Nigel and Molly Watts - Precept Training in the Shetland Islands January 2018

Transcription

1 Nigel and Molly Watts - Precept Training in the Shetland Islands January 2018 Nigel and Molly Watts travelled to the Shetland Islands from January 2018 at the invitation of Pastor Pete Dale and his wife Ruth who run Lerwick Baptist Church. The view from Pete and Ruth s house, overlooking the town of Lerwick, Shetland Islands Below is a map of the British Isles with the Shetland Islands off the north coast of Scotland. Lerwick is the only major town on the Shetlands and is where Pete and Ruth Dale minister. Brae Lerwick Baptist Church The itinerary of our trip is over the page

2 Itinerary: Thu 11 Jan Fri 12 Jan Sat 13 Jan Flight from Aberdeen to Sumburgh, Shetland Islands Met by Pete and Ruth Dale Evening meal with a couple in Lerwick Baptist Leadership PODCAST Interview with Pete Dale Facebook Live Bible Study with Pete and Ruth as guests PODCAST interview with Ruth Dale Met a church leader in Brae Intro to 40 Minute How Do You Walk the Walk You Talk to Church BSLs Discussions with Pete and Ruth about Precept in their church Sun 14 Jan Morning Service - Intro to Precept to Lerwick Baptist Church (1) Evening Service Intro to Precept to Lerwick Baptist Church (2) Mon 15 Jan Tue 16 Jan Discussions with Pete Dale Introduction of Precept to Pastor Alasdair MacPherson (Brae Brethren Assembly) Meetings in Lerwick Baptist Return flight from Sumburgh to Aberdeen Flight from Aberdeen to Gatwick Drive home Pete and Ruth Dale who run Lerwick Baptist Church and hosted Nigel and Molly Pete and Ruth first came across Precept in Dubai UAE in 1996 and have introduced Precept to each church they have been to in different parts of the UK. Pete took over Lerwick Baptist Church in August It is a church with over 120 people in a Sunday morning. In 2011, the church relocated to its current location into a fabulous modern purpose-built church. On Friday we interviewed Pete and Ruth for The Bible and Me PODCAST, hearing the story of God s faithfulness in their lives, and how Precept has been a blessing both to them individually and to the churches that they have pastored. We also invited them as guests on our new series on Facebook Live - 40 Minute Jesus Listening to His Voice which we recorded at 1 pm on Friday.

3 Molly, Ruth, Pete and Nigel, on Facebook Live using 40 Minute Jesus Listening to His Voice Pete and Ruth started to introduce the congregation to Precept Lightning Studies shortly after they arrived. They invited Nigel and Molly to launch Precept formally over the weekend of January. This involved us taking the BSLs through the 40 Minute study How Do You Walk the Walk You Talk, and speaking in church. We introduced 40 Min Walk to Lerwick Baptist Pete at the front of church Pete and Ruth said that they were keen to grow the numbers of house groups and leaders over the next few weeks from 5 to 12 and use the 40 Minute studies to help facilitate this. On the Saturday morning Clive and Heather, members of the church, hosted a meeting in their home, close to the church. Molly led the BSLs through Lesson 1 of the 40 Min Walk study. We had time for questions afterwards too. We also had a newly appointed pastor (Alistair) of another Baptist Church in a different part of the Shetland Islands attend. After the meeting Nigel spoke with him and he seemed keen to introduce Precept to his church too.

4 Teaching at the evening service Groups studying together We had people across the age spectrum who attended the training, from young to old and all in between. Fergus, Mary, Gordon and Pete some of the leaders at Lerwick Baptist Church After the evening service Pete and some of his leaders listed those in his church who were in house groups and encouraged those who were not in a group to sign up and join one (see photo above). The week

5 before we came to the Shetland Islands there were 50 people in house groups. After the evening service this had risen to 75. They will all start using Precept s 40 Minute How Do You Walk the Walk You Talk on Wed 17 January Pete, Molly and Alasdair MacPherson On Monday, we met with Alasdair MacPherson, a local businessman, who runs a Gospel Hall in Brae. Alasdair is friends with Pete and wanted us to introduce him to Precept. After taking him through a short study, we explained the scope of the books that Precept has. Alasdair is keen to explore how this can be introduced to his own church in Brae. On our last morning, we went to the church for a coffee morning and met some of the church members once again. In summary, this was a fruitful trip to the Shetland Islands. There are many people now engaging in God s Word in Precept studies as a result of Pete and Ruth s leadership. Not only is Lerwick Baptist very engaged but there are pastors of two other churches also very interested in introducing Precept to their congregations too. All glory to the Lord.