An eight person team (comprised mainly of college-aged students and twenty-somethings) went to Cardiff, Wales for an eight day mission designed to:
1) Train the team in certain evangelism techniques specially designed for Western Europe,
2) Enable the team to interact with the people of Cardiff, sharing cultural experiences, and
3) Encourage the team to dialogue with Non-Christians about the Christian faith.
One team (Dustin Loehrs, Jessica Clark, Jamie Howell, and Nate Byford) focused upon students at Cardiff University and the other team (Allen & Deedee Rice, Jonathon Wyckoff, and Zack Deck) focused upon the richly international "City Road" district. Both groups were able to share Christian truth to a number of people who were surprisingly approachable given the traditionally rocky soil for Evangelism in Western Europe. The trip was a "maiden voyage" for at least one return trip in late June 2009 and perhaps many more to follow. All eight team members judged the trip to be a great success, filled as it was with real cultural and spiritual growth.
Allen Rice
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Day Six (March 20, 2009)
Today was just different. We worshipped in a different way -- not by Dustin playing guitar and leading us in worship singing, but by all of us drinking hot beverages at a two-story Starbucks. We were locked out of the Tredegarville Church, so Troy took us to one of his favorite places of alternate church. I must admit, the flavor was better than in traditional worship. Troy led us in our last lesson -- this one on "Local-Global" Agriculture. The teaching was as rich and sweet as my Chai Latte. While in the Starbucks, the group met David, a local Christian associated with Calvary Chapel who encouaged them and exchanged e-mail addresses with them.
After an hour, Troy left to go perform a funeral, and the team hit Cardiff City Centre for some lunch and shopping. Many of us bought Welsh flags, mugs, etc., and Jonathon bought a very creative hat. You might say it was a daffy, dilly of a hat. Allen forced us all to have some Welsh cakes, which most people seemed to think were tasteless and mediocre at best (though Jaime pretended graciously to enjoy them). Then the team split up and went their different ways.
Allen and Deedee walked a great distance so Deedee could see the old grand church which had been turned into a supermarket. They imagined it being re-activated into a church and how that would effect the three nearby communities. Along the way, they practiced Prayer Walking/Plowing for Dummies.
Nate, Jaime, Zack, and Jonathon got to have a conversation with an advocate of Hare Krishna. He kind of preached to them without letting them get much time to respond, and when he found out they were Christians and were warming up to give him as good as he gave, he pretended to get a call on his cell phone and fled. Jonathon and Zack met a Moslem man who invited them into his home for a bit of tea. They engaged in a good conversation before they had to go. Jaime met a new Christian friend at coffee shop and they hoped to meet again if Jaime returns in June.
Dustin and Jessica had a spiritual conversation with a Moslem taxi driver who was a captive audience.
We all met back at the Etap Hotel at 6:30 p.m. and had our last debriefing. We gave Troy a thank you card for his leadership and his kindness to us and he expressed his warm appreciation to the team. Then Allen and Deedee ordered a pizza delivered to their room so they could crash after a long week of moving too fast, while the rest of the team ventured out into the night with Troy.
Zack went to give his presentation on Aerospace Engineering to the British version of the ROTC. The rest of the team went to meet their Malasian friend Devon for a meal and an evening together.
Much later in the evening, many team members plan to go out and help distribute 6000 bottles of water to club goers in need of hydration -- and spiritual conversation. They will no doubt stay up too late as young people tend to do.
But tomorrow we leave the Etap Hotel at 10:00 a.m. to take a tour of Caerphilly Castle and Stonehenge, and to head to the Bristol Hotel for a brief sleep before we arise too early Sunday morning for a long series of flights back to Oklahoma.
Troy made each of us answer two questions:
1) What did you take away from the week, and
2) What will you tell your friends and family about this tour?
The answers varied widely, but the net effect is that everyone felt that their worldview had changed -- their view of seeking God intensely for every minute of every day, their view of Evangelism as a daily life practice they can take back to their own worlds, and their view of each other as this integral interrelated pieces of a whole greater than the sum of its parts.
May we as a church one day impact Wales the way Wales has already impacted us.
Allen
After an hour, Troy left to go perform a funeral, and the team hit Cardiff City Centre for some lunch and shopping. Many of us bought Welsh flags, mugs, etc., and Jonathon bought a very creative hat. You might say it was a daffy, dilly of a hat. Allen forced us all to have some Welsh cakes, which most people seemed to think were tasteless and mediocre at best (though Jaime pretended graciously to enjoy them). Then the team split up and went their different ways.
Allen and Deedee walked a great distance so Deedee could see the old grand church which had been turned into a supermarket. They imagined it being re-activated into a church and how that would effect the three nearby communities. Along the way, they practiced Prayer Walking/Plowing for Dummies.
Nate, Jaime, Zack, and Jonathon got to have a conversation with an advocate of Hare Krishna. He kind of preached to them without letting them get much time to respond, and when he found out they were Christians and were warming up to give him as good as he gave, he pretended to get a call on his cell phone and fled. Jonathon and Zack met a Moslem man who invited them into his home for a bit of tea. They engaged in a good conversation before they had to go. Jaime met a new Christian friend at coffee shop and they hoped to meet again if Jaime returns in June.
Dustin and Jessica had a spiritual conversation with a Moslem taxi driver who was a captive audience.
We all met back at the Etap Hotel at 6:30 p.m. and had our last debriefing. We gave Troy a thank you card for his leadership and his kindness to us and he expressed his warm appreciation to the team. Then Allen and Deedee ordered a pizza delivered to their room so they could crash after a long week of moving too fast, while the rest of the team ventured out into the night with Troy.
Zack went to give his presentation on Aerospace Engineering to the British version of the ROTC. The rest of the team went to meet their Malasian friend Devon for a meal and an evening together.
Much later in the evening, many team members plan to go out and help distribute 6000 bottles of water to club goers in need of hydration -- and spiritual conversation. They will no doubt stay up too late as young people tend to do.
But tomorrow we leave the Etap Hotel at 10:00 a.m. to take a tour of Caerphilly Castle and Stonehenge, and to head to the Bristol Hotel for a brief sleep before we arise too early Sunday morning for a long series of flights back to Oklahoma.
Troy made each of us answer two questions:
1) What did you take away from the week, and
2) What will you tell your friends and family about this tour?
The answers varied widely, but the net effect is that everyone felt that their worldview had changed -- their view of seeking God intensely for every minute of every day, their view of Evangelism as a daily life practice they can take back to their own worlds, and their view of each other as this integral interrelated pieces of a whole greater than the sum of its parts.
May we as a church one day impact Wales the way Wales has already impacted us.
Allen
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Day Five (March 19, 2009)
Day Five, March 19th, began with the team meeting at 10:00 a.m. and debriefing about what happened yesterday. Our time of worship and teaching followed. Troy taught us the 4th part of the series: after Plowing, Sowing, and Reaping, comes "Vintaging." Our team did not seem as fatigued today.
Everyone except Deedee went to a Kurdish Restaurant and had a meal that was both great and large. Then we went our various ways to our chosen fields.
The City Road Team (Allen, Deedee, Jonathon, and Zack) went three different ways. Deedee skipped lunch with the team and met again with her ladies in the Tredegarville Church. Her Zimbabwe friend was so happy to see her that she hugged Deedee and wept. Deedee seems to have formed one of the deepest, most intimate friendships so far. Deedee was helping to move around some chairs and did not get to say farewell to her friend as she left which grieves Deedee, since they are not scheduled to meet again.
Jonathon, Zack, and Allen hung out with the international mix of young men in the church basement who meet every Tuesday and Thursday from 1:00 to 4:00 to play pool and ping pong. Jonathon and Zack spent time with a young man (from Africa, I think -- Nigeria?) at the piano. Jonathon also got to talk with some men waiting to play pool. Then they left and went back to the park on the far north of the City Road district. To their surprise, no one was there -- anywhere --on the park benches.
Allen stayed, trying to develop deeper relationships with several new Muslim friends from many different countries whom he has met in the Tredegarville Church basement -- guys he calls his "Basement Boys." His goal was to get them to talk about Islam and, hopefully, Christianity. In order to do so, he felt he had to at least try to play some ping pong with them, which he had avoided like the plague the first day. Allen has played ping pong once since the 1960's. These guys play for several hours twice a week. Allen gave it a try and was able to win the first game (thus controlling the table), and he came close to beating his first challenger in the second game. This qualified him to continue talking with some of the men. He was delighted to talk with one young man named Malik from the Sudan (who sounded exactly like Will Smith) about the political and religious troubles in Darfur. Even better, he got to talk to Hussein, the young Somali who had seemed a bit antagonistic toward Christianity two days earlier, and to whom Allen had explained the God and Human nature of Jesus Christ. Allen borrowed a technique Troy taught us and asked Hussein to explain Islam. Along the way, he also got Hussein to explain Jesus's role in the Koran. This caused a discussion, mainly articulated by Hussein with occasional tips from Allen, on how Christians view Jesus -- that he was God who died on the cross and rose again from the dead. Just when Allen was about to explore the Plan of Salvation with more clarity, Hussein was interrupted and left with the interrupter for a smoke break. Allen was deeply frustrated how close he came to really planting the seed of the gospel, but had to remind himself that he is only here to do what God specifically wants him to do -- no more, no less. Still, Allen (at an emotional level) remains greedy of Hussein's soul and of all the "Basement Boys." He wishes he had more time with them -- like every day!
The University Group (Dustin, Jessica, Jaime, and Nate) went back to the Welsh pub they had such success at previously. This time, there was no real connection with the patrons there. They did, however, connect with the waiter who they suspect they were there to minister to. Dustin thanked the man and gave him his first ever tip, even though he has worked at the place for quite awhile. The man was amazed and touched. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Later, the group linked up at a pub with Eva, a Polish lady that they had met at the university a day or two earlier. Jaime and Jessica stayed quite awhile with her. Meanwhile, Dustin and Nate hurried back to the Etap Hotel for the evening's debriefing.
Forming a Friendship with Rhiwbina Baptist Church
After the debriefing, Allen, Dustin, Deedee, Troy, and later, Jaime, met with an elder from Rhiwbina Baptist Church with whom Troy, Dustin, and Allen had met in December. His name is Alan and he brought with him his lovely wife. None of the other elders could make the meeting, which is sad, but Allen was somewhat relieved because he feels a deep friendship for Alan (even though they have just met twice before) and with Alan being the only representative from his elder board, the meeting quickly became a light-hearted, relaxed, "just us friends" kind of event.
The Welsh Alan again offered for the American Allen to preach and Dustin to lead the worship service, either on Sunday June 28th or Sunday July 5th -- to be determined later. The Welsh Alan also asked the American Alan to speak with perhaps 30 Welsh churchmen about Henderson Hills' experience of growing from 300-400 to 3000 attendance in only about 16 years. The American Allen wants the Welsh Alan and the other Welsh elders to discuss with him and Dustin their largely successful (and by American standards remarkable) experiences in church planting. This could help HHBC in fostering its Stillwater campus.
All in all, the time with the Welsh Elder Alan was encouraging and delightful as always. His lovely wife was even more of a marvel, because of her heroism and faith in battling through some difficult times at present, and because of her stunning testimony about how she and Alan came to the faith.
So What is Coming Up for Tomorrow? The University team gets to meet with Devon, their Malaysian friend who is taking tomorrow off from work and will host them on a tour all day. Allen is going to be looking for his "Basement Boys" at the nearby Tertiary College where some of them go to school. Jonathon and Zack are probably going meet again with their African shop owner who they have gotten so close to that they have helped him move his merchadise to a storage area behind his shop as a random act of kindness. Zack is also going to give a lecture to the local chapter of the British equivalent of our ROTC on the topic or Aerospace as a university major and a career. And many of us may join a local ministry which hands out 6000 bottles of water to people who are leaving clubs, bars, and pubs late at night. They might need the hydration -- if you know what I mean -- but the ministry provides an opportunity to explain the random act of kindness in the context of Christian Agape Love.
So where do we stand in general as we are coming to the end of our mission here in Cardiff? I think for many of the team the more relevant question is this: How soon can we come back?
Allen
Everyone except Deedee went to a Kurdish Restaurant and had a meal that was both great and large. Then we went our various ways to our chosen fields.
The City Road Team (Allen, Deedee, Jonathon, and Zack) went three different ways. Deedee skipped lunch with the team and met again with her ladies in the Tredegarville Church. Her Zimbabwe friend was so happy to see her that she hugged Deedee and wept. Deedee seems to have formed one of the deepest, most intimate friendships so far. Deedee was helping to move around some chairs and did not get to say farewell to her friend as she left which grieves Deedee, since they are not scheduled to meet again.
Jonathon, Zack, and Allen hung out with the international mix of young men in the church basement who meet every Tuesday and Thursday from 1:00 to 4:00 to play pool and ping pong. Jonathon and Zack spent time with a young man (from Africa, I think -- Nigeria?) at the piano. Jonathon also got to talk with some men waiting to play pool. Then they left and went back to the park on the far north of the City Road district. To their surprise, no one was there -- anywhere --on the park benches.
Allen stayed, trying to develop deeper relationships with several new Muslim friends from many different countries whom he has met in the Tredegarville Church basement -- guys he calls his "Basement Boys." His goal was to get them to talk about Islam and, hopefully, Christianity. In order to do so, he felt he had to at least try to play some ping pong with them, which he had avoided like the plague the first day. Allen has played ping pong once since the 1960's. These guys play for several hours twice a week. Allen gave it a try and was able to win the first game (thus controlling the table), and he came close to beating his first challenger in the second game. This qualified him to continue talking with some of the men. He was delighted to talk with one young man named Malik from the Sudan (who sounded exactly like Will Smith) about the political and religious troubles in Darfur. Even better, he got to talk to Hussein, the young Somali who had seemed a bit antagonistic toward Christianity two days earlier, and to whom Allen had explained the God and Human nature of Jesus Christ. Allen borrowed a technique Troy taught us and asked Hussein to explain Islam. Along the way, he also got Hussein to explain Jesus's role in the Koran. This caused a discussion, mainly articulated by Hussein with occasional tips from Allen, on how Christians view Jesus -- that he was God who died on the cross and rose again from the dead. Just when Allen was about to explore the Plan of Salvation with more clarity, Hussein was interrupted and left with the interrupter for a smoke break. Allen was deeply frustrated how close he came to really planting the seed of the gospel, but had to remind himself that he is only here to do what God specifically wants him to do -- no more, no less. Still, Allen (at an emotional level) remains greedy of Hussein's soul and of all the "Basement Boys." He wishes he had more time with them -- like every day!
The University Group (Dustin, Jessica, Jaime, and Nate) went back to the Welsh pub they had such success at previously. This time, there was no real connection with the patrons there. They did, however, connect with the waiter who they suspect they were there to minister to. Dustin thanked the man and gave him his first ever tip, even though he has worked at the place for quite awhile. The man was amazed and touched. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Later, the group linked up at a pub with Eva, a Polish lady that they had met at the university a day or two earlier. Jaime and Jessica stayed quite awhile with her. Meanwhile, Dustin and Nate hurried back to the Etap Hotel for the evening's debriefing.
Forming a Friendship with Rhiwbina Baptist Church
After the debriefing, Allen, Dustin, Deedee, Troy, and later, Jaime, met with an elder from Rhiwbina Baptist Church with whom Troy, Dustin, and Allen had met in December. His name is Alan and he brought with him his lovely wife. None of the other elders could make the meeting, which is sad, but Allen was somewhat relieved because he feels a deep friendship for Alan (even though they have just met twice before) and with Alan being the only representative from his elder board, the meeting quickly became a light-hearted, relaxed, "just us friends" kind of event.
The Welsh Alan again offered for the American Allen to preach and Dustin to lead the worship service, either on Sunday June 28th or Sunday July 5th -- to be determined later. The Welsh Alan also asked the American Alan to speak with perhaps 30 Welsh churchmen about Henderson Hills' experience of growing from 300-400 to 3000 attendance in only about 16 years. The American Allen wants the Welsh Alan and the other Welsh elders to discuss with him and Dustin their largely successful (and by American standards remarkable) experiences in church planting. This could help HHBC in fostering its Stillwater campus.
All in all, the time with the Welsh Elder Alan was encouraging and delightful as always. His lovely wife was even more of a marvel, because of her heroism and faith in battling through some difficult times at present, and because of her stunning testimony about how she and Alan came to the faith.
So What is Coming Up for Tomorrow? The University team gets to meet with Devon, their Malaysian friend who is taking tomorrow off from work and will host them on a tour all day. Allen is going to be looking for his "Basement Boys" at the nearby Tertiary College where some of them go to school. Jonathon and Zack are probably going meet again with their African shop owner who they have gotten so close to that they have helped him move his merchadise to a storage area behind his shop as a random act of kindness. Zack is also going to give a lecture to the local chapter of the British equivalent of our ROTC on the topic or Aerospace as a university major and a career. And many of us may join a local ministry which hands out 6000 bottles of water to people who are leaving clubs, bars, and pubs late at night. They might need the hydration -- if you know what I mean -- but the ministry provides an opportunity to explain the random act of kindness in the context of Christian Agape Love.
So where do we stand in general as we are coming to the end of our mission here in Cardiff? I think for many of the team the more relevant question is this: How soon can we come back?
Allen
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Day Four (March 18, 2009)
Day Four was the best yet for most of the team. The day started as usual with Dustin leading us in worship and Troy teaching us a lesson in the series -- this one on "Reaping" what has been Plowed and Sowed. The team was quieter and more subdued, partly from our growing sense of fatigue. Still, Troy's teaching was insightful as always and the team eventually woke up enough to have some excellent responses from almost everyone.
Troy let us go each group to its own way and he left to pray for us. Then it was up to each group:
The University Group (Dustin, Jessica, Jaime, and Nate) went to an English pub near the campus and immediately struck up a conversation with a man in his early twenties standing in line behind them. His name was Devon (pronounced like "Steven") and he was from Malaysia. Devon's friends joined the group and great discussion ensued. Devon's friends left and Devon stayed with our group. All four members of the group saw a number of opportunities to bring up spiritual issues, but all four felt in their spirits that the time was not right yet. Nevertheless they spent the whole day with him and he asked to see them again -- he has Friday off and wants to give them a grand tour of Cardiff. This is the deepest friendship and strongest connection that any of us have made so far. The team was greatly encouraged after a couple of days of less fruitful attempts at connection. Jessica was especially encouraged, saying that each day was getting better and better. Nate wondered aloud if he could come back here again on mission in late June/early July.
The City Road Group (Allen, Deedee, Jonathon, and Zack) had lunch together at an Arabian restaurant named "Sahara" in an Arabian tent in the back of the building. They ate lunch sitting on a long but amazingly comfortable divan as all the other patrons around them smoked from hookahs. Pretty exotic. After lunch, the group went three different directions.
Jonathon and Zack walked about four miles over to a park at the far end of the City Road district and had long conversations with two different men. The first was a World War II veteran who was an admitted "Humanist, Socialist, Agnostic." They engaged in a spiritual conversation with him, including getting his opinion of why Christianity has dwindled to such a great degree in Britain in his lifetime. The second man they talked to was a Muslim man who not only has been to the U.S., but specifically mentioned (without being asked) that the main place he has been is Edmond, Oklahoma! Divine Appointments indeed.
Later, Jonathon and Zack went back to the Tredegarville Church and jammed for about 30 minutes with two other men, one of whom they had met the day before.
Deedee went back to the Tredegarville Church after lunch and again spent time with the ladies. Today was special for her because she got to meet again with Zimbabwe lady who had wept the day before recounting her immigration horrors and as an added bonus, Deedee got to meet with the lady's daughter! Deedee was so delighted the rest of the day seemed anti-climactic -- especially since she joined Allen after 3:00 p.m. (a little joke).
Allen had a lighter day than the climactic peak of the previous day, but it was probably a good thing since he did not seem to be firing on all his cylinders anyway. He did get to make two new friends at AJ's Coffee Cafe, including Katherine, a Welsh lady who is a returning student at the Tertiary College across the street, majoring in Accounting. She has an Italian husband and is learning the language in order to get to know her in-laws better. Allen teased her that she, a Brit, was addicted to coffee, and Allen, an American, is addicted to tea. Allen introduced Katherine to Deedee and the three chatted pleasantly. The three agreed to spend time with each other again if they ran across each other in the next couple of days. Allen's other new friend is James Lee, the surprisingly young owner of AJ's. He spent twenty minutes or so with Allen, teaching him more Welsh, and referring him to Mimosa, a great Welsh restaurant in the Cardiff Bay area the Team was going to that night.
The Whole Team met back at the Etap Hotel and left at 5:45 p.m., taking a couple of taxis to the fashionable Cardiff Bay area. Troy had decided to let the team postpone their normal evening debriefing until 9:30 a.m. the next morning. Instead the group decided to go to a musical entitled Mary Poppins. Jaime had first expressed interest in this, but it was Zack who had gallantly pursued the idea, even doing web research to determine costs and showtimes. The group tried to go to the Welsh restaurant Allen had heard about, Mimosa, but were ejected because they did not have a reservation. So they went to an excellent Italian restaurant nearby. When the meal was over the group only had ten minutes to flee the 2-3 blocks to the theater house. They fled as Allen paid the tab, took a taxi back to the hotel, and composed this daily report. I thank God that this duty has set me free from two hours of a live musical production.
All in all, the team is more and more filled with confidence, and more importantly, a sense of God's direction. We are more united as a team and more open to approaching strangers in ways that seem graceful, natural, and loving. Everyone keeps talking more about what God is showing them about themselves, how He is growing them up, than they are about their mission contacts with the people of Cardiff, which is itself going surprisingly well.
We are looking forward to what the next two days bring to us, especially as we pursue contacts we have already made with people -- Deedee's Zimbabwe lady friend, The University Group's Malaysian friend, Devon, and Allen's church basement boys, for example. Keep praying for us. We are all undergoing deep spiritual strain, but we are praying that the muscle development will be worth it, not to mention the value of the heavy lifting itself.
Allen
Troy let us go each group to its own way and he left to pray for us. Then it was up to each group:
The University Group (Dustin, Jessica, Jaime, and Nate) went to an English pub near the campus and immediately struck up a conversation with a man in his early twenties standing in line behind them. His name was Devon (pronounced like "Steven") and he was from Malaysia. Devon's friends joined the group and great discussion ensued. Devon's friends left and Devon stayed with our group. All four members of the group saw a number of opportunities to bring up spiritual issues, but all four felt in their spirits that the time was not right yet. Nevertheless they spent the whole day with him and he asked to see them again -- he has Friday off and wants to give them a grand tour of Cardiff. This is the deepest friendship and strongest connection that any of us have made so far. The team was greatly encouraged after a couple of days of less fruitful attempts at connection. Jessica was especially encouraged, saying that each day was getting better and better. Nate wondered aloud if he could come back here again on mission in late June/early July.
The City Road Group (Allen, Deedee, Jonathon, and Zack) had lunch together at an Arabian restaurant named "Sahara" in an Arabian tent in the back of the building. They ate lunch sitting on a long but amazingly comfortable divan as all the other patrons around them smoked from hookahs. Pretty exotic. After lunch, the group went three different directions.
Jonathon and Zack walked about four miles over to a park at the far end of the City Road district and had long conversations with two different men. The first was a World War II veteran who was an admitted "Humanist, Socialist, Agnostic." They engaged in a spiritual conversation with him, including getting his opinion of why Christianity has dwindled to such a great degree in Britain in his lifetime. The second man they talked to was a Muslim man who not only has been to the U.S., but specifically mentioned (without being asked) that the main place he has been is Edmond, Oklahoma! Divine Appointments indeed.
Later, Jonathon and Zack went back to the Tredegarville Church and jammed for about 30 minutes with two other men, one of whom they had met the day before.
Deedee went back to the Tredegarville Church after lunch and again spent time with the ladies. Today was special for her because she got to meet again with Zimbabwe lady who had wept the day before recounting her immigration horrors and as an added bonus, Deedee got to meet with the lady's daughter! Deedee was so delighted the rest of the day seemed anti-climactic -- especially since she joined Allen after 3:00 p.m. (a little joke).
Allen had a lighter day than the climactic peak of the previous day, but it was probably a good thing since he did not seem to be firing on all his cylinders anyway. He did get to make two new friends at AJ's Coffee Cafe, including Katherine, a Welsh lady who is a returning student at the Tertiary College across the street, majoring in Accounting. She has an Italian husband and is learning the language in order to get to know her in-laws better. Allen teased her that she, a Brit, was addicted to coffee, and Allen, an American, is addicted to tea. Allen introduced Katherine to Deedee and the three chatted pleasantly. The three agreed to spend time with each other again if they ran across each other in the next couple of days. Allen's other new friend is James Lee, the surprisingly young owner of AJ's. He spent twenty minutes or so with Allen, teaching him more Welsh, and referring him to Mimosa, a great Welsh restaurant in the Cardiff Bay area the Team was going to that night.
The Whole Team met back at the Etap Hotel and left at 5:45 p.m., taking a couple of taxis to the fashionable Cardiff Bay area. Troy had decided to let the team postpone their normal evening debriefing until 9:30 a.m. the next morning. Instead the group decided to go to a musical entitled Mary Poppins. Jaime had first expressed interest in this, but it was Zack who had gallantly pursued the idea, even doing web research to determine costs and showtimes. The group tried to go to the Welsh restaurant Allen had heard about, Mimosa, but were ejected because they did not have a reservation. So they went to an excellent Italian restaurant nearby. When the meal was over the group only had ten minutes to flee the 2-3 blocks to the theater house. They fled as Allen paid the tab, took a taxi back to the hotel, and composed this daily report. I thank God that this duty has set me free from two hours of a live musical production.
All in all, the team is more and more filled with confidence, and more importantly, a sense of God's direction. We are more united as a team and more open to approaching strangers in ways that seem graceful, natural, and loving. Everyone keeps talking more about what God is showing them about themselves, how He is growing them up, than they are about their mission contacts with the people of Cardiff, which is itself going surprisingly well.
We are looking forward to what the next two days bring to us, especially as we pursue contacts we have already made with people -- Deedee's Zimbabwe lady friend, The University Group's Malaysian friend, Devon, and Allen's church basement boys, for example. Keep praying for us. We are all undergoing deep spiritual strain, but we are praying that the muscle development will be worth it, not to mention the value of the heavy lifting itself.
Allen
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Day Three (March 17, 2009)
Day Three (March 17th, St. Patrick's Day) began just like the day before with rising at 7:00 a.m. or so and eating breakfast. Like yesterday, Jessica did not eat breakfast with us, because she apparently doesn't do breakfast. And for the first time, Jaime did not wear green--ironically, this was St. Patty's Day. We independently read more of the book of Acts for an hour or so and walked to the Treadergerville church where Dustin led us again (sweetly and passionately) in worship and singing. By the way, Dustin has been doing a superb job organizing this tour and keeping things running.
Troy taught us another brilliant lesson -- this one on "Sowing," which is a sequel to yesterday's lesson on "Plowing." He left the team alone for awhile (while he, with his servant's heart, made us all cups of tea!) and we did a little Bible study together. When he returned, we all stood in a circle and prayed aloud (all at once) for the person on our left: it was like speaking in tongues in English. Then he gave us our marching orders for the day, which was to seek "People of Peace" -- that is, those who providentially seemed willing to engage in rich conversation.
The day was much more successful for most of the mission team than the day before:
The University Group (Dustin, Jessica, Jaime, and Nate) wandered through generally empty shops (it was another nice day outside so all the people were outdoors) trying to connect with folks and then eventually focusing upon the outdoor areas themselves. Their attempts to connect were successful on a number of occasions:
Dustin got to pray for a man!
Jaime was very comfortable talking with a number of people in an outdoor setting.
Nate and Dustin made a connection with a group of Brits by asking them to explain the rules of Rugby.
Jessica was much more comfortable talking with a group at a typical English pub in Cardiff City Centre. They were all wearing giant green felt St. Patty's Day tophats. Some of the Brits had perhaps a taste of some Irish Guiness. An Irish girl in the group had perhaps a taste of several dozen Irish Guinesses. But they were as eager to talk with the University group of missionaries as they were to talk to them. They had a splendid cultural exchange! This was very encouraging, especially to Jessica, who has found the way to talk openly to people a little slow and daunting at times.
The City Road Group (Allen, Deedee, Jonathon, and Zack) started out their day at the Treadergerville Church.
Deedee got to talk one on one with a refugee woman from Zimbabwe who shared with Deedee her horror stories on trying to get into and remain in Britain with her daughter. She wept and Deedee bonded with the lady.
Zack and Jonathan got to hang out with a large group of international teenagers in
the church basement who had come to play billiards and ping pong. These men were from all over the world: Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Palestine, India, Kenya, and many more countries. One young man even began to ask Jonathan questions about Christianity, but the man had to leave abruptly when it was his turn to shoot some pool.
Allen went crazy talking to as many as 6-7 of these international young men at once, usually about American culture or the culture of their countries or American movies or British accents, or the flavors of tea, or the failures of Bush's international policies, etc. But the big moment for Allen came when a young (somewhat hostile) Somali Muslim asked Allen about the nature of Jesus Christ. Allen explained the nature of Jesus being both Son of God and Son of Man by pointing to a nearby new friend (Tariq) who was Welsh on his mother's side and Libyan on his father's side: Tariq is both son of Wales (when he wants to relate to the Welsh) and son of Libya (when he wants to relate to the Libyans). It was an analogy that provided many fruitful minutes of spiritual conversation, both with the young Somali and others standing around. Allen was so incredibly high after that encounter that he was in an extraverted daze for the rest of the day.
Zack and Jonathan had a chat with a mechant in an African shop who expressed frustration at feeling the British gave preferential treatment to the British and Western Europeans over other immigrants. For example, he pays more to rent his shop space than other merchants around him. Zack and Jonathan promised to come back and chat with him later this week; so they established a connection with him.
After the evening's debriefing, Allen stayed at the hotel to write up the day's events in the note you are now reading while Deedee and Jaime went with Troy to a Persian pre-New Year's celebration featuring some Zoroastrian culture. Meanwhile, Zack, Jonathan, Nate, Jessica, and Dustin went to a quirky little club/restaurant called Milgi's (featuring an actual yurt or hut in the back). This is the once a month "storytelling" night where people bring musical instruments and take turns singing and telling uplifting stories to the delight of others in the club.
Needless to say, the Lord has all of our attention and we are moving in harmony with Him, with each other, and with the good people of Wales -- moreso that we could have hoped yesterday after hitting a spiritual brick wall and moreso in many cases than we had a right to expect after a month of mission work in a Western European setting, let alone just two days at work in humble little Cardiff.
Keep praying for us. As much as God has done so far, we suspect He is not done with us yet.
Allen
Troy taught us another brilliant lesson -- this one on "Sowing," which is a sequel to yesterday's lesson on "Plowing." He left the team alone for awhile (while he, with his servant's heart, made us all cups of tea!) and we did a little Bible study together. When he returned, we all stood in a circle and prayed aloud (all at once) for the person on our left: it was like speaking in tongues in English. Then he gave us our marching orders for the day, which was to seek "People of Peace" -- that is, those who providentially seemed willing to engage in rich conversation.
The day was much more successful for most of the mission team than the day before:
The University Group (Dustin, Jessica, Jaime, and Nate) wandered through generally empty shops (it was another nice day outside so all the people were outdoors) trying to connect with folks and then eventually focusing upon the outdoor areas themselves. Their attempts to connect were successful on a number of occasions:
Dustin got to pray for a man!
Jaime was very comfortable talking with a number of people in an outdoor setting.
Nate and Dustin made a connection with a group of Brits by asking them to explain the rules of Rugby.
Jessica was much more comfortable talking with a group at a typical English pub in Cardiff City Centre. They were all wearing giant green felt St. Patty's Day tophats. Some of the Brits had perhaps a taste of some Irish Guiness. An Irish girl in the group had perhaps a taste of several dozen Irish Guinesses. But they were as eager to talk with the University group of missionaries as they were to talk to them. They had a splendid cultural exchange! This was very encouraging, especially to Jessica, who has found the way to talk openly to people a little slow and daunting at times.
The City Road Group (Allen, Deedee, Jonathon, and Zack) started out their day at the Treadergerville Church.
Deedee got to talk one on one with a refugee woman from Zimbabwe who shared with Deedee her horror stories on trying to get into and remain in Britain with her daughter. She wept and Deedee bonded with the lady.
Zack and Jonathan got to hang out with a large group of international teenagers in
the church basement who had come to play billiards and ping pong. These men were from all over the world: Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Palestine, India, Kenya, and many more countries. One young man even began to ask Jonathan questions about Christianity, but the man had to leave abruptly when it was his turn to shoot some pool.
Allen went crazy talking to as many as 6-7 of these international young men at once, usually about American culture or the culture of their countries or American movies or British accents, or the flavors of tea, or the failures of Bush's international policies, etc. But the big moment for Allen came when a young (somewhat hostile) Somali Muslim asked Allen about the nature of Jesus Christ. Allen explained the nature of Jesus being both Son of God and Son of Man by pointing to a nearby new friend (Tariq) who was Welsh on his mother's side and Libyan on his father's side: Tariq is both son of Wales (when he wants to relate to the Welsh) and son of Libya (when he wants to relate to the Libyans). It was an analogy that provided many fruitful minutes of spiritual conversation, both with the young Somali and others standing around. Allen was so incredibly high after that encounter that he was in an extraverted daze for the rest of the day.
Zack and Jonathan had a chat with a mechant in an African shop who expressed frustration at feeling the British gave preferential treatment to the British and Western Europeans over other immigrants. For example, he pays more to rent his shop space than other merchants around him. Zack and Jonathan promised to come back and chat with him later this week; so they established a connection with him.
After the evening's debriefing, Allen stayed at the hotel to write up the day's events in the note you are now reading while Deedee and Jaime went with Troy to a Persian pre-New Year's celebration featuring some Zoroastrian culture. Meanwhile, Zack, Jonathan, Nate, Jessica, and Dustin went to a quirky little club/restaurant called Milgi's (featuring an actual yurt or hut in the back). This is the once a month "storytelling" night where people bring musical instruments and take turns singing and telling uplifting stories to the delight of others in the club.
Needless to say, the Lord has all of our attention and we are moving in harmony with Him, with each other, and with the good people of Wales -- moreso that we could have hoped yesterday after hitting a spiritual brick wall and moreso in many cases than we had a right to expect after a month of mission work in a Western European setting, let alone just two days at work in humble little Cardiff.
Keep praying for us. As much as God has done so far, we suspect He is not done with us yet.
Allen
Day Two (March 16, 2009)
Day Two (March 16) began with everyone sleeping as late as they could (7:30 to 8:00) and having breakfast together. Then we all went to our individual rooms and read the book of Acts privately. We ended up reading anywhere from 3 to 8 chapters of the book. At 10:00 a.m., we headed out in a shortcut that took us over a footbridge spanning railroad tracks and traipsing next to a high brick wall of a prison until we came to the Treadergerville Church just west of the City Centre in the "City Road" district of Cardiff. There we had tea, worshipped together (Dustin led us with the excellence we have come to expect of him), and Troy gave us a special time of training on the topic of "Ploughing" spiritual ground.
Troy's vision and gifting is amazing. He is a good teacher and an even more committed missionary in the highest and proudest sense of the term. He is sold out to loving people -- especially international people -- to Christ through humility and a personal relationship.
Troy had a change of heart. His original idea was to split us up into two groups of four people each and send one group to Cardiff University and another to Bute Town, where there is a somewhat hostile Moslem community. We went there last night, and even got a tour inside a Moslem mosque (where we all took off our shoes in respect of their culture and religion). Dustin and I had a bit of a check in our spirit about us going into Bute Town because it is such hard ground and I feared a bit for our team's safety. Deedee especially had a check in her spirit about it. But we knew that Troy had this in mind for this particular mission tour and we trust and respect him and want to abide by his direction, being submissive to his authority.
Nevertheless, we were overjoyed today when he announced that he had a check in his spirit about the venture and about the potential safety of our team. Instead of sending the one group to Bute Town, he sent that group to the international flavored shopping district of "City Road" near the Tredergerville Church where we met. City Road is like a long, two-sided Epcot Center -- with shops of every nation in the world next to each other -- Welsh and English and Irish and Somali and Pakistani and Indian and Iranian and Kenyan and Iraqi, and Chinese and everywhere else.
The university group was comprised of Dustin, Jessica, Nate, and Jaime, and the "City Road" group was comprised of Allen, Deedee, Jonathon, and Nate. Our mission for the day was simply to observe the areas we were assigned to and prayer walk, seeking God's direction. We were to plow the ground spiritually, regardless of how easy or hard the ground (people's hearts) were.
It was a tough day. God and Troy had us all playing left handed, working against our natural giftedness and personality traits in order to trust more in God.
For example, God told Allen NOT to go up to a stranger and start a conversation that would inevitably lead to spiritual things. This is as natural to Allen as eating sweets. Instead, God had Allen pray for a lonely, worried man that some other stranger would walk up and talk to him. Allen had to staple himself to the chair in order not to "fix" the problem with over-easy evangelism. And he saw God bring a total stranger up to the man and the two were soon fast friends.
Another example is when Jessica (who as a task-oriented person really craves specific answers and minute direction) was told to just go to a general area (uncertain of which specific area to go) and pray for people (uncertain of specifically which ones to pray for and for what). Zack wanted to use his superpowers of charismatic coolness and begin relationships with people his own age who might have common interests with him as a basis for longer-term relationships, and instead he was paired with a couple of middle aged people, however pretty they might be (Deedee and Allen) walking into a series of coffee shops and pubs filled with middle aged people (and people much older) with whom he has no natural areas of common interest. Nate was game for anything, but seemed a bit overwhelmed at times by the newness of the country, the unusual nature of the culture, and the seeming lack of direction. His natural instinct seems to be to revert to a quiet niceness tinged with silent disorientation and perhaps unspoken frustration.
And so it went. The only ones who seemed to be getting their bearings and thoroughly enjoying their experiences, however disorienting, were Jaime, Jonathon, and Dustin. And eventually Deedee -- but that is its own story. Nearly lost in all this first day confusion (until Troy brought it skillfully out in an evening debriefing meeting) were the moments in which God spoke and real mission ministry broke out anyway:
When Jonathon played an impromptu jazz piano composition acompanied by the surprisingly smooth harmony of Zack on bongos. Man, those guys jammed, and their finale in the empty church brought the steeple down!
When Deedee worked with 20 international ladies who were trying to sew, helping them with their broken English and sewing machines. This proves you reap what you sew.
When Allen, Jonathon, and Zack had a twenty minute lunchtime conversation with a Welshman and his half Welsh / half Northern Irish friend on topics ranging from the virtues of brown sauce on chips, to the glories of the Welsh language, and finally to the state of politics and religion in Northern Ireland.
When Dustin, Jessica, Nate, and Jaime did reconnaissance on the Cardiff University campus, even going on an epic quest to find an amazingly far away cluster of basketball courts as a possible future ministry site.
And then there was Deedee. More that any of us, she found a ministry niche with the international ladies who learn to sew and along the way, learn English as a Second Language and hear a five-minute story from the Gospels. This fits perfectly with the work she used to do with Friendship International.
Deedee also grew today. She had desperately wanted to go over spring break to St. Petersburgh, Russia and visit her daughter, Jordan Deah Moonspice Rice. But God told Deedee that he wanted her in Wales. Today, as Troy explained the missionary vision of being completely zeroed in on God's Will so that you go and do whatever He tells you to do, ESPECIALLY if it is uncomfortable, Deedee understood Jordan better than if she had spent a week with her in Russia. Deedee wept. But it was a good womanly and motherly kind of weeping. And when she was done, she felt God had stretched her enough that for awhile, she was in her daughter's mystical head.
God is stretching us all. Not just individually. We are learning to work together as a team, learning to know and trust and love each other as a band of brothers and sisters. That is not easy with this seven pack of introverts and one wild extravert continually biting his tongue. But it is happening in a sweet, organic way even through or perhaps because of the fits and starts and shocks we are all experiencing together. And we are beginning to experience God in fresh ways, even if they are left-handed ways we don't like at first.
God seems more interested in our usefulness for Him and our holiness than our comfort zones. I never much liked that about Him, but then again, He never seemed much interested in my advice on the matter. But it looks like it is beginning to work out here, even though the team doesn't fully feel it yet.
What will happen when this tired and spiritually bruised team mounts that same bucking broncho tomorrow that threw us off today?
Tune in tomorrow, friends, at the same bat time on this same bat channel!
Allen
Troy's vision and gifting is amazing. He is a good teacher and an even more committed missionary in the highest and proudest sense of the term. He is sold out to loving people -- especially international people -- to Christ through humility and a personal relationship.
Troy had a change of heart. His original idea was to split us up into two groups of four people each and send one group to Cardiff University and another to Bute Town, where there is a somewhat hostile Moslem community. We went there last night, and even got a tour inside a Moslem mosque (where we all took off our shoes in respect of their culture and religion). Dustin and I had a bit of a check in our spirit about us going into Bute Town because it is such hard ground and I feared a bit for our team's safety. Deedee especially had a check in her spirit about it. But we knew that Troy had this in mind for this particular mission tour and we trust and respect him and want to abide by his direction, being submissive to his authority.
Nevertheless, we were overjoyed today when he announced that he had a check in his spirit about the venture and about the potential safety of our team. Instead of sending the one group to Bute Town, he sent that group to the international flavored shopping district of "City Road" near the Tredergerville Church where we met. City Road is like a long, two-sided Epcot Center -- with shops of every nation in the world next to each other -- Welsh and English and Irish and Somali and Pakistani and Indian and Iranian and Kenyan and Iraqi, and Chinese and everywhere else.
The university group was comprised of Dustin, Jessica, Nate, and Jaime, and the "City Road" group was comprised of Allen, Deedee, Jonathon, and Nate. Our mission for the day was simply to observe the areas we were assigned to and prayer walk, seeking God's direction. We were to plow the ground spiritually, regardless of how easy or hard the ground (people's hearts) were.
It was a tough day. God and Troy had us all playing left handed, working against our natural giftedness and personality traits in order to trust more in God.
For example, God told Allen NOT to go up to a stranger and start a conversation that would inevitably lead to spiritual things. This is as natural to Allen as eating sweets. Instead, God had Allen pray for a lonely, worried man that some other stranger would walk up and talk to him. Allen had to staple himself to the chair in order not to "fix" the problem with over-easy evangelism. And he saw God bring a total stranger up to the man and the two were soon fast friends.
Another example is when Jessica (who as a task-oriented person really craves specific answers and minute direction) was told to just go to a general area (uncertain of which specific area to go) and pray for people (uncertain of specifically which ones to pray for and for what). Zack wanted to use his superpowers of charismatic coolness and begin relationships with people his own age who might have common interests with him as a basis for longer-term relationships, and instead he was paired with a couple of middle aged people, however pretty they might be (Deedee and Allen) walking into a series of coffee shops and pubs filled with middle aged people (and people much older) with whom he has no natural areas of common interest. Nate was game for anything, but seemed a bit overwhelmed at times by the newness of the country, the unusual nature of the culture, and the seeming lack of direction. His natural instinct seems to be to revert to a quiet niceness tinged with silent disorientation and perhaps unspoken frustration.
And so it went. The only ones who seemed to be getting their bearings and thoroughly enjoying their experiences, however disorienting, were Jaime, Jonathon, and Dustin. And eventually Deedee -- but that is its own story. Nearly lost in all this first day confusion (until Troy brought it skillfully out in an evening debriefing meeting) were the moments in which God spoke and real mission ministry broke out anyway:
When Jonathon played an impromptu jazz piano composition acompanied by the surprisingly smooth harmony of Zack on bongos. Man, those guys jammed, and their finale in the empty church brought the steeple down!
When Deedee worked with 20 international ladies who were trying to sew, helping them with their broken English and sewing machines. This proves you reap what you sew.
When Allen, Jonathon, and Zack had a twenty minute lunchtime conversation with a Welshman and his half Welsh / half Northern Irish friend on topics ranging from the virtues of brown sauce on chips, to the glories of the Welsh language, and finally to the state of politics and religion in Northern Ireland.
When Dustin, Jessica, Nate, and Jaime did reconnaissance on the Cardiff University campus, even going on an epic quest to find an amazingly far away cluster of basketball courts as a possible future ministry site.
And then there was Deedee. More that any of us, she found a ministry niche with the international ladies who learn to sew and along the way, learn English as a Second Language and hear a five-minute story from the Gospels. This fits perfectly with the work she used to do with Friendship International.
Deedee also grew today. She had desperately wanted to go over spring break to St. Petersburgh, Russia and visit her daughter, Jordan Deah Moonspice Rice. But God told Deedee that he wanted her in Wales. Today, as Troy explained the missionary vision of being completely zeroed in on God's Will so that you go and do whatever He tells you to do, ESPECIALLY if it is uncomfortable, Deedee understood Jordan better than if she had spent a week with her in Russia. Deedee wept. But it was a good womanly and motherly kind of weeping. And when she was done, she felt God had stretched her enough that for awhile, she was in her daughter's mystical head.
God is stretching us all. Not just individually. We are learning to work together as a team, learning to know and trust and love each other as a band of brothers and sisters. That is not easy with this seven pack of introverts and one wild extravert continually biting his tongue. But it is happening in a sweet, organic way even through or perhaps because of the fits and starts and shocks we are all experiencing together. And we are beginning to experience God in fresh ways, even if they are left-handed ways we don't like at first.
God seems more interested in our usefulness for Him and our holiness than our comfort zones. I never much liked that about Him, but then again, He never seemed much interested in my advice on the matter. But it looks like it is beginning to work out here, even though the team doesn't fully feel it yet.
What will happen when this tired and spiritually bruised team mounts that same bucking broncho tomorrow that threw us off today?
Tune in tomorrow, friends, at the same bat time on this same bat channel!
Allen
Day One (March 15, 2009)
Three things were interesting on the way to Wales:
1) We took four different routes for eight people. We all ended up together in Newark at various times in various ways, but we left New Jersey together for the six and one-half hour flight to Bristol, England. The plane to Bristol was large, spacious, and uncrowded. We had plenty of room for sleeping which everyone was able to do a lot -- except for Allen.
2) Jaime Howell is a Ninja when it comes to working the airlines for free stuff. I personally saw her board two different planes, only to get off and negotiate the airlines for lots of money in future travel vouchers, a first class upgrade to New Jersey, and even a free taxi cab ride across New York City. Wow, I want to be like her when I grow up!
3) Allen sustained a reasonably serious head injury in the Newark airport. According to his account, five sword-wielding Ninjas attacked him and he had to take them all out, but they got in a lucky slash on top his skull. Deedee's version is less credible: he rammed his head into the sharp metal edge of a series of TV monitors while trying to keep a coat from falling to the dirty floor. Either way, there was a 2-3 inch gash, lots of blood, a couple of paramedics, a couple of New Jersey cops, various airport authorities, and a good deal of comic one-liners (delivered mainly by Allen). The paramedic told Allen he would not make his flight to Wales if he had to get stitches. So Allen and the paramedic agreed that Allen did not need stitches. Deedee was extremely skeptical of this shoddy medical diagnosis, pointing out the depth of the gash, but she was overrruled. So Deedee ended up buying a New Your Yankees baseball cap for Allen to keep a pressure on the gauze on his wound. Other than that little incident, Newark airport was pretty tame.
Everything in Britain went off flawlessly. Disembarking from the airport, going through customs, getting luggage, and meeting the coach service all went as easily as a greased monkey on wheels. Then the team went to the fabulous Tintern Abbey just inside the Welsh border where we had a hearty (meaning heart-clogging) British breakfast (prayed over eloquently by Jonathan Wyckoff) and spent an hour in awe surveying this glorious 12th-Century monastery demonstrating the grandness of Christian experience in the past history of Wales. Zack Deck turned out to be a photographer in the most artistic sense of the word. We spent as much time watching how he took pictures as we did admiring the ancient Gothic architecture.
We went to the Etap Hotel in Cardiff where we rested and refreshed oursleves before meeting up with our missionary friend Troy Blankenship and eventually his wife Cheryl and their two lovely daughters. Troy gave us a walking and public bus tour of many key spots in Cardiff, including Bute Town where four of our team are going to be meeting with people this week. We also toured the trendy Bay area and the downtown shopping district.
Deedee got to know Cheryl Blankenship better and most of the team got to hang out in Treadfgerville church as two different services came to an end. Nate Byford seemed particularly wide-eyed in wonder on his first ever day across the pond.
We dined at a Middle Eastern restaraunt where the focus was Iranian mint tea (along with the cubes of sugar we put into our mouths through which the tea flowed into our tummies), and Naan bread, which is like giant semi-crunchy pita bread sopapillas. Good times.
We had a brief meeting back a the hotel, figuring out of whom the two teams would be comprised. A few of us dabbled on the internet but then we all went blissfully unconscious.
I (Allen) am running on adrenalin and Tylenol, so I am not even going to attempt to proofread this letter -- a highly unusual event for me. I have not slept more than 2-3 hours in 2 1/2 days.
What will the Lord bring us tomorrow?
Stay tuned, dear friends.
Allen
1) We took four different routes for eight people. We all ended up together in Newark at various times in various ways, but we left New Jersey together for the six and one-half hour flight to Bristol, England. The plane to Bristol was large, spacious, and uncrowded. We had plenty of room for sleeping which everyone was able to do a lot -- except for Allen.
2) Jaime Howell is a Ninja when it comes to working the airlines for free stuff. I personally saw her board two different planes, only to get off and negotiate the airlines for lots of money in future travel vouchers, a first class upgrade to New Jersey, and even a free taxi cab ride across New York City. Wow, I want to be like her when I grow up!
3) Allen sustained a reasonably serious head injury in the Newark airport. According to his account, five sword-wielding Ninjas attacked him and he had to take them all out, but they got in a lucky slash on top his skull. Deedee's version is less credible: he rammed his head into the sharp metal edge of a series of TV monitors while trying to keep a coat from falling to the dirty floor. Either way, there was a 2-3 inch gash, lots of blood, a couple of paramedics, a couple of New Jersey cops, various airport authorities, and a good deal of comic one-liners (delivered mainly by Allen). The paramedic told Allen he would not make his flight to Wales if he had to get stitches. So Allen and the paramedic agreed that Allen did not need stitches. Deedee was extremely skeptical of this shoddy medical diagnosis, pointing out the depth of the gash, but she was overrruled. So Deedee ended up buying a New Your Yankees baseball cap for Allen to keep a pressure on the gauze on his wound. Other than that little incident, Newark airport was pretty tame.
Everything in Britain went off flawlessly. Disembarking from the airport, going through customs, getting luggage, and meeting the coach service all went as easily as a greased monkey on wheels. Then the team went to the fabulous Tintern Abbey just inside the Welsh border where we had a hearty (meaning heart-clogging) British breakfast (prayed over eloquently by Jonathan Wyckoff) and spent an hour in awe surveying this glorious 12th-Century monastery demonstrating the grandness of Christian experience in the past history of Wales. Zack Deck turned out to be a photographer in the most artistic sense of the word. We spent as much time watching how he took pictures as we did admiring the ancient Gothic architecture.
We went to the Etap Hotel in Cardiff where we rested and refreshed oursleves before meeting up with our missionary friend Troy Blankenship and eventually his wife Cheryl and their two lovely daughters. Troy gave us a walking and public bus tour of many key spots in Cardiff, including Bute Town where four of our team are going to be meeting with people this week. We also toured the trendy Bay area and the downtown shopping district.
Deedee got to know Cheryl Blankenship better and most of the team got to hang out in Treadfgerville church as two different services came to an end. Nate Byford seemed particularly wide-eyed in wonder on his first ever day across the pond.
We dined at a Middle Eastern restaraunt where the focus was Iranian mint tea (along with the cubes of sugar we put into our mouths through which the tea flowed into our tummies), and Naan bread, which is like giant semi-crunchy pita bread sopapillas. Good times.
We had a brief meeting back a the hotel, figuring out of whom the two teams would be comprised. A few of us dabbled on the internet but then we all went blissfully unconscious.
I (Allen) am running on adrenalin and Tylenol, so I am not even going to attempt to proofread this letter -- a highly unusual event for me. I have not slept more than 2-3 hours in 2 1/2 days.
What will the Lord bring us tomorrow?
Stay tuned, dear friends.
Allen
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