Last Visitor

Ian Nicholson is here at the moment, Ian heads up 24-7 prayer in Europe and has been overseeing Tracy and myself since we came here in March 2005. He has been a faithful friend and encouragement throughout that whole time. He normally gets off a plane and listens to me moan about all sorts of random stuff for about 3 hours then it all settles down and he brings wisdom, friendship and love.

Ian is one of the people who helped us stay the course, he has been an encouragement to us as a family and a real strength to the work here.

So last night we toasted our time with Ian and enjoyed a lovely little glass of champagne and gave God the glory for allowing us all to have been on this journey together.

What is lovely is that I will continue to work with Ian in my new role within the UK.

Christian tourism

Just got in from picking up our first two week team, it's been a busy day, it wasn't meant to be but thats how it turned out.

Earlier we had our little community service which had a very eclectic mix attending, from ageing anglicans to young bar workers and everything in between. Probably about 28 people in attendance which is very good.

Then off to pick up the two week teams. i know some organisations see short term missions teams as an inconvenience but we don't. I have heard other people refer to short term teams as "Christian tourism" that doesn't work for us. We could only do what we do here with short term teams they are a necessary and essential part of the work here. In fact every nearly everyone who is here for the whole summer has been on a short term team. People who have moved out here to live have first rocked up on a short term team.

We also get overwhelmed with the workload and during the busy months the two week teams give us the energy to get through.

Our philosophy is that the teams have come to serve the work, the work isn't here to serve the teams. That doesn't mean that those of us here full time aren't servant minded or hearted, it's just if you start adjusting your programme for the teams it becomes about them. If you fit them into what you are already doing they enhance what you are doing and grow in the process.

We don't work our teams into the ground, we try to keep them fresh and make sure that rest is as key as work. Some peoples attitude to short term teams is to get them and flog them to death on the alter of servanthood!!!

Anyway we love teams and I am excited what the next two weeks will bring with our Irish Methodist 24-7prayer team.

Fortieth Year Highlights

Today I have completed my first year in my forties! It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be although it is still scary thinking you are in your forties and that your next significant birthday will be your fiftieth.

Top ten discoveries, highlights and memories of my fortieth year:

1. I have discovered that I like cashmere jumpers, they are comfortable and feel nice against the skin. Comfortable clothing rocks.

2. Going to the gym, after initially thinking it was going to kill me, I now enjoy going to the gym 4 -5 times a week, I haven't lost much weight but my wobbly bits are firmer.

3. First complete year without smoking a cigar or anything else. (not that I used to smoke anything else, well I smoked weed when I was young... anyway)

4. Emotional balance: after a tricky year up the farm I have enjoyed being in a normal house with just my family about and a lot less stress.

5. Sons. Two boys are the best, my sons amuse me, challenge me, push my patience, play their music to loud, are untidy, and completely random at times but I love them and enjoy being their dad.

6. 24-7 Prayer: this movement inspires and challenges me, people giving it their all trying new things, reaching out to the broken and praying that God would heal this world. I have many friends within the movement and they are such a support and inspiration.

7. Places and people: Belfast, Stanford-le-Hope, Diss, Guildford, Newtonards, Lurgan, Burgos, Tulsa, Southampton, Castlewellan, San Antonio these places and more importantly people from these places have given me much joy this year.

8. My Viewing: Glee, House, Modern Family, The Event, Lie to me, Community and No Ordinary Family have been great television. The book of Eli, The A Team, Robin Hood, The Expendables, Inception, The Green Zone and Iron Man2 have filled my film watching world with action.

9. God: He never ceases to amaze me. The Alpha and Omega, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The work here, my life the life of my family have all been deeply impacted and touched by a God who cares and leads. Words cannot describe my gratitude I just want to burst into tongues; shakadobadnam medahhulokanesh shee trame..... (It doesn't look so great written down, and seriously why do I always start with shaka?)

10. Last but not least, my wife. Tracy is my inspiration she has faith in me she is sexy and gorgeous, she is the glue in our family and without her 24-7ibiza would just not function, the last year has been fantastic for us both.

Anyway there you go, 41 today and very happy....

p.s. If I could have a number 11, which I can because it's my list, it would be my camera.

Resigned to slavery

We have Maria here this weekend who works with prostitutes in Barcelona, we are trying to find a more joined up approach to how we work with prostitutes.

The girls that we work with are for want of a better word "seasonal workers" they are based for the majority of their time on the mainland. Maria works with these girls on the mainland so we are hoping for more insight and maybe a little strategy to develop.

How does slavery happen?

I can tell you this story because we have heard it first hand.

Girl in village or town in Africa gets offered job overseas, she has probably fallen on hard times and the person who offers the work is probably not a close friend but someone she loosely knows. There is a promise of work looking after children or other domestic work and it generally involves being located in mainland europe. The girl may have children of her own and desperately wants to provide for them.

She is then transported illegally to europe, upon arrival she is told that there is not the work she expected, but that she owes a large sum of money for the costs of getting her here. The average figure is somewhere between 45,000 - 65,000 euros. She is told that she cannot go until the debt is paid. A number of issues then come into play and they are all based on fear.

1. She is in the country illegally.

2. Her family is used as leverage, threat of harm if she runs away without payment.

3. Some have sworn a witch doctor oath (juju); if they don't pay the debt they or their family will be cursed and die.

4. She is placed with girls whose debt is nearly paid off; if she flees they will be responsible for her debt.

At a ground level, the girls are usually controlled by a madam, not a pimp.

On the back of all this deception and fear she is forced into prostitution, she has little option but to accept her lot and so she gets on with it. When you walk the streets and look into this girls' eyes, if you stop long enough, if you look closely you will see that there is a deep sadness a desperate longing for a different life, this is not what she expected and not what she wants, she is trapped, enslaved.

She is resigned to slavery.

What happens to these girls is sad, despicable and wrong it needs to change.

The church must not remain silent on this issue. But neither must the church become a place where lots of people talk and pray about this issue without ever actually getting involved in working towards its abolition.

"And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God". Micah 6

Pray for us this weekend as we chat and pray about the best way forward with this whole area.

Vicaring!

For all of January I am standing in for the Reverend Bob Short, looking after the English speaking church in Ibiza.

So far it has been fun, I enjoy the liturgy, I enjoy visiting at the hospital, I enjoy going the old peoples home.

I have to do a bible group on Mondays which is intense in a mixed nationality kind of way but actually quite interesting. One of the attendees calls it battle group.

We also have a prayer meeting which I really enjoy, although it's all women. I think the Ibiza church is very top heavy with women. Not many couples attend regularly.

The Sunday service are also good, not remotely charismatic or anything like that, although rich in meaning and deep in unity. I find the words very moving. I could be an anglican.

It is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should

at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto thee, O Lord,
holy Father, almighty, everlasting God.

The thing I have struggled with the most is picking the hymns!!!! I'm just not very musical..

Two New Ibiza Blogs

Let me introduce you to Claire Ison and Neil Waters who along with Christine Scott have both joined our community for 6 months this summer. They have both decided to blog their adventures, so please feel free to follow them as they come on a manic journey with us this summer.

Neil wrote this today about his little adventure last night: "Last night i experienced my first messy situation of the summer. Myself and Tracy - who lives and works out here year round for 24-7 ibiza - helped take a really drunk girl and her friend back to their hotel. She had been drinking heavily and was petty much unconcious, seni-naked and alone on the street when we received a call from one of our friends who is a pr for a bar. Thankfully we were able to help her and her friend back to their hotel with the use of our 24-7 wheel chair which was well and truly christened.

I am glad that we were there to help her home safely. Im glad im in a position to be able to help those who get into a vulnerable state. I am glad that jesus christ first loved me which is what fuels my passion for this work. I am glad i have a washing machine to wash the chunks and bile from my 24-7 ibiza hoody!!!"

Claire wrote this about dancers at a club the team went to on Friday, I think it's a lovely piece of writing " Every half hour/hour the dancers change, being here in Ibiza you get used to (not sure its a good thing) to seeing scantily clad women grinding on a small stage for the amusement of the male clientele, but last night something i've never either seen or noticed before happened, the male equivaliant dancer ( like an olied up spanish chipendale) climbed the ladders to get to the podium and thereafter arose a huge cheer from all the ladies on the floor. It was like a cry of yes from the women, quickly follwed by the women's camera being pulled out to take snaps to remeber the moment....


I just dont understand it, to me podium dancers, makes everyone in the clubs feel bad. When the ladies come on, all the women in the place see what the world says a women should be and lets face it, not many of us look like that, even the girls up there are a vision of an extreme made up person...and its the same for men... going by fri nights performance the world values and applaudes would men who are olied up bulky men, which just aint true..


I am so glad that God has given me the freedom from all the rubbish, no more listening to what the world would put on me.. i am so happy that i know who i am from God, not from how skiiny my waist is, believe me, out here that is a big plus, where there's alot of that thinking around...Now just have to announce that freedom to the clubs. wheres that ladder, give me that podium... that would be a dance worth watching ...

Pop by to their blogs and leave a supportive comment if you get the time.

Weathered

This piece of wood has been weathered by the wind and the rain, just like this tree has been bent and shaped over the years. It's a good little picture of life. We get shaped by it!!!!



How much of our lives do we actually change? and how much is it us just becoming more of who we truly are?

A friend and supporter of our work here in Ibiza has recently felt called to move to Iceland, he's allowing life to shape and change him. It's fantastic thing to see, so here's another new blog! Let me introduce to Simon Turner pioneer and adventurer, king of a man.

I read this in a book by a guy called David Adam called “A Desert in the ocean”:

“Life is meant to be an adventure. When we cease to reach out and stretch ourselves something in us dies or we feel frustrated; for life to be lived to the full it has to be adventurous. I believe that God calls us to adventure, to extend ourselves, and to seek new horizons. Our God is the God who makes all things new and he wants us to walk in newness of life. A relationship with God will extend our vision, our sensitivity and indeed our whole life. Whenever life gets static or dull God calls us out to risk and be renewed”

Bibles for Ibiza

For the last couple of years we have given out "Jesus Loves Porn Star" bibles in the west end of San Antonio. They have gone down a treat and people have been very keen to receive a copy. More importantly people have actually read them which is very encouraging.

I may have mentioned before but we had one guy come up to us and say he had torn his favourite bit out to keep in his pocket. We had bouncers and bar workers openly reading the bible, people popped into our centre just ti pick up bibles. For me it was real eye opener that the bible is still popular, and I guess the thing I found most interesting is that presentation, packaging and style are important when it comes to people picking up a book and actually reading it.

So heres the big idea, this year we want to get our own message new testaments printed "Jesus Loves Ibiza" bibles. I have had a word with Navpress and they can only do a minimum print run of 5000 bibles, we get out own custom made covers, write our own blurb on the back and inside the front cover. A fantastic opportunity to spread the word and get people engaging with God's story.

Got a way to go, need to raise some funds, find a designer who will work with us on this one and get it all in place by mid May. So if you know of any foundations or organisations that are interested in funding a project like this giive me a shout. Also if you are designer and feel you could help I would love to hear from you.

Another thought I am having is that I could sell 2500 at £5.00 each, which would enable me to give the other 2500 away for free. Something along the lines of "for every bible you buy we will give one away".

Thoughts on a postcard please?

Coming down the mountain

I have just sent this out in email form to all our supporters but rather than a massive rewrite I thought I would post it here as well...

Sorry for it's length......

Urgent prayer
Brian has been charged with operating an illegal taxi! A drunk guy we took home told the police he had paid for our services, which just wasn’t true. This is very stressful and we are currently trying, with the help of a solicitor, to convince the local council that we do not charge for what we do. If the truth does not prevail we will end up having to pay a 6000 euro fine, or Brian will be asked to leave Ibiza and not allowed back for 5 years! We could really do with your prayers on this one.

The farm and the future
This is a time of transition for us as a community. Many of you were excited with us when we shared our news about the farm last year; we want to update you thoroughly on that, so the next bit is quite long!

After much deliberation, prayer and stress we have decided to leave the farm. There have been many contributing factors…..

Brian and Tracy have craved a sense of family space and feel that it is increasingly important as the boys enter adolescence. The layout of the farmhouse does not lend itself to this.

Bruce would much prefer to be close to San Antonio to facilitate developing relationships with people who live here all year round.

Helen will not be here for the winter; after faithfully honouring her initial 3 year commitment to the work here, she will being going on a 5/6 month furlough back to Germany. Please add your prayers to hers as she asks God to show her whether to return to Ibiza at the end of that time.

All of us need to live in a place that feels like home – although we have tried hard, we acknowledge that the farm has not been that for any of us.

We have recognized that we do not have enough people here to realize the dreams that we had of offering a place of refuge and respite in addition to the rest of our work. Although we have been able to use the farm as a place of hospitality, there is not anything that we have done here that we would not have been able to offer if we had been living as we did previously.

We have not found that living here enhances the work that we are already doing; in reality it could even detract with the additional work that is involved in looking after the property and basic amenities. ‘Living simply’ is hard work!

The lack of a telephone has been a major factor in making us feel disconnected from relationships with our family and friends who are not in Ibiza and this has been a big struggle.

Although the tranquillity and beauty of the location has been incredible, we all feel that friendships and connections with residents would be improved by being less remote. This is also relevant to Ellis and Dan as they are now old enough to begin to go out independently.

It has been a hard decision; we all felt so sure that God had brought us to this place and people got behind us and supported us financially. We have learned a lot and with the decision to move made, have started to focus on the future here again.

We have struggled with questions. Did we make a mistake in moving? Was there something that God wanted us to do here that we haven’t been able to do? But we are clear that we cannot continue to live here in the same way and have come to a place of peace with God about that.

What next?

Brian and Tracy particularly have struggled with a sense of guilt and responsibility for ‘walking away’ from the farm, especially with the awareness of people who dreamed with us and generously gave to help to make this happen. Those of you that we have already spoken to have been very gracious and affirming in your support for us and the work, which has been a huge relief. We are now looking for a family home.

Bruce will need to find accommodation. This will mean either living alone or lodging/house sharing with others.

Helen will drive her car back to Germany. Someone very generously blessed Brian and Tracy with a new vehicle this year and they have passed on their previous car to Bruce; this will mean an extra financial challenge for him in insurance and general maintenance costs.

We have come through a tough year, a little weary, but with a growing optimism for the work of 24-7 Ibiza. We feel there is more still to be done here in both summer and winter and have not arrived at a ‘plateau’.

When we decided to leave the farm a wise friend said this to us “Little about God's movements and directions in our lives are about the "ministry" itself and more about character and relational strength - that is the Long Term nature of God's dealings in the immediate time and space. The call of God to the farm was the call of God, you were obedient, but you may have thought it was about expanding the ministry when in reality it was about bringing your team together, readjusting the focus of your vision for Ibiza and showing you the sanctity of having a more private family life - a lot of idealism gets punctured in this process, some pain and tons of fruit will come from it.”


Thank you once again for your love, prayers and support.

we're getting there

Been a busy few days here, some great nights on the street and some excellent times at home.

It is my youngest sons sat tests this week, so generally a busy week. As the summer goes on we end up on the streets later and later which means getting the kids to school gets harder and harder, we only have a couple more weeks of this and it is the hardest part of our summer. Draining is the word........

Just had a friend out called Jon Peterson, it was great just to hang with Jon and get his wisdom. Jon spent 14 years working in the red light district of amsterdam, he lived there with his wife and 3 children so has a wealth of experience and knowledge about messy living. He's not really taller than me a friend took this of us at about 1am in the morning outside a rock bar called ground zero in the west end, jon was standing on a step, he loved being out on the streets.

Thanks to all who have donated a bit towards the car we are up to about £300 and I hear rumblings there are one or two people who would like to bring it over.

If you are one of those people please email on brian at 24-7ibiza dot com

Sorry this is just a brief update, I now have a few nights off so I will get back at it.

A Car story!!!!

Heres a little story, last week when I put on my blog about the Freelander, TD4, ES, Diesel, Manual 2002 plate the one thing I didn't put on was colour, my friend had asked me the previous day if I was going to be specific and I had said "well we would like a green one", and just kind of laughed!! I was going to put the colour on last weeks blog but bottled it......

Friday night I get a message from a lovely couple I know who are regular blog readers and great supporters of all we do out here, it turns out they where going to put their car on the market that weekend.

It was a Landrover freelander, TD4 ES, Diesel, manual, 2002 plate and amazingly it was green!!!! The other thing was that although they were going to sell it for a little bit more, they were happy to take £4000 for it!!!!

The picture above is of said car, how fantastic is that, we have a freelander. It's pretty miraculous that this has happened, the car passed it's mot last week, has great mileage and will last us for years here on the island.

Now I need some help. It's going to cost to get it over and I could do with some kind people who are willing to drive it to Barcelona or Ibiza but I also could do with some kind people who will help pay to get it over.

I have already had about £250 from last week now I need to raise about another £900. Can you help?

Heres our little summer long crew, these guys have come to serve for the summer and they are great.

The girls will hate this photo, but from left to right we have Clare Ison, Christine Scott, Me and James Godward. They are really making life much easier up here on the farm and they are all brilliant when it comes to the centre and the streets.

Clare is from near coventry and will be having a little break in the middle and then rejoining us until September, Christine is a nurse from N.Ireland who has taken a 6 month career break to be with us from May till October and James is here until August.

Weirdly James dad used to be my youth leader. I remember he took us all out as a youth group to Basildon when I was about 15, we were going home and one of our guys mouthed off to a drunk guy this guy thought it was me, chased me, pulled a knife on me and stabbed me in the head!!!! Russell, Jame's dad, saw it all, I can still remember him saying to the guy who pulled the knife "that isn't going to get you any where mate!" it wasn't a severe stabbing, he backed me into a corner, I banged my head on a wall, and as I jumped away from the wall his knife just clipped me in the temple! He looked more freaked out than me, so he ran off.

This was 1985, my stabber had a mullet.....

Anyway it's lovely to have all these guys here, they are a real asset.

Depth 2

I liked this so much I lifted it straight from Katrinas Blog

We have been silent witnesses to evil deeds. We have been washed with many waters and have learned the arts of pretence and ambiguous speech. Through experience we have become mistrusting of people and often have not been truthful and honest with them. Through unbearable conflicts we have become worn out and perhaps even cynical – are we still useful?

We will need not geniuses, not cynics, not misanthropes, not refined tacticians, but plain, simple, straightforward people. Will our inner power of resistance against what is forced upon us remain strong enough and our uprightness against ourselves ruthless enough for us to find again the path to simplicity and straightforwardness?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Thank you Katrina

Next week

I'm going to make an advance apology for a lack of blogging.

We are moving to the farm on Wednesday, it's going to be a very busy week. Thankfully we have some friends from Northern Ireland coming out to help us, Stevie Smyth the leader of Northdown CFC, Chris Mahood our good friend who was with us in the summer and Brian Houston, no not the leader of Hillsongs but the excellent singer song writer from the emerald isle.

We have a lot of pressing needs, here they are in order of priority if you could help it would be great don't stress if you can't give, if your the praying kind please pray.

1. Internet connection: due to the remote location, we need a special system. As you are aware, a large amount of our work involves the co-ordination and running of teams; the internet is essential for making this happen. This will cost 1200 euros.

2. The property is 200 years old! We need one central wood burner which will heat the rest of the house; we are surrounded by forest, so once it is installed, there will be no further heating costs. Wood burner, cost and installation is 850 euros.

3. With the need for a large amount of wood we will need a chainsaw. This would cost 150 euros

4. Again, due to the remote nature of our property we will need a separate telephone line antenna which will cost 120 euros

5. In order that we can work the land and have enough equipment for others to work the land with us, we will need a selection of farming tools; these will cost in the region of 200 euros.

6. Although we will not become full time farmers, we would like to cultivate several of the fields; to do this effectively, we would need a reasonably hard core rotavator; this will cost 600 euros.

We are looking to raise 3200 euros very quickly. At this present time one euro equals one pound, scary......

Remember this isn't to fund Brians dream of living in the country but God's dream of having a place of respite, prayer and care here on the island.

If you have hope rather than fear in todays present financial climate please hit the donate button.

Please remember us this week......

A few introductions

I have a few new blogs to introduce, the first is Bruce who moved out here to work with in May, Bruce has committed to being here for 3 years! He was blogging from his phone but then he found out how much it was costing, his last post is from Tiesto!! I think he will be back soon blogging from home not his flash camera....

We also have Michael who is working with us for 3 months, he is then going on to be a club chaplain in Bournemouth! Check out his life here so far.

We then have Katrina who is here for 5 weeks, she wrote a great post on a day in the life of a 24-7 person here in Ibiza. Read it here.

These three blogs should give you a good picture of life here, along with Helens blog we are a very blogged about little community.

I have been reading another great blog by a guy called Dave in Canada, I like what he has to say.

Ibiza Baptism

Yesterday about 20 of us went to the beach for a baptism



We baptised Kris who has been coming to Ibiza for years, he hooked up with a 24-7 prayer team in 2003 and each year a variety of people have loved him and nudged him nearer to the kingdom. His mother and family have prayed for him for years and last year he finally gave his life to Jesus.



It was such a blessing because Kris lived with us for 4 month last summer and he became practically one of the family, he's like a brother to Ellis and Dan it has been so good to be part of his journey and walk through his decision to follow Jesus with him. We've spent many hours in conversation through his messy moments and his good moments but mainly we just cooked for him, prayed for him and lived as christians in front of him.

He asked Tracy and I to baptise him, it was an honour and very emotional for both of us, when we moved here this is the sort of thing we dreamed of.

Here we are entering the sea, Ellis and Dan came as well to get the Jelly Fish, but I still got stung! We had to get beyond the seaweed so thats why you can't see everybody else.



What a moment, I cried as we did this, the old is gone the new has begun.



We left the sea happy and with a growing sense that what we are doing here is right but it takes time.



This final picture sums it up, we are called to embrace people and show his love, it's not about preaching it's about blessing, it's not about judging it's about caring, Christ stands with open arms to this world and so must we.

Mexico calling

My friend Kelly works in a de-regulated prostitution zone in Mexico, just outside of that walled zone called Boys Town, she is building a centre.

I got this from the 24-prayer website

The Boys Town Community Centre has been a dream project of Kelly’s and seemed out of reach until last year when the Mexican authorities granted her permission to own land and build on it. The centre will host a small residential community of Christians and will hopefully include a prayer room, a day/night care centre for the children of Boys Town, a medical centre and a place to hang out in a safe environment with the men and women Kelly is befriending.

"A couple of weeks ago, I found a woman in Boys Town who was at least 90 years old and had been living in there for more than 50 years. She was completely unable to care for herself and was wearing diapers that were not changed very often. She could not feed herself or walk. I was overcome with emotion upon finding her. We were able to find a place at a nearby nursing home for her, but she died the morning she was scheduled to leave. Her name was Josefina, and it breaks my heart that her life went unnoticed by so many."

"I am in desperate need of a long-term team here. If I had more people here, we could possibly have taken Josefina into our home temporarily, and simply read the Bible to her, brushed her hair, and listen to her talk about better days. We could have shared the love of Jesus with her. The wonderful Emily Sengel will be here in October, and she has committed for two years. But when I think of all the work that is to be done here, I know we will need more than just lovely Emily, Wes, his wife, and myself. At the moment, I could begin a night care facility for children if I only had more people to help. I know of at least two mothers who would be incredibly grateful. I’m praying for God to send me people who are willing to commit for at least two years and who have a heart for the people of Boys Town and are able to, or are willing to learn Spanish. If you feel this might be you then email us, we’d love to chat with you.”

Maybe it could be you, if your the praying kind pray for Kelly and all she does.