Dear Reader,

At this time of the year at Blairmore we have just finished putting up our Christmas decorations and decorating the tree. The weather is cold and has already brought a few snowfalls, but as ever up here in Scotland, we are in awe of the beauty of God’s creation, as although the evenings draw in very early, each morning the sky is gloriously alight with the rising sun coming over the mountains, creating a beautiful mixture of pinks and purples.

The last months have been exciting and busy with schools such as The School of Prayer and Intercession, Ministry in the Marketplace and Modular Schools. We have also been pressing ahead with our building development, everyone involved has worked extremely hard and now both disabled rooms are finished, which means we are now ready to start our next project.

Looking back over this year we can clearly see God’s hand of provision and His love and we eagerly anticipate all that He is going to do in the coming year in the lives of those who come through our doors. We give Him all the honour & praise with our hearts full of gratitude for without Him we can do nothing.

We pray that the Light of the world and our Saviour, Jesus Christ, will dwell more and more in your hearts and minds as we celebrate His birth at this Christmastime.  

With every blessing,

Malcolm and Anna Wood.

Development

The disabled en-suite bedrooms are now complete and looking great!  One was utilised almost immediately for Ministry in the Marketplace.  The next major project is the transformation of the Conference Hall.  We are all very keen to see the breeze-block walls lined and insulated; the windows and patio doors installed; the old gym floor carpeted and a new stage built.  We are sure it will make the learning environment much more comfortable and welcoming.  We are so grateful to God for His provision to us for the work we are doing and continue to trust Him for the resources necessary to see the work come to completion.

Schools

In November we celebrated the Graduation of Modular A. It was wonderful to have watched each person grow and get to know them through out the year. Jenny Dutfield, our house keeper, was also on the school and we are encouraged by all she has learnt. As part of the celebration the modular students organised a Ceilidh, an opportunity for a whole lot of fun and scottish dancing, but also to discover how amazingly talented the group was as they all contributed with such things as puppets, songs and poetry. Fortunately it may not be goodbye just yet as many of the Modular A students have already signed up for Modular B starting in the coming year. 

 “It isn’t dry and deadly boring and utterly impractical and impenetrable, but living and vibrant, relevant, riveting, dynamic, thrilling, awesome and life-giving! Hallelujah! Above all, God has taught me the smallest part of his sheer, breathtakingly wonderful magnitude of His love and what Jesus did for me at Calvary.”

The School of Prayer and Intercession was one of the best we have run. Led by Alistair and Marie Petrie, along with Fiona Horrobin, it proved to be a truly effective event.  The highlight, perhaps, was the practical workshop which took place in the local town of Huntly.  What a great way to influence our town! 

Ministry in the Marketplace was once again a strong event in our year’s calendar.  With over twenty businessmen in attendance (and a few women!) it was an event unlike any other that we run here.  Led by Peter Horrobin and Alistair Petrie, the teaching was highly relevant and practical, covering a wide-range of issues regarding Kingdom business.  It was also encouraging to see a fair amount of young men on the course, all wanting their fledgling business to be dedicated to God.  It truly is one of our most exciting events and we are grateful to God for bringing the right people along.

Celebrating Christmas

It is such a joy to see the team enjoying the final weeks of the year and entering into Christmas with great gusto!  We joined with the local churches with some rousing carol singing for the opening of the Christmas celebrations in Huntly.  The young people then went through the crowds offering Christmas bookmarks they had made earlier in the day.  With more celebrations planned, we are fully entering   into the true joy of Christmas.    

Team

Over the last couple of months, our team has been quite small and although this has been tiring we do thank God for all that he is doing in our lives through that challenge. One of the blessings having a small team was welcoming Zhenya and Lise, from the Grange, who came to help us during Ministry in the Marketplace. They were a tremendous help and brought a lot of laughter with them. Also during that week, we welcomed Tirzah Allen, from Alaska, onto our Young Peoples Team. She has been waiting since September for her Visa and so we were overjoyed when on hearing she had finally received it and would be arriving within the week. Yet on a sad note, we will be saying goodbye to Jess, who leaves before Christmas. We will greatly miss her and pray God’s blessing over her time at university in South Africa.

 At the beginning of next year we are expecting the arrival of 3 new staff members - Sarah from Pierrepont, who will be working in the office and Esaie and Soraya, a married couple from France, who will be working in the House. However there is one more arrival, due just before the end of the year that the whole team is eagerly awaiting. However this one won’t be a member of staff (at least not yet). Peter and Liz are expecting the birth of their baby on the 30th of December and perhaps next e-news we will be able to include a photo. 

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