Today for many young ones marks the end of the Summer holidays. Thousands of children will put on new school uniforms and others face the daunting task of going into a new school.  So we thought it would only be fitting to keep the focus on children as we offer a bit of light reading to start with, enjoy ………

Dear God…..

Please put another holiday between Christmas and Easter. There
is nothing good in there now.

Thank you for the baby brother but what I asked for was a puppy. I
never asked for anything before. You can look it up.
Did you mean for a giraffe to look like that or was it an accident?

If we come back as something, please don’t let me be Jennifer
Horton-because I hate her.
Did you really mean Do Unto Others As They Do Unto You, because if you did then I’m going to fix my brother

Maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each other so much if they
had their own rooms. It works with my brother.
 My brother told me about being born but it doesn’t sound right.

If you watch in Church on Sunday I will show you my new shoes

I didn’t think orange went with purple until I saw the sunset you made
on Tuesday. That was Cool

‘Jon’s Journey’

It’s been a summer of many comings and goings with some much welcomed family space and time off. Most recently, we have just returned from settling Chris in Luxembourg where he is working his placement year from Uni. Jess will be off to Uni next month and so Beccy and I will start a new phase of our lives together!

So we are very much looking forward to Beccy coming to join me more fully in the work of ‘Turning the Tide’, just a part of the changes that will be happening soon – see Carl’s news below.

Ministry-wise the highlight was joining the young people of St. Luke’s for their residential at Dalesdown. It was so special to be with so many old friends again.

The main focus for Mel and myself for September will be finances and fundraising.

Carl

With the new term and schools starting back, my main prayer request is for the projects that I am currently involved in to start well in the next few weeks. Obviously there are going to be new students at all the schools so please pray that we can reach as many as possible with the all-embracing message of Jesus.

Also there is a season of change coming up for me in the next few months (more information about this will follow in a couple of weeks). Please pray that my trust in God will remain as strong as it is now if not get stronger. All things are in His hands and I surrender to His will.

Thank you for your prayers over the summer. All the camps that I have been involved in have been amazing and there has been much fruit. For a more detailed review of Teens & Teens + at Dalesdown please log onto the TTT website.

And last but not least…

Our Prayer Mornings are normally held on the second Wednesday of each month.  This month’s is planned for Wednesday, 10^th September, from 10 a.m. until noon and at St Luke’s Church, Old Shoreham Road, Brighton, BN1 5DD. You are most welcome to join us for some or all of this time. Please would you pray anyway, even if you can’t join us?

Thank you so much for your prayers, support and encouragement. You are such a vital part of the team and we value your friendship and partnership as fellow workers-

Jon and the rest of the TTT team – Carl, Mel, Beccy

 For those of you who use Facebook, TTT has a Facebook group; just search Groups for ‘Turning the Tide’.

 Teens + (28 x 16-18 year olds)

What an amazing week. God was so amazing. I was leading this week with Nigel Thomas and a group of 9 other amazing leaders; it truly was a great team. This year saw a growth over previous years of teens + and a few new faces that have come up from the younger camps.

 Before the camp the team were given the word ‘imagination.’ The bible says that God can do more than we could ask or imagine. We were challenged to think that we should not imagine what God was going to do based on previous experience but that we should imagine bigger, so our prayer was for God to increase our imaginations. We also challenged the young people with this on the first night.

The first meeting on the Saturday night was amazing. The kind of break through in ministry, worship and the teens blessing each other that we’d normally expect on the third or fourth night happened on the first. Leaders literally had to stand back and watch the young people pray for and bless each other. This was especially encouraging as it included the younger teens who were new to Teens +.

The meetings continued to be a blessing through the week and it was clear that these young people all just wanted to get deeper with God and get closer to Him throughout the week. The seminars followed the theme of the week; ‘Mission and Evangelism’, and were all leading up to the main focus of the week.

 The Thursday was planned as a day of mission and evangelism in the town of Littlehampton. Naturally at the beginning of the week many of the young were daunted by this prospect but as the seminars developed through the week many of them seemed excited on the day. In Littlehampton we were going to split into 3 groups. One group to go and meet with the elderly in an elderly people’s home, one group to do Random Acts of Kindness on the streets and another to look for specific opportunities to tell people about God. This third group met in the morning to listen to God about specific people that they would be meeting on the streets. They had a number of words and pictures of people, places and situations, nearly all of whom or which were found in the afternoon. Others helped out in shops, did some busking, gave out flowers and prayed for people. We saw a homeless man lifted from depression and receive joy from God, people opening up to prayer and all of the young people were encouraged by what God did.

 This day was always going to be a step of faith and we knew God would be good and work through the young people, but we never could have ‘imagined’ it being as awesome as it was. After the evangelism we had a meal and went swimming then got back to Dalesdown around 10pm. As it was the last night we decided to have a couple of songs of worship and some feedback from the day and then we’d let them stay up and watch a film…The film never happened as we didn’t leave the meeting place until 12:15am.

I can’t really sum it up in words (hopefully there will soon be some testimonies of the Thursday posted onto this page that will do a better job than I can). But I have never been more proud of a group of young people and so blessed by what God can do through them. It gives me great hope that God is going to Turn The Tide through this generation!

 Teens (47 x 13-15 Year olds)

Arriving back at camp after 24 hours off was hard as the dynamic was very different and there was a new team but Nigel and I as the main speakers and worship co-ordinators of the week were looking forward to what God was going to do this week.

The meetings took a couple of nights to pick up momentum but there will still a number of blessings along the way.

6 of the Teens + stayed on as leaders and were amazing. Again God was using them mightily to bless the young people. It was hard for them having come from a spiritual high to almost back to square one but all of them were strong in faith and made it a focus of theirs to push on in prayer and worship to see God do what He wanted to do in the lives of the Teens.

 We also invited the other Teens + campers to come up on one of the evenings to get stuck in with some prayer ministry – again God used them greatly. We had a picture that day of a waterfall into a pool of water that had 5 possible positions of faith on it; Standing and watching, paddling, wading, swimming or diving. We encouraged the young people to think about where they were with God and then to move to the picture of where they wanted to be. By the grace of God we were able to screw up the first 2 stations as everyone wanted to get deeper and to at least wade with God.

By the end of the week nearly all of the young people had made a commitment to get closer to Jesus and to try and stick by Him throughout this year.

There were also some incredible ministry times where God did amazing and powerful things in the lives of a few individuals which were also a blessing to the team to witness and be involved in, and once again the Teens +ers shone through.

————————————————————————————- 

Overall they were 2 amazing weeks. Please do pray for the young people and stand with them in prayer, especially as they head back to ‘normality’ where for some it is hard to keep the faith. Pray that they receive strength and encouragement from God.

Thank you for your prayers during the weeks they were answered in a way far beyond our imaginations would have ever comprehended.  

-Carl Smith-

Dear Friends 

This month we honour You, our supporters. We often receive feedback and lots of interesting tit bits and thought it would be great to publish one this month. This one comes from Mary Edley and just reminds us of how kids notice the things we sometimes don’t see and take for granted.  We would like to encourage you to send in short stories, testimonies and anything else that you would like to share for our newsletter and website. And thanks Mary …………………… 

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, ‘What does love mean?’  The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined:

‘When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too.’
Rebecca- age 8

‘Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.’ Karl – age 5

‘Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.’ Chrissy – age 6

‘Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.’ Terri – age 4

‘Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.’ Danny – age 7

Jon’s Journey’

Yet again I find myself in the position of God speaking into to my life and impacting me so much that it’s almost overwhelming! I am very aware of the need to communicate this to you but I’m barely managing to keep up with it myself! Turning the Tide seems to have been like this a lot of the time; three and a half years in and the vision and what He is doing in us becomes ever more exciting.

Since I last wrote to you, I have visited Chennai in India for the second ‘Global Consultation on Children in Prayer’. It will be impossible for me to put into words here all that I experienced. I am hoping to get up to speed with blogging this via our website very soon. Suffice to say that I received many more insights, many confirmations and encouragements and the Lord broke my heart again and again.

Please do contact me if you would like to know more, for example about India; I would love to have the opportunity to share with you.

Health wise I am delighted to report that I am feeling better and better, with energy levels still increasing. I had the mandatory upset tummy during my second week in India but I seem to have recovered well.

I am getting incredibly excited about the future, especially as it seems that the three year period of ill-health, which I have always seen as a time of preparation and waiting on the Lord, is coming to an end. We are living in such significant times because He has such mighty things in store, especially for the young generation.

The Lord has also been at work in our family as several key milestones have been, or are about to be reached. From September Chris is working in Luxembourg (on his placement year from Newcastle Uni) and Jess is hoping to leave home and go to Uni.

This will leave Beccy and me by ourselves during term times and the plan is that from September Beccy will become more fully involved in TTT. She had a remarkable encouragement just last week with a second school enquiring about a worship club and worship assemblies, similar to those she already leads in Aldrington Primary School (interesting timing!). Beccy is so gifted in teaching children to worship and bringing them into His Almighty presence. Of course worship and prayer are so closely entwined and so this seems to be another part of both the Lord’s strategy and His plan for us. Praise Him!

Carl

It’s the end of term and there is a great deal to thank God about. The schools work has been a real blessing and has brought some great fruit. Even more exciting are the prospects of new projects that are being pursued by our partner, ‘Off the Fence.’

The Youth For Christ meeting went well and the 11 church leaders present have been encouraged to pray and reflect on what was said. A few seem to be particularly keen and those who are interested will be meeting again to discuss the project further. Please continue to pray for God’s will to be done.

The Children Worldwide Camps began on Saturday, 26^th July with Teens+ which Carl is leading along with Nigel Thomas and a great team. So Carl has been busy preparing and 28 teenagers have signed up to the week. Please pray for all of the young people to get deeper and closer to Jesus and for new leaders to be raised up.

Carl and Nigel will then be helping with speaking and leading worship for the Teens week (Saturday, 2^nd August to Friday, 8^th). Please pray for wisdom and for young people to come to know Jesus.

And last but not least…

Our Prayer Mornings are normally held on the second Wednesday of each month.  This month’s planned for Wednesday, 13^th August, from 10 a.m. until noon and at St Luke’s Church, Old Shoreham Road, Brighton, BN1 5DD. You are most welcome to join us for some or all of this time. Please would you pray anyway, even if you can’t join us?

Thank you so much for your support; we are more aware than ever how important our prayer partners and supporters are. Without the prayer, we could do nothing!

We are very grateful for all who pray for us regularly and who share our vision for the rising generation. May many, many of them find their purpose and destiny in the Lord Jesus.

Thank you for partnering with us in the Gospel.

With our love and prayers-

Jon and the TTT team – Carl, Mel, Beccy and partners like you

Children in Prayer Global Consultation

On Sunday Jon made the trip to India for the Children in Prayer
Global Consultation which is taking place in the city of Chennai in
southern India from 2nd to 7th July 2008. To explain more about the
event and who is involved we have attached an extract from the
International Prayer Council Newsletter:

The Children in Prayer Global Task Force, an international group
which has been operating since the last global event in September
2006, is planning this Global Consultation. It will be held under the
auspices of the International Prayer Council, a global network of
prayer ministries. An Indian national network of agencies and
ministries involved with CiP that is coming into being, will host
the event. We will be staying at the Pleasant Days Inn, only 20 km
from the Chennai International Airport. We are expecting 200-250
adult and child prayer leaders from many regions of the world to
participate.

“Our mission will be to share what God is doing through the rapidly
developing CiP movement, region by region; learn from one another
about new resources and methodologies; and especially to pray
together, listening to God and reflecting about directions in which He
wants to take CiP in the future.

A special bonus will be meeting and praying with over 2000 praying
Indian children affiliated with the Royal Kids ministry of Father
Anton Cruz (see www.royalkids.org). Many of them were discarded as
the “trashes of society” and have now become the “treasures of
heaven”.

They are being educated by Father Anton and his colleagues
to serve the Lord in various careers, and, in the meantime, the
children run the whole prayer ministry with 24/7 intercession for
the nations as a major focus. The International Prayer Council has
produced a DVD featuring on CiP and on Father Anton’s Royal Kids
ministry. It will be available in July.”

Jon’s itinerary for the trip will be available on the website for
your perusal.

 ’Jon’s Journey’ – Prayer Requests

As Jon prepares for the trip, there have been some eye openers: did
you know mosquitos like the colour blue and do not like the smell
of garlic.  Jon has been taking garlic pills and is avoiding blue
to deter the mosquitos so watch this space to see if it worked or
not.  

Thankfully he did not need any new injections for this trip
but he has been on a course of malaria pills which he will finish
before he leaves.

On a more serious note please would you pray:
that Jon may be prepared for the experience ahead,
for his health and protection throughout the trip,
that he may have the spirit of patience and readiness, and
that his heart may be open and ready to hear from the Lord.   
Thank you!

Carl

Carl has been working tirelessly to try and get a group of church
leaders to discuss the possibility of having a Youth For Christ
Representative (YFC) in the Sussex area there will more on this in
the next Issue.  As summer approaches this brings around “Camp
Season” please pray that this as well as the other projects that
Carl is involved in work smoothly.  

Finance

We continue to be moved and encouraged by the kindness and
generosity of our supporters – thank you! As the ministry grows,
our financial need also increases and at the moment finance for our
work is sourced from donations only. Would you prayerfully consider
donating a small amount to our ministry each month or make a one
off donation?  Cheques should be made payable to ‘Turning the Tide’
and remember, if you are a taxpayer then we are able to claim the
tax element under the ‘Gift Aid Scheme’.

Comments and Suggestions

Your feedback is extremely important to us.  If you have a
compliment, suggestion or concern about TTT, please let us know;
we’d love to hear from you.

And last but not least…

Please don’t forget our next Prayer Morning; it’s planned for
Wednesday, 9th July, from 10 a.m. until noon at St Luke’s Church,
Old Shoreham Road, Brighton, BN1 5DD. You are most welcome to join
us for some or all of this time.
Please would you pray anyway, even if you can’t join us?

Thank you.

Thank you so much for your support; we are more aware than ever how
important our prayer partners and supporters are. Without the
prayer, we could do nothing!

We are very grateful for all who pray for us regularly and who
share our vision for the rising generation. May many, many of them
find their purpose and destiny in the Lord Jesus.

Thank you for partnering with us in the Gospel.

With our love and prayers-

Jon and the TTT team – Carl, Mel, Beccy and partners like you

“He will cover you with his feathers,

And under his wings you will find refuge” Psalm 91 v 4

After a forest fire, rangers were assessing the inferno’s damage and found a bird perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree.

 One of them decided to touch the bird with a stick.  When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother’s wings.  The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings instinctively, knowing that the toxic smoke would rise.

By herself she could have flown to safety but she had refused to abandon her babies.  When the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast.  Because she had been willing to die, those under the cover of her wings would live. 

“HE will cover you with HIS Feathers, and under HIS Wings
you will find refuge.”

Remember the One who loves you and be different because of it.

‘Jon’s Journey’

Fresh from Florida, Jon has some exciting tales to tell about the Revival so watch this space for an account of his trip.

On a sadder note he picked up a bug on returning to the UK and so his health has not been great, again! It really is a journey that he is on!! He has been very unwell and down at times, wondering what is going on and the purpose of it all. But the Lord has come through again and Jon remains convinced that He is in charge. There is a MUCH bigger picture and Jon has to keep trusting. One day he WILL be healed and all will become clear! Amen?!

The GP has now taken him off the anti-depressants with the possibility of trying a different type in a couple of weeks.

Please would you pray for wisdom about this decision as well as for healing and restoration of his energy.

Children in Prayer

Jon is booked to travel to Chennai, India on Sunday, 29^th June for the second ‘Global Consultation on Children in Prayer’. The conference is due to take place from 2^nd to 7^th July and he returns home on Wednesday, 9^th July.

Please pray for this trip and obviously for much better health by then.

Schools Work

Carl reports that all has been going well and the team’s thoughts are beginning to turn towards the next academic year. The hope is to expand the current work.

Carl has a holiday coming up and then we head into ‘Camp season’. Please pray for Carl and for the final preparations for Teens+ (Friday, 25^th July to Friday, 1^st August).

Finance

We continue to be moved and encouraged by the kindness and generosity of our supporters – thank you! But as you know, we are currently ‘out on a limb’ financially, with Jon and Beccy funding the ministry from their savings.

WE REMAIN IN NEED OF A FINANCIAL BREAKTHROUGH.

Please would you pray urgently about this and for us as we: pray for wisdom and provision; seek to finalise and implement a funding strategy; and prayerfully consider making applications for funding?

Would you also prayerfully consider donating a small amount to our ministry each month, or making a one off donation?  Cheques should be made payable to ‘Turning the Tide’ and remember, if you are a taxpayer then we are able to claim the tax element under the ‘Gift Aid Scheme’.

Comments and Suggestions

Your feedback is extremely important to us.  If you have a compliment, suggestion or concern about TTT, please let us know; we’d love to hear from you.

And last but not least…

Please don’t forget our next Prayer Morning; it’s planned for next Wednesday,

11^th June, from 10 a.m. until noon, at St Luke’s Church, Old Shoreham Road, Brighton, BN1 5DD. You are most welcome to join us for some or all of this time.

Please would you pray anyway, even if you can’t join us?

Thank you.

 Thank you so much for your support; we are more aware than ever how important our prayer partners and supporters are. Without the prayer, we could do nothing!

We are very grateful for all who pray for us regularly and who share our vision for the rising generation. May many, many of them find their purpose and destiny in the Lord Jesus.

Thank you for partnering with us in the Gospel.

With our love and prayers – Jon and the TTT team – Carl, Mel, Beccy and many partners like you

 Time

Around the corner I have a friend, In this great city that has no end,
Yet the days go by and weeks rush on, And before I know it, a year is gone.
And I never see my old friend’s face, For life is a swift and terrible race,
He knows I like him just as well, As in the days when I rang his bell.
And he rang mine but we were younger then, And now we are busy, tired men.
Tired of trying to make a name….Tomorrow, I say! I will call on Jim
Just to show that I’m thinking of him.”

But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,

And distance between us grows and grows.

Around the corner, yet miles away, “Here’s a telegram, sir; Jim died today.”

And that’s what we get and deserve in the end, Around the corner, a vanished friend.

(Author – anonymous)

Remember to always say what you mean. If you love someone, tell them, don’t be afraid to express yourself. Reach out and tell someone what they mean to you. Because when you decide that it’s the right time, it might just be too late.

‘Jon’s Journey’

It has been another very challenging month for Jon health wise. A course of antibiotics left him a bit under the weather and a few days later he started a course of anti-depressants. Both his GP and Beccy and Jon’s nutritional specialist were very positive about this treatment and the specialist believes this could be the thing he needs to finally get back on his feet. We are all hoping and praying that and trusting God for it!

At the same time Jon has been very encouraged recently as the Lord has been speaking to him a lot about the future of TTT!

Children in Prayer

Jon and Beccy are very excited about the way the Lord is leading them towards setting up one or more local ‘Children’s Prayer Cells’. Please pray for them as they seek to press through in this area; we know that there will be opposition!

Jon has now booked his flights to India at the end of June for him to attend the second ‘Global Consultation on Children in Prayer’ in Chennai.

Schools Work

This has been going well this month, either side of the school holidays. Carl has also been discussing the future of various schools projects with our partners at ‘Off the Fence’ and there are a number of exciting prospects which will be able to update you about in the near future.

Carl also did a one off talk at Brighton College CU as part of their Youth Alpha course. He spoke on ‘What about the church’ and felt it went well.

‘Innovate’

On Sunday 27^th April Carl spoke at a youth service in Worthing called Innovate. This is put on by young people from a number of Churches with youth joining together once a month to worship together and go deeper with God. His talk should be available online soon at www.myspace.com/innovate_uk.

Finance

We continue to be moved and encouraged by the kindness and generosity of our supporters – thank you! As the ministry grows our financial need also increases and at the moment finance for our work is sourced from donations only. Would you prayerfully consider donating a small amount to our ministry each month or make a one off donation?  Cheques should be made payable to ‘Turning the Tide’ and remember, if you are a taxpayer then we are able to claim the tax element under the ‘Gift Aid Scheme’.

Comments and Suggestions

Your feedback is extremely important to us.  If you have a compliment, suggestion or concern about TTT, please let us know; we’d love to hear from you.

And last but not least…

Please don’t forget our next Prayer Morning; it’s planned for Wednesday, 14^th May, from 10 a.m. until noon at St Luke’s Church, Old Shoreham Road, Brighton, BN1 5DD. You are most welcome to join us for some or all of this time.

Please would you pray anyway, even if you can’t join us?

Thank you.

Thank you so much for your support; we are more aware than ever how important our prayer partners and supporters are. Without the prayer, we could do nothing!

We are very grateful for all who pray for us regularly and who share our vision for the rising generation. May many, many of them find their purpose and destiny in the Lord Jesus.

Thank you for partnering with us in the Gospel.

With our love and prayers-

Jon and the TTT team – Carl, Mel, Beccy and partners like you.

If I have not love…

Jesus I could sing, with the tongues of men and angels

But if I have not love I am just a clanging symbol

An empty sound…

(Lyrics by Matt Redman, ‘If I have not love, taken from’ Facedown’)

Work without love is not true work, certainly not if we’re aiming to glorify God. The Word makes it clear that all that we do for God should be done from a place of love, for the God we love and the people that He loves.

“The Lord loves a joyful giver” – surely in order to be a joyful giver we need to love to give or at least love the person or project we are giving to.

If we serve it should be because we love to serve and we love the people we are serving. If we teach it must be because we love to teach and we love the people we are being called to teach. If we worship it should be because we love glorifying God because we love the God we worship.

All of these things without love would be meaningless. Christ died for us because God loves the world, not for the sake of dying. He is love and we love because He first loved us.

So, may you each know that love for you, may you offer that love, serve with that love, give with that love, pray with that love, teach with that love and may you love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind and all your strength. May you love your neighbour as yourself, for there is no commandment greater than these two. As Mother Teresa famously said, “We can no great things, only small things with great love.”

Egypt…

Jon is now no longer going to Egypt … “It’s a bit of a long story but basically the Lord has led me to pull back this time. Having invited many of the young people I know, several expressed keen interest but in the end none was able to come with me. Beccy and I feel this is for the best, that instead we need to pull back a little and invest in our family this Easter. Chris is home for nearly a month and Jess faces her ‘A’ levels and then possibly leaving home for University in September. The Lord knows what a key time this is for us.

“I am content, knowing that He knows best and His timing is perfect and I am encouraged by all the positive responses and the possibilities for the future. I intend to follow up all the young people with details of planned future trips (Oxford in April, possibly India and the US in July).

“Please pray for us in all of this and for our family time this Easter. Thank you!”

Carl, Linz and Phoebe…

As many of you will know, Carl and Linz have little Phoebe who is now just over six months old. Whilst the rest of the time she is an absolute joy (!), she has been the cause of much loss of sleep! We have been praying about this, especially recently and there has been some improvement.

Please would you join with us in prayer for them all and for more settled, restful nights. Thank you!

Mel’s move…

Mel and her family have recently moved again, but into more temporary accommodation. Their new flat has a few things that need to be sorted out in order for it to be a comfortable living space. Please would you pray for God to provide for their needs and to give them peace. This has been in a trying time for them all, with the upheaval of moving and trying to settle in a new place for an unknown period. But the Lord knows and He is with them in it.

A new look…

Our new website is now almost finished. As we write, we are just waiting for it to have more of a unique ‘Turning The Tide look’ but the content is all up and running. We have launched our new resources page which is for all those who work with young people especially those who work in schools; please do take a moment to have a look and let us have your feedback.

Schools work…

Praise God! It has been a good month in schools. We have seen steady growth in two of the clubs and they seem to be going really well. Easter week was good and the gospel was preached in many of the schools that out partnering teams go into.

Please pray for growth at Hove Park Upper and for opportunities to share Jesus at Blatch 6^th Form college.

New work…

You may perhaps know of a school or group who you think may benefit from our services or maybe you would like to start something yourself but don’t know how. Why not contact Jon or Carl and perhaps we could work together on it, in seeking the Lord to turn the tide in what is happening to our young generation.

The next TTT Prayer Morning…

We were all very encouraged to have eight people at our last prayer morning and it was a powerful time.

If it’s at all possible, why not join us for our next Prayer Morning; it’s planned for next Wednesday, 9th April (from 10 a.m. until noon at St Luke’s Church). You’d be most welcome to join us for some or all of this time, to pray for: the young, rising generation, TTT, St. Luke’s, our city, the nation and the nations.

Please would you pray anyway, even if you can’t join us?

Thank you so much for your support; we are more aware than ever how important our prayer partners and supporters are. We are very grateful for all who pray for us regularly and who share our vision for the youth, the rising generation. May many, many of them find their purpose and destiny in the Lord Jesus in the coming months and years.

Thank you for partnering with us in the Gospel.

With our love and prayers-

Jon and the TTT team – Carl, Mel, Beccy and all our partners including you!

STOP, LOOK and LISTEN
“Be still, and know that I am God;
       I will be exalted among the nations,
       I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46: 10

The simple version of the green cross code: “Stop, Look and Listen” is great advice for crossing roads. It’s also pretty good advice for life.

The world is always in a hurry! That’s the Devil’s own plan: “Speed up the world!–anything to make everything move faster!” God created the earth 6,000 years ago, and it has hardly altered its speed since then. It’s still revolving at the same rate every day. God hasn’t speeded up the seasons or the years, but we are always speeding up, whether we want to or not! But God never got in a hurry.

Every day we need to get away from the noise of the world and spend some time with Him. It is important to Stop  all our activities and really turn off the world. Perhaps you will need to turn the ringer down on the phone, or switch off the TV. Whatever it takes, just do it.

Look  at the Word of God concerning any situation and find God’s perspective. Ask Him for His guidance in any matter. Once you have made your case, then be very still and Listen  for the answer. Keep in mind however, that the answer may not be “Yes” or “No.” It could be “Wait.”

This is a lesson we have been learning at TTT: let’s try to slow things down. Relax! Let go and let God! But most of all, stop, look, listen … and wait!

Some long awaited news………..

After a lot of hard work and waiting (!), we are happy to announce that we are now officially a charity.  With effect from
February 22nd 2008, Turning the Tide, UK, Registered No. 1122935, was entered in the Central Register of Charities.

This also means that we are now able to claim tax back on donations under the ‘Gift Aid Scheme’ something we were not able to doourselves until now.

To maintain all our ministry, we are still waiting in faith for an increase in our income; we need either to double our regular giving or to receive another significant lump sum.

A huge thank for all your prayers on this matter.

Egypt

Jon’s planned trip to Egypt, his first trip abroad in 2008, is taking shape slowly; this is an excerpt from the invitation he sent out recently:

My vision for this trip is to enable a few of the young people that I know in our nation to experience God at work and in this way to bring some of His anointing back to the UK. Having travelled overseas recently, I have discovered that God is doing amazing things in other parts of the world through young people praying. I have come to believe that a major part of God’s plan for “Turning the Tide” is to encourage and facilitate young people to pray.  The team and the travel arrangements need to be brought together quickly now, please pray!

In the meantime if you would like to assist us in raising sponsorship please let us know as soon as possible.

A New Look

As you may have already noticed, the look of our website has changed; we are now using a blog website which will allow us to have more flexibility.  It is apparently the latest technology in websites especially attractive to the younger generation. It will enable us to keep things much more up to date and  to reach out to an even wider audience.

www.Turning-The-Tide.com
WATCH OUT FOR “JON’S JOURNEY”, A REGULAR BLOG WHICH WILL BE APPEARING ON THE WEBSITE SOON.

Please bear in mind that it is still ‘work in progress’ and there are a number of improvements on the way.  However, your thoughts and suggestions will be greatly appreciated on this new look.

Schools Work

Carl reports an ever increasing number of children attending the lunch club at Hove Park Lower and he also feels very encouraged by the questions that the children are asking.  Please pray that Hove Park Upper will see an increase in the number of young people coming to the club.

New Work

You may perhaps know of a school or group who you think may benefit from our services or maybe you would like to start something yourself but don’t know how. Why not contact Jon or Carl and perhaps we could work together on it, in seeking the Lord to turn the tide in what is happening to our young generation.

And last but not least…

Please don’t forget our next Prayer Morning; it’s planned for next Wednesday, 12th March (from 10 a.m. until noon at St Luke’s Church). You’re most welcome to join us for some or all of this time, to pray for: the young, rising generation, TTT, St. Luke’s, our city, the nation and the nations.

Please would you pray anyway, even if you can’t join us?

Thank you so much for your support; we are more aware than ever how important our prayer partners and supporters are. We are very grateful for all who pray for us regularly and who share our vision for the rising generation. May many, many of them find their purpose and destiny in the Lord Jesus.
Thank you for partnering with us in the Gospel.

With our love and prayers-

Jon and the TTT team – Carl, Mel and partners like you.