November 12-15th 2010

Wow! What an amazing weekend! The presence of God was so tangible in everything we did and I loved the opportunity to get closer to the smaller group of people that went with me. There were 11 of us on this mini outreach to Sheffield (4 hours north of our house in Harlesdon) and we took a megabus. It was a 3 and a half hour bus ride bit every minute of it was a blast. This man with super curly hair got on the bus and Makayla (Colorado) really wanted to sit by him but chickened out and now on the bus ride home he's sitting in the exact same seat as the way here! it was meant to be. when we arrived, Helen and Chris met us and took us where we stayed in the newly renovated building next to the church they worked at. what's the first thing we do when we get there? play a game of coarse! and who won? Tom (London); the guy that had no idea how to play. it was great(: then we settled in and made our beds on the floor and got ready for intercession. okay first of all, Sheffield is the countryside of England so everything reminded me of home because of the valley of snohomish...until we encountered our first civilian. indent know if you realize this but every part of England has different accents. unfortunately the one from Sheffield is totally inunderstandable...I think I just made that word up but it's exactly what I meant. you cannot understand a word of anything anyone says because it's all mumbled together and everyone speaks so quickly. luckily Tom speaks like that so we had a translator!(: anyway, we walked down to the skate park (Tom, Vanessa-Spain, Ben-Tennessee, and I) and as soon as we got down the hill and under a covered area the smell of marijuana was stronger than anything I had every smelt before. there were guys that were about 18 or 19 giving 12 and 13 year old boys the last bit of what they were smoking. it disgusted me but broke my heart at the same time. I said I couldn't understand the accent but maybe I should clarify that the words I did understand are ones I wouldn't have used anyway if you catch my drift. we prayed against addiction and hopelessness then returned to our "home". after we finished that we ate dinner and then moved in the furniture from the downstairs to the offices we were sleeping in. Helen and Chris run a media company that does websites and such for different clients. they are training men that live in a family home for men that come from rehab and have nowhere to live. I will get to them in a minute. so we moved in the furniture and then had some free time and went to bed.
the next morning (Saturday) we got up bright and early, ate breakfast and then split into teams to serve in two different places. my group (Stephie-California, Makayla and Vanessa) went to a fall festival that one of the churches was putting on and had tea and biscuits with people and then helped clean up after. the other team wen to rake leaves at a home where the church is starting ministry for women and their children who are living in difficult situations. the home can hold up to 11 women with 3 children each. we met back for lunch and then all headed back out to finish raking the humongous heard and Ezra(Minnesota) and Ben cleaned out the gutters. we finished by about 5 but had some fun in the process(: I enjoyed jumping into the leaf piles but Tom was hauled across the yard by Ben and Ezra and hurled into the piles. it was hilarious and it only happened a couple times so he's okay(: the. Makayla climbed a tree and I decided to join. we get up there and then realize how filthy we're getting and when makayla was holding a branch trying to get down it snapped and she fell. we were only about 3 feet from the ground by this point but it was still the funniest thing in the world(: thank god for cameras because we got it all on video! hahaha(: we went back to have dinner with Helen and Chris at there house and enjoy a nice shower(: then before bed we prepared for the 6 church services we were going to be a part of the next morning. kind of stressful but of coarse we found ways to make it fun!(: Vane(Vanessa) was making a poppy for a poster and we kept thinking she was saying puppy so we decided it was a great idea to stop planning for a bit to make sure she knew the difference(: imagine 9 tired ywam students sitting around a table at 10:30pm ready to go to bed but repeating over and over again "puppy, poppy. PUPPy POPpy!" hahaha it was the best(: then when all was planned and Vane decided that puppy and poppy were the same, we went to bed. oh! I forgot to mention that I was the smart one and made a bed from the couch cushions from downstairs so I slept like the angel I am(: haha just kidding. but it was great sleep(:
Sunday morning we split into three groups that went to three very traditional churches and introduced ourselves and lead a short hymn and stayed for the service. after that we met at home and ate and cleaned up then headed out in two groups to two more places. my group (everyone but Ben, Stephie and Tara) went to a small congregation of little old British ladies(: Ezra, Valerie, Lisa and I arrived earlier to set up things for a short worship service and when the us girls went to practice on another room (gone no longer than 5 minutes) we came back to Ezra completely surrounded by little grannies(: cutest thing ever!! he was definitely a hit with the ladies(; haha. then the rest arrived and Tom informed us that he was uncomfortable around older people. not bad but he just did t know what to say....he was delivering he message. at the end this one lady kissed us all on the cheeks and when she got totem he turned bright red and we couldn't help but bust out laughing:p loved it(: we got picked up by a mini bus that the family home sent Paul (a resident) and another ma to come get us all. the home is for men out of rehab to come and stay and have a place of their own. the stay in their own rooms and learn things like plumbing and electric things as well as take media classes from Helen. they practice in the building they live in by fixing it up and redecorating it. they aren't forced into God but they come into the home knowing it is a Christian organization and that the media classes are taught in a way that includes a little bit of teaching about the lord. moat of them are recovering from drug or alcohol addiction (some both) and they are living in a place that loves them and takes care of them. it's really amazing to see the heart of these guys and how interested they are in learning more about the lord. we lead service there singing a few worship songs and then Ezra spoke about a variety of things. we also did our little drama and it really seemed to hit home. at the end we offered prayer and I was surprised how receptive they were to it. by the end of a 3 hour night the boys had bonded so well with the guys at the home and we were asked numerous times by a few of them to please please please come back! i was amazed at myself at the things god brought to my mind to pray for and how I felt like I could pray forever. it was like word vomit, gross but true. my heart really broke for these guys and I can't wait to hear about how they are doing in the future!
when we got home (now 11pm) we realized we were hungry. so what did we do? ordered take out of coarse!!(: best and worst decision I think we could have made. the burping contests were atrocious but analgesic hilarious(: unfortunately makayla hadn't been feeling well that night so she slept on the couch and then in the morning Stephie and vane were also sick. all very nauseous and upset stomata. praying that the rest of us don't catch the bug as we are arriving back in London now.
if I could leave you with one thin it would be this: in EVERYTHING to do, do it in the glory of god and with his magnificent love. if you live in that love, you won't have to do much else for the holy spirit to change lives. no matter if you're sleeping in a bed or on the floor or son have anywhere to stay, give thanks for the day that you were blessed with. every moment and action is a chance to show the love of god that manifests itself inside our hearts. with this love and faith anything is possible. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself." God Bless!