http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org Drew Van Tiem Manchester, England - Living Out and Advancing The Kingdom en-us Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:28:35 GMT 30 http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=recent-happenings http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=recent-happenings I have to apologize for not updating this blog in so long.   The month of June has been a very good month. The first half was spent with my parents. They made their way over here for the first time and we were able to do a lot of great things with each other. The first few days of their visit was spent in and around Manchester, and I was able to show them a lot of the places they have been hearing about for so long and also introduce them to some wonderful friends of mine in the communit Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=sainsburys-and-st-andrews http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=sainsburys-and-st-andrews One of the major grocery stores here in England is a chain called Sainsbury's. Sainsbury's has some great food, but more importantly, it tries to do what it cans to make a difference in the communities it is in. In Blackley, where St. Andrew's church is, there is a Sainsbury's nearby. Each year, they have a charity that they raise money for. Just recently, St. Andrew's youth work was named Sainsbury's charity of the year! This means that St. Andrew's will be given a good amount of money over the Thu, 8 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=budapest-hungary http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=budapest-hungary This past week I was able to have a great opportunity to take a few days off and travel to Budapest, Hungary! This was my first time on continental Europe and I loved it! While the sights, the weather, the history, and the natural thermal baths were all great, the best part of the trip was the time I was able to spend with Andrea, Chad, and Christine. I have spent 17 out of the last 20 months living and working alongside these three. We all started out as participants of the FYM program and all Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=albert-park-youth-club http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=albert-park-youth-club  Every Wednesday and Thursday night from 6-9 some of our team volunteer at The Albert Park Youth Clubs. Albert Park is a park a few minutes from our house. There is a football pitch (soccer field) there that was recently re-done and greatly improved. The building we use for the club also holds the changing rooms for the pitch. Over the last couple of years, Dave Fraser, the director of the club, has done a lot to improve it and make it something that the young people of Broughton would be p Sat, 12 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=rugby-and-oxford http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=rugby-and-oxford Hey All! This past week, we were able to take the week off. It was a much needed time of rest and it's certainly re-energized me for the continuation of ministry here. Many from our group had visitors and spent time traveling around different parts of the UK and Europe. I stayed home most of the week, which was wonderful, relaxing and refreshing! I did have the opportunity to attend a Rugby match! I'd never been, so I was excited about the chance to go. I asked a friend of ours from the St. Clem Tue, 1 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=easter-weekend http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=easter-weekend Well, I'm a few hours late, but happy Easter to everyone! How great that we serve a God that conquered even death itself! This past week, Holy Week, has been an excellent week of ministry. During the first portion of the week, things were as they normally are with the youth clubs, lunch clubs, etc. The later portion of the week was a bit unique. On Friday, there were different Good Friday services in both Broughton and Blackley. While some members of our team sang at the service in Broughton, I Mon, 24 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=bbcs-passion http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=bbcs-passion Hello! This past week, I had the opportunity to go to a night of prayer for the city of Manchester and the whole of the UK. It was held at the Manchester Cathedral and there were hundreds gathered together for the evening. It was a great night of worship and prayer! One thing that was announced was a program during Holy Week (which, of course, just started today with Palm Sunday) that will playing on the BBC here in Britain. Sunday, Monday, Thursday and Friday evenings of this week, there will b Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=lent-groups-earthquakes-and-clubs http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=lent-groups-earthquakes-and-clubs Hey friends! Well, as you may have heard, last night (around 1 AM local time) an earthquake hit in a large area of England. If you haven't, you can read about it. Copy and paste this into your toolbar... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7266136.stmNo fatalities were reported, but some damage was done close to the epicentre. I was in bed and had recently fallen asleep when it happened, but woke up as a result of it. I heard some noise and my bed was shaking which, in my groggy state, I tho Wed, 27 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=refreshed http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=refreshed As I'm looking over my day planner from the last week, three events really stick out to me and made it a great week! First, on Tuesday, I was given the opportunity to be at a high school Bible Study (6th-10th grades) in Blackley. This is something that I will be continuing on a weekly basis. There are four lads who are consistently there each week and the three I met (this was one week when one of them wasn't there) are fantastic! This is exciting for me because for a long time, I've longed to h Sun, 3 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=back-again http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=back-again Well, hello there! I apologize for such a break between posts. Many of you know, I returned to the States in mid December to be home for Christmas and New Years. It was a wonderful break and I am so thankful to God for such a great family and such wonderful friends that I was able to spend time with over break.  But now I'm back and ready to go! I came back about a week ago and spent time catching up on school (I'm taking an Old Testament Survey course), reconnected with some of the folks h Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=christmas-fairs http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=christmas-fairs Greetings! I hope you are excited and enjoying the preparations for Christmas and New Years! I am very excited about Christmas and have already finished all of my shopping! One of my favourite things about Manchester is all the fairs and festivals that take place throughout the year. The biggest and best of all of them is the Christmas Fair. Throughout the City Centre (downtown), there are five locations with loads of booths set up. The booths primarily have gifts, souvenirs, food from different Tue, 4 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=hope-08 http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=hope-08 One of the things that angers and saddens me the most about many churches here in our Western Culture is how many churches let differences come between them and other churches- so much that we have numerous denominations doing their own thing rather than working together. Apparently, I wasn't the only one...Last night, we had the chance to go to the Manchester Cathedral to hear about something called HOPE 2008. Basically, the idea of it is bringing churches from all over the UK together to work Wed, 21 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=a-view-of-the-neighbourhood http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=a-view-of-the-neighbourhood Well, it's a beautiful day here in Salford... the sun is shining! It doesn't happen all that often, so when it does, you enjoy it thoroughly. However, the nights are getting colder and longer as we move into Winter... I must say though that I do love the cold! Over the last few weeks, we've wandered about our neighbourhood to meet the neighbours and make ourselves known. It's been very beneficial and we've already had some great times of contact with many of them. Yesterday, I was able to enjoy Thu, 15 Nov 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=llandudno http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=llandudno Heya mates! It's hard to believe that it's already at the end of October. Autumn is in full swing and soon Winter will be upon us. Over here, some of the leaves have begun to change and it's beautiful to see. Reminds me of the landscape back home, which is nice. This past week has been a very good week. Some of the highlights include, but are not limited to: -Discovering that the local McDonald's is now offering free wireless internet. (Free anything here is hard to find- free r Tue, 30 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=an-uncreative-title http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=an-uncreative-title Hey Everyone! Well, these past few weeks have been great- busy, but fruitful. Back a few weeks ago, we had the Fun Day in Blackley. We estimated that 1500 people came through the event, which was very exciting! Thank for your prayers for that event. Also, the work in the schools has been back in full swing. Last week, on top of our normal activities in the primary (elementary) schools, we had an assembly each day at the local high school. This gave us great chances to see a lot of the s Tue, 16 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=first-week http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=first-week We have officially been together in England for a week now. It's great to finally all be together, staff and participants. This first week has involved a lot of orientation, a few ministry sites so the team can get their feet wet, getting to know the area, etc. It's been a very beneficial week and all together we have a promising team. So far, we've been able to work well together and have meshed nicely.   Tomorrow, we have a day in Blackley- the new area we are working in this year Fri, 28 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=training http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=training Hello from Georgia! For the last two weeks, I've been here in Georgia, living at the AIM office. The first part of my time here was spent being trained as new staff with Adventures in Missions. It was a great time to be given resources, ideas, but most importantly relationships with other new staff that will be serving in all parts of the world and staff that are serving at the office in Gainesville. It's wonderful to know who works here in the office and oth Sat, 15 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=blackley-and-training http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=blackley-and-training Hey Everyone! The last two weeks in England have been great. It's been a wonderful time to be back with the other staff getting things prepared for this next year. One thing that looks great about this year is going to be our work in a new area called Blackley. One of the pastors we worked with last year in Broughton, Ian (pictured on the right), moved to a new church about three miles away called Blackley.  We will be expanding into this area and working with Ian and Sat, 1 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=back-safely http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=back-safely Hey Friends! Greetings from England! I made it to Manchester mid-morning today (Thursday). From there, I had some lunch and then went straight to a VBS that is being put on by St. James. No time to waste!   I've had a great summer, but I must say I'm greatly excited to be back here and get back into the ministry here. It was good to take a step back and really ponder over things in England this summer. And more and more, I am amazed and hum Thu, 16 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=commissioning http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=commissioning Hard to believe that in under two weeks I'll be back in England. I must say, I'm very excited to be getting back there and continue all the ministries from last year, while also starting some new ones. I will be heading out on Wednesday, August 15th and arriving in Manchester the following morning. But I wouldn't want to go without a time of prayer and commissioning. So, on Monday, August 13th, at 7 PM, feel free to come to my house for just that. We'll meet then for prayer and I can get sen Fri, 3 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=hey-there http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=hey-there Hey there friends! Welcome to the first post of this here blog! As you know (I assume), I'll be in England this year. To keep you posted, I'll have updates on this blog. I'll put pictures here, share some stories, talk about what God is teaching me, comments on books I've read, basically anything and everything. I'm writing to keep you updated, so if you're interested in hearing about something, please leave a comment or question for me to answer at some point! Also for more informatio Thu, 26 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=hey-there1 http://drewvantiem.myadventures.org/?filename=hey-there1 Prayer Needs   CHURCHES- We work closely with 4 local churches. There are many things that you could pray for including events, outreach, strength for the leaders and much more. SCHOOLS- We are heavily involved in some of the local schools. In 3 elementary schools, we have lunch clubs which are set up like a mini VBS or Sunday School- We'll have a Bible lesson with any combination of a story, game, skit, music, etc. This a great oppo Thu, 26 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT