Pete's Story

So you may or may not know me. My name’s Pete, I’m American, and I’ve just moved here to serve at the church. You’ll be seeing a lot of me as I’ll be helping out a lot with youth stuff. Rachel asked me to give you a bit of my story.

Rewind 6 years. It’s 2007, I’m 17, and I arrive in Eastbourne to do Impact at Kings for the year. God had told me to come, and I didn’t quite know why. I spend the year getting stretched, shaped, and grown and have time of my life. In August of 2008, I return to the US and go to university.

Fast forward to spring break of 2011. I’m on a ski trip to Canada, and feel God put Eastbourne back on my heart. I had always wanted to come back, but this is when God really begins to confirm it.


A year later, in April 2012, I’m about to graduate from uni and email Kings church, telling them about my desire to come back and wondering if they can help. They tell me they’d love to have me back and we embark on the visa process.

August 2012 rolls around and Kings says that the visa is taking a longer time than they anticipated, but they want me here before it’s estimated date. I buy my tickets, intending to come as a tourist for the first couple months, until my visa comes through. I make it to the border in London and they deny me entry, put me in a detention facility for the night (complete with real live terrorists—yikes!), pack me onto a plane, and send me home.

I go home and get two new jobs, and wait for the visa to come through. After 9 months of wondering if in fact this was God’s plan (God speaks to me in some amazing ways including some amazing dreams), my visa finally comes. I give my two week’s notice at work, pack my bags, and move over! Now I’m here and excited to get stuck in. I can’t wait to get to know each one of you.

Also, please bear with my accent. I know I sound weird, but I can’t help it. :)

Attitude to work

The season of coursework deadlines and exams has got me thinking, but with all the typing I've done lately this won't be a long post...I hope!

I used to get pretty stressed about coursework, the worst was my A level history when I struggled to sleep. On one occasion I was so upset about it I started hyper-ventilating from crying too much. But I have become far more peaceful through uni with my deadlines, which I put down to a number of things. My housemates are pretty chilled too, so there's not an atmosphere of people being stressed. I have learnt more about my style of working and how I work best. And finally I have learnt to trust in God's peace and strength, knowing that "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" - Philippians 4:13.

What I want to write about is now I know how I work best I have also learnt that this means I cannot compare how I am doing with other people's progress. This can cause you to feel stressed when someone else has written far more of an essay than you, or they're not bothering to revise for an exam till the last minute because they're really confident. Know that God has given us each unique gifts (Romans 12:3-8) which I think can be applied to this context too. We have different abilities and strengths, so don't compare yourself to others God made you differently, that shouldn't be something to worry about. Some people may find the comparison motivates them. That's fine, if that works then great.

A final verse I've found encouraging is Micah 6:8 - All that God requires of us is to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God.

The Message translation says:

"But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do,

what God is looking for in men and women.

It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbour,

be compassionate and loyal in your love,

And don’t take yourself too seriously—

take God seriously."

So if it gets to the end of the day and you've not done the work you had wanted to do, don't beat yourself up about it, that wasn't what God requires of you.

Although  I'm not saying it's a get out of work, as Colossians 3:23-24 says:

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ."