What's next?

After praying and talking and more prayer and talking...we are very excited to be heading back to Tauranga, New Zealand in October for 2 years to work with Justice Reach which is part of Youth with a Mission(YWAM). We're really amazed and grateful for the way God has led us and orchestrated things as we've sought Him about what's next for our lives.

We had an amazing time there January to the end of May doing a Justice Discipleship Training School. 3 months of lectures learning to go deeper with God, growing in our walk with Him, but also with the justice focus learning about all sorts of injustices around the world and gaining more of an understanding of God's heart for these issues and the people caught up in them.  Followed by 2 months of outreach in Thailand and Cambodia, working with vulnerable people and learning how to outwork our love for God and through that our love for people , communicating God's heart of love, compassion and mercy to people we encountered. 
So this time we will be heading back to be staff in the same program. We will be particularly focusing on worship and prayer and engaging the students on the Justice Discipleship Training School as well as the wider church community with justice issues through worship and prayer.  We are also excited to be involved in discipling, encouraging and facilitating the students growth in their walks with God and heart for justice. Justice Reach is working in other ways to bring justice to communities in New Zealand and Cambodia particularly, so we will be involved in those too, particularly fighting human trafficking.

Here's a bit more of how we got there...

Just after our DTS graduation in June we spoke with our course leader and she asked if we would come back to staff with Justice Reach and head up the prayer and worship side of things in justice reach as a whole and on the DTS. She wanted more of a foundation of prayer and worship to be established in Justice Reach. So she asked if we would possibly come back and pioneer that. Looking into possibly establishing a Justice prayer room, raising awareness/encouraging/challenging/envisioning the DTS students but also the local church in Tauranga. Kind of just looking into how prayer and worship can be happening within Justice reach and the DTS.

We took some time whilst we were travelling in New Zealand to think, talk and pray about it and decided that it was what God was leading us to do. God has been incredible in what He has been doing in us in the  5 months of our DTS but also longer than that, to prepare us and move us towards this point. We were able to look back at all that He's been teaching us and see how right this next step is for us in moving forward. so many different things line up its crazy! From one of the main things God taught Ben on DTS to do with identity not being in his job or in earning money but in God. God giving us both on outreach more of a heart and passion for prayer and seeing more of the value and power of prayer, to change things spiritually to prepare for physical change. To us both knowing that God wanted to work together the passions that he's put in our hearts, Ben for worship and me for justice , how we've grown in each other's passion during DTS.

Towards the end of lecture phase we were beginning to have a heart to see how God wants prayer, worship and justice to go together. God has also been speaking to us lots, over the last year and a half, about trusting Him. Learning to obey and trust Him as we follow after Him. It's been a big challenge to us but God has been so good throughout this time of showing us that we can trust Him, that He is our father who loves, cares and provides for us. This has been a particularly tricky thing with finances, and learning to trust God fully in this area, knowing that for the next 2 years we will be working for Justice Reach without an income. When we were praying on the last day in New Zealand, we were sat by a lake with mountains in the background. Ben had his eyes closed and God told him to open them and look around. God was again speaking to us saying "look around you. This is who I am, this is what I can do/create, how much more can I care and provide for you. You can trust me"

So this is a crazy leap of faith for us. We don't know what it will look like, we don't have the finances. But we do know the one who has invited us on this adventure - who we long to know and love more. So we choose to follow where He leads and trust Him.

As we head out on this adventure we invite you to join with us. Whether that be prayerfully supporting us or financially supporting us too. We'd be so grateful.

Prayerfully: We will keep our blog updated and will send emails upon request and receipt of email addresses. But for now please pray for the preparations; raising money, visas, packing. But please pray in the midst of all of that our focus would remain on God and not on the details.

Financially: This is a solely voluntary position. So we are looking to raise £800 per month which would cover accommodation, food, and day to day living costs and also flights for outreach. You can support us by giving a monthly amount or a one off gift. For monthly giving please contact us/Gloucester Community Church to give through them. For one off gifts you can, again give through Gloucester Community Church, or give through our fundraising page https://www.youcaring.com/benandnai

(please note youcaring amazingly doesn't charge you or us any fees, you can select to give a contribution to them or just put in £0)

Thanks so much for your love and support.
We look forward to sharing this journey and adventure with you

Please continue to follow this blog for more updates or contact us by email at benclayfield85@gmail.com or naomiclayfield@hotmail.co.uk