Parting is such sweet sorrow.
This last day on our mission revolved around Rhiwbina Baptist Church -- Henderson Hills'
new partner in ministry. Rhiwbina is what I call Henderson Hills Wales -- like us, they are an Elder led, Calvinistic, Non-Cessationist Baptist church located in the affluent northern suburb of the large capital city. We went to the church early so Dustin, Nikki, and Troy could rehearse before they led the worship service. Allen taught the fifth and last lesson of the "Seasons" series to our team, since Troy was busy leading the worship service.
The worship service was sweet. They sing the type of songs we sing. They exercise more charismatic gifts in their worship than we do (like speaking in tongues and interpretation of tongues) but they are very doctrinally correct in everything they do. I admire the freedom they have to let anyone speak -- and yet those who wish to speak seem to tell it to an elder who decides if it is appropriate or not -- so there is order in the service as the Apostle Paul commands. Brilliant! Still, it might be harder for us to adopt that approach in a worship service attended by 1500 people or so. They all seem very comfortable with each other as if they have all been worshipping together for many years without a lot of turnover or a wild influx of growth. There is a sweet, family feel to the place. And they are much more informal than we are -- my friend Alan James preached in shorts! I admire that. The last time I wore shorts, Dennis announced through the microphone that I had forgotten my pants. I still think he was just jealous that my bare legs look better than his!
After worship, we all went to a church-wide barbecue and met many of the church members, including Derek's mum and dad. When the barbecue was over, we had four hours to do what we wanted, so we caught two taxis down to Cardiff bay, had some great hamburgers and fries, and some rich Northern Welsh ice cream. We took taxis back to the church. Allen prepared for the teaching session, enlisting Deah to do a little art project for him as an illustration of the lesson, and Troy and Dustin prepared to lead the worship before the teaching time.
Dustin and Troy led worship with their usual excellence, and Allen taught a two hour workshop on techniques of growing FLOCKs spiritually and as a result, numerically. The church was very gracious in their reception of Dustin's leading worship and in Allen's teaching.
After that, things went too fast. Allen, Deedee, and Deah said a goodbye that was too quick because their ride to the Etap (the gracious Elder Paul and his lovely wife Marla) were ready to go. There were quick hugs, whispered words of affection and encouragement, and then the team that had bonded so quickly and so deeply was sundered. For now.
Dustin's plan was to lead the remainder of the team to the Bristol Holiday Inn Airport to spend the night with a flight back to the U.S. in the morning. Gavin got an opportunity to remain with Troy to work with some of the other young missionaries. He had planned to leave tomorrow, but now he will stay in Wales another 20 days or so. He stopped by the Etap to hug Allen, Deedee, and Deah goodbye. As for the Rices, they will stay in Wales for one more week touring all the parts in Western Wales they haven't visited before. They plan to spend at least two days of their vacation with their new friends, Derek and Matthew.
Thus ends a great week. As momentous as every minute of every day was for the whole team, the mission deserved a climactic conclusion as great as its first four Shakespearean acts. But that would have resulted in even more tears and even more sorrow. Maybe it is better this way.
Adieu, adieu, dear friends, and forever more than friends. Parting is such sweet sorrow. But the sorrow is already passing away and we shall relive the sweetness with every chance encounter this side of Heaven.
Allen
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Mission to Wales, Summer 2009: Day 7
Saturday, July 4th, 2009
Yesterday at the Swansea castle plaza in the city centre, if it had been viewed straight down from above, it would have looked like a graceful minuet: Allen talks to the Welsh guy named Justin (who yesterday in the blog he referred to as Dustin) about Evolution and Creation. Jerry joins them, then so does Derek who gets into a long theological discussion arguing for the existence of God. “Billie” meets Allen, and then she meets Deedee, Nikki, Shannon, and Brian. Allen and Deedee go off to chat with Billie, eventually taking her to get some chicken McNuggets at McDonalds. Nikki and Shannon follow from a distance to offer prayer support and to make sure Allen and Deedee are safe. Then they follow Allen and Deedee into McDonalds, pretending they don’t know them, but offering encouragement and prayer on the down low. Brian and Jordan Deah are offering prayer support back in the plaza. Dustin and Gavin are discussing cultural and religious issues with a number of people in the plaza. Derek leaves the conversation with Justin, but Jerry remains to talk with him about theological issues for a long time. At some point Gavin joins them. Later, Justin is so much more convinced about the existence of God, that he makes five arguments in a row for the existence of God and the benefits of Christianity. That leaves little for Jerry and Gavin to say for the moment, since Justin is making all their arguments for them.
It would have taken a truly great mind to have organized such an intricate dance (and many more steps and twirls I did not see or remember). In fact it did take a great mind: God’s. But this team from the first few days has been unusually bonded together, moving, praying, and laughing in harmony.
Last night we decided to debrief at 11:30 p.m. in Dustin and Gavin’s tiny room again. Seven of us crammed together and were shortly joined by four others, making a grand total of eleven. It was like jumbling clowns chaotically into a clown car. Except it was funny. I mean side-splitting hilarity until after 12:30 p.m. Eventually we went to bed and arose tired and achy but eager to see what lay before us in our last day in Swansea.
Troy’s lesson began with a gigantic video screen playing the star-spangled banner to fireworks and traditional 4th of July images. Troy stood at the back with Allen looking over the 100 high school and college students who had all forgone the holiday with their families. Swept up with the patriotism and the sweet sentiment of the moment, Troy privately cried. He really loves these young short term missionaries working so earnestly to assimilate as much of Welsh culture as they can.
We left a bit early and took the train to Swansea, stopping off for lunch before the action of the day began at 2:00:
Prayerwalking and City Mapping --Dustin, Brian, Jerry, and Matthew went off to the high hill just above the Capel Gomer to pray and explore possible ministry sites among a middle class, primarily Welsh-speaking population. Nikki and Shannon were to do the same thing in the large, thriving city centre, but got separated from Allen and Deedee and prayed for them the whole time. Derek, Gavin, and Jordan Deah headed in the direction of the bay area called “The Mumbles” to do the same thing. Allen and Deedee went to the plaza to meet with Billie again. As soon as they could, they steered her out of the noisy plaza area where there was an all day dance competition guaranteed to shatter the eardrums with a powerful rave or disco beat.
When they got her to a quiet pub several blocks away, Deedee mentioned to Billie how she wished Jordan Deah was with them, because she has particular insight to Billie’s problems. Billie reversed her position of the previous day, saying she would permit Jordan Deah to speak with her, since she is the daughter of Allen and Deedee whom she somehow trusted. But by then, it was too late to go find Jordan Deah. Except her group happened to walk by that same pub only a few minutes later. Coincidence? No. God had told Jordan Deah that she would be needed with her parents after all, and instead of heading straight to the Mumbles, she had convince the boys to help her find the parents. Still, they could have wandered down any street, and Allen “just happened” to look through a distant window as they passed by in less than a second. Derek and Gavin continued to the Mumbles, where they spent some time collecting American memorabilia so they could wear it playfully before the team when they returned.
Now about Billie: she is a 21 year old woman who has been trying to hide her sins from anyone she knows. For some reason when the team asked if they could pray for her, she took Allen and Deedee aside, broke down crying, confessing her sins for the first time. She is a heroine addict deep into the addiction. She panhandles and turns tricks every day to feed her heroine habit and that of her pimp boyfriend who beats her if she cannot get enough money for their fixes by evening time. In the last few days, he took a jagged piece of broken glass and slashed it down upon her head. She blocked it with her forearm which as far as we could tell is broken, deeply gashed, and infected. But she gets no treatment for it, because her pimp fears he will go to jail for his crime, so he threatens to beat her if she gets medical attention. So she walks the streets with her arm festering to the point that it stinks of rot.
Billie hates her life, and wants to be clean so she can do some good for just one person before she dies. We spent an hour and a half yesterday and two and a half hours today explaining the Christian scheme and the Plan of Salvation. But we spent a lot of that time explaining more fundamental things which she didn’t know because of the evil world she lives in. Things like it wasn’t ok that her stepfather had brutally raped her. She had complained to her boyfriend about the matter, but he had just called her a whiner and told her to shut up. We told her it wasn’t ok that her boyfriend sent her to other men so he could get a piece of the profits. At first she was outraged that Allen called her boyfriend a pimp, but by the end of the second day, she finally spoke the truth aloud. We told her it wasn’t ok to keep living like she is now, hoping things would get better somehow. We told her that if the wound didn’t kill her, her pimp, her Johns, or her heroine addiction would. We told her it was either choose Jesus or choose death. It is true for all of us, but for her it is much more immediate.
What was her response? Ignorance of the Truth, at first, then Denial, Confusion, a deep sense of Guilt and Wretchedness, a growing understanding of the Truth, and finally a growing commitment to change her life. Despite the horrible things she has done in her life, and the even more horrifying things done to her, there is a sweetness in Billie and a heroism to yearn to be a good person in a world where she has never seen one. She did not make a decision for Christ today, even though we offered her a chance to do so. But she knows the Truth now in a way she never heard of it before. We gave her local contact information for a good church just a mile from her house where she could go to be saved, get clean, get medical attention, and find safe haven from the horrific abuses of her pimp. She wanted our team to say a week or two and help her out of her troubles, but we have done all we can do for her. She has to make the next move for herself. She has knowledge of the Truth now and a fighting chance where she never had one before in her life.
We think she will make it. We feel God called the team to Wales in large part for her benefit. The whole team served her in various ways. And we benefitted from getting to know her and to be her friend.
The last part of the evening was spent in The Cottage Pub in Cardiff eating great food and having Granny Apple pie for dessert.
Since it was our last meal with just the eleven of us (our team , Derek, and Matthew), we made a toast together. The Apostle Paul stated that as Christians we are aliens in this world and countrymen of Heaven. The Welsh word for “the Welsh” is “Cymru” pronounced “Cumree.” It means “Countrymen.” As Countrymen of Heaven, we clinked glasses and intoned the word “Cumree.”
It was a poetic finale to a graceful minuet.
Allen
Yesterday at the Swansea castle plaza in the city centre, if it had been viewed straight down from above, it would have looked like a graceful minuet: Allen talks to the Welsh guy named Justin (who yesterday in the blog he referred to as Dustin) about Evolution and Creation. Jerry joins them, then so does Derek who gets into a long theological discussion arguing for the existence of God. “Billie” meets Allen, and then she meets Deedee, Nikki, Shannon, and Brian. Allen and Deedee go off to chat with Billie, eventually taking her to get some chicken McNuggets at McDonalds. Nikki and Shannon follow from a distance to offer prayer support and to make sure Allen and Deedee are safe. Then they follow Allen and Deedee into McDonalds, pretending they don’t know them, but offering encouragement and prayer on the down low. Brian and Jordan Deah are offering prayer support back in the plaza. Dustin and Gavin are discussing cultural and religious issues with a number of people in the plaza. Derek leaves the conversation with Justin, but Jerry remains to talk with him about theological issues for a long time. At some point Gavin joins them. Later, Justin is so much more convinced about the existence of God, that he makes five arguments in a row for the existence of God and the benefits of Christianity. That leaves little for Jerry and Gavin to say for the moment, since Justin is making all their arguments for them.
It would have taken a truly great mind to have organized such an intricate dance (and many more steps and twirls I did not see or remember). In fact it did take a great mind: God’s. But this team from the first few days has been unusually bonded together, moving, praying, and laughing in harmony.
Last night we decided to debrief at 11:30 p.m. in Dustin and Gavin’s tiny room again. Seven of us crammed together and were shortly joined by four others, making a grand total of eleven. It was like jumbling clowns chaotically into a clown car. Except it was funny. I mean side-splitting hilarity until after 12:30 p.m. Eventually we went to bed and arose tired and achy but eager to see what lay before us in our last day in Swansea.
Troy’s lesson began with a gigantic video screen playing the star-spangled banner to fireworks and traditional 4th of July images. Troy stood at the back with Allen looking over the 100 high school and college students who had all forgone the holiday with their families. Swept up with the patriotism and the sweet sentiment of the moment, Troy privately cried. He really loves these young short term missionaries working so earnestly to assimilate as much of Welsh culture as they can.
We left a bit early and took the train to Swansea, stopping off for lunch before the action of the day began at 2:00:
Prayerwalking and City Mapping --Dustin, Brian, Jerry, and Matthew went off to the high hill just above the Capel Gomer to pray and explore possible ministry sites among a middle class, primarily Welsh-speaking population. Nikki and Shannon were to do the same thing in the large, thriving city centre, but got separated from Allen and Deedee and prayed for them the whole time. Derek, Gavin, and Jordan Deah headed in the direction of the bay area called “The Mumbles” to do the same thing. Allen and Deedee went to the plaza to meet with Billie again. As soon as they could, they steered her out of the noisy plaza area where there was an all day dance competition guaranteed to shatter the eardrums with a powerful rave or disco beat.
When they got her to a quiet pub several blocks away, Deedee mentioned to Billie how she wished Jordan Deah was with them, because she has particular insight to Billie’s problems. Billie reversed her position of the previous day, saying she would permit Jordan Deah to speak with her, since she is the daughter of Allen and Deedee whom she somehow trusted. But by then, it was too late to go find Jordan Deah. Except her group happened to walk by that same pub only a few minutes later. Coincidence? No. God had told Jordan Deah that she would be needed with her parents after all, and instead of heading straight to the Mumbles, she had convince the boys to help her find the parents. Still, they could have wandered down any street, and Allen “just happened” to look through a distant window as they passed by in less than a second. Derek and Gavin continued to the Mumbles, where they spent some time collecting American memorabilia so they could wear it playfully before the team when they returned.
Now about Billie: she is a 21 year old woman who has been trying to hide her sins from anyone she knows. For some reason when the team asked if they could pray for her, she took Allen and Deedee aside, broke down crying, confessing her sins for the first time. She is a heroine addict deep into the addiction. She panhandles and turns tricks every day to feed her heroine habit and that of her pimp boyfriend who beats her if she cannot get enough money for their fixes by evening time. In the last few days, he took a jagged piece of broken glass and slashed it down upon her head. She blocked it with her forearm which as far as we could tell is broken, deeply gashed, and infected. But she gets no treatment for it, because her pimp fears he will go to jail for his crime, so he threatens to beat her if she gets medical attention. So she walks the streets with her arm festering to the point that it stinks of rot.
Billie hates her life, and wants to be clean so she can do some good for just one person before she dies. We spent an hour and a half yesterday and two and a half hours today explaining the Christian scheme and the Plan of Salvation. But we spent a lot of that time explaining more fundamental things which she didn’t know because of the evil world she lives in. Things like it wasn’t ok that her stepfather had brutally raped her. She had complained to her boyfriend about the matter, but he had just called her a whiner and told her to shut up. We told her it wasn’t ok that her boyfriend sent her to other men so he could get a piece of the profits. At first she was outraged that Allen called her boyfriend a pimp, but by the end of the second day, she finally spoke the truth aloud. We told her it wasn’t ok to keep living like she is now, hoping things would get better somehow. We told her that if the wound didn’t kill her, her pimp, her Johns, or her heroine addiction would. We told her it was either choose Jesus or choose death. It is true for all of us, but for her it is much more immediate.
What was her response? Ignorance of the Truth, at first, then Denial, Confusion, a deep sense of Guilt and Wretchedness, a growing understanding of the Truth, and finally a growing commitment to change her life. Despite the horrible things she has done in her life, and the even more horrifying things done to her, there is a sweetness in Billie and a heroism to yearn to be a good person in a world where she has never seen one. She did not make a decision for Christ today, even though we offered her a chance to do so. But she knows the Truth now in a way she never heard of it before. We gave her local contact information for a good church just a mile from her house where she could go to be saved, get clean, get medical attention, and find safe haven from the horrific abuses of her pimp. She wanted our team to say a week or two and help her out of her troubles, but we have done all we can do for her. She has to make the next move for herself. She has knowledge of the Truth now and a fighting chance where she never had one before in her life.
We think she will make it. We feel God called the team to Wales in large part for her benefit. The whole team served her in various ways. And we benefitted from getting to know her and to be her friend.
The last part of the evening was spent in The Cottage Pub in Cardiff eating great food and having Granny Apple pie for dessert.
Since it was our last meal with just the eleven of us (our team , Derek, and Matthew), we made a toast together. The Apostle Paul stated that as Christians we are aliens in this world and countrymen of Heaven. The Welsh word for “the Welsh” is “Cymru” pronounced “Cumree.” It means “Countrymen.” As Countrymen of Heaven, we clinked glasses and intoned the word “Cumree.”
It was a poetic finale to a graceful minuet.
Allen
Friday, July 3, 2009
Mission to Wales, Summer 2009: Day 6
July 2nd & 3rd, 2009 Apparently Comedy is an Evangelism technique. And so is Food. On Tuesday July 2nd and Wednesday July 3rd, we were trained by Troy (on Sowing and Reaping) and took the hour-long train to Swansea. On Tuesday, we were so boistrous and so funny asking and answering trivia questions out loud and commenting upon everything, that we engaged two different Welsh passengers in our merriment. A young lady, Cath, taught us how to shout out a Cornish-Welsh chant at rugby games -- similar to "Boomer Sooner" -- but in this involves the words "Oggi" and "Oy." The conversation turned more serious as the young man told us of his personal sorrows including being about to move from his family and friends to be with his girlfriend and his child. The funny bit is that the other team of Okie missionaries (also trained by Troy) on the train were high school and college kids who couldn't understand why we could talk to each other and be so loud, since apparently they are trained to be quiet, avoid looking American, and blend in. When one young man told his leader, "They are talking. Why can't we talk?" He was told simply, "Go to sleep!" Ok, so we are a bad influence on Okies even in Wales. We all went Prayer Walking around Derek's Capel Gomer (Gomer Chapel) radiating down to the city center. Allen, Deedee, and Brian got caught in the pouring rain without raincoats (except the noble Brian loaned his umberella to Deedee) so they got soaking wet. Allen enjoyed the experience so much that he began cackling and praying for it to rain harder. He sang the Christian song "Let it rain, let it rain, open the floodgates of heaven." God was faithful: it did rain harder precisely at that moment. The bad news was that at that exact time in the city center an indigent man was screaming at the sky for the rain to stop. So Jordan Deah began praying for make the rain stop. Of course it rained harder. "My fault," Allen confessed later. Tuesday night we all met a pub at the end of the day (along with Derek and his brother Matthew -- who incidentally was in Edmond last summer with Troy) to debrief and we all were all so sleep deprived and exhausted that we thought everything anyone said was more comic than 1000 Robin Williams plus 2000 Jim Gaffigans. Honestly, I am not sure we have ever laughed so hard. Ever! Wednesday, we went back to Swansea and the real Sowing started. Allen and Jerry chatted with a twenty year old Welshman named Dustin who felt that Christianity couldn't be true because of Evolution. Allen found out the man wanted to learn more Welsh and introduced him to Derek, the Welsh-speaking pastor. Allen left but Jerry stayed and the conversation got more animated. One of us was approached by a 21 year old woman we will call Billie who was begging money for clearly dubious reasons. We said she could have the money if she would tell them what they could pray for her about. She began to cry and to confess to two of us about some very significant problems in her life -- things she said she had never confessed to anyone before. They took her to lunch, counselled with her and agreed to meet with her Friday July 4th to see if they could be of anymore assistance. Allen, Deedee, and Dustin had the rare privilege of having an authentic Welsh family meal as the Welsh Elder Alan and his wife Carrie invited us (along with Marla, Elder Paul's wife), for Welsh lamb with homemade mint sauce, laver bread (a spinach-like seaweed) with cockles (tiny ocean crustaceans), various steamed vegetables, and two Welsh desserts (Marla's seemed to have a bit of a Sri-Lankan flair -- that is her birthplace). The team met after 11:00 p.m. to debrief, but that has not happened yet, so you will have to stay tuned for more information and stories. For now, you will just have to make due with Evangelism through Comedy and Food. Oh, Comedy and Food! Allen |
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Mission to Wales, Summer 2009: Day 5
Wales Mission Group with Derek Rees, Summer 2009
The first Welsh-speaking church to be planted in Wales in 75 years!
(Click photos to enlarge.)
Wednesday July 1, 2009
Our first official day on the mission field was our best day in Wales ever. Ever! We began with Troy's good teaching on the evangelism season of "Plowing." Then we met Derek Rees, the pastor our team is assigned to work with. He is a 23 year old gentle giant of a man at once imminently likable and vivaciously visionary. You aren't sure if you want him to be your "Best Friend Forever" (Jordan Deah's words) or if you want to "Follow him to storm the gates of Hell" (Allen's words). Or both. Either way, it would be So Much Fun! He is a man who has a love for life nearly as great as his love for Jesus.
Derek led us to grab a lunch on the run (Gregg's again) and then to the train platform heading toward Swansea. The train was 75 minutes late, so we ate on the platform and the ten of us celebrated "church" together clustered around a hard wooden bench on the bustling, high-pitched whistling, engine-roaring, concrete slab, discussing the chapters of the book of Acts we have read so far. It was a sweet time of bonding with our new friend and leader.
Just as sweet was Charlotte, an elderly lady of grace who the ladies convinced to sit next to Deedee. A great amount of love ensued as Deedee, Nikki, and Shannon coaxed from Charlotte the story of her life. By the end, Nikki was convinced she should write Charlotte's story into a best-selling novel. Charlotte was a Scottish child evacuated from Britain during he bombing of World War Two. She joined the Royal Army, keeping the secret from her "mum" until it was too late. She met the love of her life, a Welshman, in of all places, Egypt. They married, had children, devoting much of their energy to caring for a daughter with a serious neurological condition. Charlotte was returning from a holiday her husband insisted she go on as a mental break from caring for their daughter. All Charlotte could think about was returning with great joy to see the love of her life, her husband of 34 years. Our ladies let Charlotte know that they were devout Christians, and Charlotte suggested she herself as a Christian in the way she whispered words of encouragement, especially to Nikki. As Charlotte parted from her three new friends, some of our ladies blessed the moment with holy tears.
We took an hour long train trip to Swansea, walked to Derek's church, and took pictures on the church steps, dodging workmen as they carried lumber on their shoulders into the worship area, which they defended like home turf. Our team burst out into thundering applause as Derek crossed the threshold. It was a historic event. Our team was a witness to a great moment in the Church History of Wales. The first Welsh-speaking church had been planted in Wales in 75 years! Derek moved to Swansea only yesterday to physically and spiritually reconstruct a dead church. Today was his first full day to visit his new ministry. And we were there.
One Hundred years ago, evangelicals sparked a revival that converted 100,000 souls to the faith and rocked the world. Since then, much of Wales has been controlled by Liberals uninterested in biblical doctrine. Derek is a new generation that is a throwback to the pioneers of revival in Wales. A new day had dawned and the Welsh dragon is rising from his own ashes.
We went to a large second story room in gentle decay and disarray, sat in a circle on the dusty dark tiles and prayed for Derek. And Prayed. And Prayed. We prayed for Derek's physical, emotional, and spiritual life, his new building, neighborhood, and city and his future congregation. Some of us laid hands upon him as we prayed. We fought dozing, we ignored cramping, and we went numb from the floor crushing upward against our tailbones. And we prayed. It lasted more than an hour, seeming like nanoseconds, blending into eternity. When we were done, we had merged into a single entity with twenty arms and legs.
The rest was a delirious blur -- Prayerstrolling through Swansea city centre and its markets, Derek using his pastoral authority to force us to become dairy addicted to Joe's marshmallow flavored ice cream, and conversing and cackling over dinner. At the train station back in Cardiff hour later, Derek's parting felt like a surgical removal of a vital organ. Why can't he stay at the Etap? Why can't we adopt him right now as our legal brother?
The nine of us crammed into Gavin and Dustin's tiny room, occupying every square inch of every bed and chair. We had the sweetest most unified "debriefing" in the history of debriefings. We all feel we are part of something great, even historic, like witnessing day one of the founding of the the church at Antioch. And the guiltiest part is that we are having the time of our lives. We are giddy for God. The delirium can't last, of course. Missions have a way of taking one wild turn after another. But what a group! What a ride!
Allen
Mission to Wales, Summer 2009: Day 4
Tuesday June 30, 2009
Today was designed as a transition between connecting with Welsh culture through “tourism” and connecting with the Welsh people in the mission field tomorrow. We all stayed up late last night bonding in various ways. Everyone but Allen went to a disorienting and somewhat disturbing movie, while Allen went to the Etap Hotel to write yesterday’s blog entry and to take care of some fiscal matters for the team. Jerry and Gavin took a midnight walk down toward Cardiff Bay. Others had long talks in their rooms. No one went to bed before midnight and a few of the younger more adventurous types went to bed at 4:00 a.m. (by which I mean Gavin ).
The good news is that the team had been told to sleep in a bit. We breakfasted at 9:00 a.m. and walked to Cardiff Bay by about 10:00. Cardiff Bay has undergone perhaps the most remarkable renovation and renaissance in Europe. It has been transformed from a rotting, dingy wood-plank dockyard to a grand crescent of soaring modernist hotels, museums, shops, and restaurants all done in a nautical theme, with roofs that curl back like sails round bellied with the wind.
We slipped past a gate that was probably supposed to be locked and ventured to the end of a wooden dock, peering out into the broad bay which is the lifeblood of the Cardiff heart. We meandered the fashionable shopping district, briefly venturing into this shop or that, and we concluded our wanderings by visiting a Cardiff Port Museum and a Norwegian Chapel. We ate Asian cuisine for lunch at “Wagamama” a restaurant Shannon promised would be amazing. She more than kept her promise. Brian opened our meal in a prayer of sweetness and grace for the second time this trip.
Discussion at our meals has become the best part of the mission so far. Allen usually asks a question everyone is to answer, and the answering process becomes a broad window opening out into personal reflection and group discovery. Today the question was, “What individual person, place, or thing in Wales has been the most relevant to you so far?” The idea was to get us to synthesize and crystallize our collective experiences before we began the mission proper. For Brian, it was the rich spiritual tradition and the undeniable sense of “holy ground” at Tintern Abbey. For Nikki, it was the warm spiritual encounter with Malcolm and Jackie at St. Fagan’s Outdoor Museum of Welsh Life. And “Lush,” the scented soap shop. For Shannon, “Lush” and other girlie shopping experiences was more about a personal connection she had made with the shopkeepers. One lady had even hugged her. Another lady touched Jordan Deah’s face in an act of friendly intimacy. A general consensus was that it was the Welsh people that had made the deepest, most enduring impression so far. Except perhaps for the impact we were making upon each other, especially around the dining table.
After lunch, Allen and Gavin bought books teaching them the Welsh language and continued tutoring each other as they walked. Brian even joined in the language lessons. As we turned back toward the Etap Hotel, Jerry led us to a delightful park running parallel to our course and we walked its paths for awhile, meditating upon its gardens and the city’s propensity for surprisingly likeable postmodern art (which for many of us is an art form which seems usually incoherent and pretentious). Of particular power was a the iron face of a statue-of liberty like lady whose face was half-buried on the beach. She was a memorial to the merchant sailors who had died in various wars at sea. Her metal edges were decorated with crosses and tokens of remembrance, like the fence-line surrounding the Murrah Bombing. Jordan Deah noted that her gently rusting insides were rusty wet with rain water the color of blood.
Arriving at the Etap when we did was another divine appointment. From the minute we entered the hotel, it wasn’t four minutes until Dustin and Troy arrived from different directions. Dustin had arrived about two hours earlier than expected because his transportation links (of planes, trains and automobiles – i.e. busses) lined up perfectly like a solar eclipse. He came down from his room, having just finished a much needed but brief nap. Troy Blankenship, or Baptist Missionary partner on the ground here in Cardiff, came in doing nine things at once, as he always does with more grace than most people can do one thing. The 100 college-age Okies had arrived from across the pond in two waves, and one of the busses had broken down. After he finished correcting the mini-crisis, he took the time to meet each of our team members and give us the broad outline of our schedule for tomorrow and the rest of the week.
After Troy left, we went back to Cardiff City Centre, gawking and shopping since this was our last opportunity to see the town for this tour. Allen and Dustin parted ways with the rest of the team who all went to “Lush,” the now legendary scented soap and general foofoo shop. Well, Jerry somehow avoided the shop. Wise man. Then the whole team went to the City Road district, a kind of “Epcot Center” of a street where every shop and café is richly international – Libyan, Lebanese, Ethiopian, Egyptian, Arabian, Albanian, Vietnamese, Sudanese, and so on seemingly forever . They went to an Indian Restaurant and the topic of conversation was “The ideal FLOCK/Sunday School Class that would meet my needs.” The twenty-something singles (Brian, Shannon, and Nikki) mentioned how after the beloved, able, and shepardly Jamie Howell goes away to Wales in September, they long for a more mature married couple to lead their FLOCK so that the men of the class could have a shepherd that was a man and the women could receive nurturing and counsel from a woman. They also wished the church could somehow make the singles ministry at Henderson Hills a the standard of excellence among other metro churches.
Allen and Dustin went to Rhiwbina Baptist Church to chat with their Elders (and Troy) about their ideas concerning Church Growth (a topic the Elders had specifically asked them to discuss). After a sweeping two hour discussion, Allen and Dustin left with a sense that we had forged a strong partnership with a sister church and with brothers in Christ. They filled us with pizza and hospitality, and we parted with hugs and a sense of exhilaration. The Elders decided to make Allen’s forthcoming Sunday night meeting with thirty or so church leaders into a church-wide event where anyone can come who cares to come. Their reasoning for extending the invitation to all was a wry “Allen is not the heretic we thought he might be.” Allen simply responded that “Clearly, you haven’t gotten to know me well enough yet.”
Tomorrow is the beginning of our hitting the mission field. After a training session, we are to go on a train to Swansea City Centre and help a young twenty-something pastor help establish a new Welsh-speaking church he is just starting up. We are so excited we can’t see straight. Well, that may also be caused by the haze of “Lush” scented soap continually wafting through the air like a force field around our team.
Tomorrow the real adventure begins. Stay tuned to this channel!
Allen
Today was designed as a transition between connecting with Welsh culture through “tourism” and connecting with the Welsh people in the mission field tomorrow. We all stayed up late last night bonding in various ways. Everyone but Allen went to a disorienting and somewhat disturbing movie, while Allen went to the Etap Hotel to write yesterday’s blog entry and to take care of some fiscal matters for the team. Jerry and Gavin took a midnight walk down toward Cardiff Bay. Others had long talks in their rooms. No one went to bed before midnight and a few of the younger more adventurous types went to bed at 4:00 a.m. (by which I mean Gavin ).
The good news is that the team had been told to sleep in a bit. We breakfasted at 9:00 a.m. and walked to Cardiff Bay by about 10:00. Cardiff Bay has undergone perhaps the most remarkable renovation and renaissance in Europe. It has been transformed from a rotting, dingy wood-plank dockyard to a grand crescent of soaring modernist hotels, museums, shops, and restaurants all done in a nautical theme, with roofs that curl back like sails round bellied with the wind.
We slipped past a gate that was probably supposed to be locked and ventured to the end of a wooden dock, peering out into the broad bay which is the lifeblood of the Cardiff heart. We meandered the fashionable shopping district, briefly venturing into this shop or that, and we concluded our wanderings by visiting a Cardiff Port Museum and a Norwegian Chapel. We ate Asian cuisine for lunch at “Wagamama” a restaurant Shannon promised would be amazing. She more than kept her promise. Brian opened our meal in a prayer of sweetness and grace for the second time this trip.
Discussion at our meals has become the best part of the mission so far. Allen usually asks a question everyone is to answer, and the answering process becomes a broad window opening out into personal reflection and group discovery. Today the question was, “What individual person, place, or thing in Wales has been the most relevant to you so far?” The idea was to get us to synthesize and crystallize our collective experiences before we began the mission proper. For Brian, it was the rich spiritual tradition and the undeniable sense of “holy ground” at Tintern Abbey. For Nikki, it was the warm spiritual encounter with Malcolm and Jackie at St. Fagan’s Outdoor Museum of Welsh Life. And “Lush,” the scented soap shop. For Shannon, “Lush” and other girlie shopping experiences was more about a personal connection she had made with the shopkeepers. One lady had even hugged her. Another lady touched Jordan Deah’s face in an act of friendly intimacy. A general consensus was that it was the Welsh people that had made the deepest, most enduring impression so far. Except perhaps for the impact we were making upon each other, especially around the dining table.
After lunch, Allen and Gavin bought books teaching them the Welsh language and continued tutoring each other as they walked. Brian even joined in the language lessons. As we turned back toward the Etap Hotel, Jerry led us to a delightful park running parallel to our course and we walked its paths for awhile, meditating upon its gardens and the city’s propensity for surprisingly likeable postmodern art (which for many of us is an art form which seems usually incoherent and pretentious). Of particular power was a the iron face of a statue-of liberty like lady whose face was half-buried on the beach. She was a memorial to the merchant sailors who had died in various wars at sea. Her metal edges were decorated with crosses and tokens of remembrance, like the fence-line surrounding the Murrah Bombing. Jordan Deah noted that her gently rusting insides were rusty wet with rain water the color of blood.
Arriving at the Etap when we did was another divine appointment. From the minute we entered the hotel, it wasn’t four minutes until Dustin and Troy arrived from different directions. Dustin had arrived about two hours earlier than expected because his transportation links (of planes, trains and automobiles – i.e. busses) lined up perfectly like a solar eclipse. He came down from his room, having just finished a much needed but brief nap. Troy Blankenship, or Baptist Missionary partner on the ground here in Cardiff, came in doing nine things at once, as he always does with more grace than most people can do one thing. The 100 college-age Okies had arrived from across the pond in two waves, and one of the busses had broken down. After he finished correcting the mini-crisis, he took the time to meet each of our team members and give us the broad outline of our schedule for tomorrow and the rest of the week.
After Troy left, we went back to Cardiff City Centre, gawking and shopping since this was our last opportunity to see the town for this tour. Allen and Dustin parted ways with the rest of the team who all went to “Lush,” the now legendary scented soap and general foofoo shop. Well, Jerry somehow avoided the shop. Wise man. Then the whole team went to the City Road district, a kind of “Epcot Center” of a street where every shop and café is richly international – Libyan, Lebanese, Ethiopian, Egyptian, Arabian, Albanian, Vietnamese, Sudanese, and so on seemingly forever . They went to an Indian Restaurant and the topic of conversation was “The ideal FLOCK/Sunday School Class that would meet my needs.” The twenty-something singles (Brian, Shannon, and Nikki) mentioned how after the beloved, able, and shepardly Jamie Howell goes away to Wales in September, they long for a more mature married couple to lead their FLOCK so that the men of the class could have a shepherd that was a man and the women could receive nurturing and counsel from a woman. They also wished the church could somehow make the singles ministry at Henderson Hills a the standard of excellence among other metro churches.
Allen and Dustin went to Rhiwbina Baptist Church to chat with their Elders (and Troy) about their ideas concerning Church Growth (a topic the Elders had specifically asked them to discuss). After a sweeping two hour discussion, Allen and Dustin left with a sense that we had forged a strong partnership with a sister church and with brothers in Christ. They filled us with pizza and hospitality, and we parted with hugs and a sense of exhilaration. The Elders decided to make Allen’s forthcoming Sunday night meeting with thirty or so church leaders into a church-wide event where anyone can come who cares to come. Their reasoning for extending the invitation to all was a wry “Allen is not the heretic we thought he might be.” Allen simply responded that “Clearly, you haven’t gotten to know me well enough yet.”
Tomorrow is the beginning of our hitting the mission field. After a training session, we are to go on a train to Swansea City Centre and help a young twenty-something pastor help establish a new Welsh-speaking church he is just starting up. We are so excited we can’t see straight. Well, that may also be caused by the haze of “Lush” scented soap continually wafting through the air like a force field around our team.
Tomorrow the real adventure begins. Stay tuned to this channel!
Allen
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