Happy memories, new friends, and a big shot of faith
Thank you so much for your prayers for the Pioneer conference a couple of weeks ago. If you follow us, Mike, or RM Pioneer on twitter you likely saw the flood of tweets speaking of the outpouring of the Spirit and the uplifting teaching and worship.
We asked Natalie Prince and Martin Lazenby to reflect on the conference for us.
Natalie: "I was invited to be part of the team serving at the Conference, particularly because I could speak Spanish.
"There was some excellent teaching from Mike Betts, Maurice Nightingale, Chris Taylor and Clyde Thomas on how to reach, recruit, reproduce and reap. We were encouraged not to forget the basic gospel message and not to let anything else get in the way of that or go off on tangents. There is a dark world out there full of lost people who need to be offered hope.
"We also got to hear from the Lazenby family who have just moved to Málaga, as well as from others who are already out in the field. In addition to this there were some great seminar sessions, including Vlada and Sonja Stojanovic on reaching people in the culture around you, Grantley and Floss Watkins on nurturing the presence of God and Mike Bollinger on prophetic ministry. Add into this mix some great times of worship and times of ministry and you have all the ingredients for a fantastic and challenging week.
“This was a conference for those dreaming big dreams, and for those further along the path to realising them, as well as for the churches looking to send out those people. ”
"This was a conference for those dreaming big dreams, and for those further along the path to realising them and seeing their dreams come to fruition, as well as for the churches looking to send out those people. This was also somewhere for those seeking to pioneer closer to home. A gathering from across Relational Mission of those with a passion and zeal for serving the lost.
"Do I feel called to church plant? Well never say never, but right now I feel that my family are exactly where we are called to be and with a commission that will involve us all. Can we be pioneers right where we are? Absolutely. And should we be? While there are still people in our communities that need to hear the good news of Jesus Christ then yes, most definitely."
Martin: "I still can’t quite believe that the Pioneer conference came to Málaga! It was amazing to have so many from our RM family joining together to encourage one another in our new city, meeting old friends and making new ones, worshiping and praying together and benefiting from the wisdom and gifting of others through teaching. Two years ago we were at the Church Planting conference in Berkel (Netherlands) taking our first fledgling steps in following God into a pioneering adventure in Spain and now we were sharing the stories over coffees and meals of how God has been blessing us having made the move to Málaga earlier this summer.
"Many across the RM family have been faithfully partnering with us in prayer as we follow God on this adventure and we’ve been enjoying living in the blessings of many answered prayers over the last few months. So, taking a group out prayer walking through the streets of Málaga was a real highlight for me. It was fantastic to join with brothers and sisters in petitioning God for breakthrough in many areas in Málaga and Spain and felt like a real statement of intent as we walked and prayed together.
"So, what will I take away from the week? Happy memories, new friends, some important things to ponder on and a great big shot of faith for the journey ahead. I can’t wait for the next Pioneer conference and hearing how God used this one in the lives of others."
You can read more of Martin's reflections on the conference on the RM Málaga blog.