FT Week 1

I am here!!! It's been over a week since I arrived in my beautiful England, and almost straight away, I was set to work, work being Foundational Training. The leaders for this year's Pais GB teams met early for Pre-FT, and our team members arrived a few days later.

It has been a very busy week, filled with training, fun and getting to know each other. Our days have been stuffed with training sessions and serving one another as well as the community. We have learned a lot and have just over a week more of training. It has been so encouraging and inspiring to discuss (again) what we are doing and why we are doing it! 

The schedule for today

Our awesome Welcome Team including my beautiful Assistant Team Leader

Dan, our Assistant National Director discussing one of the Kingdom Principles: Rubbish In, Rubbish Out 

On Monday afternoon we went to Burnley town centre to hand out lollipops along with Because You're Loved cards to show the love of God to the people of Burnley. This was our debrief. My fabulous team is in the back row!

Team leaders discussing Kingdom Patterns with Kelli, our Training Director

We've made sure to take time to have fun in the midst of all the training. 

 Playing games in our free time

Youth Worker Games!!! Yes, this is an actual part of our training!

 Just chilling

Two members of my Cafe Team working hard!

Consequences for being late to a session 

Pais Walsall Germans embracing the British life! I love them already!

So Long, Fare Well

I'm leaving tomorrow!!!

Wow, these five weeks have FLOWN by. I cannot believe how quickly they went. Thankfully, I have had time to rest, to work, to read, to visit, to plan, to think, to pray and to dream. It has been lovely. 

My summer reading:

Some highlights of my summer:

I got to be a guest at my mom and stepdad's house for the summer in beautiful Virginia and see the lovely people of St. John's. It's always nice to be back!

My dad and stepmom came down from Indiana to visit me. We had a great time together and hit Williamsburg while they were here.

Bruton Parish Church, where George Washington and Thomas Jefferson frequently worshiped.

Me and my favorite Williamsburg garden (It's in the shape of the British flag).

The back side of the Governor's Palace

I was able to go to Tennessee to visit friends in the Tri-Cities. I didn't get to spend time with everyone I would have liked to, but I feel so blessed that I have so many loved ones there it's hard to squeeze them all in! The best friend, obviously, has no choice but to hang out with me, and it was such a gift to spend time with her. Love you bfitwww!

I got to see the Lord provide for me in so many different ways this summer. He has shown me, again, what a great DAD He is. He takes care of me so well. He arranges all the details, even the tiny ones. He cares about it all and it has been encouraging to see Him provide for all of my various needs. 

Tomorrow I leave for the UK. After a very quick summer, spent mostly working, I am looking forward to being back, getting to know my team, and getting to work. As I go, I will, of course, update you. Updates usually come Sunday evenings, and I do my best to update every week with pictures. 

Thank you to all of you who have supported me in encouragement, prayer and finances. Please know I love you all and could not do this work without you!

Many Blessings!!

England isn't London

I don't know why I'm thinking about this today, but I read it somewhere and it's true, it happens to me. I tell people I'm a missionary in England, and they all end up wishing me well in London. Well, um, thank you...? But I'm not in London. That's like someone telling me they're moving to California, and I say, "Have fun in L.A.!"

London is the capital of England and has a population of 8.3 million people. England itself has a population of 53 million...Although it's a relatively small country, there is a lot more to England than London. And I have noticed that London, despite being in England, isn't really all that English. In fact, a lot of English people don't even like London. It's a very busy international city with people living there from all over the world, especially from other European and commonwealth counties (i.e., India, Australia, West Indies, etc.) and bares little resemblance to most other English towns.

Thus far, I have lived in three English towns and am about to move to my fourth, and not one of them has been London. I've included a map so you can see. The first time I lived in England, I was in Oxford, which is about an hour and a half northwest of London. The second time, I lived in the countryside near a tiny town called Battle, which, on this map, would be just east of Brighton on the south coast. It was beautiful! This past venture in England I lived in Southport, which is slightly north of Liverpool, on the west coast. And in just 5 weeks, I will be moving to Walsall, which is outside of Birmingham, located in the middle of the country. 

There is so much more to England than London, and if you weren't really aware of that before, I hope you are now. If you ever go to England, and want to experience the actual country, make sure to get out of London. Go to Brighton, Bath, Oxford, Cambridge, York or Newcastle. That is the real thing. Those places are what make England, England.

Encouragement

Well, how do you like my blog's new look? I thought it was about time to change the furniture around, you know, give the room a fresh feel. And that fits because I am about to begin a new leg of my adventure, and change is on its way. So I figured my blog might as well reflect that.

For the few weeks I led my team in Southport, I came up with an exercise I called "Encouragement" which we did every morning where one member of the team would share with the rest something they had found encouraging, whether it was a video, a song, a blog post, a Bible verse, a phrase someone said, whatever. And I thought I would like to implement that here and periodically share with you some of the things that encourage me.

Today I read a blog post from a blog I've never read before, and it was really refreshing. It's titled "Why Your Church Probably Sucks and You Should Be There Every Sunday." I know some Christians really struggle with the people they are in fellowship with, and some have such a difficult time that they choose to leave the church altogether. Well, if you are currently in this situation, might be in the future, or know someone else who is, here is encouragement--encouragement 1) that you're not the only one who struggles (it's actually completely common and to be expected!) and 2) to struggle through the mess.

Happy reading!

Adventure

I must say, I am a big fan of adventure. I think adventure is different for everyone though. For me, adventure means new people, new places, new cultures, new languages, new experiences. And all that adds up to travel, which I think just might be my new favorite word. I had a dream last night and I think I was on four different planes. Where I was going, I have no idea. Where I am going now, in real life, well, I don't really know the answer to that either. It might be everywhere, but I know one thing for certain, it's definitely not nowhere!

And...Breathe...

Summer time and the livin' is easy! Ok, maybe not exactly easy, but definitely slower-paced and more relaxed (which is why it's been 2 weeks since the last update!). I am in the US and am takin' it slow as I do what I need to do to prepare to return to the UK in just 3 weeks! I have submitted my new visa application (please pray it's approved!) and am planning for the next academic year in Walsall. I have received information that we will have one extra member on our team, making us a team of five, which will include three, count them three Germans! I am very excited about this new development, but it does change our team dynamics as well as how I think about and plan for the team in general. So, lots of work to be done now during the summer. Fortunately, I have the time and the space to do it, in between the relaxation I have already scheduled in, that is!

York

Several weeks ago I felt the need to spend a bit of time at the end of this Pais year reflecting on the past and praying about the future. So I booked a short little retreat for myself in the historic city of York. One of the great things about England is how cheap it can be to travel, which makes it quite convenient for people such as myself. My aim in all this was to spend some quality time with Jesus (at a cafe or two or three), with my Bible and my notebook, while also taking some time to enjoy the atmosphere of the city, and really just listen to His heart. I must say that the focus of this time ended up being different than I had planned, but sometimes He likes to do stuff like that. And while I cannot share any of that information with you, what I can share are the pictures I took. I hope you enjoy them!

Clifford's Tower 

Magistrate's Court 

The wall around York with York Minster in the centre 

York Minster 

More of York Minster 

York Minster & its beautiful stained glass windows 

One of the gates of this historic walled city