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