SPIN LIKE THE WIND-the life of Nigel James: encouraging people to follow Jesus.

THIRD DAY IN SOUTH AFRICA.

Highlights of the South Africa tour with Third Day from a ministry perspective have been the band sharing the platform with Angus Buchan in Durban and with Louis Brittz and Retief Burger in Pretoria. Angus Buchan is a Scottish farmer who has become one of South Africa's foremost evangelists. He had over 200,000 attend his MIghty Men conference this year, and his lifestory has been told in the book and film 'Faith like Potatoes'. Louis and Retief are at the forefront of a new wave of worship music written and sung in the Afrikaans language. I was so overcome by the Holy Spirit when they sang in Afrikaans that I burst into tears when sharing with the Third Day guys in their dressing room. Mac Powell, very unusually, invited me on stage to share my thoughts in the middle of Third Day's set, so I ended up speaking to the 4,500 people gathered there about the importance of ministry into culture, in the language of people's hearts, and the need to reach out so that every tribe and tongue would one day confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

SWEET HOME-CHICAGO.

In the United Airlines lounge in Chicago O'Hare airport on my  way home from 3 weeks on the road with Third Day and a few days in Texas with Gill, James and Tiffany. Non-Third Day highlights of the trip included:

•  Seeing Prasad in Fort Wayne
• Watching him try putting on a little indoor golf course for the first time
• Getting attacked by Andy and Trish Booth's kids
• Speaking on 'Give Me a Revelation' at IPFW Campus Ministry
• Visiting New Life Church in Colorado Springs and meeting Pastor Brady Boyd and Missions Pastor Rhiaan Heyns to talk about them partnering in mission in Wales.
• Catching up with The Sonflowerz and their family in Colorado Springs
• Grabbing a quick coffee with Chaplain Peter Fischer from the Airforce Academy
• Meeting James's new boss and his wife and getting them tickets to see Third Day-they are BIG fans
• Meeting Tiffany's parents in Fort Worth-George and Klina
• James taking us to the Dallas Cowboys v. Atlanta Falcons NFL game
• A five hour historical tour of Houston with Gill
• The spectacular new apartment that James and Tiffany have moved into 
• Praying for them after a lovely meal together on my last night
• Being with Gill for 4 days in the USA after a Third Day tour- a very rare occurrence but one that we immensely enjoyed
• And as almost always... an upgrade to a business class flat bed on the way home.

PRASAD IN THE USA.

Pastor Prasad has been staying with Pastor Ben Gates in Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA for a while and on a few days off from the Third Day tour I was able to visit them, stay with my friends Andy and Trish Booth,  catch up with Ron Allen, and with Meghan and Matt, 
speak at IPFW Campus Ministry, and watch Prasad enjoy eating too much food in various American restaurants. It's been great to see Prasad and Ben's friendship with each other develop, and now Andy and Trish have been captivated by Prasad- he's going to cook them a curry next week! 

LIFE IN GATEWAY SCHOOL.

Back in August, Steve Payne from Danescourt church in Cardiff visited India. As well as spending time with Pastor Prasad and popping in to some Ignite churches he spent a day at the Gateway School. Here's a great little video he recorded at the school. If you want to see more about the ministry I'm involved with in India then visit www.igniteindia.org.uk 

GOD ANSWERS PRAYER.

I'm two days into a 3-week spell in the USA- on the road with Third Day and then spending a few days with Gill and our son James in Texas. Earlier today I opened a small notebook that I use for praying and speaking to the Lord when I'm traveling, and the last time I'd written in it was back in June when I was in Liberia. The last prayer I had written was to ask God for wisdom about Ignite LIberia and for Him to financially provide for the needs of Ignite Liberia- especially with regard to buying a car for Emmanuel to use in his role as National Director. I laughed out loud when I read the prayer this morning, as I'd forgotten that I'd written it. Last Sunday I preached in Worcester Park Baptist Church just outside London, where my long-time friend Rob Dando is pastor. Gill and I had a good time catching up with Rob and his wife Janice, and they have taken an interest in Ignite's ministry in Liberia because the Liberian Ambassador to the UK attends their church. Sunday was their Harvest celebration, and by the end of the day they had given £2,200 towards buying a car, with a promise of more to come. One other thing; when I'd written the prayer I also said to the Lord that I was prepared to help answer my own prayer. God took me at my word.

LEADERSHIP ACADEMY

It's the time  of year when the Leadership Academy starts in Cardiff. Ignite have been running this for years, and recently another Cardiff based ministry Going Public have helped us deliver it. I spoke at short notice a last week's first session on 'Transforming My Generation because Gary Smith was ill and I was less ill than him! I'll be speaking again tomorrow on 'The FatherHeart of God- The Leader's refuge.' 14 students, aged between 18-24, all ready to soak up as much teaching and practical experience about Christian leadership as they can. It was fascinating sitting in church at City Temple yesterday and seeing Leadership Academy graduates from previous years all over the congregation-including one guy playing drums in the worship band, and one young woman having her baby dedicated!