Our National Leader, Louiz was on sabbatical in 2023.
This page shows all of the updates about Louiz’s sabbatical.
7th July 2023
Louiz is Back!
Dear Friends,
Louiz’s 3 month sabbatical officially ended on 28th June 2023 and we are very grateful to welcome her back! We want to thank the various Team members who supported our staff while Louiz was on sabbatical, and for everyone who supported us and Louiz financially and in prayer during this time.
Please see below for Louiz’s message and photos that she has kindly shared with us from her sabbatical time.
Blessings
Ronell
7th July 2023
Message from Louiz
Thank you so much to all who prayed and supported me to have the most Wonderful sabbatical.
It was a much needed rest but also a time of being filled up, time with family, time in nature, outdoors, forests, mountains, sea, time for all the things I enjoy; photography and art, walking, bike riding, swimming, even sailing and skiing!
At the beginning of the sabbatical I was invited to come to Norway. As a Scandinavian myself, I felt both at home and away on a great adventure at the same time. It was the most awe inspiring and beautiful place I have ever seen. Only God knows how much I love mountains, rocks, stones, the sea and snow. What a treat!
On other travels I went to the mountains in Wales (Ffald-y-Brenin) on a retreat, to a sunny Greek Island and also back home to Denmark to spend time with my family there.
In between my adventures and travels away I enjoyed bike riding along the Thames to my studio, reconnecting with my art and reflecting on all the inspirational things I had experienced and seen.
I must have taken around 1000 photographs. Wherever I was, I felt like an over-excited child saying “look – look – look” in amazement at everything around me.
I saw so much beauty in God’s creation which re-connected me to that deep sense of awe, appreciation and worship.
I love seeing wide open landscapes but also to zoom in and see all the peculiar and beautiful details and all the mini-landscapes. When I find ‘treasures’ (as I call them) it is when I feel God my Father is saying to me: “look at this, and here, and look here – the same thing again”. Showing me patterns and things I may not otherwise have seen – Father to daughter. I realised that if I don’t stop and appreciate the moment in that spot, that view, that detail, leading me to talk to God about it, worship and thank Him – no one ever will. That is why it is a treasure to be found, special and part of the adventure together.
So as I walked, took photographs, appreciated, took things in and enjoyed the glory of God’s creations, I could feel myself being filled up with this deep joy and thankfulness – and that sense that God the Father knows me, He knows what I need, He knows what I have missed and what I find exciting and fun.
The book “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” by John Mark Comer had sat on my bookshelf for about 2 years before I took it with me to Norway and finally read it. The parts that challenged me were to slow down, to rest in Jesus and His easy yoke, practising sabbath and to walk at a pace where you notice things and people around you in your everyday life – as Jesus did! In one place I read that to walk with Jesus is at a pace of 3 miles an hour – the speed of love! That became a theme for me for the whole 3 months sabbatical.
Psalm 72:19
Praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen.
The word ‘glory’ is big and can often seem a little abstract to me. I kind of get it but in this verse in the danish bible, the word for glory is ‘herlighed’, in norwegian ‘herlighet’, in german ‘herrlichkeit’. I understand those words to have a very full sense to them – like ‘Wonderfulness’ or wonder and fullness and awe and beauty, ongoing, forever.
So I want to end this message with Praise be to God who is truly Wonderful. I may not have been to the whole earth but what I have seen I can testify that it is FILLED with His Glory and Wonderfullness.
I look forward to seeing you all very soon and I so much look forward to the Summer Week in August.
Blessings, thanks and love,
Louiz
Art Studio
Greece
Norway
Treasures
Wales
29th March 2023
An Update
Dear Friends,
Louiz’s 3 month sabbatical officially starts today and we wanted to take this opportunity to thank each one of you who donated thoughtfully and generously to Louiz’s sabbatical fund. The Trustees and staff team are grateful for your continued support for the ministry of Journey UK, and your appreciation for Louiz’s hard work and dedication to the ministry over the past 9 years.
We wish Louiz a restful and restorative sabbatical and look forward to having her back in June! We ask that you will continue to support us in praying for Louiz while she is on sabbatical.
Please see below for a message from Louiz.
Blessings
The Journey UK Trustees & Staff Team
29th March 2023
A Message from Louiz
19th January 2023
A Message from the Trustees
Dear Team & Supporters,
At the end of last year the Trustees decided that Louiz, Journey UK’s National Leader, should have a three month sabbatical to have some time away from the busyness of the role to allow her real space to rest, recharge and spend time with God reflecting on where Journey UK has come from and where we might head to next.
The sabbatical will be from late March to late June 2023. Further information will be shared over the next couple of months as to what this will look like, but rest assured Journey UK will not stop for that time.
As Trustees we would love to bless Louiz financially so she doesn’t just sit at home but can invest in reading material, attend conferences, meetings with inspiring people, and retreats which bless and uplift her. We’d love her to have fresh opportunities to experience God speaking into her life and work.
With many thanks,
The Journey UK Trustees.