By Jenny Needham
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We have been under a kind of extra 'lock-down' in our family. Three weeks ago our cat, Bilbo, came home with very badly injured back legs. We rushed him to the vet who stitched him up, bandaged him, and prescribed complete rest. Since then we have been supporting his recovery!  A few days ago he was allowed to go outside again for the first time, as shown in the above picture. The Holy Spirit has been impressing upon me that this is a timely prophetic sign for Pathways, that we are indeed to prepare for the next season.
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In the UK we have been in lock-down for nearly four months now, and there is a sense that things are slowly easing.  Some people have really struggled with the isolation aspect and missed the social times and the hugs.  Some people have actually enjoyed having permission to ‘just be at home’.  But however we have found the experience, the Holy Spirit is nudging us to look ahead and to get ready to more on:  Not to go back to the way we were before or return to an old season, but to embrace a NEW season. 

Lesson 1. We can pretend everything is OK when it isn't

​When Bilbo was first injured he crept in and sat near to where I was working. He was so quiet that I didn’t realise anything was wrong for about half an hour or so. The way he was sitting masked the fact that he was injured, so it was only when he started dragging himself across the kitchen that I realised that something had happened.

We are also very good at pretending that nothing is wrong. We can present a good face to the world and even persuade ourselves that we are fine. Sometimes I think that God allows us to come to the end of ourselves, for our own sake. I don't believe that God sent the virus, but I do think He has worked it into His plan and is bringing good out of it. I think that maybe some of us needed a wake-up call.

• Do we need a wake-up call? Has God been trying to get our attention? If so, don’t just limp on as though nothing is wrong. Take it back to God. Get help if necessary.
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Lesson 2. God is with us

While I was waiting at the veterinary surgery to hear whether we could save Bilbo, I was praying, and I saw a 'picture' in my mind of an angel with two swords guarding him. I felt God whisper the words, ‘no bones will be broken.’  From the severity of his wounds, the vet was convinced that he would have some broken bones, but when they x-rayed him not one single bone was broken, not even in his feet! The vet was totally amazed, and kept repeating, “I can’t believe it!”.

In the same way, we know that we have angels watching over us. However, that doesn’t mean we can always avoid facing difficult situation, but it does give us strength to face the processes that we need to walk through.
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• Let’s not be afraid but press on with the journey
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To start with Bilbo had to go in a cage to stop him walking around. The vet was worried that some muscles and tendons had been torn, and said they time needed time to heal properly.  Bilbo hated being in the cage, and he actually made his face and forelegs raw trying to get out (see pictures below).

There is a sense with this virus of the world not being allowed to just carry on with ‘business as usual’. Maybe some of us have experienced this personally in the sense of God intervening and telling us to stop and rest.  Moreover, for many of us, having had more space to reflect and spend time with God will have helped us to hear His heart for the new season. Maybe as individuals we have been able to reconnect with our destiny.

If we resist God’s purpose through this time and just try and get back in with our lives as before, we may just end up damaging ourselves like Bilbo did. Things will go much better if we are at peace, and embrace the process.

• Are we embracing or resisting what God wants to do during this time?
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Lesson 4. Times like this can drive us into God’s arms

Bilbo hated his cage and resisted his restrictions, so in the end I mostly carried him with me wherever I went. This reminds me of the well known 'footprints' poem, with the lovely line at the end, “It was there that I carried you.”

I believe that God has been very close during this season, and that it has been a time for pressing in to God. So let us use any free time we still have now to do just that; and let us also maintain that and not let things push out our time with God as we move on.

• Are we making the most of this opportunity to enjoy God’s closeness?​​
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Lesson 5. We tend to keep going back to old thoughts and ways

After a couple of weeks the vet took his bandages off, and that's where the real trouble started. Bilbo was so desperate to lick his wounds that he made himself bleed again.  There was a certain sore patch that he kept going back to, so we had to watch him continuously, and in the end we took shifts to be with him though the night. This actually turned out to be the hardest phase of his recovery.

As we start to move out of lock-down and transition into the new season, this is a potentially dangerous time, so let's be vigilant and not allow the enemy to steal the things God has done in our lives.

Bilbo's injured back legs could also be seen as symbolic of wounds of the past.  We have been set free from the past in various ways, but we can keep reopening those wounds by going back to them, and act as if we’re not healed. 

• Now is a good time to reassess and let God complete the work He has been doing in us during this phase.
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Lesson 6. Are we ready to move on?

A few days ago, exactly three weeks after his accident, the vet took Bilbo’s stitches out and pronounced that he was well enough to go out.  We knew that this was a potential danger time. Would he go straight back and do the same thing again that got him injured in the first place?

I think it will be a real shame if we pass by this opportunity to change. If everything goes back to how it was before lock-down, I think we will have missed something. I think that now is a good time to seek God about what he has for us in the next season, both individually and as a church
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• Are we clinging to the old season or seeking God for the new?
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Lesson 7. We are so much more valuable!

In Matthew 10:31 we read how Jesus drew attention to some sparrows as an illustration of how well God looked after the birds.  Then he reminded his listeners that they were each so much more valuable than any number of sparrows, so they could be confident that God would look after them!  

The example of my cat carries a similar heart to this.  As we reflect on how Dave and I devoted time and money to saving Bilbo, and how God looked after him too, I invite you to consider how much more valuable we are to God than that!  We are so precious that God was prepared to give His own life to save us. He paid the highest possible price, the price of death on a cross.  In the same way that we nursed Bilbo back to health, we can be absolutely sure that He will never leave our side.

• During this transition time let us draw near to God, knowing that He is a good Father, and is committed to our health and success. 
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Conclusion

We have an opportunity through the rest of July and August to take stock of where we are, both individually and as a church.

• Let’s check we have listened to what God has been saying to us
• Let’s continue to support each other to see this phase through to completion ​
• Let’s seek God and prepare our hearts for the new season

Another positive outcome is that we have all had to face our fears of using online forums, so as well as Zoom, we have used Whatsapp groups and video calls to create a sense of community, and to encourage each other.  We have explored various potential options for streaming meetings online.  We have watched what other churches are doing, partly to keep in touch and also to learn from them! 
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​One does wonder occasionally on Zoom, whether people are more interested in viewing their latest haircuts (or lack of) and catching up with each other than they are interested in the subject of the meeting.  I suspect they are, and that of course is exactly how it should be.  People matter more than things. Social distancing and being under lockdown have certainly not hindered our sense of family. On the contrary, it has clarified what is really important, and if anything, the desire to keep in touch with each other has increased. 
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​Of course some do struggle to connect via technology, and it has been a challenge to help those people still feel part of the family through other ways. We do dearly miss being able to physically meet together.  We have coined an expression called 'Holly-hugs', after the lovely lady of that same name.  This is the gold standard of hugs at Pathways church, and is generally agreed to be what our people miss most about being together!  Once we are able to meet again physically, I suspect that we will do a lot more eating meals together and just generally enjoying each other's company.
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I have often wondered what it would be like to be part of the Underground church in countries where the church is persecuted and seemingly invisible.

Well, we are about to experience something similar, obviously without persecution but certainly restricted from meeting!! The recent global events that started in the East has now moved West like a tsunami and we found ourselves engulfed by it in a manner that few of us could have imagined.  However, the British people are no stranger to these kinds of circumstances and maybe we will get to experience a bit of the Blitz spirit ourselves.  However, I am not trying to make light of the situation, I know it is serious.
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Emma kicked off the morning by talking about 'what is the bible?'  We learned how the bible is written by many authors from all different walks of life, but with one message, that the radical love of God for humanity never ends.  The bible mainly follows the story of one nation, who received the promise of a redeemer, how that redeemer came, and how the good news of that redeemer was spread.
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Tony talked about some of the different approaches that can be used to study the bible, and Mel finished off the introduction by explaining why we use the inductive study method and what that looks like in practice.  
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We had a lot of fun in groups trying to piece together the timeline of the bible, and working out where all the different books fit into the overall story.  There were varying attempts, with varying degrees of accuracy, but thankfully we were all given the correct timeline at the end by Tony!  By now we were looking forward to using the coloured pencils in our welcome packs and diving into reading our bibles!
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After a break, we embarked on the second half of the morning, where we actually used the inductive method to look at the letter of Philemon together.  This was the highlight of the day.  Mel gave us plenty of opportunities to make our own observations,  using the coloured pencils to help us focus on the words.  We were encouraged to share the things we noticed, and draw out important themes. By the end of the morning there was a sense of hush, as everyone realised that God was speaking to them through the book, and showing them things that they had never seen before. The little book of Philemon had come alive!  We finished with some quiet prayer and reflection.
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Jenny Needham

By Jenny Needham

I have always been interested in the prophetic, so I was delighted to see that a number of people that I regularly follow were going to be at this conference in Reading, hosted by Yinka Oyekan. Yinka is the driving force behind The Turning, which we were also involved in last year while Walking the Way ​  ​The purpose of this conference was to bring together prophetic people from around the UK, and to facilitate a unified voice to hear God's heart for our nation.  Estelle and I were representing our Prayer Watch - UK intercessors group.
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We started with worship, spending quite a lot of time listening to God and enjoying His presence. Then we went into smaller groups and prayed for different areas of our nation (government, education, health etc) and asked God for prophetic words for those areas.

​Some prophetic words were shared by Betty King, Emma Stark and Veronika West. Veronika shared how an angel sat next to her on the plane (!) while flying here from Northern Ireland, who showed her false altars (idols) being torn down across our nation, and the building of new altars. She also saw wells of revival opening.  The full version can be found here).
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After lunch ​Dr Mark Birch-Machin​ shared a vision based on the concept of nerves in the human body.  Nerves receive information from the skin, feed into the central nervous system and then messages are sent back out to the body in order to take appropriate action.  In the same way, he proposed that prophetic voices all across the nation could feed into a central hub, which would gather this information, look for trends and confirmations,  and then pass on important information back out to the body of Christ. 
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More details of the conference materials and prophetic words given can also be found on Richard's Watch.  Richard provided us with comprehensive information prior to the conference, on the status of the prophetic in the UK.  On his website he has also collected together a useful record of many prophecies for the UK.  This is a helpful resource for the church in UK. 
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We have written in previous posts about how at Pathways Church, we have been involved in walking and praying with Dave Cape as he walks the Pilgrims Way between Winchester, Ramsgate, Canterbury and London.  This is happening between 25th August - 29th September.

As the team of walkers drew near to the cross, a heart-warming sight greeted them. A group of people could be seen walking up from Lenham Village to meet them on the way,  the people spread out like ants in a line across the field as they walked up the hill. Among them were friends from Pathways, Jubilee church, and Rev John Huggins from the Len Valley benefice. The timing was perfect, as all converged at the cross at the same time. 

The main purpose of gathering was to celebrate communion together, to remember Jesus and His love for everyone. We did this.  Rev Huggins led us in a prayer, and we shared in the bread and wine.​​  ​Afterwards Dave Cape knelt and washed the feet of both Dave Needham (from Pathways Church) and Rev John Huggins together in his bowl.  They each placed one foot in the bowl.  Then the act was reciprocated as they washed Dave Cape's feet.  Washing feet like this reminds us of the servant love of Jesus Christ, and how we can serve one another.

In centuries past, relations between the different church denominations in the community have sometimes been strained, and even hostile at times.  However in recent years, churches in the Len Valley (including Pathways and the Anglican churches) have developed good relations, and often help each other out, working together for the benefit of the community.

As a church we are supporting Dave Cape as he walks the entire Pilgrims way between Ramsgate, Canterbury, Winchester and London, carrying his Cross and  Bowl.  The Pilgrims Way passes right by our village of Lenham, so it carries a special significance for us.

St Augustine's cross can be found at Cliffsend near Ramsgate, and marks the point which is traditionally thought to be the site of St Augustine's landing on the shores of England in AD 597.  A plaque by the cross read that Augustine "preached his first sermon to our countrymen thus he happily planted the Christian faith which marvellously spread throughout the whole of England".

We started our service with some worship, then Dave Cape shared a few words.  Neil from Jubilee Church Maidstone told us a bit about the history of the site.  We read some bible verses and prayed, before sharing communion together. We also buried a peg with some  bible verses written on it in the ground. It was a special time and felt significant. 

​Having carried his Cross and Bowl throughout Africa and around the world for over 30 years, Dave will be arriving in Ramsgate on August 23rd and walking St Augustine’s Way to Canterbury. From there he will proceed along the Pilgrims Way, washing the feet of passers-by and stopping at towns and villages over a five week period until he arrives in Westminster on September 21.

Follow the journey on Facebook.

​We have looked at the truth of the word, how our heavenly Father really sees us, what are godly goals, how to handle our emotions well, forgiving others and much more.  Each week is packed full of nuggets of truth delivered in simple language without any frills or fancy, making it accessible to all.

Every time we go through this process, I pick up something timely for me. Nothing massive, yet each time it gets deep down in my very being, making me feel like I have been given a gift so precious it is priceless. This time it was a word that I felt was not just for me, but for the young people and staff that I work with. ​
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​We briefly reviewed 2018 which was themed  'YEAR OF ACCELERATION' alongside all of our Church of the Nations family churches. For us it certainly was an intense year in many ways. We ran Freedom in Christ and the Grace course which were both very challenging for many of our members.  We also stepped up our level of serving the community with our 'Len Valley Ranch' burger stall at the Lenham Festival, and increased our collaboration with our Anglican friends in the Len Valley Benefice.  We also undertook a 'ring of fire' prayer walk around our area, as well as our usual cell groups and Sunday celebrations.

​One of our strengths is that we have a very clear and simple vision statement that God gave us when we launched the church, and that we have stayed within the boundaries of that and managed to achieve it in many ways.  Therefore we have organised our plans and dreams for 2019 around the headings of our vision statement.
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​Cells and Celebrations will continue in the same pattern and format that we started in September.  We also hope to visit some other churches in our Church of the Nations Cluster and organise some preaching swaps!  Of course we will, as usual, also have some social events during the year where we can just chill out and have fun together.
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​Estelle shared what God has placed on her heart regarding walking and praying along the ancient pathways of the UK.   With that in mind we will arrange some regular Saturday family walks around the area, where we can socialise, but also pray and proclaim God's word as we do so.
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​Another exciting NEW development for this year is that Dave Cape, who heads up Acts Life Cluster, is planning to walk the Pilgrim's Way on mission during August and September.  We are situated right on the Pilgrim's Way so this is a great opportunity for us.

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Serving our community