Dear precious family and friends,

Well, it is autumn already and I cannot believe so many months have passed since my last newsletter to you all, I apologize for being so incommunicado. I pray that this letter finds you well and encouraged in God, that His faithfulness and goodness and grace is covering you in the good times and the hard ones. 

Well, it has been a wonderful time of being in the UK, getting my very own flat, working at Sunrise nursing home as a senior and then stepping down back to a regular nurse job again, before jetting off to LA for a two week bona fide vacation with some of my closest friends when I got to fulfill a "do before I die" dream of going to the grand canyon! Not to mention my only sister getting married in the most beautiful wedding ever and visitors coming to stay from all over the world, it has been quite a wonderful summer! However, as autumn rolls in, it has become very obvious that I am entering into a distinctly different season and the winds of change and transition are blowing once again.

I saw many of you at the wedding and each time I was asked the same question: "so what next?". To be honest, one of the reasons for not writing this sooner has been my distinct lack of answer to that very question! However, in a nutshell, a few things have been brewing over the course of the year which I now feel released to share with you and ask your prayers and covering as the Lord changes my "wait" season into a "Now" one!

Although I have felt very "grounded" this year with only a couple of short trips out of the country (of which I am very grateful!) God has so generously brought so many of my friends from around the world to come and stay with me here as I work. One such occasion was back in April. We were praying together and God, seemingly out of nowhere, brought the country of Romania (and subsequently Moldova) into my head and my heart. Places I had never wanted to visit and certainly were not in the 'plan', I tried and failed to forget about the vision and move on. However, it was almost like a seed had been planted that continued to grow at crazy rate with continuous confirmations, divine connections and signs that this was definitely Him and not me! All that I know is that the Lord has asked me to go and visit and has shown me why they are so dear to His heart and therefore to mine. I hold it lightly, having 'carried' this call since April, through further dreams and visions I believe I am fast approaching the time to go and see what the Lord would like me to bring or be part of in such a beautiful, broken place. During a recent trip to LA, God also has given me some key connections in California and birthed both a book and an administration training course in me which I hope to finish writing next year with some help from my friends in the USA.

Since April, God has done much in my heart to confirm to me that He would like me to visit these countries. How long for and for what purpose, I have a small idea but am keeping my hands and heart very open, I will simply go where He has asked and let Him tell me the rest from there! One of the nicest things has been that He appears to have provided a friend to travel with who has a similar heart and is also from one of the Holy Given, Mozambique schools. Our plan at this time is to go to Romania for a long weekend purely to pray in the land and meet some beautiful people. 

Then in April, we hope to go for at least two weeks on a road trip from western Romania right the way through to Moldova, stopping whenever God says stop! A true Holy Spirit adventure. We are certain there are a lot of divine connections and amazing experiences to be had and trust that God has put the hearts within us to see the lost and rejected loved and accepted there for a reason that will be manifest on this trip.

 

Following that, the plans will alter depending on the outcome of the Europe trip, however I would love to both go and visit my friends and the work being undertaken in Zimbabwe around Easter time and then possibly later in the year head to LA and other places in California to try complete and market both my book and the training course as well as my artwork. Crazy plans and many plates spinning as always!

Until then I continue to work at an old people's home, to serve the elderly people in my care and to love my colleagues and my city until the Lord asks me to leave again for a while. It has been a great year, not least since I am now renting my very own flat, which I have never had before! I am trusting God, as always, to provide the funds to travel and to make the dreams He has put inside me a reality, but I have every confidence that He will, He always does! 

As always, I covet your prayers and send this to you not so much as a schedule of events, but as a vision and some dreaming so that you may pray for what God has put in my heart and that His perfect timing and best plan will be the only one that comes to pass. I dearly love and appreciate each one of you and continue to pray for you. I love to hear from you and will try and keep you posted on things as they unfold. Thank you for your love and your faithfulness to me and to Him. May you be blessed beyond measure today and always.

Yours in Christ,

Claire