WELCOME TO MY NEW HOME...

I am starting to settle in and wanted to share some pictures of my new home. Here is where I will be living. The picture at the top is the back of the building... I live in the large tower in the middle. The building is named after St. Anne (the mother of Mary). There is a statue of Anne with Mary over the door, you can vaguely see here.

The picture to the bottom is the view from my back door... it overlooks the chapel and the courtyard.

Isaiah 56:7 My House Shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.

HOPE OF A NEW SPRINGTIME

I arrived today to the UK... there have been many blessings along the way today. The Customs officer who processed my entrance had actually been to SPEC, (the retreat center where I will be living) many times. In a place where few young people have ever been on a retreat, this was a great blessing. I felt quite warmly welcomed and it made things go remarkably smoothly. I have arrived to very warm springtime like weather and the flowers are all in bloom.

May the New Springtime of the Church also be here in Europe!

In Transit

Today, was the first practical step of moving day... and evidence that the Father cares for the details in our lives. I decided to ship over a few boxes to the UK. It is the most economic to ship by way of a company that handles these sort of shipments. I decided on a company called "OSI" ("Ocean Star Shipping International") Basically, they coordinate all the various aspects of this shipment... they hire a trucking company to pick up your things from your residence, they schedule the ship to bring it across the ocean... and then arrange the same at the other end. Yesterday, I received the names of the companies they have hired to pick my things up and place it on the ship. The trucking company is "Divine Trucking" and the Ship is "Blue Grace", the contact's name is "Moses". It is so often in the little things that the Father offers us evidence of His special care. I pray that today, you might anticipate His care in this way.

Here is the copy of the Bill of Lading:

BILL OF LADING PRO:

ShipFrom PickupDate:02-08-2011

Kristin Niedbala

Ship To P:909-350-9000F:909-350-9499

Divine Trucking LLC

16905 Cherie Place

Carson,CA 90746

Moses,310-863-6336,F:

References:

GROUPOWNER TPA

SCAC VITR

BOL BG2424811

ServiceLevel:Standard

3rdPartyFreightChargesBillTo

BlueGrace

2846S FalkenburgRoad

Riverview, FL 33578

CustomerService,813-641-0357,F:813-626-7447

Sending Forth :: UK mission update letter

These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. Rev. 14:4

My heart finds such tremendous joy and abandon in these words! These words are, in essence and simplicity, the missionary call for each of us. That we might intimately know the Good Shepherd and go wherever He goes. It is the invitation to be so available to Him that we might follow Him, step by step with childlike trust and dependency.

I feel such joy to be writing you today because in some way, God has blessed my journey to include knowing you and being blessed by you. And, in that, I wanted to share the joy of this ‘next step’ of my earthly pilgrimage. I am in the final stage of preparation to ‘follow the Lamb’ to Europe; specifically to St. Albans, UK. For me, that has meant several years of Him ‘courting my heart’ for this place, and for His Church there. As a missionary, this is such a mystery, as God places a great and quite intentional love for His people and His Church in a specific area…. this is His love for His people and it is a great privilege to have even a taste of that great love!

I have witnessed God’s sovereign movement in the U.K., and have seen many miraculous conversions and movements of God in His Kingdom. Most publicly, through Pope Benedict’s recent visit to the UK and also his establishing the first Anglican Ordinatriate which offers those in the Church of England, a way to come back and be in full communion with the Catholic Church and Rome, all while allowing some of the deeply rooted English tradition to remain. What an amazing time in history… as the Lord is making a way to unite us all in deeper communion. The Father is so faithful to answer the plea of Jesus “Holy Father, keep them in the name that you have given me. That they may be one just as we are” (John 17:11).

I have also witnessed many individual conversions as well as the Holy Spirit empowering many for the building up of the Church. Several times a month, I receive more emails from the UK, from parents giving testimony of how their teenagers have experienced for the first time the love of God, through the Eucharist. Or of youth ministers and priests, who were somewhat discouraged in the past, now receiving tremendous gifts of faith. In Mark’s gospel, Jesus’ first words, remain also the utterance for England today, “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.” (John 1:15).

Wherever we ‘follow the Lamb’ into the world… this is the missionary proclamation. That we, through our lives, might proclaim, “God is HERE in our midst. He has come to set us free. He will do ALL that He said He would do. Believe and LIVE”!

GETTING ME THERE…

One of the miracles of His Providence has come in how He has arranged for me to get into the U.K. As this call to the UK gained clarity, so to did the practical steps. The Diocese of Westminster was able to open a position for me to come on a Temporary Religious Worker – Missionary Visa. I will be moving to St. Albans, UK, a town north of London and living at a residential retreat center called, SPEC. There are 3 family’s who live here year round and 20 young adults who come to live for a year of formation and to help in the missionary outreach to youth throughout the diocese. My primary role will be to help in the formation of this community that is in the midst of a time of restructuring and renewal. I will also oversee the SPEC program’s retreat ministry and missionary outreach to teenagers in the Diocese of Westminster.

Additionally, I have remained quite connected with Life Teen Missions –Europe. And will be involved in continued formation for the Life Teen Missionaries residing in Germany as well as serving the current Life Teen Communities in Europe and those that will be starting in the UK. God is beautifully nurturing a family in Europe, between many individual communities in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands. We all feel quite blessed to be experiencing this grace and blessing from the Lord, as we all feel yoked together in this mission.

I pray you will continue to partner with me in this mission.

Prayer Support

I am in much need of people committed to praying for me and the mission! I am quite confident that the fruits I have witnessed thus far are a result of the prayers that have been offered. There are tremendous challenges in bringing the gospel to England and in the building up of the Church there. Prayer is what helps till the hearts to be open to God’s love and truth. It allows obstacles to be removed and providence to be experienced. I humbly ask you to consider some commitment of prayer for this work in England. A weekly rosary, Mass, holy hour or some remembrance through your daily prayer would be a true gift.