It is now over a year since I packed my bags, got in the Insignia and set my course for Scotland. The adventure I embarked on last September has been challenging, rewarding and surprising all at the same time.
I can still remember walking up the path from the car park. Pausing to take the breath-taking scenery in and take stock of the fact I was about to start work at the place I have dreamed of working at.
The first three days was a very gentle introduction. An induction that gave us a huge amount of information and allowed us to sample some of the food and activities on offer. I knew wolfing down a steak sandwich on the terrace was as good as it was going to get, but even still I really had no clue of what I was about to encounter.
At the end of the second day of induction I met with my boss who promptly announced I was required to run the restaurant, breakfast and room service areas as well as my main job of overseeing the events department.
The next day I had a number of meetings. I then intended to observe a couple of hours of restaurant service – I ended up staying until nearly 1am. Back in early the following morning it was another 1am finish and then a 7am start to see how breakfast service was. To give you, the gentle reader an indication of just how intense those first three days were, I did more hours work in those three days than many people do in an entire week.
I have been in many challenging situations, but this was to be my biggest yet. I continued to be the restaurant manager until late January when the hotel recruited a permanent manager. By this point the events department was suffering from the lack of attention I had been able to give it.
In November, the hotel was used house high profile delegates some attending the COP26 conference in Glasgow. It was a huge operation with special and specific requests, uncertain and rapidly changing schedules and the ongoing challenge of a lack of staff.
At the same time as delivering the requirements of the COP26 delegates, I was moving into a new home. Back in August last year as I was preparing to move to Scotland I was praying about a new home. in 2018 God provided an amazing home for me that ticked all the boxes and then some more. There were things then that I refused to pray for as I did not want to be too greedy. This time God told me to write a list of wants in a new home, not to leave anything out and then commit it to God. As I started to look at where I might live I saw a few properties but none that really stood out. Eventually one that I had initially rejected on quick glance seemed to be standing out more. I arranged a viewing and it ticked all the boxes. I signed a tenancy on 29th October last year and will soon have bene in the property for a year. Oh and every single thing on that list God told me to write is ticked off with this home. God has provided a great job at an amazing hotel, an incredible church (more on that in a bit) and a wonderful home in a nice, quiet and peaceful village.
The Christmas and new year season was highly challenging, coupled with yet another wave of covid where at one point we had a large number of food and beverage staff off with a full hotel of guests all needing fed and watered in one of the various bars restaurants. Various and constantly changing covid restrictions made planning the itinerary for guests almost impossible.
We seemed to be lurching from one crisis to the next. One day it was staffing, the next day it was a lack of chefs, the following day there might have been no food delivery prompting an emergency trip to the nearest supermarket, a 20 minute drive away and a temporary menu being constructed for that night’s service. Just when we thought things were settling down, another crisis would hit. For many this unsettled situation was too much and there have been a number of departures which has increased the pressure on the remaining team.
If you want to see what working in hospitality is really like at present, I recommend you watch the recently aired “The Hotel People” documentary which is a highly accurate representation of life working in a hotel where simply getting to the end of the day is seen a great success.
There has been much reward as well. I have been able to be part of helping to stabilise the restaurant, open the new ballroom, deliver some amazing events including a bespoke dinner for one of the hotel owners as well as simply basking in being privileged to work in such beautiful surroundings.
Now, you might think that with all that going on it would fill my time, leaving barely any time to match up pairs of socks, but God had other plans. I hinted in a previous article ahead of my move northwards I sensed the job was the mechanism God was using to get me up here. I believed he had other plans for me, but I had not even started to dream of some of the things God has taken me into this past year.
On the first Sunday in Scotland I travelled to East Gate Church in Elderslie where I knew of the Pastor Arthur O’Malley who had fearlessly stood for truth during covid. I have never even tried any other church since for I knew from that first Sunday this was to be my new home church.
I spent the first few months settling in and then in January began to meet with Pastor Arthur to discuss how I might be able to serve the church. I told him of my experience with technology and audio visual systems but that God had told me I was not to have that as my main focus. I never mentioned that I had done some preaching or that I felt called to preach.
A few weeks later during the course of conversation with Arthur, he invited me to preach. I accepted the invitation expecting it to be in about six weeks time. “how does a week Sunday sound?” I was not quite expecting it, but I knew it was right to accept for I have sensed a calling to preach for some years.
Since then I have been preaching at least once a month. I was asked to take the Easter Sunday service which was an incredible privilege whilst also a daunting task given the significance of the day. I have been learning to really lean on Jesus, especially when I might only be getting in from work after 1am on a Saturday night and preaching the next morning.
The congregation is an incredibly eclectic group of people from a diverse range of backgrounds. There are those who have been saved for decades, those only recently saved. There are those working at the apex of law and healthcare and there are those simply trying to stay alive following suicide attempts. There are some with criminal records. There are some battling depression, anxiety and addiction. There are others who for the church is their lifeline. It is an amazing group of people to be part of.
Sure, many were bought together as a protest and to take a stand against the tyranny of the day. When other churches remained shut, East Gate was open. When other churches did not permit the congregation to sing, East Gate never stopped singing. When other churches bowed to ludicrous mask mandates and registers for contact tracing, East Gate had none of it. Far more concerned were they with seeing the lost saved they had no time for all these restrictions and government diktats.
What has resulted is a raw set of followers of Jesus who are determined to see the nation transformed by the power of God. However, as the months have gone on I became aware of the need for more discipleship in the church. I spoke to Arthur about Freedom in Christ. He had never run it but had heard of it. We announced it a few weeks later during a Sunday service and there was immediate interest. I sensed we might be onto something, but had no idea what was to come.
East Gate Church is a congregation of approximately 80 at most, so I expected we might get about 20 people register. I had taken what I thought was a step of faith and ordered 25 copies of all the required material. A week later over 30 people had signed up to do the course. By the time we started over 40 had embarked on the course resulting in the overflow night being the same size as the ‘main’ night.
Since the course concluded we have heard testimonies of some being totally delivered and set free from things that were holding them back from experiencing the full freedom in Christ, often these things had been plaguing their lives for many years. Others have made progress in some areas but are still working on others. The point here is there is a desire to get right with God. There is a sincerity in those taking steps to put things right.
The vision of East Gate Church is simple: to see the glory of God. Its a simple vision on the surface but one that when it is realised will turn the nation upside down. Every revival that has ever been, started with a few believers who refused to accept the status quo who got together, prayed, petitioned God for the nation and then waited for a fresh move of the Holy Spirit.
As my involvement with East Gate has increased greatly, other projects have come up as well. I was invited to be part of the team delivering the Wilberforce Academy in September and was actually in London the day Her Majesty passed into eternity. I went to Buckingham Palace and stood and pondered what this event meant for the nation. I knew it was a significant moment in the life of this nation. The Queen’s faith in Jesus and her subsequent godly leadership of the nation has, I believe meant the judgement of God has been kept from this nation. However, that has now changed and with Her majesty’s death, the hedge of protection has been lifted from this nation.
God has not forgotten this nation, nor is he finished with it and I fervently believe we will see a mighty outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit that will spark a revival the likes of which this nation has never before seen. However, before we get there, I fear we may have to go through some very trying days as a nation and some of the economic and political chaos we have seen in recent weeks is possibly just a glimpse of what is to come. This the result of a nation that has turned its back on God and decided to go its own way.
There are a number of glimmers of hope and earlier this month I was privileged to be part of the inaugural Unite for Education conference organised by my good friend, Niel Deepnarain.
Niel has a love for education and seeing children get an education free from indoctrination and agendas being pushed. As far gone to the woke agenda as the English education system may be, Scotland is much further down the road of iniquity. Children as young as 14 were recently given a sex survey which included a question asking them about their experiences of anal sex – remember this was sent to 14 year old children whiteout parental consent or even knowledge. The trans agenda is being pushed on children with the recently exposed Mermaids charity heaving embedded in many schools across Scotland.
It does not stop at education. The Scottish proposal for banning so-called ‘conversion therapy’ will ban prayer, force people to endorse a person’s chosen gender which they will be able to self identify in without any medical certification. It will ban chunks of the Bible from being quoted or read in public. The proposals represent one of the most egregious attack on freedom of religion, belief and expression western civilisation has ever seen and sadly some of the church is cheering it on either vocally or showing tacit support by refusing to stand against this wickedness.
Unite for Education is a movement that will bring change and reformation to the Scottish education system. This is only the beginning and it is exciting and daunting at the same time to be part of something so important that is focused on advancing the kingdom of God in Scotland.
Whilst God leads me into all these areas of ministry, work at the hotel continues to be a challenge. People regularly ask me if I am enjoying it. I always respond saying that enjoying is not the right word. It is impossible to enjoy late finishes, early starts, and a lack of experienced staff. However, I believe I am in the right place. How long I remain there is in the Lord’s hands. My role is to simply walk in humble obedience to the call of God on my life, whatever that may be at any given point.
When I started to feel unsettled in January 2021, God spoke to me and said, “There is a season of significant change on the way for you so I am allowing you to be unsettled so when change comes you will embrace it.” It is fair to say this season has seen some incredibly significant change and its all because of God.
I have been amazed at all God has done this past year. I am excited for where God will take me next and expectant of great things in Scotland, this land which was once known as the land of the book and by God’s grace will once again be.
So, a year on, the adventure continues.
