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