Hunts in the UK
Heaven Meets Earth
“FLTR is a safe place for me.”
When we pray the Lord’s prayer, we say “on earth as it is in heaven.” This passage often makes me think of what the Garden of Eden must have been like, where humans walked with God. A place of peace, security, and rest.
Naturally, if we are seeking to bring heaven to earth, to create spaces for people to encounter their creator, those spaces should have the same result. So, when one of our regulars this last month told me that FLTR has become such a place for them, I know we are doing something right.
In fact, over this last month, this was demonstrated in a way I didn’t expect.
But to understand why, first, you need to know a little bit about how the school system works over here.
In the states, during high school, most of the time the semester would end in a final - a big test that would check if we had been paying attention to what was taught (or test our ability to cram a semester worth of learning into a few days). However, while these tests were important, if you had done well on everything else, often you could still get a good grade in the class regardless of how you performed on this final hurdle.
In fact, in my last semester of high school, there was a rule that if you already had an A in the class, you didn’t have to do the final at all.
That is not how it works over here in the UK.
Here, your final exam is your grade for the class.
It doesn’t matter if you wrote amazing essays, turned in all your work, or showed up every day to class. In the end, your result of that one test determines everything. Because of this, all of our teens will intentionally mark that they cannot work for the several weeks leading up to and during the weeks of exams. Instead, if you do happen to see them, they are most likely doing “revisions” (a.k.a. studying).
In what I view as a somewhat cruel twist by the English school board, they give one of the several “half-terms” (a week where all the schools are closed) right before exams. Meaning most teens spend their week off of school thinking constantly about school.
With that context in place, I now bring you back to what I was saying before about FLTR being a safe space.
Even though none were scheduled to work during the half term in May, all of our teens came in every day to study. They would take over one of the tables and spend the day studying. What struck me is that FLTR wasn’t just a place where they worked, it was a place they wanted to be in - a safe place.
It isn’t just the coffee. Seeing how people respond to this little cafe reminds me that God is drawing people to him, and that we bring a space that is exudes the idea of “on earth as it is in heaven.”
Bible in Bicester
At the beginning of the month we had another one of our gatherings though this time it was our Annual General Meeting or AGM. In the UK, every charity must hold an AGM each year to give an update on the business side of things. Unsurprisingly, it was probably our smallest gathering we have had but it did mean that it was more intimate. I also tried to liven things up by having a quiz after the presentation to see how well people were paying attention!
Our FLTR community MicroChurch also is trying something new for the next couple of months. While we usually meet in FLTR, we are currently meeting in people’s homes as we go through the “Story of God” curriculum. It is a series of sessions where you go through the entire Bible, but told as a story that begins with creation and ties all of the Bible together. This shift to homes has made our little gatherings feel more like a family and has made it easier for those with little ones to come. We will continue doing this through July, so be praying for us as we figure out what to do next.
But wait, what is FLTR?
If you are new to our prayer letters or need a refresher on what is FLTR and how we are serving our community, lucky for you I recently made a video explaining exactly that! You can watch it here.
Financial Update
We continue to be humbled by the generosity of those who partner with us financially.
Remember, when you give to anything, you are partnering in that mission, and we would love you to partner with what God is doing here in the UK.
Please continue to pray for us as we depend on our great provider for all that we need.