locksinmoz.com

The End.

The end is near!!! This is our final post on www.locksinmoz.com... it's the culmination of 4 years of blogging, sharing our ups and downs, scary stories and happy news and we'd like to say thanks so much to everyone who has looked, read, commented, prayed and kept up with the news during our time in Mozambique and more recently as we've made the transition home to the UK. 

We've now been in Dundee for 2 months. Matt's settled into work in Hot Chocolate trust and Sheena is in the process of being registered to start supply teaching in August. We're going along to Central Baptist church and feeling more at home in our new city.  We're thankful to God for gracious provision for all of our needs and are excited about what lies ahead. If you'd like further information about the work that Matt's involved in with Hot Chocolate, please email him, mjl@mattlock.co.uk to receive regular prayer updates. 

It's been great to share with you something of our lives in Moz through the blog but as the Locks are no longer in Moz we reckon it's time to shut down! If you'd like to continue to find out about the work there and the projects which continue to grow and develop, regular updates are available on www.oasismz.org. If you'd like to receive specific prayer points each month for the projects email info@oasismz.org and that'll be sent to you. We've enjoyed catching up with so many of you since we've been home. Please do continue to keep in touch! Thanks again for all your encouragement and support over these years,

Matt and Sheena 

30 Jun 2009 17:26:36

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Since arriving home to the UK from Mozambique just over 2 months a go so much has happened and we’ve been overwhelmed by God’s goodness. 

At the beginning of April Matt was successful in gaining a job with an organisation called Hot Chocolate in Dundee. Hot Chocolate works with young people in the city centre of Dundee helping them to have hope for the future, becoming community builders and mature citizens through developing confidence, purpose and a broad worldview.

Matt starts work this week as the Operations Manager, looking to help the organisation develop further. It’s an exciting opportunity and one where he’ll be able to apply the project management skills learned in Mozambique to a new context.

Through this time of transition returning to the UK, we’ve been amazed by God’s graciousness as he has provided Matt with a job, a flat to rent in Dundee, a car and so much more… We’re so grateful for people’s prayers and support during this time. Please pray for Sheena who is now able to begin to look for teaching jobs in and around the city. We trust God for his timing and look forward to his best plans unfolding as we settle here in Dundee.

It was great to be in Tonbridge for Matt's Mum's surprise 60th birthday celebration and we also met our 2 latest nephews, Kai and Theo for the first time. It was great to catch up with friends and family down south, sharing our experiences and memories of Mozambique over the past years and getting up to date with everyone's news.

Tonbridge Baptist Church hosted a special welcome home tea for us and we had the opportunity to share something of our work in the evening service there. It was also our privilege to visit Hillside Community Church in Northwood for their Easter service and thank them for their support. We're thankful for the financial and prayer support of these churches and are grateful for their partnership during the time we have been in Moz.

We will soon be heading north to Dundee where we'll be settling for the foreseeable future. Thank you so much for your continued support and prayers and we'll update the blog when we have some more permanent contact details! 

It's been great to be back in Scotland and catch up with family and friends who have all made us feel so welcome! We've been privileged to share with our supporting churches: St Andrew's Leckie in Peebles, St Andrew's Harthill and Blackridge, Chryston Parish church and Holyrood Abbey church. We're so thankful for the support of these churches both in prayers and finances over the years in Mozambique and the blessing that they have been to us. 

We've also been to Ireland to celebrate Sheena's Mum and Dad's Ruby Wedding with the Hardie clan. It was lovely to be together as a family and spend some time together. While we were there we also had the opportunity to speak in the churches in which Gary and Nigel (Sheena's brothers in law) minister in Howth and Malahide near Dublin and in Lurgan in Nothern Ireland. These churches have also partnered with us in the work in Mozambique and it was great to be able to share with them something of what God has been doing.

The job search continues for Matt and we covet your prayers as we seek jobs, a home and God's plans for our next steps. It's just now that it's sinking in that we're not going back to Moz and that brings both a sense of sadness and excitement! We look forward to heading down to Tonbridge on Friday and catching up with family and friends there too though we had a quick overnight visit south which was a lovely bonus. Thanks for your continued support in this time of transition!

It was with a mixture of emotions that we boarded the plane a week ago to return to the UK. We were sad to say goodbye to our friends Carrie and Jill, faithful to the last, who had come to see us off, sad to say goodbye to our other friends with whom we enjoyed our last sun-downers on the beach the night  before we left, sad to say goodbye to our retro apartment which could tell many stories of our lives in Moz, sad to say goodbye to the palm lined streets, the familiar faces, the cries of ‘Sheena and Mateus' when we parked the car. But it was also exciting, no more goodbyes, just a new start together in the UK with family and friends.

We were welcomed at the airport by Sheena’s mum and dad who have made us feel so at ease in their home and we got stuck straight in, speaking at St Andrew’s Leckie church on the Sunday morning and sharing with God’s family here in Scotland something of His work in Mozambique.

Please pray for us over these weeks of transition for peace amidst uncertainty as we look for jobs and a home. Thanks so much to everyone who has been in touch and welcomed us back home to the UK. We’ll keep you posted as soon as we have any idea of where we will be!

New beginnings up north...

Since arriving home to the UK from Mozambique just over 2 months a go so much has happened and we’ve been overwhelmed by God’s goodness. 

At the beginning of April Matt was successful in gaining a job with an organisation called Hot Chocolate in Dundee. Hot Chocolate works with young people in the city centre of Dundee helping them to have hope for the future, becoming community builders and mature citizens through developing confidence, purpose and a broad worldview.

Matt starts work this week as the Operations Manager, looking to help the organisation develop further. It’s an exciting opportunity and one where he’ll be able to apply the project management skills learned in Mozambique to a new context.

Through this time of transition returning to the UK, we’ve been amazed by God’s graciousness as he has provided Matt with a job, a flat to rent in Dundee, a car and so much more… We’re so grateful for people’s prayers and support during this time. Please pray for Sheena who is now able to begin to look for teaching jobs in and around the city. We trust God for his timing and look forward to his best plans unfolding as we settle here in Dundee.

@ home down south

It was great to be in Tonbridge for Matt's Mum's surprise 60th birthday celebration and we also met our 2 latest nephews, Kai and Theo for the first time. It was great to catch up with friends and family down south, sharing our experiences and memories of Mozambique over the past years and getting up to date with everyone's news.

Tonbridge Baptist Church hosted a special welcome home tea for us and we had the opportunity to share something of our work in the evening service there. It was also our privilege to visit Hillside Community Church in Northwood for their Easter service and thank them for their support. We're thankful for the financial and prayer support of these churches and are grateful for their partnership during the time we have been in Moz.

We will soon be heading north to Dundee where we'll be settling for the foreseeable future. Thank you so much for your continued support and prayers and we'll update the blog when we have some more permanent contact details! 

@ home up north

It's been great to be back in Scotland and catch up with family and friends who have all made us feel so welcome! We've been privileged to share with our supporting churches: St Andrew's Leckie in Peebles, St Andrew's Harthill and Blackridge, Chryston Parish church and Holyrood Abbey church. We're so thankful for the support of these churches both in prayers and finances over the years in Mozambique and the blessing that they have been to us. 

We've also been to Ireland to celebrate Sheena's Mum and Dad's Ruby Wedding with the Hardie clan. It was lovely to be together as a family and spend some time together. While we were there we also had the opportunity to speak in the churches in which Gary and Nigel (Sheena's brothers in law) minister in Howth and Malahide near Dublin and in Lurgan in Nothern Ireland. These churches have also partnered with us in the work in Mozambique and it was great to be able to share with them something of what God has been doing.

The job search continues for Matt and we covet your prayers as we seek jobs, a home and God's plans for our next steps. It's just now that it's sinking in that we're not going back to Moz and that brings both a sense of sadness and excitement! We look forward to heading down to Tonbridge on Friday and catching up with family and friends there too though we had a quick overnight visit south which was a lovely bonus. Thanks for your continued support in this time of transition!

Leaving Mozambique...

It was with a mixture of emotions that we boarded the plane a week ago to return to the UK. We were sad to say goodbye to our friends Carrie and Jill, faithful to the last, who had come to see us off, sad to say goodbye to our other friends with whom we enjoyed our last sun-downers on the beach the night  before we left, sad to say goodbye to our retro apartment which could tell many stories of our lives in Moz, sad to say goodbye to the palm lined streets, the familiar faces, the cries of ‘Sheena and Mateus' when we parked the car. But it was also exciting, no more goodbyes, just a new start together in the UK with family and friends.

We were welcomed at the airport by Sheena’s mum and dad who have made us feel so at ease in their home and we got stuck straight in, speaking at St Andrew’s Leckie church on the Sunday morning and sharing with God’s family here in Scotland something of His work in Mozambique.

Please pray for us over these weeks of transition for peace amidst uncertainty as we look for jobs and a home. Thanks so much to everyone who has been in touch and welcomed us back home to the UK. We’ll keep you posted as soon as we have any idea of where we will be!