A Pastoral Message
A Pastoral Message
Dear Brothers and Sisters
As we prepare to leave wonderful Illogan to go all of 2 miles down the road to glorious Camborne I am reflecting back on what has been the most exciting part of working in Illogan Parish. That great passage in Isaiah 61 says some of it, ‘He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives…’ reminding me of how many times I have been blessed to see people released from their past through prayer: from guilt, from illness, from fear; enjoying the ultimate goal in life: ‘Freedom in Christ’ (Galatians 5).
As I reflect on what I have learned, it is that the projects and courses I have been part of that succeeded were ones where a team felt called to work towards a particular goal and shared a vision and a calling. Those that faltered and have not been sustained were enterprises that I dreamed up and put my own strength into. Reflecting on this, I now know I don’t just need to not have all the answers, I actually don’t need to worry about having any of the answers. So I am preparing to begin my time in Camborne with 2 verses from Jeremiah 29 ringing in my ears, ‘”For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”‘. I do not need to have a vision for Camborne ready to roll out when I begin there at the end of October. God already has plans for Camborne. Those plans, whatever they are, sit firmly within the context of the 2nd verse, ‘seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you’.
As we travel from one ‘city’ to the next, I give my thanks to the teams here. Illogan has been a wonderful place to learn. I know that I owe a great deal of my confidence in Christ and not in myself to the support and love I have received here. May God bless wonderful Illogan and glorious Camborne – as He always has!
Yours servant in Christ,