Phase 1: Complete!

This is likely my last blog post for quite a while because we are leaving Scotland in two days! I'll be in Turkey for two months, and we'll be back around the beginning of March. I will try to keep updating my facebook and possibly my blog, but it's really difficult due to limited acces to the internet. I will probably have the chance to go on the internet every once in a while though, so please feel free to send me delightful messages. If you want to send a letter, you still can, and I will get to joyfully open it when I get back to Scotland. I love hearing from home!

The address is:

9 Glenbryde Road

West Kilbride

KA23 9NJ

Scotland

 

 

How is it almost December?

There is this weird time phenomenon over here where everyday seems like a week and every week seems like a day. It's been a while since I last posted an update, and I can't even wrap my mind around 

    everything that has happened in the meantime. So...enjoy some random pictures and stories.

Ann, the lovely lady who gave me a home to stay in in Motherwell. Every morning she would hug us goodbye and stand at the door waving as we drove away.  I shared a bed with Cat from Scotland (the girl on the far right), I was a little concerned because we didn't know each other that well so I wasn't sure what we'd talk about in bed, but we really hit it off and now she's one of my really good friends here. We spent the week in lectures on "The Nature and Character of God", ran the weekly ministries of King's Church, and tried to bless the city with service and prayer.

Open Mic night at the base. We did the "Doll hands" skit from Saturday Night Live.

Georgia and I flew to London over the long weekend to visit Katie. She's our dear, dear friend who is doing a DTS in Harpenden, England. For some reason Harpenden lets herds of chickens roam free around the base, so Georgia and I spent much of our time trying to capture a quality photograph. Georgia swears she will not be leaving her day job to be a bird photographer. 

One of the biggest things that I have been learning and working through recently came up during lectures on The Holy Spirit. At one point the speaker asked us to share any prayers that were on our heart at the moment. A couple of us prayed out, I prayed something about how I don't want to find my value in people but in God, and then the speaker Mariette interjected. She politely asked the two of us if we minded her using us for a teaching moment. We both agreed, and Mariette pointed out that we seemed to be asking for things in a way that indicated we weren't expecting to get what we were asking for. She told us to pray the same prayers again, but this time not to ask for anything, and instead focus on who God is and what his promises are. By turning the focus away from us and onto what we know is true about God, our prayers radically changed. I just felt so much more authority when I claimed things that God has already promised, rather then feebly wondering if I might get them in the future. I've always known in my head that I need to pray with faith and expectancy, but praying while keeping God as the centre has really helped me to wrap my mind around it and apply it.

Ayrshire, Turkey, and Africa, oh my!

So a huge turn of events occured this week that means our whole rest of the DTS is going to look much different then we thought. Originally we were all breaking into three groups for the last three months: one group staying in Scotland, one group going to Africa (myself), and one group going to Turkey (Georgia). However, we were having trouble hammering out plans for various reasons, and the staff were confused as to why things weren't coming together. During one of their staff meetings last week they had what we here at Seamill call a "Whoosh" moment (one of those moments where you realize what God is trying to tell you and suddenly things make sense), specifically in the form of an image they were all getting of a tri bladed ceiling fan. After more thinking, talking, and praying, the staff realized that we should be doing the entirety of our DTS in unity. So all 19 of us will be going to all three locations one after another. We're all going to be working in Scotland for December, then we're heading to Turkey for a month, then Morocco for the final month before we head back to Scotland. I am overjoyed about this, because although I was excited to spend three months in Africa, and certain that God was going to do big things, I was broken hearted at the thought of fracturing our group.  The entire time we've been here we always talk about how God is speaking to us about unity, family, and helping one another along, so I'm excited that he meant for the entire six months and not just the beginning. On a less deep note, we will get to spend Christmas together here in Scotland! 

We're spending next week in Motherwell, partnering with a church there to do some ministry tying in with "Guy Fawkes Day". On November 5th they celebrate a man who failed to blow up the parliament building (V for Vendetta, anyone?). People celebrate by having a bonfire and throwing a replica of Guy Fawkes into the fire. That's...different. Some of us will be staying on the floor of the church, while some of us get to stay at host family homes. Georgia has been building up in her head the fantasy of what these family's homes will be like, so unless she is adopted by Daddy Warbucks this week I suspect she might be let down. She's very excited for the jacuzzi and ice cream parlour that's probably going to be in the house she's staying at. My ideal situation would be a family of chefs that want to try out the recipes they're thinking of including in their next bestselling cookbook.

If you're reading this, the coach is proud of you!

So we have really gotten into the swing of things here in Scotland. I still miss Calgary dearly, but I definitely feel happy and comfortable here. It will be odd to go home and not be constantly surrounded by people. The other day my room mates were out really late and I actually had trouble sleeping because the room was spooky without them.

So I have shared some funny stories but honestly this has been the most emotionally and spiritually stretching experience of my life, and it's only been two weeks. I can't imagine how I'll feel in five months. During the week we have lectures and work duties, and then various activities during the evenings so it's seriously go, go, go from the minute we get up. We also have "Coach Powers" three times a week before breakfast, which is this audio workout we all do together. He's this old man who says obnoxious things like: "The coach is proud of you!", and "You're doing awesome!" Shut up coach, you can't see us.

The first week was just general orientation and introduction lectures to get us all on the same page, and week two was "Overview of the bible". We had a guest speaker who came in to prep us to help volunteer at a conference in Glasgow next weekend, and he actually turned out to be the most challenging and interesting speakers, in my opinion. His teaching was about how Heaven is not just some far off place we go when we die, but that Jesus intended us to bring Heaven to earth by living out his teachings. This idea has challenged me in every area of my life, even down to when I'm doing my work duties and realize that emotions like boredom and lazyness are not Heaven minded. Keeping this mindset has brought me alot of joy as well as a more optimistic attitude about...everything.

We know our outreach locations, if you'd like to know specifically I can tell you over skype. I can say that we're going to need prayers that God would open doors to get us into the country in question as it's going to be very difficult to deal with the authorities.

Practically Gordon Ramsay by this point.

I finally managed to upload one photo of my current home, the Seamill Centre. Savour this moment because photo number two might never come as we have the worst internet connections you could possibly have.

We were assigned our "practical ministry" teams this week, which is code for chores. Georgia is in hospitality and I am working in the kitchen. I find it interesting because I was also assigned to kitchen prep when I worked at Rockridge Canyon last summer, so this is the second time I've ended up there without seeking it or feeling qualified in any way. (I rarely cook at home, and when I do it's just a stir fry because you can just throw things in a pan randomly and no matter how incompetent you are it will turn out fine.)

It is very different then working at Rockridge where I was only allowed to touch the fruits and vegetables. Day two on the job the chef was out of town so my two co workers and myself made the entire meal ourselves! I made the cornbread, which wasn't all that good but I followed the recipe exactly, so blame Mr. YWAM for picking a crappy recipe. One guy Jeffrey, is very southern and was sitting beside me at dinner and complaining loudly about how it was nothing like "real" cornbread, and I would turn to glare at him and he would make loud "mmmm" noises and give me the thumbs up. Apparently in the South they think people can't hear you talking right beside them as long as you're not talking directly to them. It's so much fun and a very easy work environment. Kendra, one of the girls who works with me is one of the most maniacally nice people I have ever met so she practically punches me out of the way to take the undesirable jobs.

I'm learning everyday and God is doing so much good right now in the Centre and in Scotland, however I still need to sort out my thoughts so I will share about the lectures another day. Please send mail, it's so, so welcome. The address is in my first post.

Moral of the story: Sweet tea is not at all the same as iced tea.

Every second in Scotland is a photographer's dream, and I do have some pictures coming I promise...however it seriously takes a good thirty minutes to upload one picture, and I just don't have the time or patience today and I wanted to share some updates.

Our DTS has 19 students; 4 boys and 15 girls. So far we're actually getting along really well. Georgia and I have bonded with another Albertan, who thinks we all share some common small town, farming community background. I'm always trying to make friends so I haven't yet had the heart to lay it on him that we know very little about hockey, cowboy hats, the word "eh", or line dancing...he has attempted to converse with us about all these subjects. He was reading a bit of my blog over my shoulder so maybe this will break the news to him. Anyways, I have become quite well versed in the language of different cultures; for instance, when someone in Britain wants to "pool" or "trap" with you, the answer should always be no unless you are in a commited relationship with them and want to take it to the next level. When I revealed that "sweet tea" sounds suspiciously like iced tea, the fellow from Tennessee nearly had an aneurism, and still won't let the discussion drop. Apparently they're as different as two things can be...who knew? Also, you can tell quite a bit about a British school boy by the height of his hair. Apparently the further back the hat sits on his head the "harder" or tougher he is. Man...doesn't that just sound too cool? I've always said I'd date a  man who wears his hat as high as possible.


 

Apparently West Kilbride likes to leave prank pay phones lying around...

I'm writing from Carlton Bed and Breakfast in Seamill, Scotland! Man, I still feel like none of this is real. Georgia and I have been up for almost 25 hours at this point, and are desperately trying to stay awake until it's the Scottish people's bed time. We did have a small falling asleep incident when we both decided to lay down on the comfy grass in the backyard and "rest our eyes", but it was barely mentionable.

On the flight we sat by a very chatty old man and watched the movie "Valentine's Day", it makes a lot of sense to play that on airplanes because you know what they say: "That movie is timeless anytime of the year." We arrived  in Glasgow first thing in the morning (watching the sun rise over the ocean from the plane was spectacular by the way) and jumped on a train to West Kilbride. Upon arriving there we tried to call a taxi from a pay phone. This pay phone had no phone book, a jammed coin slot, and no place to swipe the credit cards it claimed to take. When we finally reached an operator, she informed us that "I'm not a directory!"....so...I'm not really sure what her job is. Luckily an elderly couple informed us that cabs don't run in West Kilbride, and our best bet would be to walk to Seamill, as it's only about a mile away. A mile is no big deal. However, a mile pretty much uphill all the way with a brief downhill drop carrying 110 pounds of luggage between the two of us was nearly impossible, and I'm pretty sure everyone in both towns will now remember us as those girls they saw passed out on the side of the road.

We're here now though. And despite a rocky start I already see myself forced to grow up a little, which is a small part of what I want from this trip. There were so many times when we didn't know where to go/what to do, and my first instinct was to reach for my phone and call someone to help us. I would remind myself that not only do I not have a phone, but even if I did none of the people I normally call would be any help. So instead of giving up, we were forced to sit down, think things through and proceed. Before we left our dear friend Reagan kept asking us if we were excited...and really I was too sad and scared to be excited. There's still alot of those emotions as well but now I'm starting to realize that I have six months away from home to grow and get to know God better and I can't be more excited. I still miss everyone though, and I love you all dearly.

2 things....
1: Scotland is 7 hours ahead of calgary. I get that question quite often.
2: Georgia, my lovely travel companion, has a blog as well. http://www.georgiasywam.blogspot.com/. We share many of the same experiences, but have different styles of writing and different perspectives so hopefully you can enjoy both!