BrianIngraham.com | ASPIRE

I have decided I don’t like jet-lag but I do like Scotland.

It is good to be back.  That said, it was also good to step away for a few weeks.  It is amazing how much clarity and perspective comes when you step out of the situation and think about it from afar.  Kellie and I had several conversations about the previous year and about what changes should be made in the days ahead.

If it is good to personally step away, it was AMAZING to step away with most of my team.  We were required to attend our mission’s quad-annual world wide conference, which this year was in Langkawi, Malaysia.  Asia was a great time of connecting with one-another, but also a great time of learning together.

It was good to be away but I am excited to get back and start making some subtle adjustments based on all the reflections and conversations from this summer.  I expect this year to be the best year yet…

Yesterday was my birthday! (insert cheering here) And while we are waiting to hear back from the owners of the building about our offer I have been enjoying a fantastic birthday weekend.  Nichol and Susan gave me a card with this timely quotation on the front.

“There is no use trying,” said Alice; “one can’t believe impossible things.”

“I dare say you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen.  “When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day.  Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”  –Lewis Carroll.

Daring to try what many call impossible.

(photo by Jordan Phillips)
It is great to be back in Scotland with my family after being away for the past two weeks.  Even though I hate being away, I enjoyed my brief time in the U.S. for Scott and Monica’s wedding in Portland.  Scott is a great friend from Scotland who helped start the church here, went to Multnomah seminary and met his bride while studying in Portland.  The second week found me almost two hours outside of Budapest, Hungary for a missionary conference (think central Kansas, but rural.)  I had a chance to teach a workshop for a couple days and the response from it was quite… surprising.  I thought the material was simple, but the range of opinions brought about a thought provoking time for all of us.

These past two days I have been reacquainting myself with what is happening with our building situation.  It seems our building has not yet been surveyed and valued as it was supposed to be while I was away.  The surveyor was hospitalized last week, but has rescheduled the survey and valuation for Thursday, August 13th.  SO MUCH hinges on this survey.  It will tell us the value of the building, the condition of the building, expected repairs in the first 5 years…things like that.

Since we have been without a church building, we have been meeting in the ally next to our old church building for our regular prayer.  It has rained every Tuesday I have been in town for about a month and a half.  And yet there we were last night asking God to intervene.  Asking for a low valuation.

It is hard to value a church building and even professionals are not quite sure what the value is going to be. What this survey declares the value to be, this will be the official value of the building.  We are praying for a LOW VALUE.

In the next 10 days, we are wanting to make an offer.  This is a huge moment for us.  Pray all the details come together and that, against all human expectation, the owners of the building sell it to us quickly.  (I plan to write more about this next time.)

Strategic Prayer Point:  Low Valuation Of The Church Building On Thursday August 13th.

We believe in a God who still hears prayers and still intervenes.  I am secretly praying that somehow we will be able to worship in the building by Sunday, September 20th.  We have nowhere to meet from that weekend on.  Join with us in making a loud cry to heaven for a miracle in our situation.  Thank you for praying.

The week leading to Easter turned out even better than I had anticipated.

Wednesday began our 36-hour church prayer. It was powerful. Individuals from the church prayed in 30 minute time slots at the old church building. They were specifically praying Jesus’ Holy Week prayer in John 17. I love the emails I have been receiving from them in follow-up to this time of prayer for our city. A big thanks to Kirsty for leading.
Thursday evening we joined with some other churches in the area for a combined worship service that included many ancient and modern traditions to reflect the diversity of the churches that were present. I just love getting together with the various church leaders. There are some great ministers here who care for the city and the kingdom of God.

Friday night, Brian Luse, Wade, and Leah put together a Seder - Passover dinner. It was well led and well cooked. There were about 70 there including the children. This Seder meal powerfully drove home to me how fantastic it is to be apart of an amazing team that can do together what none of us can do alone.

Much of Saturday was preparing for Sunday, which exceeded my expectations.

There was such a joy present at both Easter services on Sunday–a feeling of triumph. I enjoyed worshiping and preaching at the services even more than usual. Andy Ashworth and team chose some great music, the message went well and God seems to have been speaking to people’s hearts.

To top it all off Kellie put together a fantastic Easter afternoon brunch. Great food, great people, and to top it all off a 120 egg Easter egg hunt for the kids (eggs hidden by Mark and Dan). A great weekend - He is Risen!

Last week some people in our church put together the greatest Ceilidh (Kay-lee) I have ever been to.  The church looked sort of like a grand hunting highland hall complete with a blow up stag head mounted on the balcony.

We ceilidh-ed, we ate the most amazing of desserts, and I even sported a kilt. (pictures below)

While enjoying the evening I kept saying, “Nobody told me church-planting in Scotland would be so great!”

I love my church… you guys are amazing.

(all photo’s by Michael James Libolt Photography)

I can see again.

For several months I have been feeling excited and yet ‘buried’ by all the wonderful things happening here in Scotland. The ReAwakening Conference, the rapid growth of the church, an expanding speaking schedule among the Christian Unions in Glasgow, not to mention the amazing opportunity to speak at a missions conference in Seattle a few days ago. Amazing things. And I can honestly say, I have enjoyed every one of these opportunities and have felt God’s strengthening and assistance during this time.

During all this I have had two lingering concerns. First, I felt like I was living an unsustainable pace of life. I kept telling myself once I get past this next thing it will get easier, but then something else would come up. Second, I felt so buried by the pressures of the moment that it was all I could do to get by week to week. I was working so hard on the tasks at hand that I could not work on the big picture.

Since returning from Seattle a week ago, my wife, my team, and the elders have encouraged me to slow down and return to a healthy pace. So I am and it is working. In fact, I feel better than I have in months. I can see again, meaning, I have ideas again about the big picture. They are just now trickling in, but I expect the healthier my life pace becomes the more clearly the big picture will become. The more I see about what is next, the more excited I get for this great life God has called us to, as we run hard to advance God’s kingdom in this great nation.

Thank you for sustaining us with your prayers.

The turkey was moist
The stuffing was right
So many came
To Thanksgiving last night.

The Scots and N. Irish
The English and French
The Italians and Iraqis
The Germans all guests

Icelandians and Canadians
Just can’t be left out
They were here too
so I will give them a shout

We feasted and mingled
We played a few games
The kids had a blast
Hardly any were maimed

Soon the pies came
And my favourite delight
Was seeing the first time
Pumpkin pie did some bite

We all liked the food,
We all liked the chat
We’re thankful for times
When we feast and get… uh… happy!

(a so-so attempt at poetry but a good attempt at mission)

Something has happened which cannot be explained other than God’s answering of many prayers. This summer I began to pray for opportunities to speak at 6 different universities in Scotland this year. God is answering this prayer differently and yet more obviously than I could have ever imagined.

In all my time in Scotland I have only been invited to speak at one university ever, the University of Glasgow’s Christian Union, which would seem to be the most likely since we are located right next to this university. All that to say in just over 5 years I have had only 1 invite, so to ask God for 6 this year seemed quite a big ask.

In the last 30 days I have received 4 invitations from different Universities in the area.

Tonight I am speaking at the first, tomorrow, the second, next tuesday the third, and I just received my fourth invitation this morning for three weeks from now. How amazing!

I say I am joyfully overwhelmed because it is one thing to pray for opportunities, it is quite another to prepare and speak. Pray with me that the same God who opened these amazing opportunities will powerfully challenge and convict and encourage the people I speak to, and also strengthen me in all ways for the incredible task at hand.

Please join me in joy and join me in prayer. Our God is great!

These past two weeks have been filled with some unusual happenings. It wasn’t long after returning to Scotland Kellie and I discovered we had to pass the “Life in the UK” test before August 24th in order to apply for a different type of passport visa that gives us permanent residency. We called Glasgow- no appointments until the 28th. We called Edinburgh- no appointments until the 27th. Finally we called Dundee (over 100 miles away) and were able to register a test on Wednesday the 13th. With just a week to prepare we spent hours reading and studying census data, statistics, the government structure of Scotland, the UK, and the EU, how to rent a movie movie, how to get a job, EU regulations and benefits, etc.

We finally purchased a car. Our first car in 5 years!!! A 2004 seven seater MPV Volkswagen Touran with 8500 miles.  I want to give a special thank you to all who gave a bit extra to make this possible over the last 12 months.  It has been timely and a great blessing to have a car.

Monday we bought the car, Tuesday we picked it up, Wednesday we took a road trip to Dundee to take and subsequently pass (YEAH!) our “Life in the UK” tests. Friday we discovered someone in the midwest of America had stolen our credit card information and racked up over $2,300 in 24 hours. Sunday I preached, Monday Ethan and Emma started school, Thursday Owen fell off a bench and had to be taken to A&E (the ER) -so glad to have a car just in time! By Friday we had gathered all the letters, passport pictures, and forms in order to renew our ability to remain in Scotland and hopefully be granted permanent residency. This will save us the costs and effort of renewing our passport visas every 1-3 years. Saturday I aged (I am now 2 to the 5th power), and Sunday I preached.

(Owen, a good first experience in the ER)
(back to school for Ethan and Emma)
Life is good. This week we are doing a little remodeling in the basement of the church for our upcoming kids ministry launch. I would expect to be much more drained after these last two weeks, but instead I feel ready to take on the Autumn and the unknown challenges ahead.  Its great to be back!
Keep us in your prayers!

I must confess I am thoroughly enjoying my time in the States. The first week we arrived we spent a few days recovering from jetlag and then we were off to Portland for the weekend followed by a week at the ocean. Several rounds of golf, and playing at the beach, as well as important times with supporters, future teammates, and the in-laws made those days fantastic.

Week three found us at my favorite place on earth, Lakeside Bible Camp. The week was perfect. I had tons of fun with my kids and tons of great Spiritual input. Not only did I ski, but I was able to sit under excellent teaching by Dr. Arturo Azurdia III, author of Spirit Empowered Preaching. I was able to spend some extra time with him asking a wide rage of questions that I have pondered and wrestled with these past three years leading and teaching at Re:Hope. I left that week encouraged and pleasantly worn out from all the fun.

Week four I spent in New Mexico with my mother. Yes, it is true, I am now a mighty scorpion slayer…

Sunday, just before 5 in the morning, I left her weeping at the airport as we flew back to Seattle. The night before leaving I lay in bed thinking that it will be a few years before I see her again. It definitely doesn’t get easier to say good bye. The first time you leave your family there is sadness but it is also a time of facing the exciting unknown. Five years later I know how long a two years feel like, I know all the changes that take place with the kids and in life. The one consolation, the thing that keeps me going is the certainty that I am doing exactly what God wants me to be doing, where he wants me to be doing it, even though the cost feels high at moments like that. I realize I am not the only one to pay a high cost for us serving as missionaries in Scotland. Moms, dads, and grandparents all pay the high price of grief every time we board the airplane.

Now, near the beginning of week five, I have been doing some CRM stuff and writing a message to preach this Sunday. It has been a while since I spoke last, and the message writing time had me thinking a bunch about Glasgow and my church there. I am definitely going to enjoy every moment in the States but I also now feel that tug of excitement when I think about all God has done in these past few years in Glasgow. I find myself pondering what obstacles will need to be overcome, what breakthroughs will we experience… who knows? What I do know is that I have a fantastic church, a fantastic team, and a God who is still intervening and calling our church into existence.

What is God going to use us all to accomplish for His Kingdom this next year? I am just thrilled to be apart of it.