We've spent a lot of time with the youth, the kids and the adults of Stourbridge and we've grown rather attached to all of the people here. Tomorrow we're throwing a going-away BBQ with free food and games and have invited as many people as we could on Facebook about it. Friday, August 1st, will be our last full day here. We have to catch a train leaving for South London at 9:30 a.m. on August 2nd. It's a hard reality that's only just settling in. This past Sunday we've had to say goodbye to some people for the last time. Today we had to say goodbye to our mentor - and very probably one of the interns we've been working so closely with for the past month and a half - for the last time. We were so rushed to catch the train due to leave Glasgow for Preston that we didn't really have time to register any emotions. Everything has been so rushed here at the most inconvenient times and I was hoping the goodbye's wouldn't be one of the things that got rushed. We said goodbye for the last time to a few people at church on Sunday, too. If some of them aren't able to show up at the BBQ tomorrow we're not going to see them, again. In a way it's helpful to say goodbye to a few of them at a time, instead of all at once. I've learned, though, that no matter how I feel after a relationship ends I need to be fully invested in the relationship while I'm there. God can work in the smallest of moments with each person and I can't let my fear of being hurt keep me from being used in those moments. I'm glad - and proud of myself - that I may very well cry when I leave some of these people and that they will cry in return. I love them all and I'm not afraid to show it.
After the Mississippi team left a lot of the youth were rather intrigued and wanted to go on a mission trip to Mississippi. I believe they're letting Andrew (one of the other interns in charge of Youth) decide on the missional aspects of the mission but they have the hotel down and where they'll be eating. It's been really cool to see how they interact around people with southern accents. So many silly questions were asked by the southerners and so many words repeated by all just because everyone liked each others accent.
During mission week we had a great turn-out for the BBQ/family fun day! It was really exciting. I got a mustache and Union flag painted on my face. Found out that it's only called the "Union Jack" flag when the flag is on a ship. In either case it was painted, expertly, right on my face by one of the Mississippi team. Jonathan, one of the other interns working with youth and worship, was a tiger. One of the homeless people we've been working with came, too, which was exciting! He's been coming every Sunday, as well. From not talking to anybody the first couple of weeks to being chatty and willing to come to church and open up his heart with us. It's been a huge change in the amount of time that I've been here, praise God! We had a bunch of kids we've never seen before show up and have fun. It was a long day ending in worship and some preaching from Andy Hodson, my boss while I've been over here. We went to Nando's (a really good restaurant if you love chicken possibly mixed with lots of spice) with them, too. It was great spending time with the team and learning more about the culture that they come from. Going to a castle, eating a terrible lamb sandwich that, despite the sweet chili sauce it had on it, tasted like absolutely nothing, riding with an American driver who wasn't that terrible at driving and hiking up a "hill" to see a gorgeous view all in a day. It was fun but I think we slept about 11 hours after they left.
We were excited to go to Glasgow for the missions opportunities. We were sad because we also knew that it would mean having to say goodbye to some people earlier than we would have liked. Going to Glasgow, inevitably, meant that we'd be able to spend more time with Andy and Andrew, the intern as well as get insight into exactly what it is we'll be doing when we go to South London in a couple of days. It's called "holiday club" it's basically VBS (Vacation Bible School) - what we have in churches across America for our kids. It's big in Scotland and it happens a lot in England, as well. I didn't realize how similar the two were until I was in a room full of kids and they were doing dancing, story time and games all split up into teams (seemingly based on age).
I learned more about the situation with kids in Scotland after talking with one of the workers at the church there. I never learned the name of the church we were at. We were only there for about an hour but it seems like I should've asked seeing as it's only polite. This particular worker wasn't working directly with the church but was working with Youth For Christ and she said that a lot of the kids in Scotland have parents that don't really now how to be present with them. These parents come from backgrounds of/deal with, personally, alcoholism as well as unemployment for 2 or 3 generations at times because the social system is so good over in Europe. If they went to get a job they'd be poorer than if they stayed on benefits (or welfare, basically) so a lot of them just don't get a job. They have issues in Scotland where, if they have more than one child, they'll leave the older to look after the younger. In some cases the "older" child will be older primary school age - not even a teenager, yet. It's become such an issue that they've started teaching basics so that the kids know how to care for their younger brothers and sisters and for themselves. Teenage pregnancy is also a huge problem in Scotland. After hearing about some of these things I went into the room where they were having holiday club (we went to two, this was the first holiday club we went to on Tuesday) and I almost cried. I was overwhelmed by how much not only these children need hope, but their parents and grandparents need hope. Please pray for workers to be sent there with a desire and passion to help families and those struggling as there is a great need there.
The second holiday club we went to we experienced more of just because we were there for a few activities that they were involved in. The game they played was interesting. They had to form a line and do all of this in three minutes: run to a table, put a spoonful of sugar in their mouth, take a bite of a lemon, take a swig of water and run back to where their team and a jug was waiting for them to do 5 jumping jacks and spit it out into. Whichever team had the most "lemonade" in their jug was the winner of the most points and you get a prize at the end of the week if you're on the winning team with the most points, I'm assuming. It was a joy to work with the kids these last couple of days. I'm just happy that, since I missed VBS at our church, I don't have to miss VBS altogether!
On Monday we hiked a mountain called Ben A'an. Or rather, they did. I made it most of the way up and couldn't finish it because my foot was hurting me (along with everything else) and I was having a hard time catching my breath. I got some beautiful shots of the surrounding mountains, though, since I was really very close to the top of the mountain. I talked to a girl named Stephanie, too. She was the last one in her group as well. She's Scottish and has been to Harry Potter world. I told her I was jealous. God was really showing me, in that moment, that even though I'm slower than others, that I'm detail-oriented and I think things through (sometimes much more than I should), God still works through me. God can still use me as a missionary - as a Christian. I don't have to be super outgoing, graceful, funny, intelligent or whatever I think of when I think of "successful" Christians who are able to open up their homes and hearts to people. God has made me who I am and He can use me the way that I am. After we hiked the mountain we went for lunch and went to Loch Lomond. We saw swans, people that got rescued from their boat because it just stopped working (apparently), skipped stones (I tried but failed) and took pictures. The lake was beautiful and it was nearing sunset so it was even more beautiful. Sadly pictures can't do that scenery justice but they can give you an idea, at least.
Last night we started playing Nertz with some of the people. Tiffany, one of the other interns with GEM (for 9 months in Scotland), Rachel, my flatmate, and I knew how to play but no one else did. Soon we got Andy and Andrew involved. I will just say that Andrew (the intern - I call him "Drew") is hilarious when he's angry and when he's flustered. Andy, however, got very good very quickly. We knew he would. He's the kind of guy who learns quickly and he has to stay moving - very active - so in a fast-paced game like Nertz we figured he'd be good. We even played partners for a while but Tiffany and Andy were so good it was like they were cheating, really. So this morning when we played it he played separately.
We got back at 8:30 tonight. Which might seem strange to some of you as you might be reading this before 8:30 tonight. We took about 5 different trains (almost missed 2 or 3 of them), got re-routed once, skipped a step because we just happen to be able to (otherwise it would have been 6 trains), and got picked up by Andy's lovely wife, Isobel. Sweetheart of sweethearts, she is. Amazing cook and great person.
Please pray for the situation that caused our train to be so delayed, though. A man was threatening to throw himself on the tracks and it took police about half an hour to talk him down. Please pray for him and for his family. Pray that someone who loves and follows Christ would enter his life and show him peace.
We'll be having our BBQ tomorrow as well as the homeless ministry and the youth come on Friday. Please pray that our last days here would be fruitful and that we would show love to the people here, even though we might not see them again. Please pray that we wouldn't let our sadness overtake us but that we would allow our love for them to show all the more - that they might see in that how much Jesus loves them.
As a P.S. I would like to note that I would have put photos up here to show you some of what I mean when I say they painted a mustache on my face and we took pictures of Loch Lomond. The problem with this is that I cannot find my iPhone cord at this moment so I'll have to update this blog later with pictures. Thank you for all the prayer! I love you guys a lot and I'm coming back to the States soon! August 8th (late at night) I'll be back. I'll start to see everybody August 9th. I'm gaining 5 hours so I'm hoping the jet lag won't hit me as hard as it did when I came over here.
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