Why do you believe in God?

First of all, YES there was an earthquake! The biggest earthquake (5.3) in the UK for nearly 25 years woke me up on Wednesday just before 1am. I (halfway) woke up, thought "What? What is this?" and basically fell right back to sleep. So weird...but thankfully, it was still a small enough 'quake to not make much damage.

Now, as the Brits would say, "On to the more important bit!"

If I hadn't done enough work over the last 6 months to merit my living in England, this past week alone would have more than compensated. I have had the craziest, most exciting week! And yet, there is more to come...

The Fittros have welcomed a team of Lincoln Christian College students to Nottingham for the last few years (for one week of cross-cultural ministry experience). The West Bridgford School even plans the team into its R.E. ("Religious Education") curriculum! This year, the school sent 17 students. Those students, plus a couple of their leaders, the Fittro family, our current intern, Amy and I....yeah, quite a crowd of Christians storming into the local school! It sounds silly, but it really does cause quite a stir when every 11-16 year old student is told they are guaranteed to have a conversation with at least one American. So anyhow, we were split into groups, and sent to 3 or 4 different classes during each of the day's 5 periods.

A typical day in the schools like this turns out to be not very typical at all. For example, one of my days started with a class of 17 year olds studying popular theories of why atheists believe God doesn't exist. My next class was a room full of 12 year olds trying to compare and contrast Christianity with Sikhism. Then, I had a small table of 16 year olds working out medical ethics issues (abortion, euthanasia, animal testing...) and then, to cap off my day, I had a table of 15 year old boys all to myself to discuss the Christian viewpoint of sex, marriage, and homosexuality. Yep. Quite the full day!

I didn't think this week would be as exhausting as it actually ended up being. It really wears you down emotionally to be put in the hot seat for your faith. Every class that we were in required that we split into small groups for more one-on-one time with the kids. Here are some of the questions I was asked, word-for-word, this week:

- "How can you believe a God exists when things like hurricane Katrina happen?"
- "Do you think homosexuals are going to hell?"
- "How can you believe that someone died and came back to life?"
- "Do you think that maybe you're just a Christian because your parents are?"
- "Have you ever witnessed a miracle?"
- "Do you believe in ghosts?"
- "If there is a God, why did he give most of the money in the world to selfish people?"

The comment I heard the most this week was, "Christianity is my religion, but I don't know anything about it. I'm not even sure if a God exists." Frustrating things such as this kept creeping up, but I definitely took the time to celebrate the victories found in kids that I can tell are getting SO close to seeing Christ as the Truth, as well as the one little boy who commented "Wow, I never actually thought of it that way before" after I desperately tried to explain why I believe God exists. I think MANY seeds were planted in the school this week.

In a few of the classes, the teacher actually had the kids stand up to indicate if they consider themselves theists, agnostics, or atheists. After my initial shock that they are allowed to ask the students to do this in a public school, I was again shocked to see young kids proudly standing to identify themselves - in relatively equal numbers - as the three options. A few of each were asked to defend their position. There are SO many kids that are struggling within themselves as an agnostic - unsure of the answer to "the God question." Even the head of the R.E. department stood to claim he was an agnostic, saying that recent events (the death of his mother) have caused him to question God's existence.

We decided months ago that we would plan a youth cafe night for one of the nights the Lincoln team was here. We promoted the event tirelessly in all of the classes at the school (food, live band, games, karaoke!). Well, tonight was the big night! We had no clue how many kids would show up, having an event on a school night with a bunch of strangers and all...but about 45 teens showed up!! We were so excited! For West Bridgford, THAT is a breakthrough. It was a fun, encouraging night.

Tomorrow is my last full day of R.E. classes. I'm going to miss it...but then again...I am VERY excited about the next few days! Guess where I'm staying this weekend? A CASTLE! Yes!! Alton Castle! Amy and I were invited to be team leaders at a youth weekend away with 53 of the students at St. Luke's Anglican Church. When I attended a meeting to help plan and prepare for the weekend away, I couldn't help but laugh when I heard that the biggest obstacle in planning the outdoor games was the concern over the kids possibly falling into the giant MOAT around the castle. Truly, the issues in English youth ministry are quite different :) Also, looking over my schedule of events, there is a billiards competition in the dungeon, and small group meetings in the crypt. I am SO excited! A proper English castle! And we're even having a Medieval banquet for dinner one night - - complete with all of us leaders renting Medieval costumes as a surprise for the teens. Amazing, right?

Hope you all have a lovely weekend...and try not to be too jealous of me! I promise I'll take lots of pictures at the castle, and share as soon as I can :)

Held

Is it strange that I still wake up most mornings thinking "Holy cow, I live in ENGLAND!" Blessed seems like such a small word to use to describe how I feel...but I can't think of anything else more appropriate, so yes. I am blessed to be here. Ministry in this culture is such a challenge, which has forced me to learn and grow. Through all the high and low points, I'm still determined that the single greatest feeling in the world is knowing that you're exactly where God wants you to be at that precise moment. I suppose knowing exactly what to do while you're there is the tricky part.

So now that I find myself steeped (no "tea" pun intended...well, maybe) in all sorts of diverse ministries, I've been quite thankful to of found a community of people my age that I can learn and grow alongside of. "Something Else" is the name of a small congregation of young adults that I meet with most Sunday nights. We meet in a small corner of the local Anglican church. I really need to take pictures of that place, because it is AMAZING. It's one of those church buildings that makes American jaws drop. It's just funny to think that people were holding potlucks in that place when George Washington was still in diapers!

I've made a lot of friends at Something Else, which has been imperative to the keeping of my sanity! It reminds me a lot of a service I attended while working at Christ's Church in Jacksonville (www.TheWellJax.com). The more diverse church services I attend in England helps to build the picture in my mind of the worldwide church. I've heard and read that our worship here is just practice for heaven...which is going to be crazy when you really think about it. My tiny, inexperienced brain tends to think that the biggest difference in churches is if they use PowerPoint or hymnals. What about worship in Haiti? Thailand? Poland? Kenya? Germany? China? What does THAT look like? What is it going to look like when it all comes together, and we truly worship as one in heaven? I can't wait to see the beautiful diversity of worship in heaven...our first true family celebration. Cool.

Wow, how did I get off onto that tangent? Back to "Something Else."

Of course I can't just GO to a church service without helping out in some way or another, so I've been roped in bit by bit to contribute. Most recently, I was given the task of putting together a video. I was handed the song "Held," by Natalie Grant. Wow. What a powerful song! And putting together a visual aid for the song ended up becoming an act of worship in itself. The song is about suffering, which I am not currently experiencing when compared to the rest of the world (come on, I live in ENGLAND! Can life get any better than this??) but I did identify with the need to be held.

By the way, it's the most bizarre thought to me when I think that I am a college graduate. I'm in my mid-twenties! Lots of my very best friends are getting married and having babies and starting careers...and that's supposed to be normal. I guess I'm supposed to be considered an "adult." Haha! You've got to be kidding me. I still feel like a little kid. I feel like my being in England is just a really awesome Summer camp. If I really sit and think about how I'm an adult with adult-like responsibilities, bills, taxes...and that I live in another COUNTRY...I think I might have an anxiety attack. So, I tend to try to not think about being an adult too often :)

Back to the song "Held," - - it really helped me to think about how going through difficult, challenging times in life are what bring us closer to God. Of course it's not fun to find yourself in the midst of suffering, but just knowing that you are being held by Christ through it all can be a priceless gift only found through the rough times. I think that's the biggest thing that separates Christians from those who choose not to accept Christ - we have hope. Everyone suffers. We live on earth, and we're human. Bad stuff is going to happen, no matter who you are or what you believe. But for those of us who are clothed with Christ, we have hope no matter what. It is silly to think that the "worst" thing that can happen to you on earth is death. Really? Seriously? That's the WORST? Satan is such a weenie.

I'll stop blabbering on and just let the song lyrics speak for themselves. Enjoy the video!


(For those of you not incredibly YouTube savvy, I suggest hitting the "Play" button, then pausing it once it starts to play. Wait for the grey line to fill up the play area, and then hit "Play" again. This helps the video to load completely before you start watching the video.)