Week 6: Scotland and Holidays

Hello!

I missed writing a post last weekend due to being in Scotland for half of it. I was also preparing for this week!

Last week, we had lots going on, with two assemblies, a toddlers group and our after school club. In addition to all of that, Andrew and I went up to Scotland to pick up and move our newest team member, Belinda! She is from Scotland, and has a lovely Scottish accents. Since we were up there, we stayed in Edinburgh at the Bible college where Daniel, Grace, Andrew, Grace, and Belinda have all attended. It was nice to see the college and explore a little bit of Edinburgh.

On our way up to Scotland, we drove through Newcastle, where there is a structure called "The Angel of the North," really there isn't much to it, just metal, shaped kinda like a woman with wings. Nothing spectacular at all.

Modern. Art. 

We made our way from Newcastle through the countryside of Northumbria into Scotland. This part of the country is where they filmed the movie, "Braveheart." It was quite beautiful countryside, and until we got into Scotland, it was fairly clear and you could see much of the country (side note: Yorkshire is beautiful country, that is where Downton Abbey is supposedly set.). As we crossed into Scotland, I snapped a couple of photos.

Looking into Scotland

The return trip I got a shot of the stone marker between the two.

The amount of fog was crazy on the war back, this was only about 30 yards away.
Those flags are the English and Scottish flags.

The driving parts of the trip were exciting because I got to see more of Scotland. As we drove up to Aberdeen, north of Edinburgh to get Belinda, I was able to see Perth, Dundee, and the North Sea. It is a windswept, and in parts, bare country. But it is so pretty, and where there were trees, they were mostly evergreen, except for the random patch that had changed colors, so you knew those were deciduous trees even from a distance.





Since we were in Edinburgh, Andrew was able to meet up with a man he had worked with in church while studying at the Bible college. I have a great respect for this man's wisdom and even though he didn't know me, he was able to help me look introspectively at myself, my faith, as well as American Christianity. We also were able to spend time with a vice principal of the Bible college and his wife. They also were an encouragement to me and asked probing questions which I sincerely appreciate.

While in Edinburgh, I got to see the Edinburgh Castle, John Knox's statue, tomb, and house. In case you were wondering, he founded the Church of Scotland, which is a presbyterian version of the church of England. Knox's statue and tomb were in St. Giles Cathedral, a Church of Scotland structure that looks similar to many other European cathedrals, but using Scottish stone, and some parts have a blue ceiling (the color of the Scottish flag).

I also saw the Scottish Parliament, Scott's Memorial (Sir Walter Scott) and went down the main shopping strip of Edinburgh, Princess Street.

Edinburgh Castle.

Scotland is a beautiful country, and we often think of it as the home of presbyterianism (which, formally, yes it is). There is a darker side to Edinburgh, and to much of Scotland. Recall high school English class when you read Shakespeare (or SparkNotes as may be the case for some), if you read the tragedy, MacBeth, you would recognize that it is set in Scotland. Shakespeare wrote shortly after Martin Luther, but before John Knox was even born. He describes Scotland in a dark manner, including three sisters who are witches(eye of a newt, double trouble, boiling brew etc.). The Scottish were known as mysterious folk, where witchcraft was accepted and not uncommon. Sadly, the same is true today. Europe's largest celebration of wicca and paganism, Beltane, is held in April in Edinburgh. As many as 30 different locations in old Edinburgh currently still are being used for sorcery of some type.

On a lighter note, Scotland also has wonderful food, I bought haggis in the grocery store while there, and had some Wednesday. I finished my food, it wasn't terrible although I haven't determined if I would want it on a regular basis just yet. Also, Scotland has its own soda, Irn Bru. Irn Bru is/was more popular in Scotland than Coca-Cola, only one other soda has been able to manage within a country, and that is Inca Cola in Peru. Irn Bru is orange colored, but to me, it tastes like bubblegum.

That's the stuff.

All in all, Scotland was a great trip, and I'm so glad that we now have Belinda down with the team on the estate. She is here permanently, and is now living on the estate.

This week has been very, very busy as the children are out for half term, and so we ran a holiday club, similar to what I helped with when I came in May with the team from Mississippi State's BSU. We started the week with about 36 children, but by Friday, we had grown to 51 children at the community centre for our club. It was a blessing to see so many children coming. I was very impressed with how well behaved they actually were while listening to the stories, learning the memory verse, and eating lunch. We fed them a proper meal this time as we knew many would not have a proper meal all week long otherwise. The school here generously bought the supplies we needed for the lunch, the relationship between Earlesfield Community Church and the nearby school is very positive, which is a pleasant change from the relationship between most public schools and churches in America.

We also tried a Bible study with some older kids (middle school aged) on Thursday evening. I was pleased by how it went, as we were unsure how they would respond to the planned activities and Bible study.

I have now been here 6 weeks, I still have about 9 weeks left to go. As I approach the halfway point of my time here, I've found myself now accustomed to being "the American" in a British world. I think come the New Year when I return to America, it will definitely be a reverse culture shock. I am really enjoying my time here, and yet at the same time I look forward to when I return home. God has provided, and I know in my heart that He will continue to provide for me, even in the uncertainty I face when I return to America. The hard thing is getting my mind to understand that fact.

I hope this update finds everyone well, and satisfied in Christ. Peace and blessings to you from Christ.

Week 4: A Cold and The Cold

Hello once more!

This past week marked one month of living and working in the UK. It truly is hard to believe it has been a month already! I looked up how much longer I have, and looking at those numbers is quite sad. While I am not even a third of the way done with my time here, it's sad to know that the time is coming, and if the rest of the time goes by as fast as the first month, I will be back in the USA before you can say, "Top of the morning!"

England appears to be mourning the fact that I have a limited time also. The passing of time also appears to have brought with it more typical English weather. After nearly a month of warm temperatures, mostly sunny skies and all around pleasant weather, this week a cold front moved through, the temperature has dropped and it has been rainy and cloudy for almost 48 hours now. I think England decided I couldn't spend this much time here without getting a taste of good ole English weather.

So that was "The Cold,"  but additionally, this week I came down with a nasty cold, that set up shop in my chest and head. Monday and Tuesday nights were rough sleeping because I couldn't breathe. Andrew and Grace gave Olbus Oil, and boy, that stuff works! Your eyes start watering from sniffing just one or two drops of that stuff! It is potent.

The work is continuing to go along, fairly steady. We are still meeting and having good discussions at our Tuesday night Bible study, there are 3 moms that come steadily to Tots and Toys, but there has been at least one other mom the past three weeks. We had another Explorer's Club this week. I was in charge of the craft. It went fairly well.  We talked about Noah and the Ark, so for the craft we took paper plates, cut them in half, then cut out the middle. The outside edge was the rainbow, which we decorated, and we even have clouds made of wool balls (cotton balls in America). We took the middle part we cut out, flipped it upside down, and made the Ark out of that. Finally, we punched holes in the rainbow and the Ark, and tied them together with string! All in all, I was proud of the craft, especially since I came up with the idea. Here is an example (my example), excuse the coloring, being color blind, coloring in rainbows aren't my specialty.

I also had the privilege of leading the older youth at Connected (the weekly Bible study for Harby youth) last night (Friday). Despite it being myself, and 8 girls, things went pretty well. Everyone got to hear my "American" accent last night when I said the word "ham," apparently it sounded a whole lot different from how they say it.

Next week's blog will definitely be delayed, if not cancelled, as from Thursday through Saturday of next week I will be traveling with Andrew to and from Scotland. Someone else is joining the team (permanently) from Scotland, and we are helping them move! I'm excited to see Edinburgh, try Haggis, and see the Highlands. I feel like I will be following the trek that the Granthams made in the final episode of Series 3 in Downton Abbey.

Speaking of Downton, here in the UK, the season started the Sunday after I arrived. Grace M., kindly recorded them, and so I saw the first two episodes of series 4 Thursday. I'll do my best not to spoil it, but in the first episode, a long time member of the house leaves, and a trouble maker returns. Hope that whet the appetite of everyone who watches Downton.

One final thought. Sunday at church, we always have tea and cakes after the service. This past Sunday I was on tea and cakes duty. So I helped boil the water in the giant pot (as big if not bigger than the ones at the BSU). Unfortunately, I didn't know there was a switch on the bottom side of the pot, to prevent the boiler from burning itself out when there isn't any water in it. So, when we went back after service to get the "boiling" water, it was cold. The water was just as cold as when it came out of the tap, if not colder. Clearly, I need to work on my boiling water skills. Along those lines, I would love to get a house water boiler when I am back in the States. They are quite handy, they look like a kettle, but you plug it into the wall, and it boils water in a just 3-4 minutes. When I saw boiling, I mean boiling. I guess this means I'm starting my Christmas list now, haha. I'll save the rest of my list for Santa. I wonder if there is a different address for Santa over here?

Week 3 -- Walking and Wandering

Hello friends.

So, this week, at request from my dear, dear ginger friend, Caitlin (who doesn't have Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. "THE HORROR!"), I shall be posting pictures of my travels hither and yon (nice antiquated phrase, huh?). This week, I have had the pleasure of exploring two cities. Now, neither of these cities is London, sorry y'all. London will come later this autumn.

Monday: I hit up Nottingham. Now many of us know Nottingham from this...

Am I right? Classic Disney.

Back to my and exploring. I discovered Nottingham Castle, and there is a statue of Robin Hood there (how convenient), so I took my wee bit of photography skills and put them to use.

This is the normal touristy shot of ole Robin. He is well prepared for wherever the Sheriff might appear.

On the right we see where Robin expects the Sheriff to be coming from. The opening there in the wall is underneath the main gate into the castle.





Below, it appears that Robin thinks YOU are the Sheriff of Nottingham. Watch out!




Okay, enough cheesy commentary and tourist photos of a statue.

Nottingham Castle despite the name, really isn't a castle. I know, disappointing. It used to be a castle,  then it was destroyed, a Duke was given the castle, he removed the rubble, and built a nice... mansion. Several years later the Duke did not support a bill that the townspeople liked, so they burned his mansion. Can you imagine if people in America did that to the White House now!? (wait, isn't that the premise of White House Down?) Anyway, so the inside is just a museum, with a very modern interior. :( 

This is a panorama from an outlook of the castle. I still haven't entirely got the whole iPhone panorama thing down yet. Things are a little smooshed.

This is the main entrance into the castle itself. It reminds me of French palaces, like Versailles and the Louvre, except on a MUCH smaller scale.

Side note: the garden was very quiet and pleasant.

Nottingham had several churches throughout the city centre. The largest and by far the most photogenic is St. Mary's Church. It is Church of England (as are almost all in England). Here is a lovely picture I took as I was walking alongside of it. I couldn't get inside the church because I was there on a Monday, and Monday is the only day it is closed.

I really, really like this picture.

I also saw the canal, the Victoria Clock Tower (sadly, not all that impressive), and a couple other churches in Nottingham.

Canal

St. Barnabas' Church, Roman Catholic.

Tuesday through Friday were working on the estate. This week I've basically settled into the routine fully. Which is good, but it also means I must be on my guard to laziness, oversleeping, Satan's attacks and inattentive to what God is doing and showing me. We had a company of people at Bible study on Tuesday, and loads of moms at the Tots and Toys.

Working on my British pop teen angst look.
British thug right here.
Get on my level, One Direction.

Saturday, Grace M. had a conference in Derby (pronounced "Darby") and offered to drop me off near the city centre (and shopping mall) for the day. So I joined her for another touring adventure. This time I had the fortitude to look up what there is to see in Derby. I found their museum was free(!!) as well as the cathedral. First stop was the museum. It was quite small and so before walking in I was a little disappointed, and unsure as to what I would see. It turned out to be very nice. They house a fairly large collection of Joseph Wright artwork. He was a renown 18th century portrait artist who hailed from Derbyshire (that's, 'Darby-sure' for you Americans) which is the county in which Derby is. The museum gave lots of history information about Derby, specifically its military history. Derby was the southernmost point "Bonnie Prince Charlie" made it in his quest to unseat the Hanoverian dynasty from the English throne, and return his father (James, a Stuart) to it. 

Handsome man right there.
"Bonnie" means good looking in Scottish tradition.

Derby has a colored military history, loyally serving the crown from Canada to South Africa, to India, to Hong Kong, the Crimean War, and of course both world wars. It is very interesting to see these wars from the British perspective.

Small historical fact:
Battle of Yorktown, VA 1781. The British surrender to the Americans and the French.
Odd.

Derby was also known for its porcelain, and their collection is quite nice. Some of it quite beautiful. The porcelain was all behind glass, and so I couldn't get a good photo.

After the museum, I went over to Cathedral. I was happy that this one was open, and the caretaker was extra friendly, I think she was glad to see a under 40 person interested in the cathedral. It was very nice cathedral, very formal, but that is to be expected from the Church of England. I wanted to climb up the tower, so I asked the woman about it, and she explained that normally they do them, but today they weren't because they had the Derby Mountain Rescue Team repelling down from the top as a publicity thing for the rescue team. I'm not sure if its sacrilegious to repel off a cathedral, but it was odd to me. It was also odd because there are no mountains in all of Derbyshire. In fact the highest point is 2,088 feet above sea level, this point is a flat mound, its not even a peak. The lowest point is 100 feet above sea level. So I guess the cathedral is about the sharpest incline they have to practice on.

The tower on Derby's Cathedral. 

I spent a good amount of my time in the Westfield Shopping Centre. This place was posh, and huge. The main part of the mall is two floors, with a third floor for a couple restaurants, and a fourth level for the cinema. Some of the stores within the mall had 3 levels themselves. They had basically every posh shop that is found in Britain, and had three different outdoors stores. Naturally, I went into the outdoors stores, as well as looked for the food court. They had a very nice food court, plus about 10 different cafes and coffee shops scattered throughout the mall. There was a market, a grocery store, and about four shops like the dollar tree. They had everything, even 5 barber shops (called hairdressers here, very posh).

Keeping it classy here in Britain.

All in all, it has been a good week of weather once again. This is a rare treat for them, normally it is about 10 degrees (Fahrenheit) cooler, and rainy. It has only rained once this week, with highs in the mid-upper 60s.

I know this week's post isn't really that much on the ministry necessarily, but I hope it gives you a little glimpse of some of the culture in Britain!