Airports, British Chocolate, and Other Nuggets of Goodness

I had to pass hundreds of aisles of expensive perfume, handbags, and vodka to get to my gate at the Manchester Airport; I forgot whether I was in an airport or a shopping mall. (good joke, Molly) I, however, did get to see a Muslim security man frisk a white guy, so that was kinda of satisfying. Now, I'm just a short flight away from spending my Christmas break with my cousin Mia and some German friends in Germany and the Netherlands!  The Busch families have been most hospitable to Mia and I, and they are going to be our guides and translators for our journey.

             Life has moved pretty fast these past couple weeks, and I have loved it. We have been doing so many Christmas-y type outreaches that have gotten me in the spirit. I think I've sang almost every single Christmas carol you have ever heard close to 10 times. But, since I haven't posted in a little while, I let you in on some other little nuggets of goodness that I have recently experienced.

On November 26, a small, dementia-stricken elderly lady named Dot told me that she couldn't talk long because her father had given her a curfew. We sat knee-to-knee in the lounge at care home that smelled of plastic and flowery air freshener. I asked, “Were you ever married?” Not hesitating a second, she responded, “I’m not old enough to marry yet.”

On December 7, standing in the middle of a busy street discouraged by the lack of response in my effort to help a local ministry, a mentally disabled middle-aged man gave me a hug, and it is something I know I won’t forget. I’m not crazy about hugs from strangers, but there was an innocence about him that brought out the tiny bits of compassion in me. He said, “Merry Christmas” in an accent that warmed my soul, and then he disappeared.

On December 9, I met a homeless woman who hit her partner in the head with a meat cleaver and did not go to jail. Only partially concentrating on the book in my hands on a frigid day in a park, when she approached me and spilled her life story.Thick black eyeliner circled her crystal blue eyes, prematurely aged from bad habits and a hard life. The smoke from her self-rolled cigarette burned my throat. She did not ask for money once. She just wanted a friend.


It's been a great month. 

Also, British people seem to really like to give chocolate as gifts, so I have eaten an embarrassing amount of sweets recently. 


Merry Christmas, friends and family! Ta ra!

Itsy-bitsy Speedo

Have you ever been in a unisex changing room at a public pool?               Probably not.

               because: it's 2013, it's awkward, normal people like the privacy of their own gender, and it really just feels weird.

After finishing swimming with Lauren, Becky, and Dave, I walked into the first mixed gender changing room I have ever been into and was greeted by a 70 year old man in an itsy-bitsy speedo among other interesting people. Rock on, man; keep doing you.

            I've had many other recent adventures besides that one. I took a train to Liverpool with my roommate Rachel and saw the birthplace of the most famous band in history (the Beatles, not One Direction), some massive cathedrals, and some bizarre art galleries.  Then that week, the group worked with a couple of new ministries like Operation Christmas Child and Teams Care For You, where we checked shoe boxes of little presents for children being shipped to places like Romania and Belarus. We also had a Welsh lesson, and I'm still not convinced it isn't a made up language (sorry for that ethnocentric statement).

         This past week, we've had lectures on Jesus and Discipleship, and it was just really great. Every time I read about Jesus or hear about Him, I learn something new. And this week was like that x1000. We talked about Jesus in the time periods that the bible doesn't have specifics on. Like, did he come out of the womb quoting the Torah? Or did he have to learn to walk and talk and make mistakes and overcome temptation like a normal human being, just with a heavenly perspective? It's weird to think about.

        Also this week, we had a secret missionary training. So, we were given 20 minutes to pack an overnight bag, not knowing where we were going, and then it would begin. Expecting the worst, we packed things like toilet paper, matches, blankets, fruit, and basic medication. Our first task was to obtain a visa from people who spoke a combination of Welsh, Portuguese, and something like Russian. The whole situation kinda stressed me out, but I could not stop laughing. It's amazing how much we could communicate with gestures. Then, we had to find specific groceries at a Polish shop where nothing was in English. After that one of us was asked to sing and give a sermon on the spot. Thankfully, Becky and Kelly volunteered. And we ended it with a scavenger hunt and some Indian food. We didn't even need our overnight bag; it was just to freak us out.

        Today, besides swimming, I spent most of my day baking food. I think it is my subconscious way of being a tiny bit homesick because my mom's cooking is amazeballs, and it is almost Christmas cookie season. Plus, tonight we had a team potluck, so it worked out perfect.


I never know how to end these posts creatively. So, bye. Thanks for reading, I guess(?).

We Left the House

“The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house. All that cold, cold, wet day.” 

    From this Dr. Suess quote, it appears that The Cat in the Hat was set in Wales. The unwelcome November rain has arrived, and it is biting. I write this post under 2 blankets and 3 layers of clothes. I won't lie to you and tell you that I enjoy the cold rain, but what I do like is seeing people who smile when it's raining. Sometimes you just have to get over it and jump in an ice cold puddle. 

    This week was a local outreach week, and while the weather didn't make things easier, it really was an awesome week. And contrary to the quote above, we left the house. We handed out orange roses one day just to bless people. Another day, we tried to give out as many genuine compliments as we possibly could. One night we handed out hot drinks (except not many people were interested in taking something from strangers). 

    We had a seminar about healthy conflicts and how to handle them, which led to some role play that I just could not take seriously. We did a creative processing group on idols with a pastor who has a degree in children's illustration. Then, we all got to draw our own icons for YWAM Wales. 

    On Thursday morning for worship, we were asked to get up at 5:50 am and bundle up and come outside. There were loads of blankets spread out and candles everywhere, and we watched the sunrise. We were allowed the morning off after that, so I took my kammock and my bible and went for a walk. It was glorious.

    We had another Welsh adventure this week at a place we had been to once before called Nant Mill. A hike was planned and then the group stopped mid-way to pray for English-Welsh relations.

   Today, we had the opportunity to go to a USA vs Wales rugby match at the local university. It was a Rugby League World Cup match which would have been a big deal to me, if I knew even a little about rugby. But I don't. I expected it to be like American football, and in some ways it was, but with a bit of ultimate frisbee and soccer mixed in. It was so aggressive, and I have no idea how they all walked away virtually uninjured. America did end up winning, and I felt pretty good about it. I even forced one of the guys to take a picture with me after. 

    This coming week, we are having lectures on Identity and Personality in the Body of Christ. I am super excited for this because I'm an angsty young person who has left home to find herself blah blah blah.

Braces and Scrunchies

I came to Starbucks to overpay for a coffee drink and get alone time to write this post. I accomplished the overpaying part, but I'm surrounded by many young guys in very tight pants and a large group of middle school age girls with braces and scrunchies. People watching keeps distracting me.

Living at the house with 11 other people is not something that comes naturally for me even though I like to think of myself as adaptable. For the previous 3 years, I've secluded myself to the comforting depths of my cave basement bedroom. And with my siblings far away, my parents have been the larger part of my social life anyway, but in a not lame/loner way (or at least I'd like to think so). 

I am learning a lot through it here, though. I'm learning that some people (unlike me) process thoughts by talking out loud or like it when people touch them constantly or are morning people. I have none of those qualities even though they can be great things, but I am learning how to love those people properly/they way they want to be loved. I keep repeating learning because its not the way my brain works; it is a process. 

This past week has included some fear-facing/awkwardness-overcoming challenges. The lecture topic was evangelism, and we did a lot more practical learning than I initially would've liked. Our speaker was Jude from Liverpool who had fiery red hair and gentle spirit. She is the founder of a ministry called Pearl Program in Liverpool which works with developing relationships with prostitutes. Very cool. She pushed us to get out and talk to people. I did end up having some pretty bad conversations. For example, one pastry shop manager told me she didn't believe in God and I responded with "That's awesome!" and walked out. How do I even explain that?

However the good conversations I had DEFINITELY made the not so good ones worth it. I talked to a Muslim man about homosexuality and love. I talked to an elderly man about his childhood faith. I talked to a woman who had been bullied even as an adult. I wouldn't of had any of those experiences if I had let my less than superior conversation skills hold me back. The whole week did wear me out, but it taught and is teaching me about evangelizing as a lifestyle and not an agenda to try convert people on the streets. 

This week the lecture topic is on the Fatherheart of God. Our speaker is a man named Emmanuel from London, but originally Ghana. The week isn't even half over, but we've already gone pretty deep into it. We've talked about how God as a father is generous, a man of His word, and especially present in our lives; and that is how He created earthly fathers to act. It's not that I've been completely oblivious to this, but all this talk has made me realize how awesome my dad is. Even though I like to joke with him that I'm the forgotten child, he really has always been so present and a leader and so invested in my life. For him, I am thankful. 

My bunkmate, Rachel, asked me to include how awesome my roommates are, but lying makes me feel sick........I am thankful for my roommates (Kelly and Rachel) and that we are so different but none of us are really morning people or high maintenance or super messy, and that they can put up with me. My parents probably won't believe this, but I am a member of the clean room, thank you very much. 

Not like Legoland

So much has happened this past week, and it all has been so so awesome. It was a local outreach week, therefore we spent most of the week evangelizing and meeting people and doing things in the community which meant I spent A LOT of energy trying to not by awkward. Before I start on that, I have to go back a little bit.

Last weekend, we had the opportunity to go over to Chester, England which is on the Wales/England border, and got to explore and eat (YEAUH!) and shop. It was a super cute but busy town. In this first picture is just some of my team including Kelly and Rachel (my awesome roommates), Dave, Steph, and Robyn.

Then at the beginning of this week, we got to learn some Welsh history and later go on a trek up to Castell Dinas Bran in Llangollen (which is not prononced like Legoland, but rather like thlan-goth-thlan). Dinas Bran is the ruins of a castle from the medieval times and translates to Crow Castle, however we didn't see a single crow. We DID see tons of sheep and thus validated the internet fact that says Welsh sheep outnumber Welsh people 3 to 1. The last picture is almost the entire team except for myself and one other awesome lady.

For two mornings, we had Street Pastors training and learned what an awesome and effective organization it is. We learned how to hang out with the pub goers and how to love/help them properly without being overwhelming. This ministry has had a huge impact on the the night life environment and is respected by loads of people. We even got to do some role play to see how we would react to different situations.

Since my last post, I have been apart of Wrexham Feeding the Roofless twice, and that will continue to happen every Thursday at the Salvation Army. We make around 40 different sandwiches each time and this week got to take them along with crisps (potato chips), chocolate biscuits (candy), and hot drinks out to the people. It was incredibly cold handing out the food, but I was one of the few there that is blessed to have a home and a bed and heating to go back to.

On Thursday, we also practiced a super cool/scary form of evangelism called treasure hunting which involved asking God for an image or name of a person or location, and then going out and finding them. It sometimes involved praying for them, but mainly it was just talking to strangers. More nervous sweating that morning, but it ended up being awesome.

Today, we split up to go to youth groups at 2 different churches. My youth group is the The Community Church and I loved it. There was probably 25 kids there from about 11-16 years old. There were 3 leaders there not including us YWAMers, and they were incredibly nice. This group has 2 Fridays of games and hanging out only, one Friday of only spiritual stuff and one Friday off each month. I'm excited to hang out with the kids more and try to build relationships even though that may be the most daunting age group to talk to.

Next week, we are having lectures on evangelism, I will tell you about it later if I don't freeze to death before.

Dewdrops

I went for a run early this rainy morning. The city was still completely quiet and peaceful. I ended up getting lost in an area I had never been to, and it was a little scary but kind of beautiful at the same time. Also, dewdrops on flowers is something so amazing and simple. It can make living in such a rainy place worth it (among many other things). As Ferris Bueller says, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it." Here are just a couple of the things I saw when I was wandering this morning:

On Saturday, we had a team building day which involved games, exercises, and a long, perfect hike. Our leaders gave us a map and they were at different stops along the way, but we had to figure out how to get there and other little activities along the way. In this picture is Stephanie (American), Becky (American), Me (Murican) , Lauren (O Canada), and Rachel (Brit). Kelly (Brit) is the 6th trainee, but she was taking our picture. All of us are super different, but they're so great, and we've become a weird family. The hike reminded me a lot of The Hobbit scenery the way the trees and streams and bridges were. Very cool. 

This week has been our first lecture week, and Steve Sullivan, a New Zelander and experienced YWAMer, has been our speaker. We have been talking about how we are blessed so that we can become blessings to others and how that is God's only purpose. It is the Abrahamic Covenant. We've also talked a lot about how so many churches have a problem with trying to figure out God's purpose and getting it wrong or putting too much focus on other aspects. Our discussions have made me think a lot about what I believe and my church experiences. Tomorrow, I begin my weekly ministry of Wrexham Feeding the Roofless, which I am so pumped about. Then on Friday, I also start my first youth group helper/leader/servant (and I am equally as pumped). 

Alright, the end.

SO YA

      It's hard to describe what has been happening in the last couple of days. I've been doing a lot of nervous sweating, but in the good way.

      There are 12 people living in the house currently. The 6 trainees are from America, Canada, and England; 6 staff from America, Canada, England, and Brazil. There is also a family that started YWAM here and they are in and out of the house all the time. Sometimes we need some traffic control in the kitchen, but it's great. Everyone is so different, and unique. The house has many small rooms with big comfy couches and fire places, perfect for curling up with a big cuppa tea (or coffee for me).

      I didn't realize how little I knew about the rest of the world until I left America. Not that I'm knowledgeable now, but I'm becoming aware of my ethnocentric tendencies. Sometimes the Americans ask the Brits to repeats words just to make us giggle. I think it's a lot funnier than it usually is.

      After we arrived on Sunday and settled in as much as we could, we walked around the town square (circle?). We are within walking distance of Tescos (Walmart), Pound Land (Dollar Tree), Starbucks (Starbucks), arcades (little alleys of markets) and tons of other shops and stores and cafes waiting to be explored. Close by there is the St. Giles' Church in Wrexham, which is one of the 7 Wonders of Wales. (WOW)
      On Monday, we learned a little of the YWAM Welsh history. YWAM is fairly new here, and some of the staff are hoping to pioneer it in the near future in Cardiff, the capital of Wales.
      Tuesday, we did intercessory prayer for all of Wales (here comes in my lack of knowledge) and the past revivals that has occurred in the country. Its seems like God knows what we are trying to ask for, even when we don't. We also did crafts on Tuesday, so I guess I'll stay.
      On Wednesday, we did an overview of all the local outreaches and it's NUTS how many YWAM Wales does, from Wrexham Feeding the Roofless to kids club to youth group to just giving out compliments to people in the city center to reading the New Testament out loud. We also occasionally do a thing called Street Pastors where we hang out/talk to/care for the pub goers late at night. Our local outreach weeks are going to be packed and it's going to be awesome. We also did a prayer walk around some neighborhoods on the refreshing/rainy day.
      And yesterday, we spent almost the whole day talking about hearing God's voice which was terrifying and incredible and hard to explain.
      Today, we had an excellent cooking class and I rocked at peeling potatoes (kinda not really).

      This has almost no relevance, but Wrexham has THE most beautiful hydrangeas I have ever seen. The houses usually have only one bush, but they are completely full of flowers. They are all a mixture of red and a little bit of violet. Very cool.

Sorry that is a lot to read. I will end this post now with the greatest two words to end every speech, conversation, writing, or especially testimony: SO YA

New Beginnings

Hello friends and family and everyone! (Who am I kidding, my mom is probably the only one reading this. Anyway, I'll just pretend I'm writing to lots of people who are super interested in my life). 

   I am currently sitting in the large Chicago airport patiently waiting through my long layover to Manchester! HOLLER. It might seem pointless for me to write this post because I have not actually done anything or gone really that far from home. Regardless, I'm bored and I have stuff to say. 

    About 8 months ago, I was accepted into the YWAM Discipleship Training School in Wales; and pretty much since then, I have been working very hard (debatable) to raise the money to pay for the tuition. My million dollar fundraising idea was to sell infinity scarves. That worked awesome for about 2 months, and then I wanted to set all the scarves and my sewing machine on fire because it got a little overwhelming. HOWEVER, I have the world's greatest mother (second shout out, Mom) and she kinda pushed/dragged me through the process. I sold close to 200 scarves which is totally nuts. I sold on Etsy, Facebook, at local banks, at PEO meetings, and at my church. I also have some pretty dang amazing people in my life that really helped support and fund my trip. 

    So here I am in this lovely food court, only by the grace of God, with hands shaking from excitement (probably nerves). My journey has not really begun, but it sorta kinda has because I had to say goodbye to everyone I love. I will arrive in Manchester at 8 am their time and from there only God knows. God has blessed me with such an awesome life, and I am confident He will be holding my shaking, sweaty hand as I continue on. 

Peace and Blessin's y'all.