Claire Livingstone

Claire Livingstone Prayer letter Oct/Nov 09 Thank-You Know that I am so grateful to you for the support you have shown to me this year on RELAY. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you. I know its nice to get a wee newsletter updating you with all that’s going on over here in Dundee but it can get lonely at times and it would be great to hear about things that are going on outside of life in UCCF: how else God is at work. Please let me know how I can be praying for you (no matter how big or small it may seem!!) One final thing I would ask you to pray for is my life after RELAY. I have the opportunity to spend a year with IFES in student ministry in another country and would have to apply for this before the Christmas break. I have been wrestling over thought and prayer in it a lot lately. It seems like the obvious step but pray that it would be God’s will for me to go, not my own.

Flat 2R 54 Roseangle Dundee Angus DD14NB

[email protected] tel: 07841709984 http//::relayclaire.blogspot.com

Hello! I hope this letter finds you well. The darker winter nights seem to certainly be setting in and glove season here in the bonnieland has definitely begun. The first experience of this being my venture a little further up north to Aviemore for the CU weekend away. There were 82 students in total who came along to this and Lizzie, James and myself were roped into the catering end of things… This seemed a little crazy at first but we had fun together, getting to know eachother a little better and just being able to serve the students in such a practical way! Unfortunately we weren’t able to spend as much time, on a one-toone basis with some of the students, as we would have liked however, we were really encouraged by the teaching they were getting. Sam Alberry (whose book: “Experiencing Life” is available to pre-order on Amazon) spent the weekend covering teaching on the Cross and Jesus’ resurrection. A little “basic” you may think at first, but only by being brought back to the cross, do we realise the real life God has given us through Christ. That because of Christ’s death, we are ALIVE! We are renewed in Him: transformed from nothingness. We have a rightful status before God and a purpose to life. This means our everyday attitude changes, our concerns and affections change (yes-even in those wintery months) - we seek to live for Christ. As Paul writes in his letter to the Colossian church: “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation.”

Work Life: Study, Study, Study… Having just finished looking at the Doctrine of the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit) I am now beginning to look at the Doctrine ofGod’s Providence: How God’s Sovereignty ties together with humanity and free will. As you can imagine, it can get pretty intense but pray that I would have the time to properly reflect over it all-to build a biblical view of it in my own mind to be able to explain to others. I feel so privileged to have the chance to finally learn what the Bible says about these things and I’m seeing a God who is way bigger than I could have ever imagined!!

Dates to remember…

One-to-One Ministry… I have arranged to meet up with a range of girls from both Abertay and Dundee University CU, who on a weekly basis, I am able to study the Bible with. Sometimes, we look at the same passages. However, each girl I meet with appears to point out different aspects of the passage and the way they understand or relate to it. It has been a real blessing for me to see how the Bible is meeting the issues where they are at, being reminded of its relvance today and how God is speaking through His Word. Pray that I would be committed to facilitating this: in the time I take to prepare each study and in interpretating the message.

14/11/09 Apologetics training conference in Manchester Pray for : The students who will attend this - Theological equipping of God’s Word to defend the gospel message

24/11/09-25/11/09 Relay training days Pray for : - Maurice and Anna McCracken as they lead this

Abertay University (approx 5500 students) CU = approx 15 students President = Andy R Vice-President = Vigil

Romans 1v16: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.”

Pray for the Scottish Team for UCCF: There are 20 of us in total: 10 Staff and 10 doing Relay. Pray for friendships and accountability with one another.

Dundee University (approx 20 000 students) CU = approx 100 students President = Claire Ed Vice-President = Nigel M + 10 students on the committee

24/11/09-25/11/09 UCCF Team day 04/12/09-06/12/09 The Scottish Biblical Evangelism Conference Pray for : - Our speaker: Robin Sydserff (minister in Edinburgh) - Students who will attend and will be expected to give an evangelistic presentation on a bible passage

Abertay and Dundee Christian Union’s Following the CU weekend in Aviemore and The GO-Day (an evangelism training event held in Dundee by UCCF), pray that each of the CU’s continue to remain fired up for the gospel as they come back to the nitty-grittiness of their planning programs: being able to confirm speakers each week, able to be creative in running events as well as communicative!! Pray the CU would be seeking to give EVERY student on campus an opportunity to respond to the message of Jesus. In February 2010, each CU will run a week of events on campus to promote the gospel and serve the student community round about them. Pray for ideas and plans being put in place for this already. That Christian students would be able to relate and engage with the culture of today and believe that the Bible is applicable to it all.