Soul Touch Wishes You A Merry Christmas

May we wish you all a very merry and blessed Christmas this year full of laughter, joy and peace. May you all find what you have been created for, and find happiness in that. May you feel the hope and comfort intended for you, and all the other yummy things we have been mercifully given.

Most of all, may everyone feel love this Christmas day. May we all share that love, and commit today to sharing more and more love every day as the new year unfolds. Thank you to everyone that made 2010 everything it was for Laura and I, for all the encouragements, the kindness, the hospitality and the wisdom. Please pray for the continuation of Soul Touch and that it develops easily into what God intends it to be.

So all that being said, im off for a mince pie (or two!) Merry Christmas!!!

Soul Touch Prayer Advent Calender - Life on the streets

In Guatemala we worked with the Shikinah ministries, that reach many different people in all different ways. However, we spent most of our time working at their soup kitchen, helping them serve an average of 500 hungry and often homeless people everyday. We learnt a lot during our time here about the monotonous, survival based type of living for those on the street. Their day forcussed around ways of finding food and money. For children especially this is no way to live, so we were blessed and happy to also have the opportunity to work with a man Gyseppi who ran a school for theses children free of charge, and visited the families on the streets 3 times a week with hope, soup and sandwiches. As Europe is hit by the shockingly cold weather, please pray that everyone has a bed this Christmas and somewhere to go to get out of the cold. And for everyone in the world homeless, please pray that whatever the circumstances are that ended in them living on the streets are changed, and that they find not only a house but a home.

Soul Touch Prayer Advent Calender - Christmas behind bars

During our time in Oruro, Bolivia we worked with Arbol del Angel (Angel Tree) who work with children with parents in prison, and children who live in the prisons with their parents. Arbol del Angel runs from Wednesday to Friday, serving 30 children, helping with homework, teaching the bible and running clubs like choreography or art. During our time with them we had the opportunity to visit the prison with the children while they performed a dance for their parents and the other prisoners. It was very touching that the parents were able to experience their children performing, as so many parents in prison miss out on this. But it was heartbreaking to leave, some of the children stayed back with their parents which was hard enough to watch, but the ones that had to leave were so sad to be leaving mum’s and dad’s behind. I can’t begin to imagine what these children are feeling. Please pray for them, pray that they will see another, more appealing, side of life. Pray also for the parents, Arbol del Angel do work (which sounds like cognitive behaviour therapy) with them. Pray that they will realise the effect them being in prison has on their children, and pray that they will continue to want to rebuild their lives. Also pray for the staff and team of dedicated team of volunteers, they are doing an amazing job, pray that they will continue to be energised.

Soul Touch Prayer Advent Calender - Living in the dust

In Bolivia we worked with a project called Horno Casa. This is an afterschool homework and bible teaching group for children of all ages. These children live in the hills outside Sucre’s city centre. Often they have no water and their health is suffering, almost every child in the 60 we worked with had a cold. These children live outside the city and were so happy to have visitors! They have some resources but not a lot, the Brazilian team that work with them do so well with what they have! Last month the team from Brazil returned home, leaving one full time member in Bolivia. It’s essential that there are 6 members of staff working at Horno Casa. Please pray that God call’s the right people to work with these beautiful Children! Pray that the children will have enough to eat and fresh water to drink and wash. And pray that they understand the meaning of Christmas and feel loved as they are meant to this year.

Soul Touch Prayer Advent Calender - Happy to be Hame!

Sorry for the lack of blogs over the weekend. Laura and I are officially back in our homeland of Bonny Scotland (despite the worrying threats from the snow!) and we have been busy seeing all our lovely, excited family and friends!It's such a cosy nice feeling to be back with those we love and have missed just in time for the festive season. Thank you so much to everyone that has supported us in so many ways over the last amazing year!Despite the 2010 trip being over Soul Touch is nowhere close to being at an end, with so many incredible people involved and prayers being constantly sent regarding Soul Touch, I have a feeling we have seen nothing yet!

So, for today as Laura and I enjoy being back with all those we missed, please pray for those that do not have such people. Those that are lonely this Christmas or who feel forgotten. For the reconciliation of families and friendships and for the general love and fuzzy warm, glitteryness of Christmas to be felt and expressed in the hearts of everyone this Christmas!The Advent Calender will be continuing, so stay tuned! And thanks again for everything to all you brilliant people involved with helping us this year and getting us home safe and sound!!
xxx

Soul Touch Prayer Advent Calender - The Good Samaritan

In August we began the final leg of our journey in South America. We started in Buenos Aires, Argentina where we worked with San Andres church and the projects they are involved with. We had a wonderful time working with one project in particular Buen Samaratino (Good Samaratin) Community centre. During our time with them we helped at a childrens day party for children less privileged. The community centre and San Andres managed to get a gift for each of the children who attended the party. I’m sure over Christmas they will be organising another party with more gift, please pray for the organisers, pray also for each of the individual children, that they have all that they need. Pray for San Andres Church, for the congregation and the members who volunteer in the different community groups.

Soul Touch Prayer Advent Calender - Difficulties of Division

We spent a month in South Africa, during that time we learnt so much about the divides between the black, white and coloured people. Although the apartheid has been over for years there is still so much damage in the country. There’s a lot of violence and crime. Please pray for the people in South Africa, pray that the divides will disappear in the near future, pray for the countries leaders and for the police. Pray that corruption will disappear and South Africa will be known for the beautiful country that it is!

Soul Touch Prayer Advent Calender - Chilling childhood

Any of you that have managed to keep up with the blog throughout the year (legends!) will remember my emotional blog about our visit to the remand centre in Uganda. This centre was set up by the Ugandan government as an answer to the many homeless, abandoned children cluttering the streets of Kampala. The original idea was a place where the children could be brought for rehabilitation, support and with the hope that they would leave the centre returning to a loving family, well cared for and well behaved. The centre as it stands now doesn’t even maintain a whispering of that initial hope. The children are deprived of all of their basic physical, emotional, spiritual and psychological needs. They run around the empty, echoing halls covered in filth, afraid of abuse, with hungry tummies before falling asleep on the floor or under a hole-covered mosquito net. Please don’t push this difficult scene to the back of your mind. Please share this knowledge to raise awareness and of course remember them in your prayers.

Soul Touch Prayer Advent Calender - From the Streets to a home

We spent almost three months in Uganda working with a project called Dwelling Places who rescue, rehabilitate and re-home street children on a three year programme. By now all the children who are currently living in the home should be resettled with their parents, family members or another family. Please pray that their resettlement will be a success, pray that their relationships with family members will be refreshed and that they won’t forget all they have learned at Dwelling Places. Please also pray for the staff as they prepare for the new intake of children early next year; that they are prepared and have the energy for the children. Please pray for the children that are currently on the streets of Uganda, pray for their health and safety. Please also pray for the young people that have come through dwelling places and are being prepared for independent living.

Soul Touch Prayer Advent Calender - Amazing Autism

During our time in Kenya we worked with a school for Autistic children called Abbey Academy. The school was set up by Tabitha, the mother of an autistic child. Tabitha, a trained social worker, saw a need for her son and many other autistic children in Kenya and did something about it! She set up the school which reaches around 30 children, around half of whom board. During our visit we were able to visit the homes of two children who were unable to attend due to insufficient school fees. Tabitha was broken hearted when some of the children that were making progress had to pull out. She now has future plans to set up a child sponsorship programme so that finances don’t affect children’s education. Tabitha also wants to buy a mini-bus for the school allowing the children to go on outings and experience active learning! Please pray for her future plans and for the financial situation that some families are facing.

Soul Touch Prayer Advent Calender - Peace on Earth

Over Easter Jenn and I spent some time in Jerusalem, Israel. I must admit it’s probably the place I’ve felt safest all year... very contradictory to the general stereotype people tend to have. We encountered some very kind people and felt completely unthreatened by the army presence. This was a nice experience, I know that Israel is not always like this, please join us today in prayer for the civilians of the country, pray for peace and tolerance, and pray for the young people who are taking part in national service.

Soul Touch Prayer Advent Calender - St. Andrews Charitable Trust

The world without walls partnership for St Andrews Church Bo’ness is Christ the Rock Church in Chennai, India. St Andrews have set up a charity called St Andrews Charitable Trust India which supports several projects in India, Please join us today in praying for the following projects; Sangita Charitable Trust orphanage; the Martha Medical Clinic; Bar Educational Trust; Nambikkayin Vasal Trust, working with Tribal community children; Lifeline Mission, reaching out to young people involved in violence and also working with people with leprosy; and Rapha Mission working with vulnerable women.

Soul Touch Prayer Advent Calender - World Vision

In New Zealand we had the opportunity to walk through an audio tour describing the typical life of an African child. This was provided by World Vision to allow us a glimpse into the battles these children face daily. From here on World Vision was the main charity that we followed around the world. It popped up in most if not all the countries we visited, as the funders of several brilliant child projects. From providing sports equipment to full child sponsorship, World Vision have a huge effect in all the places they work. They really focus a lot of their work on the importance of advocacy, so if you would like to know more about the work they do and the people they effect, please visit their website at www.worldvision.org.uk

Lots of different charities these days give the option of buying someone the gift of life for Christmas. A simple click away online are many opportunities for us to buy a goat for a family with no income, a well for a waterless village, an education for an eager child, a life-saving mosquito net for the exposed or even meals for a month for someone hungry. If we have learnt one thing this year, it is the huge difference waiting to be made in the world through small gestures. Any one of these things make the world of difference to a life somewhere out there beyond the snow piling up outside our windows. So, don’t just think, act. Buy a friend or family member something different this year, give someone else hope in honour of them. Here are a few of the many websites that allow this incredible giving: www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/oxfam-unwrapped ; http://shop.wateraid.org/ ; www.presentaid.org

Soul Touch Prayer Advent Calender - Thank you

Like most people Laura and I have both been very personally affected by cancer at some point in our lives. This terrible disease can destroy families, break up marriages, steal any traces of sleep from millions of worried minds and in the worst cases can even claim the lives of loved ones. However, there is hope, millions of lives have been saved through the discovery of new approaches to diagnose, prevent and treat different cancers. (Please see http://cancerresearchuk.org for up to date information on cancer research). Laura and I have also experienced the miraculous healing power of prayer in some cases and so, this advent we ask that you pray for healing for those affected by cancer. Healing of the cancer, healing of the emotions, healing of the stress, healing of the exhaustion, healing of relationships and healing of hearts broken by this terrible disease. But, we also offer a prayer of thanks for those in our lives that are still with us for another Christmas, after beating the terrible fight they faced with their diagnosis. For these lives we are truly grateful.

Soul Touch Prayer Advent Calender - Irish Magic

Barretstown is a magical place in Southern Ireland. Founded by Paul Newman in 1994, this charity work with children with serious illnesses, and their families from Ireland, the UK and all over Europe. Through the use of therapeutic recreation (games and activities with a therapeutic purpose), Barretstown help to restore confidence and a sense of childhood in these children, also working with the families to ensure everyone learns to see beyond the fear these illnesses bring, and once again see the magic of childhood. Like all charities right now, especially in Ireland, Barretstown feel the financial pressure of the current economic crisis and have had to make some cut-backs in the brilliant work they do. Please pray for the children affected by serious illness, their families, the people that work with them and for the continued financial support of this incredible charity. For more info please visit www.barretstown.org

Soul Touch Prayer Advent Calender - Scripture Union Sri Lanka

We were blessed to be the first international volunteers to visit Scripture Union in Colombia, Sri Lanka. During our time there we spent time with the staff organising programmes for children and young people. I think it’s been the busiest, most challenging time we have spent this year. Our days were jam packed with organising and running sessions and we only spend 6 full days in the country. It was quite an experience! We want to remember today all the staff we worked with, pray that God will give them energy and motivation to keep going. Pray also for Scripture Union’s finances, over the last few years they have lost a lot of support with people leaving the country. Pray also for the children and young people they work with. Especially remember the children and families on the streets of Sri Lanka

Soul Touch Prayer Advent Calender - YWAM

Hi, sorry for the lack of posting yesterday, had a few uploading problems!

We had the privilege of visiting YWAM (Youth With A Mission) in Bangkok, Thailand earlier this year. It was a short visit but we were both very encouraged to see what YWAM were doing. Another thing that really spoke to us was the welcome we received. We weren’t around long enough to be of any real help to the project, but the staff made us feel very much part of the team and made arrangements for our time with them. YWAM work with many projects but we visited Kings Kids, a project which works with children living in the slums. They teach English and take the children out of the slums to a nearby park to play games in the sunlight and fresh air. Please join us in praying for them at this time, pray for the staff, that they will meet their financial target, most of the staff rely on sponsors. Please also pray for the children, pray for their health and education. Pray that through the staff they will know how precious they are and that they will have a joy filled Christmas!

Soul Touch Advent Prayer Calendar - Hillsong, Sydney

In February we visited Hillsong Church in Sydney Australia, there we worked with CityCare on a project called Street Beat, which works with the homeless people on the streets of Sydney. They work in conjunction with St Vincent de Pauls (who serve food to the homeless every evening). Today we want to remember the friends we made there. We will be praying for the team that goes out on a weekly basis, that the right people will be in place so that work can continue and grow. We will also be remembering the homeless people on the streets of Sydney during this time, Christmas is a hard time for so many people, please join with us in praying that they can experience God’s love and the true meaning of Christmas.

Soul Touch Prayer Advent Calendar - I am the vine; you are the branches John 15:5

“Vine Trust is an international, interdenominational, volunteering charity which seeks to enable volunteers to make a real and significant difference to some of the poorest children and communities in the world. We welcome people from all backgrounds who share our ethos of caring and our belief that whilst we can’t help everyone we can all help someone.”

The Vine trust began 25 years ago in the form of Branches Gift Shop Bo’ness. Branches is manned by a team of volunteers and each year they make a donation to the Vine Trust, since Branches opened The Vine Trust has grown and grown, to view a video of some of their work go to http://www.vinetrust.org/know/about/who_we_are We want to offer you an opportunity to pray and support for the Vine Trust today, You can do this by logging onto www.vinetrust.org where you can shop for gifts or leave a donation. Alternatively you can pop into Branches Gift Shop, Market Square Bo’ness and pick up some cards or a few gifts.

Soul Touch Prayer Advent Calendar - Day 1

As Jenn mentioned we're turning the Soul Touch Blog into an advent calendar of of the places, people and charities that have touched us so much we want to share them with all our friends! We'll take a new theme each day and give you some prayer pointers, we hope to also inform you of some alternative christmas gifts along the way...

It's nearly a year since Jenn and I stated our Soul Touch journey... the trip began in January in New Zealand, we left Scotland on the 8th and arrived on the 10th, completely loosing the 9th of January altogether, something we’ve never quite gotten over! Anyway our first volunteer opportunity began with Scripture Union New Zealand, Jenn and I were leaders at a camp for 15-18 year olds on an island called Ponui. We spent a fun filled week with some amazing young people! This camp will be starting again mid January. We would like you to join us in prayer today for the staff of the camp, that enough volunteers come forward and that they are the right people. Also pray for the campers that will be attending, pray that they have a positive experience and that God can use their time on Ponui to encourage them. Also pray for their time after the camp, and for previous campers. Pray that their experiences can continue after camp has finished and that they don’t forget what they have learned about God’s love!