Dear Friends,

We hope all is well in your world as we transition into summer. The transition of the seasons seems appropriate as Lisa and I transition back across the ocean to discover what God has for us in the next season. We said, “see you soon!” to a great many folks. And now we are reconnecting with many we haven’t seen in a while.

As I sit here in Colorado writing this, it is incredible what God accomplished through NewCREEations in the past few years. He has touched a great many lives and produced a tremendous amount of fruit, all possible because of the kind generosity of those who partner with the ministry.

Transition times are often interesting. For some, they can be stressful times. Fortunately, that is not the case for Lisa and I.

Rest, Refresh, and Reset

Before we left Scotland, God gave Lisa three words to guide us in this season of transition back to the States.

Rest — We all do well to set aside some time to rest. God modeled this for us at the very beginning, when He rested on the 7th day. And Jesus regularly withdrew from the crowds for rest. It has been a long few years so Lisa and I are making some space to rest. We are intentionally resting during this transition season.

Refresh — Lisa and I have been pouring out into our students and our staff for the past several years. God promises that those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed (Proverbs 11:25). So we know this season of refreshing will empower us to  move forward into refreshing even more folks.

Reset — For the past several years, our main focus has been the Bible college campus in Scotland. During that time, NewCREEations was very much about supporting the establishment of that work. Now we are resetting to focus on the new things God has for us with NewCREEations. It’s exciting to be dreaming with God about His new direction in this next season and exploring His plans for the future of the ministry. And now twice in a little over five years we have given an entire house full of possessions away and moved over the ocean. Since both moves have been part of our seeking the Kingdom of God for ourselves and others, Lisa and I are looking forward to God keeping His promise and resetting all the “stuff” we need for this next season (see Matthew 6:33).

Perhaps one or more of these words are for you too?

“See You Soon!”

Lisa and I are very confident God will bring us back to Scotland. The nation is very much a part of us now. Therefore, we were intentional not to say, “Goodbye,” to folks. Instead, as mentioned above, we chose to say, “See you soon!”

This was especially true for the folks that have been with us from the very beginning. The Bible college campus never would have seen the success it did without several key people joining in the work. For example, James Joseph and his wife Khandu hosted the very first interest meeting in Colorado. Then they moved back to Scotland to scout the land for us. James was the first of our team on the ground in Dumfries.

Not only was Andrew Roxburgh a classmate of ours when we were Bible College students, but he and his wife Sarah housed Lisa and I for a couple weeks when we first arrived in Scotland.

Over the years Andrew and Jasmine Sharp became so much more than fellow workers at the Bible College. Our friendship with them grew even deeper over the past year and a half as we worked and prayed together through the challenges that came with all the COVID lockdown rules and requirements.

There are a great many more people who touched our lives during our season there in Scotland, far too many to name in this newsletter. To everyone we said, “see you soon!” because Lisa and I are confident God will continue having us minister in and to that wonderful land and its amazing people.

Birthday Girl

We weren’t sure what it would be like flying with all the COVID rules. Even though it wasn’t much fun to wear a mask for the better part of 24 hours straight, everything went smoothly for us on our trip back to America, for the most part. There was a slight delay on the last leg of our journey back to Colorado. But that is not unusual where air travel is concerned. 

We landed in Colorado in plenty of time to celebrate Lisa’s birthday back here in the States. Lisa celebrated with a special dinner with some good friends that we hadn’t seen in a long while.

Our Bible college classmates, Bryan and Sue Nutman, are housing us for a few weeks in their guest room. Mark and Kim Harrison loaned us a vehicle to get around until we get one of our own. (Expect to hear about God’s miraculous provision of a vehicle in our next newsletter!)

Finding Our “Sea Legs”

Years ago, when I was in the Navy, I learned what it meant to, “find your sea legs.” As I’m sure you can imagine, there is a world of difference between being on a ship at sea, and walking around on dry land. At sea, the floor is constantly moving as the ship moves over and through the waves. That different environment takes a bit of getting used to.

In the same way, Lisa and I are finding our sea legs as we transition back from Scotland to the USA. In many ways, we find ourselves in a very different environment here in Colorado. And it will take a little bit of getting used to.

Fortunately, we have learned both to be kind to ourselves, and also how incredibly faithful and good our Father in heaven is towards us at all times. Therefore we are not willing to rush ahead of what He is doing. We trust Him to continue guiding us as we move forward in His timing.

Looking Ahead

Even though our main focus in this moment is to get a bit of much-needed rest, Lisa and I still find ourselves looking to the future and what God has for us. For example, I have some proof copies of my next book for final editing. That one will be released soon.

But the ideas and dreams God is giving us for our future are massively bigger than just a few books.

One of the first days back in Colorado Springs, Bryan and Sue took Lisa and I to a new store that opened here called Scheels. It’s a bit like a Bass Pro Shop or Cabela’s in that it has a whole lot of outdoor, hunting and fishing stuff. But Sheels seems a whole lot bigger to me. They have a toy section, housewares… it seemed to go on forever. There is a ferris wheel in the middle of the store. The place is huge!

As I was walking through that store, a bit overwhelmed at the scale of what all was in there, I thought about the vision of whoever it was that founded the store. (I don’t know anything about the store’s history). I imagined them trying to explain their vision to others and having to say over and over again, “No. I need you to think bigger!”

In that moment, I felt like God was saying that to me, “Chris, I need you to think bigger!”

I sincerely believe the Third Great Awakening is already underway. There is a massive harvest of souls entering the Kingdom of God right now. All of those people need to be discipled so that each of them can have a greater impact on their own world. I’m sure you can see that our world desperately needs to be shifted in a more godly direction. That is why God told Lisa and I a while back that we need to increase our ability to disciple more people faster.

All that to say, there is plenty of work ahead. NewCREEations is just getting started. Lisa and I pray that you will continue to be a part of what God is doing through this ministry as we move into the “bigger” that God has for us. We’ll share more about what that looks like in future newsletters.

Blessings,

Chris & Lisa Cree

P.S. As you may recall, God asked us to donate all of our video equipment to the Bible college campus in Scotland. We do know that part of the “bigger” that God is moving us into involves more video discipleship training, which will require more equipment. If you would like to be part of the big things God is doing through NewCREEations Ministries in this next season, please prayerfully consider partnering with us. Thanks in advance for sowing into the Kingdom as we move into what the Lord has next for this ministry. The best is indeed yet to come!

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NewCREEations Ministries
953 Forest Edge Rd
Woodland Park, CO 80863

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