That Time Of Year

Christmas was definitely a new experience this year. My first year without my family passed by without a mental breakdown, on my part or theirs. Haha. Instead of a traditional Christmas with my biological family, I spent the holiday in London with some of my YWAM family. We celebrated Christmas Eve with a massive dinner and games and presents at midnight. Christmas day was very laid-back with many naps and lots of movies. It was very enjoyable. Then Boxing day, Romy and I ventured out to Oxford Streets, braved the crowds and shopped! We managed to find some good deals and the day was probably just as crazy as a day-after-thanksgiving shopping. Getting home was rather interesting as the tube was down due to strike. Romy and I spent 2 hours trying to get home. Finally, we made it onto the Bakerloo line, which was back up and running again. Arriving home that night was so good.

This week is jammed-pack with outreach preparation. We've spent yesterday and today, at the church. The Romania team is practicing dramas, while my team (Serbia!) is practicing music. While we're in Uzice, we'll be playing in a cafe twice a week every week. We won't be playing Christian songs, but we'll be letting the Serbian people see we're Christians and what Christianity is about, that it's not the orthodox religion they're used to. We've also been preparing various workshops and doing research on the Serbian people. I've found out that 85% of the people at Serbian Orthodox: "To be a Serb is to be Orthodox." Only 2% of the population in Uzice claim to be Evangelical Christians! That's about 1,100 people that know Jesus as savior and have a personal relationship with Him. In a city full of people! It's so crazy to me. In a city of 55,000-60,000 people, there are only two church buildings. The website I found said they couldn't find a single group of New Testament believers who meet together. This is insane to me, coming from the States, where, in any city, big or small, you open up a phone book and there's an entire list of churches. We live in this society where we "shop" for a church and in Serbia, this is not the case at all. It really excites me that God is going to use us in this country! I'm also rather excited for the Turkish coffee. hehe.

Well, my lunch break is nearly over. Please be praying for both the Serbia and Romania teams. Specific prayer needs are:

-The countries we're going to
-Some funds that still need to come in
-Preparation (dramas and such for the Romania team. Music, photography, English lessons, kids crafts, a signing for worship class, facepainting and a carol service at a local orphanage)
-Unity
-Endurance
-Joy

Your prayers are vital to this. Join us in impacting these two countries!

Outreach Has BEGUN!

I should be working on stuff for my oral exam tomorrow, but my brain needs a break from the notes. Or en excuse to put it off a little longer. :-)

Last Friday marked the end of our Lecture phase, though we still have an oral exam tomorrow. Monday, we began preparation for outreach! We also found out a little more of what we'll be doing in Serbia. We'll be helping in practical means, but we'll also be doing some things that are a little more out of the norm. I'm so excited! We'll be working a lot with youth and doing stuff aimed towards them. We'll be forming a band and performing in cafes, as well as doing worship. We'll also be putting on a photography exhibition of some sort. Even some of my photos are going to be used!! I'm so excited about that! And totally shocked. We have some amazing photographers on our team, so I feel really privileged to even be suggested for that. So the next two weeks will be full of drama practice, music practice and other sorts of preparation. Serbia is going to be very cold, so my main preparation is to buy an arctic sleeping bag and some good thermals. :)

Back to the drudge.... lol.

The Oxford Adventure

Yesterday morning, my friend Romy and I got up earlier than normal on a typical Saturday and set out. Our plan was a day trip to Oxford city, to visit some famous sights and enjoy each other's company. The day didn't go exactly as we'd planned, but we made the most of it and ended up having an incredibly time!

Not ten minutes after our bus had left London, snow began coming down heavily. I was a little concerned, because of my background with snow, but for the first time in my life, I wasn't panicked or stressed in the face of failed plans. It goes to show just how much work God has done in my life. It soon became apparent that the day wasn't going to go as planned. We crawled along at a snail's pace, watching lesser vehicles slide around on the snow, get stuck and the many accidents. I was so grateful for our quite capable driver. The journey should have taken an hour and a half, but ended up taking five and a half hours. Several hours into it, the driver announced that all buses had been canceled, which meant our ride home was now out of the question. When we arrived in Oxford, it was over an hour after our ride home should have left and it was dark. We found out that the bus services were still not running and trains were incredibly iffy. We decided to find something to eat and contemplate our options.

We found The Eagle and Child, a pub that my favorite author, C.S. Lewis frequented in his life and settled in at a booth in the very room he had spent so many hours. We ordered food and talked about the day thus far. Let me mention now that I had the best pie I've ever had at this pub. It was mushroom and chicken with puff pastry on top. So incredibly good. I thought about my sister, because it was something she would have enjoyed as well. I have a friend, who's moving to Oxford in two weeks, so Romy and I were talking about how Jody would be in this very place in only a few weeks. Suddenly the idea dawned to write a note and leave it here for Jody. I joked, "If only I had some cello tape." And what do you know, but Romy just happened to have some. Hopefully that hidden note will stay there until Jody comes to retrieve it. :)

After dinner, we headed back to Gloucester Green, to find out further information about buses and possible lodging. God was good and a man directed us to the last available (and affordable!) room in Oxford. We stopped off at one hotel to ask directions and found out that their last room was for for 198 pounds, which is equal to about 300 dollars! We got to the Rewley House and got a room. Our room was nice and the two things that excited me most was the bathtub and the tv! After a warming soak, Romy and I watched a movie on tv and then headed to bed.

This morning, we got up and headed to the train station. The buses were up and running again, but we decided that the train was a more reliable mode of transportation. After purchasing tickets on the next train leaving, we trudged through the snow to Oxford Castle to have breakfast.






We enjoyed a lovely cup o' tea and biscuit, as well as lovely conversation and a good thawing out of our extremities. As we were leaving, the proprietors asked if we would like a tour of the castle. Knowing that we still had a long wait til our train, we jumped at the opportunity. I love history! We had an exclusive tour as it was just Romy, myself and the tour guide. From the top of the tour, we could see all of Oxford and what a wonderful sight!

When we arrived back at the train station, we found out our train had been canceled and we had to wait another hour. We made it on the next train and with little hassle made it home at a quarter to four, twenty-three hours and thirty-five minutes AFTER we were supposed to head home. But it was such a Grand Adventure!! I commented to Romy this morning that it felt as though we were in some Christmas story, in a lovely little village that was warm and welcoming. It was a good weekend. :)

Birthing Pangs

I feel as one being born. It's a long birthing process. I feel the pangs of contractions. New ideas are forming. New revelations are coming to light. And I feel like it's just the beginning.

I've begun to feel like I'm just now starting to really live as a follower of Christ. Like before, I was only paying lip service, but now, my faith reaches farther than just the exterior. I don't know how to explain that feeling. It's one of the best feelings I've experienced, but also one of the hardest feelings. Nothing good comes easily, I suppose. I've had this saying for a long time, that if you're comfortable, something must be wrong. Now, I'm truly living that saying.

Deliverance week was so good. My eyes were opened to so many of the tendencies and deceptions I have in my life. And now, it's almost like this week is Freedom Week. Freedom from all my preconceived ideas of the Gospel and what church really is and while it's close to my previous view, it's vastly different. Think outside the box. Don't go with the flow, with everyone else, swim upstream, towards the Lifeforce! It's a heck of a lot harder and tiring, but it's the only way. You'll be hitting 500 other people going with the flow and they'll assume you're wrong and there'll be great pressure, but do it. Those that we hold in great esteem in Christiandom, went through a heck of a lot. Martin Luther had essentially 3 "hits" put on his life within 6 months. One of the Wesley brothers was thrown out of a church, beaten and told never to return. Those are just a couple of examples. Get uncomfortable.

Drum Roll Please...

We have an official destination for our outreach portion of the DTS!! And the winner is.....




SERBIA!!!!!!














This is Uzice, the city where we will be staying!











Uzice at night!






It looks like a beautiful country and a beautiful people. I realize that the outreach is more about the lovely scenery and I'm super excited to see more of the Father's revealed heart for the people of Serbia. I'm getting so excited for this portion of my DTS! We'll be in Serbia for 3 weeks, helping in whatever way we can, specifically with a new ministry. Then we'll head back to the U.K. for the last portion of our outreach, possibly to Wales.

PRAYER NEEDS:
-Fundraising to raise the needed amount for all of us to go on outreach.
-Communication
-Confirmation of all that God has for us.
-The last few weeks of Lecture Phase. We're all dragging a bit and this is a tough week. It's Deliverance week.

Thank you so much! I praise God every day for you!

Christmas In The Air

It's here. The Christmas season has begun. I can just feel the tingle in the air. The lights are a little brighter, the joy a little more potent and the air is crisper. I'm so excited that it's here!

This week, my friend Romy and I went down to Regent Street and Oxford Street to see the Christmas lights. They were fantastic! They're Narnia themed, which is right up my alley as most of you probably know. :) It was magical. Romy and I shared many laughs and had some really good conversations. We also got to experience Primark for the first time. Oh my. I could spend hours and so many pounds (which equals 1.5 dollars!) in that store! So many cool things and decent prices!

On Friday, I was on a crew that headed down to the church and decorated for Christmas. It was an answer to a silly prayer. Just shows how much He loves us, to answer our silly prayers, that mean a lot to us. At home, it's always me who makes us decorate and is kind of in charge of the Christmas spirit. Being here and so far away from home, I didn't think I was going to be able to decorate for Christmas, but God gave me opportunity. I will say one thing though... real Holly hurts like heck. :)

Tomorrow starts our 10th week of DTS. It's going by so quickly. Thank you SO much for all your support and prayers! I can't thank you ENOUGH!