrection. Jesus' resurrection is so important. At church that morning we were reading from Luke 24 where Jesus asked His followers to examine His hands to see that He was real. Then He ate some fish. Luke wants us to be sure that we know that this was no ghost. Why? Because Jesus had risen not just as 'spirit' but bodily, proves that God has reversed the curse of death that came from sin. Because Jesus has risen, we know that we will rise again too. This world, with its threat of nuclear war in North Korea, with the uncertainty of elections now in the UK, is not our hope or disappointment. Our hope is to rise again and be delivered from death and sin and sickness. Our hope is to be with the Saviour who loves us.

 So, although I didn't get to spend time with my family on Easter Sunday, I got to spend time with an amazing band, with a committed choir, a terrific orchestra, and other singers who are simply outstanding soloists. Singing for hours about the Saviour who loves us.

This week, I get to live in the light of the knowledge that I serve a Saviour who has won the battle against sin and it's effects on me. I am part of His family. I am forgiven. I am cleansed. I am free. Worth singing about, for hours.

Holy Week

It's nearly the end of Holy week, and it is always so rewarding to think through the time line of the the last week of Christ's ministry before the Crucifixion. There are so many useful little e-mail helps that you can sign up for during the season, and as a church we decided to have a Communion service on the Thursday evening, when the Christian church remembers the Last Supper Passover meal, and then we also had a time to reflect on Good Friday, and the events, from the trials, to the flogging, to the carrying of the Cross, to the Crucifixion, and the events which happened around it, to the burial of Jesus' body in the tomb.

Now it is Saturday, and it is a day of waiting. Waiting for Resurrection Sunday, and the hope that we have because Jesus rose again. A funny day Saturday. Tomorrow will be a busy day, we have our church service in the morning of course, but then it is off to the Usher Hall in Edinburgh to rehearse for a concert called Resurrection 2017. It is a yearly celebration run by Origin Scotland, and a time when Christians from across the city and the Lothians join together to celebrate the day. There will be some incredible music, and it always feels a little like heaven.

Saturday. They day before the Resurrection. The greatest days of history that we get to remember every year. God bless you this Holy Week.

Missionary Friends

There are few things as wonderful as meeting with missionary friends. There is always a deep chat with people that know what you have been through, the challenges of living in a foreign culture, the pressures of family life balance with ministry demands, and working within an organisation which may have its own ways of doing things.

We had a wonderful day sharing experiences with these wonderful OMS missionaries, the Reid family, and it was a privilege and a pleasure to listen to and learn from them, especially with us planning our own visit this summer.

After Easter, we will be getting our dates down for ministry, working on injections, and keeping in touch with our friends on the field as the time for our visit approaches. We will of course be working with the street kid ministry, but we know that it will be an emotional time as we spend precious hours with people who we love, and we pray that our time there will be an encouragement. It certainly was today for us all. If you are an OMS supporter in Northern Ireland, you may recognise the location, just below where Castle Erin used to stand in Portrush. We had some memorable OMS conferences there.

Praying

I've been using a new book to help me follow Jesus, a book called 'Habits of Grace' by David Mathis. It reads like a seasoned classic, like something that might have been written long ago by a 'great' of the Christian faith, but without the difficult language. Even so, the chapters are deep and deserve quiet thought.

Last night the author reminded me that God initiates contact with us. He is the 'God of all grace' (1 Peter 5:10). In that part of the Bible, where there are worries and dangers and sufferings, there is a God of all grace who will restore, confirm, strengthen and establish the one who casts all their cares on Him.

In the great privilege of prayer, we don't just 'talk to God', we actually talk to a God who has been working around us and has communicated to us, and so is waiting for us to talk to Him. When we talk to Him, we unburden our thoughts and cares and difficulties on Him, trusting that He will 'restore, confirm, strengthen and establish' us.

As someone who follows Jesus living in the UK, my worries range from health issues to emotional cares, and my need for a 'God of all grace' is great because of my own propensity to try to manage everything myself. For Christians living in other countries, I am reminded by the news that their cares and dangers are more acute, often involving their lives, and 1 Peter 5 rightly mentions the persecutions of Christians throughout the world.

What a gift prayer is. It is a time to cast my anxieties on the One who loved me first, who has initiated contact, who is waiting for me to bow in prayer.