I was digging through some old pictures last night and ran across this video that I shot back in November of 2005. We were at the group reunion for our mission trip to England in October of that year. We knew, obviously, that we were pregnant when we went, but we only told the two leaders before we went, just in case something went wrong and we had to go to the hospital or something.
At any rate, when we got back, we had this reunion and we decided to let Kinsey tell all our friends that she was going to be a big sister. It was taken with our little digital camera, so the quality isn't great, but it is a nice moment.
Showing posts with label England Trip 2005. Show all posts
Showing posts with label England Trip 2005. Show all posts
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Friday, November 04, 2005
The England Journal: Final Thoughts
You know, I've had about two weeks now to really think about this trip and the good and bad of it. And honestly, there was both, but I'll focus on the good.
This was a really unique experience for me and my family. On one hand, I have had the incredible opportunity of being to England twice. To be honest, after the trip in 2000, I knew that Sheryl and I would go back. I honestly didn't know that we'd be back in 5 years with our child. I really thought it would be another 20 or 25. But we got to live our dream a second time and we loved it. However, it was very different from the trip in 2000 in that it was a mission trip and not only that, it was our first mission trip.
It was incredibly special. The people that we met in Loughborough blew me away with their kindness and warmth and hospitality. Mark Hill is one of the hardest working men I've ever met and I respect and love him dearly. His cousin Paul is so hysterical and such a great father to his children and just a man after God's heart. Mark's parents, Norman and Brenda, allow an American family to invade their house and gave us some privacy when we needed and made us laugh and feel at home after long days.
That doesn't even get to the young adults that we met and played with: Tim, Jo, Graham, all those teenage girls that acted just like I'd expect teenage girls to act, confirming that shrieking girls are not limited to the States.
And the children in the HBC. Those sweet fun faces that loved learning the "Going Bananas" song and "C-O-C-O-N-U-T" and that laughed with us and did the crafts and screamed at the Banana piranha.
I loved eating the fish and standing in the queues at the supermarket and saying "crisps" and "biscuits" and kind of acting English, even though I'll really never be.
And I'll always remember Wednesday night. Not because of the talk I gave, but within that talk, I spoke of a smidge of guilt I had for being in England. You see, I really wanted to go. And when the opportunity came up, Sheryl and I jumped at it. And we planned and we worked and we raised funds and all of that. Then Katrina hit and I watched with horror the devastation and had these doubts. How could I go to England when people so close (relatively) were suffering. I was going to England to work with the church, but I was also looking forward to being there and going to London and the Lion King and Westminster Abbey. This was as much a pleasure trip for us as it was a mission/encouragement trip. Mark then spoke up and encouraged me greatly and said that, Yes, they could have put on their own HBC and yes, we could have stayed home and helped with Katrina, but he already knew of children that were so sad we were leaving, because we'd worked so hard with them and taught them about Jesus and they were already getting inklings of that. And that night made the whole trip right there.
There were hard times. I got really annoyed with some people on Friday in London. I wonder sometimes if the team as a whole didn't get distracted by the fact that we were in England, and if we'd gone somewhere else that we didn't have a natural attraction to, if we wouldn't have been as distracted. But I know God worked through us and in us. I have formed relationships with people in our singles' group that I would never have had before. We have grown to love them and will always count them as a part of our family, and I know Kinsey will always remember them as her England friends.
I look forward to us going back and working with the church in Loughborough again, although it might not be for awhile. I'm grateful for the chance and the time that we had there. I thank all of you who have read with me over the last two weeks and hope you've at least got something out of it.
This was a really unique experience for me and my family. On one hand, I have had the incredible opportunity of being to England twice. To be honest, after the trip in 2000, I knew that Sheryl and I would go back. I honestly didn't know that we'd be back in 5 years with our child. I really thought it would be another 20 or 25. But we got to live our dream a second time and we loved it. However, it was very different from the trip in 2000 in that it was a mission trip and not only that, it was our first mission trip.
It was incredibly special. The people that we met in Loughborough blew me away with their kindness and warmth and hospitality. Mark Hill is one of the hardest working men I've ever met and I respect and love him dearly. His cousin Paul is so hysterical and such a great father to his children and just a man after God's heart. Mark's parents, Norman and Brenda, allow an American family to invade their house and gave us some privacy when we needed and made us laugh and feel at home after long days.
That doesn't even get to the young adults that we met and played with: Tim, Jo, Graham, all those teenage girls that acted just like I'd expect teenage girls to act, confirming that shrieking girls are not limited to the States.
And the children in the HBC. Those sweet fun faces that loved learning the "Going Bananas" song and "C-O-C-O-N-U-T" and that laughed with us and did the crafts and screamed at the Banana piranha.
I loved eating the fish and standing in the queues at the supermarket and saying "crisps" and "biscuits" and kind of acting English, even though I'll really never be.
And I'll always remember Wednesday night. Not because of the talk I gave, but within that talk, I spoke of a smidge of guilt I had for being in England. You see, I really wanted to go. And when the opportunity came up, Sheryl and I jumped at it. And we planned and we worked and we raised funds and all of that. Then Katrina hit and I watched with horror the devastation and had these doubts. How could I go to England when people so close (relatively) were suffering. I was going to England to work with the church, but I was also looking forward to being there and going to London and the Lion King and Westminster Abbey. This was as much a pleasure trip for us as it was a mission/encouragement trip. Mark then spoke up and encouraged me greatly and said that, Yes, they could have put on their own HBC and yes, we could have stayed home and helped with Katrina, but he already knew of children that were so sad we were leaving, because we'd worked so hard with them and taught them about Jesus and they were already getting inklings of that. And that night made the whole trip right there.
There were hard times. I got really annoyed with some people on Friday in London. I wonder sometimes if the team as a whole didn't get distracted by the fact that we were in England, and if we'd gone somewhere else that we didn't have a natural attraction to, if we wouldn't have been as distracted. But I know God worked through us and in us. I have formed relationships with people in our singles' group that I would never have had before. We have grown to love them and will always count them as a part of our family, and I know Kinsey will always remember them as her England friends.
I look forward to us going back and working with the church in Loughborough again, although it might not be for awhile. I'm grateful for the chance and the time that we had there. I thank all of you who have read with me over the last two weeks and hope you've at least got something out of it.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
The England Journal: Sermon
This is the sermon that I was planning on teaching the Sunday we were in Loughborough, but ended up using it as the basis of the discussion on Wednesday night. It's pretty long, but I would be interested in the thoughts of the blogworld on it.
We’re going to look at three different Scriptures today, from all over the Bible, but you’ll be able to see some relation between them as we go through them.
The first one is in 2 Kings 7, and to give you some context here. Samaria is in a famine and on top of that a city in Samaria is being besieged by the Arameans. Prices have risen so high that the Samaritans are paying the equivalent of five pounds of silver for a donkey’s head to eat, and let’s remember here that donkeys were unclean. So here we have a famine and they’re under siege by Arameans. And into this story, we come to verse 3 of chapter 7.
2Ki 7:3 Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die?
2Ki 7:4 If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’—the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.”
2Ki 7:5 At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans. When they reached the edge of the camp, not a man was there,
2Ki 7:6 for the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of
2Ki 7:7 So they got up and fled in the dusk and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives.
2Ki 7:8 The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp and entered one of the tents. They ate and drank, and carried away silver, gold and clothes, and went off and hid them. They returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also.
2Ki 7:9 Then they said to each other, “We’re not doing right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let’s go at once and report this to the royal palace.”
To give more context to this we have to understand the condition of lepers. They were the outcasts of society. Worse than dogs. Worse than Madonna. So bad that they had to live outside the city gates. They were untouchable. They had to yell “Unclean!” anytime anyone came near them. And things were so desperate for them that they were willing to go to the enemy that was putting them under siege them to beg for food.
However, the most important thing to notice is their reaction when they discover the Arameans are gone. At first they are selfish and greedy. They eat and drink and hide things. But then, it’s as if their eyes are opened and they realize the problem with what they’re doing. They’re not sharing good news with everyone who can benefit from it. So they go back to the city.
Now, the obvious lesson we can take from this is that we should not be greedy with our faith. That we should share with everyone we come in contact with. As Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the Gospel at all times and if necessary, use words.” However, I’d like to look at this from a slightly different perspective. I want us to look at the focus. The lepers, the outcasts. These are the ones bringing the good news back. And with that we have to note the prominent position that the poor, the downtrodden, and the marginalized play in the Kingdom of God.
One of the primary components of the Kingdom is that it works completely differently from the power structures of this world. In this world, the rich, the strong, the mighty are the ones that have the power. In the Kingdom, it is the ones who are weak, the ones who are dependant, the ones who are the least of these. This is a critical component of the Kingdom because it causes us to realize that all the ways that we try to create power for ourselves, whether in business or relationship, have no bearing in the Kingdom and have no eternal significance.
Philip Yancey, in The Jesus I Never Knew, says that God seems to have a special preference for the poor and the downtrodden. In fact if we look at the people that God has chosen to bring His message through it seems to be a who’s who of people that you wouldn’t expect.
Here we have the lepers and I think we’ve covered them. Both Saul and David were not the ones expected to be the King of Israel. As we get into the New Testament, the list gets even more unlikely. The book of Philemon shows that slaves like Onesimus prominently figure into Paul’s picture. The book of Philemon leaves no doubt in this. Tax Collectors who were considered collaborators with the Roman empire join with Jesus in spreading the good news. Look at Zaccheus and Matthew. Women are used in the spreading of the kingdom from Mary Magdalene telling the disciples about the empty tomb and the risen Jesus, to the woman at the well running back to tell the village about this man that knew more about her than he could have possibly known, even to Jesus’ mother Mary. I mean think of it, one of the first people in the world to know and to understand what the coming Kingdom of God would mean was a teenage Jewish girl in a backwater of the Roman Empire.
And let’s ponder that fact for a second. Jesus is the only person in human history that could choose his parents. And whom did he choose? Did he choose to be the son of Augustus Caesar the Roman Emperor of the time? Did he choose to be the son of the High Priest of Israel? Or even the son of Herod? No. He chose two Jewish people, not even from Jerusalem, who were obviously poor, as we see from the sacrifice they make at the temple in Luke 2:24. Had they had the money, Mary and Joseph would have sacrificed a lamb instead of two doves.
This is even further reflected in Jesus’ first public teaching in Luke 4:14-29.
Lk 4:14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.
Lk 4:15 He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
Lk 4:16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read.
Lk 4:17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
Lk 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
Lk 4:19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Lk 4:20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him,
Lk 4:21 and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
We see here the statement that God has come to bring good news to the poor and the downtrodden and oppressed. And it’s obvious that the people of Nazareth had no issues with what Jesus says here, because verse 22 says that the people spoke “gracious words” about him. They were oppressed by the Romans and here was Jesus saying that this Scripture (quoted from Isaiah 61) was coming to pass with him. And to them this meant that the Romans were going to be overthrown and the Kingdom of David would be restored; in other words, a physical Kingdom.
But then look at verses 28 and 29:
Lk 4:28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this.
Lk 4:29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff.
Huh? What happened in the intervening verses to make the people of his hometown so angry that they would want to kill him?
Verses 24 through 27 give us the answer.
Lk 4:24 “I tell you the truth,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown.
Lk 4:25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land.
Lk 4:26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon.
Lk 4:27 And there were many in
What does Jesus say that makes them so angry? He includes Gentiles in salvation! He includes people who were not of Abraham’s covenant in the prophecy from Isaiah! If his coming was heralding the overthrow of the Gentiles how could Gentiles participate in the Kingdom?
This is another one of the misunderstandings about the Kingdom that people had during Jesus’ life and continue to have today. In Mark 10, when James and John ask for them to be at Jesus’ side in the Kingdom, they’re not asking about spiritual positions; they’re asking about places of physical power. Even after the Resurrection, the disciples still don’t understand. Acts 1:6 shows that the disciples are still thinking that the Kingdom is going to come physically. Only after receiving the Spirit in Acts 2 do they understand the truth: the Kingdom of God is a spiritual reality that has physical manifestations.
The good news of the Kingdom of God is about surprise. It’s about unexpectedness. It’s about God being available to everyone and it’s our responsibility to be aware of that and be a part of that mission. We have to be about preaching the good news to the poor, we have to be about all of these people Jesus mentions here, because that is a part of our mission.
We have to be willing to die to ourselves and go places that we might not be comfortable and befriend people we might not normally befriend. There is such a tendency for Christians to insulate ourselves against the world to avoid being “contaminated” that we forget the primary mission Jesus gave the disciples before he ascended in Matthew 28:19. “Go and make disciples of all nations….”
Notice that he says “Go!” Not bring them somewhere. Go to them.
Because honestly, that’s what he did for us. He came down from where he was. He came down from his place in glory. The beautiful passage in Philippians 2 tells this story:
Phil 2:5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Phil 2:6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
Phil 2:7 but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
Phil 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Phil 2:9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
Phil 2:10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
Phil 2:11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
If this was the attitude of our Lord to us, how can it not be ours to others less fortunate than us, especially if we are supposed to be Jesus to the world? May God give us the strength and the courage and the dependence on Him to do His work in this world. May He give us the dependence on Him and the dependence on each other for this work.
For those that have ears, let them hear.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
The England Journal: Pictures
The Loughborough Church of Christ
Looking Down through the
Market to Loughborough Town
Hall
The jetlagged team
Angie in a rare happy mood
Hopscotch on Sunday Afternoon
Rehearsing for the Skits
Cups!!
The
Monday Afternoon Tea Trivia
Champions
At
Mt. Saint Benard's Abbey (My
Fave Pic)
Bradgate Park
Paul Hill, in Matrix Mode
A couple of cutups
Banana Piranha!!!!
Kinsey and her Dan (Oh,
yeah, and Kasey)
Let's all go Bananas!!!
Is that a face in your pie, sir?
She's 4. Hopefully she'll
grow out of it.
Kinsey and her new friend, Loren
Kinsey at Chatsworth
The girls in the maze
The Americans descrating
the grounds of Chatsworth
Kinsey and Daddy in Chatsworth
Off to Hogwarts
Is that the Queen?
The Family at Trafalgar
Square
On the London Eye
Tubing after the Lion King
At the Covent Garden Market
The London Eye
Piccadilly Circus
Up the front of Westminster
Abbey
Westminster at night
The back of Westminster
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
The England Journal: Sunday, October 23
Home. At last.
I’m very glad to be here. As much as we loved England and the time that we spent there, there’s no place like home.
We caught our taxis at about 9 this morning, with very little room to spare inside the vehicles for us, our bags, and Michelle’s cement samples. Then we flew through the city to get to Heathrow. It was my first time going to the airport by not using the Heathrow Express so that was kind of fun. Heathrow was fine and we got on our plane.
The neverending flight. Seriously, I thought that this flight was never going to end. Not because Kinsey was bad or there was a lot of turbulence, it was just a long flight. And unlike the flight to London, there were no good movies. Sure there was Bewitched, but after a promising first half, the last half was absolutely horrible. I watched a couple of episodes of CSI and tried to read. However, we got to Chicago finally.
And Chicago was no fun. We had to get all of our luggage (including Michelle’s) and go through Customs and then recheck all of our luggage. I understand that that is how it has to work, but man, it was a serious hassle.
We hung out for our flight to Nashville, and then learned that our flight was over its weight limit and they needed some people to volunteer to take a later flight (incentives offered of course), so Bart offered to stay behind, with the joke becoming that Michelle’s luggage bumped Bart off.
We finally got back to Nashville at about 7:30 and some of the people from church were waiting for us along with my mom and dad. Kinsey had to introduce everyone to her Gee (my mom). We hugged everyone and being kind of tired of being with them, left and got home at a decent time.
I’m glad to be sleeping in my own bed tonight.
Non Journal Note:
Well, that's the end of the journal. I think that over the next couple of days I'll post some pictures of the trip and then on Friday I'll post some of my post trip thoughts.
Pictures
I’m very glad to be here. As much as we loved England and the time that we spent there, there’s no place like home.
We caught our taxis at about 9 this morning, with very little room to spare inside the vehicles for us, our bags, and Michelle’s cement samples. Then we flew through the city to get to Heathrow. It was my first time going to the airport by not using the Heathrow Express so that was kind of fun. Heathrow was fine and we got on our plane.
The neverending flight. Seriously, I thought that this flight was never going to end. Not because Kinsey was bad or there was a lot of turbulence, it was just a long flight. And unlike the flight to London, there were no good movies. Sure there was Bewitched, but after a promising first half, the last half was absolutely horrible. I watched a couple of episodes of CSI and tried to read. However, we got to Chicago finally.
And Chicago was no fun. We had to get all of our luggage (including Michelle’s) and go through Customs and then recheck all of our luggage. I understand that that is how it has to work, but man, it was a serious hassle.
We hung out for our flight to Nashville, and then learned that our flight was over its weight limit and they needed some people to volunteer to take a later flight (incentives offered of course), so Bart offered to stay behind, with the joke becoming that Michelle’s luggage bumped Bart off.
We finally got back to Nashville at about 7:30 and some of the people from church were waiting for us along with my mom and dad. Kinsey had to introduce everyone to her Gee (my mom). We hugged everyone and being kind of tired of being with them, left and got home at a decent time.
I’m glad to be sleeping in my own bed tonight.
Non Journal Note:
Well, that's the end of the journal. I think that over the next couple of days I'll post some pictures of the trip and then on Friday I'll post some of my post trip thoughts.
Pictures
Monday, October 31, 2005
The England Journal: Saturday 22 October
Well, this was an interestingly great day. We got out on the Tube at 10:30 to go to the London Eye, that Sheryl and I had done before in 2000, but we wanted Kinsey to go on it. We met up with 6 other team members and the 9 of us did it together. It was great and Kinsey had a blast. We got some really great pictures up there.
From the eye, the three of us went with Lesley Cromer and Chris Adcock over to Westminster where we got the obligatory pictures of Big Ben and Parliament (“Look kids! Big Ben! Parliament!”) and then over to Westminster Abbey, my favorite place in all of London.
Unfortunately, it’s not very kid/stroller-friendly. We got to see quite a few things that were great: the Tombs of Elizabeth I, Henry V, and Richard the II. I went over to Poets’ Corner again and saw all of the memorials to the British writers: Wordsworth, C.S. Lewis, Shakespeare, Austen, and the tomb of Geoffrey Chaucer. I even got the experience of doing some quiet time in a little chapel, called St. Faith’s Chapel. It’s a small chapel built around 1250, and it was a great place to calm down and meditate on God and just kind of take a break from all the tourist stuff.
After that, Kinsey started getting cranky/tired, so we headed out, just as she fell asleep. On the way up Whitehall Street, we met up with Tracy Dean, another team member, who’d been out alone. We all went to an Italian restaurant for a late lunch, then to somewhere else Sheryl and I hadn’t been before, the Covent Garden Market.
It, too, was amazing. It’s basically an outdoor mall, but it was so packed with people that I sometimes felt like I was using Kinsey and her stroller as a battering ram. We finally got down to a less crowded place call the Jubilee Market Place, where we picked up a few souvenirs.
At this point, it was time for Tracy and Lesley to get to their show for Saturday night, Guys and Dolls with Ewan McGregor. Chris stayed with me, Sheryl, and Kinsey and we went back to Leicester Square and just saw tons and tons of people. We decided to take Chris over to Piccadilly Circus since it was dark and all the lights would be on. We did and it was very cool.
We decided to head back over to Westminster and get some night shots of the landmarks. We did get some great ones and then headed back to the hotel.
Which is when things got interesting.
I waited in the lobby for Bart to come back from Guys and Dolls. While I waited one of the girls on the team came back and said that her purse had been stolen when she was out. She wasn’t as upset about the purse or the cash as she was about her camera and her pictures, including some of me, Sheryl, and Kinsey. I completely understood how she felt. It made the night a bit more traumatic.
Bart and I ended up going out anyway and talked about a lot of things. It was a great time and I was glad we had the chance to do that. We went back to the hotel and I had another conversation with another member of the team for a while. I don’t know how much it helped, but I tried to be a listening ear.
We have taxis for tomorrow to take us to Heathrow, so since it’s 1:45, I’m going to try and get just enough sleep to be ready for tomorrow.
Sunday 23 October
From the eye, the three of us went with Lesley Cromer and Chris Adcock over to Westminster where we got the obligatory pictures of Big Ben and Parliament (“Look kids! Big Ben! Parliament!”) and then over to Westminster Abbey, my favorite place in all of London.
Unfortunately, it’s not very kid/stroller-friendly. We got to see quite a few things that were great: the Tombs of Elizabeth I, Henry V, and Richard the II. I went over to Poets’ Corner again and saw all of the memorials to the British writers: Wordsworth, C.S. Lewis, Shakespeare, Austen, and the tomb of Geoffrey Chaucer. I even got the experience of doing some quiet time in a little chapel, called St. Faith’s Chapel. It’s a small chapel built around 1250, and it was a great place to calm down and meditate on God and just kind of take a break from all the tourist stuff.
After that, Kinsey started getting cranky/tired, so we headed out, just as she fell asleep. On the way up Whitehall Street, we met up with Tracy Dean, another team member, who’d been out alone. We all went to an Italian restaurant for a late lunch, then to somewhere else Sheryl and I hadn’t been before, the Covent Garden Market.
It, too, was amazing. It’s basically an outdoor mall, but it was so packed with people that I sometimes felt like I was using Kinsey and her stroller as a battering ram. We finally got down to a less crowded place call the Jubilee Market Place, where we picked up a few souvenirs.
At this point, it was time for Tracy and Lesley to get to their show for Saturday night, Guys and Dolls with Ewan McGregor. Chris stayed with me, Sheryl, and Kinsey and we went back to Leicester Square and just saw tons and tons of people. We decided to take Chris over to Piccadilly Circus since it was dark and all the lights would be on. We did and it was very cool.
We decided to head back over to Westminster and get some night shots of the landmarks. We did get some great ones and then headed back to the hotel.
Which is when things got interesting.
I waited in the lobby for Bart to come back from Guys and Dolls. While I waited one of the girls on the team came back and said that her purse had been stolen when she was out. She wasn’t as upset about the purse or the cash as she was about her camera and her pictures, including some of me, Sheryl, and Kinsey. I completely understood how she felt. It made the night a bit more traumatic.
Bart and I ended up going out anyway and talked about a lot of things. It was a great time and I was glad we had the chance to do that. We went back to the hotel and I had another conversation with another member of the team for a while. I don’t know how much it helped, but I tried to be a listening ear.
We have taxis for tomorrow to take us to Heathrow, so since it’s 1:45, I’m going to try and get just enough sleep to be ready for tomorrow.
Sunday 23 October
Sunday, October 30, 2005
The England Journal: Friday 21 October
This ended up as a pretty good day. We got to the Loughborough train station at about 7:20 with Norman (forgot to get a picture with him and Brenda though; I’m really disappointed with that). Kinsey did pretty well on the train by falling asleep. It was really crowded for one stop up to Leicester, but then a bunch of people got off and all of us could sit down and put our luggage up.
We got into London about 9:45. At that point, four of the team got taxis to get all the luggage to the hotel, including the luggage from Michelle Irwin, the missionary who lived in Loughborough before returning the States. Michelle also apparently collected bricks and cement samples from how heavy the bags were. Kinsey and Sheryl were two of those on the taxis. The rest of us got on the Tube at King’s Cross (passing Platform 9 ¾) and got off at Bayswater. We took a slightly circuitous route to our hotel, Princes Square Kyriad. But once we got there, we saw that our luggage and our team were waiting for us.
We took a slight breather, then headed our again. Another member, Lara Beth, and I had to run back to the hotel and grab a couple of things and we ended up meeting the team at Buckingham Palace. We walked back up toward Trafalgar Square where the English government was preparing for the 200th anniversary of Lord Nelson’s death and they were doing some very cool stuff with the decorations around the square.
We went on up to Leicester Square, which is a place Sheryl and I didn’t get to see when we were here in 2000. We had lunch at Pizza Hut with Kinsey while the rest of the team went to a noodle bar. After that, we all Tubed over to the Tower of London, where Kinsey fell asleep, which was good since we had a late night planned. We all went ahead in anyway, since we were paying for it, but most of us didn’t stay long. Sheryl and I didn’t go to much of the things that we saw before, mainly due to Kinsey being in her stroller, but we did get to see the Crown Jewels again.
Sheryl, Kinsey, and I separated from the group at this point, since we were going to a different show than them (us to the Lion King; them to Les Miz). We took the Tube back to Trafalgar Square where we went to the Texas Embassy restaurant for supper (good old Tex-Mex). From there, we went up to the Lyceum theater to see the show.
It was spectacular. The way they did the animals was incredible with puppets and stilts and costumes. And best of all, Kinsey loved it. She watched every second and clapped at the end of every song and gave a standing ovation at the end. She was quiet while it was going one and just absolutely loved it.
After the show, we Tubed back to the Hotel and Sheryl and Kinsey went to sleep, while I went out to the lobby to wait on the rest of the group that went to see Les Miz. It’s 1:30am now and I’m giving up and going to be.
Saturday 22 October
We got into London about 9:45. At that point, four of the team got taxis to get all the luggage to the hotel, including the luggage from Michelle Irwin, the missionary who lived in Loughborough before returning the States. Michelle also apparently collected bricks and cement samples from how heavy the bags were. Kinsey and Sheryl were two of those on the taxis. The rest of us got on the Tube at King’s Cross (passing Platform 9 ¾) and got off at Bayswater. We took a slightly circuitous route to our hotel, Princes Square Kyriad. But once we got there, we saw that our luggage and our team were waiting for us.
We took a slight breather, then headed our again. Another member, Lara Beth, and I had to run back to the hotel and grab a couple of things and we ended up meeting the team at Buckingham Palace. We walked back up toward Trafalgar Square where the English government was preparing for the 200th anniversary of Lord Nelson’s death and they were doing some very cool stuff with the decorations around the square.
We went on up to Leicester Square, which is a place Sheryl and I didn’t get to see when we were here in 2000. We had lunch at Pizza Hut with Kinsey while the rest of the team went to a noodle bar. After that, we all Tubed over to the Tower of London, where Kinsey fell asleep, which was good since we had a late night planned. We all went ahead in anyway, since we were paying for it, but most of us didn’t stay long. Sheryl and I didn’t go to much of the things that we saw before, mainly due to Kinsey being in her stroller, but we did get to see the Crown Jewels again.
Sheryl, Kinsey, and I separated from the group at this point, since we were going to a different show than them (us to the Lion King; them to Les Miz). We took the Tube back to Trafalgar Square where we went to the Texas Embassy restaurant for supper (good old Tex-Mex). From there, we went up to the Lyceum theater to see the show.
It was spectacular. The way they did the animals was incredible with puppets and stilts and costumes. And best of all, Kinsey loved it. She watched every second and clapped at the end of every song and gave a standing ovation at the end. She was quiet while it was going one and just absolutely loved it.
After the show, we Tubed back to the Hotel and Sheryl and Kinsey went to sleep, while I went out to the lobby to wait on the rest of the group that went to see Les Miz. It’s 1:30am now and I’m giving up and going to be.
Saturday 22 October
Saturday, October 29, 2005
The England Journal: Thursday 20 October
A gorgeous day today. The sun was shining, the sky was mainly blue, and the countryside was amazingly beautiful. Today we drove about 90 miles northwest of Loughborough to Chatsworth, the home of the Duke and Duchess of Derbyshire.
The house itself was amazing with its paintings and sculptures. Kinsey was not on her best behavior though and like any four year old, wanted to touch a lot of things that she wasn’t supposed to. Thankfully, the house part didn’t take very long, and we got out to the grounds.
The grounds were absolutely stunning. The gardens were blooming with flowers and there were a myriad of paths to go down. We went through a coal tunnel where the servants had extracted coal from and we did a maze on the grounds that took me about 15 long minutes to get through. We imitated statues, took amazing pictures, and generally just had a lot of fun.
We’d also planned on taking Kinsey to a farmyard, but it was an extra cost, so we decided to forgo that.
When we got back to Loughborough, we prepared for another night with some of the youth. We had the huge fish and chips again, woke Kinsey up from her late nap (again), then met with everyone.
We had another blast, playing the biggest game of NERTs I’ve ever played (people running to where they could put their cards), played Mafia, then had a short devo. We said goodbye to everyone and again just were amazed at the closeness of all of us.
We got back to the Hills pretty late and had to pack for an early train tomorrow, which meant none of Norman’s stories. Kinsey fell asleep about midnight, so we’ll see how all the travel to London goes. I’m looking forward to it, but I know that I’m going to miss this town a whole bunch.
Friday 21 October
The house itself was amazing with its paintings and sculptures. Kinsey was not on her best behavior though and like any four year old, wanted to touch a lot of things that she wasn’t supposed to. Thankfully, the house part didn’t take very long, and we got out to the grounds.
The grounds were absolutely stunning. The gardens were blooming with flowers and there were a myriad of paths to go down. We went through a coal tunnel where the servants had extracted coal from and we did a maze on the grounds that took me about 15 long minutes to get through. We imitated statues, took amazing pictures, and generally just had a lot of fun.
We’d also planned on taking Kinsey to a farmyard, but it was an extra cost, so we decided to forgo that.
When we got back to Loughborough, we prepared for another night with some of the youth. We had the huge fish and chips again, woke Kinsey up from her late nap (again), then met with everyone.
We had another blast, playing the biggest game of NERTs I’ve ever played (people running to where they could put their cards), played Mafia, then had a short devo. We said goodbye to everyone and again just were amazed at the closeness of all of us.
We got back to the Hills pretty late and had to pack for an early train tomorrow, which meant none of Norman’s stories. Kinsey fell asleep about midnight, so we’ll see how all the travel to London goes. I’m looking forward to it, but I know that I’m going to miss this town a whole bunch.
Friday 21 October
Friday, October 28, 2005
The England Journal: Wednesday 19 October
Well, first off, Kinsey’s fever was gone this morning which was fantastic. The night’s sleep did her a lot of good.
This was the last day of the HBC and it went great of course. A couple of the kids didn’t come back because they went away on holiday, but we had a great group still. We did all the fun songs and played a few more games and just had a whole bunch of fun.
After the HBC, many of us worked around the church for a while helping organize a lot of the cabinets and supplies in the back of it. I actually ended up at Marks’ place for a while to download some pictures to a disc so that I had plenty of room on the memory cards were Chatsworth and London.
Others went to a senior center and entertained them and got entertained. They all said that they had a blast.
After we got done, we ate and then got ready for the church meeting that night. There were about 40 people at the service, including us, and I did my talk that I had planned for Sunday and just adjusted it for a discussion time. I thought it went really well and got several compliments from people, which was nice.
At the end of the service, Mark gave all of us historical picture books about Loughborough and thanked us for the work that we’d done this week, and we ended the night with some really good fellowship and amazement at how close we’d grown with this congregation in just 4 days.
However, Kinsey fell asleep at 6pm again and woke up at 8, which meant that she didn’t fall back asleep until 1am again. She still seems to be on Nashville time somewhat and I’m really scared she’s only going to be on England time when we get back home.
Thursday 20 October
This was the last day of the HBC and it went great of course. A couple of the kids didn’t come back because they went away on holiday, but we had a great group still. We did all the fun songs and played a few more games and just had a whole bunch of fun.
After the HBC, many of us worked around the church for a while helping organize a lot of the cabinets and supplies in the back of it. I actually ended up at Marks’ place for a while to download some pictures to a disc so that I had plenty of room on the memory cards were Chatsworth and London.
Others went to a senior center and entertained them and got entertained. They all said that they had a blast.
After we got done, we ate and then got ready for the church meeting that night. There were about 40 people at the service, including us, and I did my talk that I had planned for Sunday and just adjusted it for a discussion time. I thought it went really well and got several compliments from people, which was nice.
At the end of the service, Mark gave all of us historical picture books about Loughborough and thanked us for the work that we’d done this week, and we ended the night with some really good fellowship and amazement at how close we’d grown with this congregation in just 4 days.
However, Kinsey fell asleep at 6pm again and woke up at 8, which meant that she didn’t fall back asleep until 1am again. She still seems to be on Nashville time somewhat and I’m really scared she’s only going to be on England time when we get back home.
Thursday 20 October
Thursday, October 27, 2005
The England Journal: Tuesday 18 October
Today was another tough/good day. Kinsey woke up with a fever again and a very wet (or chesty, as the English say) cough. We gave her some Tylenol and then Sudafed and she fell asleep very quickly and slept for almost two hours. We think it was the medicine cocktail.
At HBC today, I played Gideon in a skit with Dan Norton and Amanda Vick, the Banana Kids (Rotten and Ripe, respectively). It was a lot of fun and we’ve heard some great stories about how much fun the kids are having, as well as seeing it first hand from the. I’m kind of sorry that tomorrow is the last day.
After HBC, Mark took us to see some sites around Loughborough. We went to Mount Saint Bernard Abbey, just outside of Loughborough. We got some really great shots of the church and the area around it, including a really nice walk called the Calvary walk. Although Mark apologized for the lack of sun and blue sky, Sheryl and I found it a quintessentially English day.
From there, we went to Bradgate Park, where the ruins of the house that Lady Jane Grey lived in. It’s another beautiful countryside area and we got another slew of great pictures (I’ll have to buy another memory card tomorrow).
We ate supper back at the church and then did the young adult meeting. We did some icebreaker games and then Dan gave us some spiritual chewing gum about life and the lack of promise for ease in life. It led to some great discussion and thoughts from both the Brits and Americans. Then we hung out some more with the gang and I got brought back to Norman and Brenda’s.
Kinsey still has a fever, but we’re not giving here anything tonight in the hopes that it breaks finally. Tomorrow, the last day of the HBC and the Wednesday night meeting.
Wednesday 19 October
At HBC today, I played Gideon in a skit with Dan Norton and Amanda Vick, the Banana Kids (Rotten and Ripe, respectively). It was a lot of fun and we’ve heard some great stories about how much fun the kids are having, as well as seeing it first hand from the. I’m kind of sorry that tomorrow is the last day.
After HBC, Mark took us to see some sites around Loughborough. We went to Mount Saint Bernard Abbey, just outside of Loughborough. We got some really great shots of the church and the area around it, including a really nice walk called the Calvary walk. Although Mark apologized for the lack of sun and blue sky, Sheryl and I found it a quintessentially English day.
From there, we went to Bradgate Park, where the ruins of the house that Lady Jane Grey lived in. It’s another beautiful countryside area and we got another slew of great pictures (I’ll have to buy another memory card tomorrow).
We ate supper back at the church and then did the young adult meeting. We did some icebreaker games and then Dan gave us some spiritual chewing gum about life and the lack of promise for ease in life. It led to some great discussion and thoughts from both the Brits and Americans. Then we hung out some more with the gang and I got brought back to Norman and Brenda’s.
Kinsey still has a fever, but we’re not giving here anything tonight in the hopes that it breaks finally. Tomorrow, the last day of the HBC and the Wednesday night meeting.
Wednesday 19 October
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
The England Journal: Monday 17 October
Last night didn’t end up very easy. After Kinsey went down, she didn’t fall asleep until 1:30am, probably because she fell asleep at 6pm at church and woke up at 8. I’m afraid her body is still adapting to England time. She also woke up with a slight fever, but we gave her some Tylenol and she was fine of the rest of the day.
This was also the first day of the HBC, and it went very well. We had 18 kids and they all had a blast. I noticed one girl that hadn’t been at church, so that was nice. The kids did really well and we really liked talking to them, singing songs like C-O-C-O-N-U-T (just don’t reverse the song…) and the Hippo song and telling the story of Noah.
After the HBC, we had lunch until 1:30, then had afternoon tea with some of the older members of the congregation (and with all the eating today, I understood what the Hobbits were talking about with “Elevensies” and “Second Breakfast”). We also did a trivia game with them and it was a lot of fun. From 4 to 5:30, I wandered around Loughborough for a bit looking for an electrical travel adapter and a couple of other things. I came back for dinner and then went to Mark Hill’s house for some guys’ time together with a few of the young adults. We laughed a lot and told some jokes.
I came back to Norman and Brenda’s house where Sheryl put Kinsey down and then we listened to Norman tell more stories. He quite literally has a million of them, and they’re all hysterical.
Tomorrow for more HBC.
Tuesday 18 October
This was also the first day of the HBC, and it went very well. We had 18 kids and they all had a blast. I noticed one girl that hadn’t been at church, so that was nice. The kids did really well and we really liked talking to them, singing songs like C-O-C-O-N-U-T (just don’t reverse the song…) and the Hippo song and telling the story of Noah.
After the HBC, we had lunch until 1:30, then had afternoon tea with some of the older members of the congregation (and with all the eating today, I understood what the Hobbits were talking about with “Elevensies” and “Second Breakfast”). We also did a trivia game with them and it was a lot of fun. From 4 to 5:30, I wandered around Loughborough for a bit looking for an electrical travel adapter and a couple of other things. I came back for dinner and then went to Mark Hill’s house for some guys’ time together with a few of the young adults. We laughed a lot and told some jokes.
I came back to Norman and Brenda’s house where Sheryl put Kinsey down and then we listened to Norman tell more stories. He quite literally has a million of them, and they’re all hysterical.
Tomorrow for more HBC.
Tuesday 18 October
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
The England Journal: Sunday 16 October
Another very full day. We got off the church at about 9:45, which is late for my family’s usual leaving-for-church time of 7:10. We went to the Bible class taught by Paul Hill, Mark’s cousin. He was very entertaining and he had some interesting thoughts. Tony Saunders spoke at the worship service and I liked what he had to say about Priorities and was sorry to hear about the death of his 20-year-old grandson who died on Thursday of cancer.
We had a meal in the building behind the church for lunch and after that sat down to plan the HBC. Several of us then made a run to Sainsbury’s (a supermarket) for supplies and then to Woolworth’s, which I didn’t know still existed. We came back and did some painting for the HBC backdrop. We came back out to the auditorium for the evening service, then had snacks, and finally, Chinese for dinner. My family went back to Mr. and Mrs. Hill’s house where he and I forced Sheryl and Mrs. Hill to watch football highlights. Norman told some great stories and now we’re off to bed.
Monday 17 October
We had a meal in the building behind the church for lunch and after that sat down to plan the HBC. Several of us then made a run to Sainsbury’s (a supermarket) for supplies and then to Woolworth’s, which I didn’t know still existed. We came back and did some painting for the HBC backdrop. We came back out to the auditorium for the evening service, then had snacks, and finally, Chinese for dinner. My family went back to Mr. and Mrs. Hill’s house where he and I forced Sheryl and Mrs. Hill to watch football highlights. Norman told some great stories and now we’re off to bed.
Monday 17 October
Monday, October 24, 2005
The England Journal: Saturday 15 October
Well, the trip was a really good one. First off, it was the first mission trip for my entire family: me, Sheryl, and Kinsey. Secondly, it was to England. More on that on another day perhaps...
Anyway, here's the journal starting from the Saturday...
Saturday 15 October
This was a pretty difficult day travelwise. We left Nashville at 2:30 pm on Friday and got to Chicago at about 4. After our layover, we took off at 6:30. I had a great flight myself. Apparently slept for 5 hours and halfway through Batman Begins. Kinsey slept for about 4 and Sheryl for almost 1. She did not have a good flight at all. But we landed at 8 am at Heathrow.
Travelling through Heathrow wasn’t very fun either, trying to drag our stroller and bags and the rest of our stuff, plus simply traveling with 11 people at varying speeds. We got through customs and onto the Heathrow Express pretty well. From there, it was a quick walk over to St. Pancras station, then a fast run to the 10:30 train for Loughborough, which we got to just in time. We had to spread out over a lot of the train and find little holes to put our luggage. Both Kinsey and Sheryl fell asleep and I worked on my sermon.
It took us about 90 minutes to get to Loughborough and get picked up by Mark Hill, the paid minister at the Loughborough church. He took us to the building itself (built in 1889 for 500 pounds). We dropped some of our stuff off and went out on the town for a bit. There was a fair going on so we wandered around that and ate lunch at a little Italian place.
After lunch, we wandered around the town some more: walking through Queen’s Park, seeing the parish church of Loughborough and I even got a Chelsea Football Club jersey for 25 pounds. We went back to the church to pick up our stuff, and then went to Mark’s place to plan for the week.
It was there that I learned that I wasn’t actually preaching on Sunday, something I’d been really looking forward to. There had been some miscommunication and there was another preacher scheduled to come in. I was obviously disappointed, but it seems like a good opportunity to learn some well-deserved humility.
We talked about the rest of the week and then went out and got some fish and chips for supper. Holy cow, their fish are huge. You have to hold the whole thing in both hands and they don’t skimp on the chips either. As a result I think the six of us left at Mark’s house went through a couple of bottles of ketchup.
After supper, Mark took me, Sheryl, and Kinsey to his parents’ house where we’re staying (although they don’t get here until tomorrow). I ended up watching some football highlights while Sheryl got ready for bed. And now to bed, where we’ll quickly collapse.
Sunday 16 October
Anyway, here's the journal starting from the Saturday...
Saturday 15 October
This was a pretty difficult day travelwise. We left Nashville at 2:30 pm on Friday and got to Chicago at about 4. After our layover, we took off at 6:30. I had a great flight myself. Apparently slept for 5 hours and halfway through Batman Begins. Kinsey slept for about 4 and Sheryl for almost 1. She did not have a good flight at all. But we landed at 8 am at Heathrow.
Travelling through Heathrow wasn’t very fun either, trying to drag our stroller and bags and the rest of our stuff, plus simply traveling with 11 people at varying speeds. We got through customs and onto the Heathrow Express pretty well. From there, it was a quick walk over to St. Pancras station, then a fast run to the 10:30 train for Loughborough, which we got to just in time. We had to spread out over a lot of the train and find little holes to put our luggage. Both Kinsey and Sheryl fell asleep and I worked on my sermon.
It took us about 90 minutes to get to Loughborough and get picked up by Mark Hill, the paid minister at the Loughborough church. He took us to the building itself (built in 1889 for 500 pounds). We dropped some of our stuff off and went out on the town for a bit. There was a fair going on so we wandered around that and ate lunch at a little Italian place.
After lunch, we wandered around the town some more: walking through Queen’s Park, seeing the parish church of Loughborough and I even got a Chelsea Football Club jersey for 25 pounds. We went back to the church to pick up our stuff, and then went to Mark’s place to plan for the week.
It was there that I learned that I wasn’t actually preaching on Sunday, something I’d been really looking forward to. There had been some miscommunication and there was another preacher scheduled to come in. I was obviously disappointed, but it seems like a good opportunity to learn some well-deserved humility.
We talked about the rest of the week and then went out and got some fish and chips for supper. Holy cow, their fish are huge. You have to hold the whole thing in both hands and they don’t skimp on the chips either. As a result I think the six of us left at Mark’s house went through a couple of bottles of ketchup.
After supper, Mark took me, Sheryl, and Kinsey to his parents’ house where we’re staying (although they don’t get here until tomorrow). I ended up watching some football highlights while Sheryl got ready for bed. And now to bed, where we’ll quickly collapse.
Sunday 16 October
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Home
Thanks for all the words of prayer and support. It was a great trip and I can't wait to type up my journal for all of you.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Getting Better
Thanks for all the prayers, gang.
She went "home" early last night and ended up sleeping for about 11 hours. She had a fever when she went down and a smidge of one this morning. We didn't give her anything and by the time HBC was over, she was all better.
This afternoon, she's back to being her normal bossy self. So thanks again for the thoughts and prayers.
I am keeping a journal of the days and I'll post that when I get back.
Thanks again.
She went "home" early last night and ended up sleeping for about 11 hours. She had a fever when she went down and a smidge of one this morning. We didn't give her anything and by the time HBC was over, she was all better.
This afternoon, she's back to being her normal bossy self. So thanks again for the thoughts and prayers.
I am keeping a journal of the days and I'll post that when I get back.
Thanks again.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Kinsey's sick
Hey y'all.
Kinsey's come down with a fever each of the last two nights and today's lasted longer than Monday's. Please pray that she gets over it quickly. She's tough enough now just going to the church. I can't imagine trying to get around London with her in this condition.
Thanks.
Kinsey's come down with a fever each of the last two nights and today's lasted longer than Monday's. Please pray that she gets over it quickly. She's tough enough now just going to the church. I can't imagine trying to get around London with her in this condition.
Thanks.
Monday, October 17, 2005
From Loughborough
Hi all. Greetings from here in England.
Had the first day of the HBC today and it went very well. Had a lot of fun with the kids. Didn't do my sermon yesterday, but that's a story for when I get back.
Thanks for the prayers and I look forward to sharing the stories when I get back.
Had the first day of the HBC today and it went very well. Had a lot of fun with the kids. Didn't do my sermon yesterday, but that's a story for when I get back.
Thanks for the prayers and I look forward to sharing the stories when I get back.
Friday, October 14, 2005
Off Across the Pond
Well, here we go again. For the second time in my life, I'm headed to England with my wife and now with my 4 year old daughter as well. Twelve hours from now, we'll be at the airport getting ready for our 2 hour wait until we get on the plane. We're looking forward to spending some time there with the people of Loughborough and ministering to them and getting ministered to by them.
I probably won't blog while I'm there, but when I get back, I'll post the journal that I'll keep while we're there. Pray for us while we're there to maintain our energy. Pray that Kinsey is well behaved. Pray for me that I'll get my sermon for Sunday written before jetlag sets in.
Thanks to all of you and we'll talk when we get back.
I probably won't blog while I'm there, but when I get back, I'll post the journal that I'll keep while we're there. Pray for us while we're there to maintain our energy. Pray that Kinsey is well behaved. Pray for me that I'll get my sermon for Sunday written before jetlag sets in.
Thanks to all of you and we'll talk when we get back.
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