tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67510920202570856682024-03-05T10:36:17.037+00:00All tied up in NottsCrystal Hutchesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07376112203583917991noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6751092020257085668.post-39736765152598403352009-08-17T10:32:00.003+01:002009-08-17T10:40:30.526+01:00Eyam's StoryMost churches that I have attended in the UK share one loaf of bread during communion, so it was a bit odd this past week when the preacher explained that they had pre-sliced the bread into individual pieces as to safeguard each participant from getting the swine flu. Just a small precaution, but still...it made me think. Beyond that, I was surprised last week when a good friend of mine found out that she had managed to contract the swine flu! To top it all off, the most bizarre thing happened: my local curate friend told me that he had just been required to receive training for “mass burials” due to the recent swoop of swine flu through the UK! Now, I'm not one who wants to sit around and talk about things like swine flu, nor do I even take this flu as seriously as I possibly should. However, the trend in discussing the issue has reminded me of one of my favorite stories I've learned during my travels in England. It is a story that I think is worth sharing.<br /><br />It is a grim tale of a small village in Derbyshire, England, called Eyam. In September 1665, a man called George Viccars (the tailor of the town) had received a shipment of cloth from London. It arrived slightly damp, so he opened the cloth and left it out to dry. George immediately fell ill, and by the end of the week he died. By the end of the month, 6 others (with similar symptoms) were dead. Little did they know that the piece of damp cloth from London brought with it some tiny, seemingly harmless fleas – infected with the Bubonic plague. The death toll continued to rise as the disease spread around quickly with the obvious symptom that we learned in the children's nursery rhyme: “a ring around the rosy” (a red, circular rash on the skin). The disease quickly ran through the village, claiming both young and old as its victims. Once you started to feel the symptoms, it was only 4-7 days until you were dead.<br /><br />I am not telling you this story to depress you! Today, the story of Eyam is told from a heroic perspective. Eyam's story became one of more than death because of the remarkable decision made by the church in Eyam. The decision of this small village parish saved hundreds, possibly thousands, of other lives in central England.<br /><br />Finding itself in the midst of a serious plague, the town, in a state of shock, looked to its church leadership for advice. Rev. William Mompesson had heard stories of the earlier plague that struck Europe in the 1300s. He saw the death and destruction that this disease brought over his parish, and made a difficult decision: to recommend quarantine. The idea of “quarantine” was relatively unheard of in this area of Europe at that time, and probably because the idea of “contagious” diseases was also relatively new. The villagers weighed the facts, and agreed to shut themselves off from all surrounding areas. Any family that had been outside of the village was not allowed back in, and no one in the village went out beyond the boundary rocks. Basically, the entire village made the decision to pay whatever cost...sacrificing their own lives if necessary...in order to keep the disease from spreading beyond their walls.<br /><br />I cannot even begin to imagine the grief and terror that this small village saw during just one short, devastating year. I have read stories of specific families that are just horrifying – one woman who lost 25 members of her family to the plague. Since the plague was spreading so easily from one victim to another, proper funerals attended by family and friends were no longer an option. Each family was given the responsibility of burying their own. One woman, Mrs. Hancock, buried her own husband and six children within just an 8-day period.<br /><br />The self sacrifice of this small village is deservedly credited as an amazing service to the country. Though the plague ended up wiping out 30% of Europe's entire population, the number could've easily been higher for England if it weren't for these brave citizens. The plague died out in England with the village of Eyam. Out of its humble 350 residents, only 83 survived the 16-month bout with the plague. The remnants of the town waited for the disease to subside, then they burned all of their furniture and clothing, and did what they could to fumigate the rest of the village before allowing outside visitors back in to see what was left. Today, the small village still stands frozen in time as a memorial to each family – with each house donning a plaque of the names and ages of each person who died within its walls.<br /><br />I realize it's not a story that Disney Pixar will be turning into an animated film any time soon, but I think there is something beautiful about this depressing story. So many Biblical truths come to mind when I think of these people, especially John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” What a difficult way to live out your faith.<br /><br />My hope and prayer for the church in England (and the rest of the world) is that we find a way to be the place where people go for advice in difficult situations. I pray that we know how to step up and lead our communities when they face tragedy. I pray that we have the guts to make difficult, but correct decisions. I pray that we are the people prepared to clean up the messes that this world often finds itself in. I pray that no matter what crisis is facing us at that specific time, we are ready to make any sacrifice necessary to proclaim hope to a hopeless world.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7756KBMdiVRqSVQtx-CMX6o24amjG49BkUl-1IyBNSZaNyqDMoVSCXgkvl3huyLhbBLhcL30BzjDWKOyptJmfcrIu-XEjGBjY2vPOzwwtY5E-FIVZrOPpfvRsejjWPaShaIttyfs_U_58/s1600-h/eyam.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 357px; height: 237px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7756KBMdiVRqSVQtx-CMX6o24amjG49BkUl-1IyBNSZaNyqDMoVSCXgkvl3huyLhbBLhcL30BzjDWKOyptJmfcrIu-XEjGBjY2vPOzwwtY5E-FIVZrOPpfvRsejjWPaShaIttyfs_U_58/s320/eyam.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370863684493901362" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">*Photo of the still-standing church in Eyam, surrounded by tombstones of plague victims.</span></span>Crystal Hutchesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07376112203583917991noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6751092020257085668.post-74433720416563411122009-07-15T13:34:00.002+01:002009-07-15T13:44:57.488+01:00She's backGREETINGS from England! Yes, I did indeed make it back to England. Interesting story, actually. It wasn't until I made the decision to step out in faith that God would provide...and purchase a ticket back to England with my own finances...that God did indeed provide the finances for me to return! What an amazing gift, and another testimony of God's provision in my life that I'll never forget. I still need to add a few supporters to my repertoire, but I'm really not worried at this point that the Lord will provide in His perfect timing.<br /><br />I returned to the UK at the end of May. Since the moment my feet hit the ground, I feel as though life has been non-stop. Just to update you on a few things that have happened, read on, my friends!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">THE POINT RETURNS</span><br />My team decided to do another short 'course' on the basics of God/Christianity, as we did last year (it's a program we call “The Point”). Last year, we met with teenagers at a local pizza shop. This year, we decided to meet in a home. We had quite a turnout! The first few minutes of the first week it looked like the kids were going to be too embarrassed to ask their God-questions, but once the discussion really started, there was no stopping it! We had an AMAZING time. One of the most thrilling things to come from the lessons was when two girls that have NEVER asked us about our faith in the past (in fact, they're the ones that usually change the subject when we bring it up) not only <span style="font-style: italic;">came</span> to a few of the weeks, but actually <span style="font-style: italic;">stayed</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">after</span> one of these meetings to ask questions about God. Yessss!! What a huge step forward!! Please pray for us as we continue to pursue these important conversations with them. The Point will be starting up again in the Fall, so please pray that the momentum doesn't subside during the break.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">TRENTSIDE HITS 100</span><br />One of our after-school clubs (Trentside Youth Club) had 100 attendees last week! Since our team volunteered to run this community club about a year and a half ago, we have managed to see an average of 5 kids showing up <span style="font-style: italic;">magnify</span> to an incredible average of 30-40 kids each week. However, when we host special events that we advertise in the schools, we can get even larger numbers. Last week was what we call a “Cafe Night,” where we invite a couple local bands from the schools to play, and we have food/drinks for sale. Usually we have the time to promote the events in the schools quite a bit, but we really didn't promote at all this time around. Turns out, word of mouth must be working pretty well for us! We had about 84 teenagers show up (plus a bunch of parents, which took our total to 100)! A lot of the “newbies” that showed up were fans of the bands, which was really neat to see. We're hoping that a few of these might stick around with us. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL</span><br />This past Monday, my house/team-mate and I threw an 'end of school' bash in our home for the kids. I think we ended up feeding and entertaining for 11 kids...lots of pizza, brownies, and Wii play going on. It is a universal truth that teenagers look forward to the summer! This coming Friday is their last day of school, and it can not come too soon. Tomorrow, we are throwing a Hawaiian-themed party at another one of our infamous after-school clubs (called The Zone). We are hoping that through all of these 'end of school' parties, we will get out enough information about summer events we are hosting so that our relationships with the kids won't wane at all during the summertime. I LOVE youth ministry during the summer! Lots of opportunities with the kids that wouldn't be possible if there was the dark cloud of homework hovering over ever moment suddenly become possible - and, hopefully - with better weather! <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">PICTURES</span><br />It's true...there's no use hiding it. I've been on a few AMAZING short holidays lately! I think being away from England for a couple of months made me realize that I need to use my weekends and days off wisely! <br /><br />Once I arrived back in the UK, I was sent on the Great Britain Field Team's retreat to Normandy, France. It was just before the anniversary of D-Day, and BOY what an incredible experience. On the way back to England, my team-mate and I stopped over in Paris for a couple of days. Not my favorite city in the world, but it's still pretty surreal to see things like the Mona Lisa and the Eiffel Tower.<br /><br />A few weeks ago, my team-mate's parents came to stay with us. While they were here, we all went on a short trip up to Norway to visit some of their family (which they had never met). It was an amazing trip...and a ridiculously cheap one, since we stayed and ate with family. I will never forget that trip - - I met Walter Mondale (former VP of the US! How random is that?) there, had the freshest seafood every day (we were even served caviar for breakfast!), found the gravestones of my team-mate's great-great-grandparents, and got to take an incredible boat ride through the famous fjords. <br /><br />I recently had a weekend away in the Peak District (a beautiful area just outside of Nottingham that is used as English countryside scenery in lots of British films) with my small group. During that trip, our group decided to take a trip to Haddon Hall...which, as it turns out, is the castle that is used in The Princess Bride! It's also used in Elizabeth, Jane Eyre, and Pride & Prejudice, but...c'mon people...THE PRINCESS BRIDE!! I was super-duper excited!! Afterall, “Mawwaige is a bwessed awwaingement...” Man, I hope you all know what I'm talking about here...<br /><br />The final amazing thing I've seen since being back is Bradgate Park. I had a meeting there with some other teammates from my organization. Honestly, I'm probably the only person in the world who cares this much about Bradgate Park...but I was so honored to be able to visit, that I seriously got teary eyed. Bradgate Park is where Lady Jane Grey was born and raised! Again, I'm probably the only person in the world who cares this much about Lady Jane Grey...but I've been somewhat obsessed with her (and the entire Tudor family, really...Tudor is the family of Henry VIII, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth...) for quite a few years now. I wrote a paper about her when I was at Florida Christian College as part of the class I took which included my first trip to Europe! My paper was on European martyrs, and Lady Jane is classified as one since the only reason she was beheaded was because she refused to recant her Protestant beliefs. She was only 16 years old at the time, and had just been literally forced into being the Queen of England...for only 9 days. What an incredible story. <br /><br />Pictures of all of the above places/experiences are either on my <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sisterhutch/">Flickr</a> website, or are on their way very soon. :)<br /><br /><br /><br />I think that will be all for now. Please pray for wisdom that I might know how to best use every moment of summer for the Kingdom. Please pray for myself and my house/team-mate as we prepare this week to move out of our house (I'm going to miss this house!) and into our other team-mate's house as they are in the U.S. for a short furlough. <br /><br />Grace and peace.Crystal Hutchesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07376112203583917991noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6751092020257085668.post-38236462070557048752009-05-02T20:43:00.005+01:002009-05-03T01:23:23.276+01:00April showers bring May flowersMy apologies, April! You apparently came and went without any word from me appearing on this blog. Woops!<br /><br />March ended well for me. As I mentioned in my last post, a team from <a href="http://www.lccs.edu/">Lincoln Christian College</a> came to Nottingham for a week of teaching in the local secondary school. It was an AWESOME week! It's tiring just to teach teenagers all day long...much less to attack the subject of faith with kids who proudly profess to be atheists. I can't even count the number of kids we had one-on-one conversations with about our faith (we're talking somewhere in the 1,000s here). It's the most terrifying and yet most wonderful honor to live out 1 Peter 3:15: "<span style="font-style: italic;">Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have</span>."<br /><br />Last year I <a href="http://sisterhutch.blogspot.com/2008/02/why-do-you-believe-in-god.html">posted about the questions</a> that were common during that week. This time around, however, I'd like to post more about the actual conversations.<br /><br />- The older classes were supposed to interview us about the Christian perspective on issues like animal testing, euthanasia, divorce, and abortion. I had the chance to share a very unique and personal story about how my own mother was advised strongly by her doctor to have an abortion, and when she refused...here I came! It was neat to have a discussion of a more personal nature with the older kids and have them finally see abortion from a different side.<br /><br />- One of the older girls kept asking about my position on suicide. She then shared with me an incredibly emotional story about her Aunt who had been mentally unstable for years, and had only weeks earlier committed suicide. Sharing this story with me was obviously difficult for her, so I decided to put on my counselor cap and ask about how her family was coping. She had assumed that as a Christian I would have immediately condemned her Aunt rather than trying to come at the situation with understanding and love. I believe that was this girl's first time hearing about a <span style="font-style: italic;">loving</span> God.<br /><br />- A 13-year old girl who often comes to our after-school club was in a group with me during the last class. She and her friends decided to ask me how I can believe that a God exists. After sharing my "Intelligent Design" spiel and giving a short testimony of personal experience, the girls were silent. Then, the girl who I know from our clubs asked out of frustration: "Well, if a God TRULY existed...and He really honestly cared about us...well, wouldn't He want us to know He was real? I mean, wouldn't He at least just come down here to earth one time and say 'Hey guys, I'm real!'" For a second I felt like I shouldn't breathe for fear that I'd wake up and this perfect situation would disappear...then I found my breath and replied: "Actually, I believe that DID happen. I believe that was Jesus." We sat in silence again for a second until the same girl piped up once more after shaking off my comment and said, "Well, that was a REALLY long time ago. Don't you think He should come back again?" Wow. It's like I was paying this girl for the perfect set-up. "Actually...I DO believe He will come again..." In volleyball terms: bump, set, spike!<br /><br />Fast forwarding to today. I am in Florida. Yep! Tan lines and flip flops galore. I have been in Florida with my family for about a month (so <span style="font-style: italic;">that's</span> where April went...). I initially returned to Florida to spend some much-needed time with my family, and ended up staying longer than intended due to a dire need of funding. So, I'm finding myself again in the all-too-familiar place of support raising. <br /><br />I think if there was ever a list of all the things I am capable of doing in this world, and they were put in order from the things I do best on top to the things I do worst on the bottom..."support raising" would be so far down that you'd trip over it. Added to that, raising funds for ANYTHING in this economy is difficult! As frustrating as it has been, I am being constantly reminded of a spiritual gifts assessment I recently took with my teammate in England. There were hundreds of statements we had to rate from "Strongly Disagree" to "Strongly Agree," and the statement that took me the longest to consider was: "<span style="font-style: italic;">I am willing to attempt the impossible for God</span>." Jeepers. It was a challenging, haunting question that has stuck with me ever since. Truly, in England I am part of a team that is attempting an 'impossible' mission (cue cheesy music and Tom Cruise jumping out of exploding buildings): to bring Christ to a self-proclaimed "post-Christian" society. Thankfully, my God not only allows for all things within His will to be possible, but He is also a jealous God who refuses to quit chasing after those who run from Him. And here I am now...getting a tan and attempting to accomplish the impossible with the One who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Please pray along with me for this situation, as it is becoming more and more important for me to get back to the field ASAP.<br /><br />Speaking of all that - If you are interested and in the Orlando area this coming weekend, there is going to be a fund-raising dinner for me at the <a href="http://www.fccorlando.org/dnn/">First Christian Church of Orlando</a>! Come join me on May 9th from 6-7.30pm. Dinner will be served for a suggested donation of $10 for adults, $5 for the kiddies. There will be some stuff on sale, and I'll be talking about my experience in England so far. Should be a dandy good time. :)<br /><br />Here's to May - cheers, y'all!Crystal Hutchesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07376112203583917991noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6751092020257085668.post-18619240799526328842009-03-07T19:54:00.003+00:002009-03-07T20:54:36.571+00:00Here's the Headlines<span style="font-weight: bold;">Hello, friends!<br /></span>Hey look at me - I'm blogging again! I have had yet another streak of busy busy busy days. I love keeping myself busy, especially when I can see the results of my hard work. I really feel like the relationships I've been working so hard to build over the last year and a half have been growing even more than I thought possible! There's no feeling like having someone you genuinely care about asking you for advice, or feeling comfortable enough with you to vent all of their issues to you. I praise God for giving me these friendships and opportunities to share His love! <br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">As for what I've been up to lately, here's a quick snapshot into my life:</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Half term week</span><br />"Half Term" is a week in the middle of each school term where there is a week off of school. The girls in our after-school club (called "The Zone") always complain of being bored during half-terms, so Amy (my teammate/housemate) and I decided to offer a special edition of A2B ("Alternative 2 Boredom," our summer club) and host a different event each day of the half-term out of our home (want a <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sisterhutch/sets/72157612515478441/">tour of my home</a>?). Monday was glass painting, Tuesday was cinema day, Wednesday was baking day, Thursday we had a special party night at our youth club, and Friday night we had a girly sleep-over. It was an intense week filled with tons of fun (and sugar), and was definitely worth it! The sleep-over on Friday night proved to be another step forward in building our relationships with the girls. We had a ton of fun playing games, watching chick flicks, painting nails...being all-around ridiculously girly. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A week in the local school<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></span></span>A few hours ago I was at the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/here8now/356409809/in/set-72157594544255226/">Nottingham Railway Station</a> to meet up with 17 college students from Lincoln Christian College (Lincoln, IL). Every year during its Spring Break, LCC sends a group of students to Nottingham for a week of mission service with our team. This group has become such a staple to the team here in Nottingham that it is actually <span style="font-style: italic;">planned</span> into the local school's curriculum! These 17 students, 2 adults that came with them, plus our team of 4 will be teaching every R.E. ('religious education') class at the local school this coming week - - coming face-to-face with literally <span style="font-style: italic;">thousands</span> of teenagers. This week, we will become the first real, live Christians that many of these kids have ever met. We will give our 'Christian' perspective on a variety of topics, from abortion to animal rights, assisted suicide to pre-marital sex, world poverty to homosexuality, and everything between. We will tell Bible stories these kids have never heard, and will give our own testimonies about 'experiencing' Christ in our own lives. To some of these kids we will probably just be another homework assignment, but hopefully we will spark the curiosity of others while planting seeds in a really interesting field. Other than being in the schools this week, we will also host a Sunday night service at a local church, have a prayer walk around the town centre, invite every student in West Bridgford to a special cafe night (Thursday night), tour around Nottingham city, and take a short trip up to Warwick Castle! Man...it's going to be a busy week...and I couldn't be more excited!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">And now, a bit of English culture for you...<br /></span>One interesting annual event in England is coming up on the 13th of March - Red Nose Day. For the last few weeks charity shops, grocery stores and certain other shops have been selling red ball noses (yep, just like a clown's nose!). On <a href="http://www.rednoseday.com/">Red Nose Day</a>, people will proudly wear their noses around during the day, and will host humor related charity fund-raising events in order to support <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_Relief_%28charity%29">Comic Relief</a> (a charity organization founded by a comedian in the '80s which raised money for areas struck by famine - now has raised over £600 million for various charitable causes). I just love me some British humor, and for a good cause no less ;)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />...and yet a bit <span style="font-style: italic;">more</span> English culture!<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>There are two commercials on TV that have really been making a buzz lately. One is for a credit card, and the other is for a chocolate bar. Very different products, but both making a splash with their eye-raising fun...you'll understand my cheesiness if you watch the commercials: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WlRcXIO5ik">Barclay's Card</a> and Cadbury's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVblWq3tDwY">Dairy Milk bar</a>.<br /><br />Thanks for reading! Until next time, I send you love from the other side of the pond ~Crystal Hutchesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07376112203583917991noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6751092020257085668.post-66701543614343449922009-01-11T21:45:00.002+00:002009-01-11T22:15:55.021+00:00King of KingsSo, it's 2009 now. Is that strange to anyone else? I remember being a little girl and hearing people talk about how "one day" it was going to be the year 2000-something. I remember thinking how unrealistic of a year it sounded...<span style="font-style:italic;">Two thousand?</span> It sounds way to space age-y. And now, here we are - nearly a decade into living in the space age of the 00's. Or whatever you call this decade. I'm still not used it it, apparently.<br /><br />I attended one of the two local baptist churches in my area of Nottingham today. This church is probably my favorite of our local churches to attend on a Sunday morning. The people are very nice, and they remind me of the church I attended when I was at Florida Christian College (probably because they meet on a school campus!). Anyhow, we sang a song today that I've only ever heard here in England, though perhaps you have heard it - "King of Kings, Majesty." You can watch a big church in London sing it (with worship leader, Tim Hughes, whom I met over the summer at <a href="http://www.soulsurvivor.com/uk/">Soul Survivor</a>): <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jThlaT2Td7U">King of Kings, Majesty</a><br /><br />While we were singing this song today, the royal images in the song hit me hard. I've always sang songs and heard Scripture that talks about God being our King. However, it <span style="font-style:italic;">became</span> like new today in my mind. Here I am...living in a country that once WAS a monarchy. They even have a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5pkDB7zEeo">Queen</a> right now! When I was in Florida, I had lots of people asking me about the Queen, and what the English people think of her. From what I can tell, and from what I've heard from my English friends is that they love the Queen. She's a strong woman that they admire. On her birthday (which isn't actually her birthday, but rather one date that they celebrate the current monarch's birthday) they all tune in to watch a silly parade with the Queen sitting by with a tight smile on her face, as she waves in approval. But still...no matter how much they may love that woman, she is still only a figurehead. The monarchist system has long ago stepped aside in favor of the wonderful world of democracy. <br /><br />Thinking back to the complete power the Kings of England once had in this land, and the many that took advantage of the hard working people in the country...I wonder if they did with The King of Kings what they did to their earthly Kings. Stripped of their power, and turned into nothing more than something fun to watch. Maybe even celebrate his birthday in a silly way as everyone watches on TV. Many of the teens we speak with in schools have this idea in their head that if there is a God, then He must be this all-powerful beast that lords his power over the little people, crushing them on his way to greatness. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but I can only imagine how difficult it must be for someone who had an abusive father to understand when people compare God to being a heavenly father. It only makes sense for it to be just as difficult to understand Him being a King worthy to be served with joy and peace. Just a thought.<br /><br />My new photos are up from my holiday to Prague, Sweden, and around Germany! <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/sisterhutch/">Click here if you want to see them!</a> I had an amazing time. I feel very blessed to be able to live an adventure in Europe for however long God has for me here. <br /><br />As always, thanks for reading :) May God bless you in 2009!Crystal Hutchesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07376112203583917991noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6751092020257085668.post-56102198849734232062008-12-19T13:37:00.003+00:002008-12-19T14:19:32.844+00:00Happy Christmas to allGreetings from the lovely island of England :)<br /><br />Don't you just love the Christmas season? I am a big fan of Christmas, and everything that goes along with it. I'm also excited to add new traditions to my Christmas - things that I will take with me forever to add an English taste to my holiday repertoire. Things like...<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christingle">CHRISTINGLES</a>: Christingles SHOULD be a tradition in Florida! The whole craft of a Christingle centers around an orange. They are a little way for teachers to explain different aspects of the Christmas season to children. I had the pleasure of helping kids make Christingles in Religious Education classes last week! It was a ton of fun, and it made the school smell like home (mmm, orange blossoms)!<br /><br />DIFFERENT TUNES: Lots of classic Christmas carols are set to different tunes in England. Right now, I'm in LOVE with their "Away in a Manger" version. If you click on this link, click the little play icon under "listen to 4 parts." <a href="http://www.christmas-carol-music.org/SATB/AwayInAManger_CradleSong.html">(Click here to listen)</a> OR you can listen to this cute girl on YouTube sing it - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDUw-LfgFho">Adorable!</a><br /><br />CAROL SERVICES: Nothing is more amazing than a good old fashioned Christmas Carol service, complete with a spread of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule_log#Confection">Yule Logs</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mince_pie">Mince Pies</a>!<br /><br />PANTOMIMES: It's VERY traditional to attend a Pantomime during the Christmas season. All the major theaters will have one on, and all of the school children will perform them as well. Basically, a Panto is a classic story (like Peter Pan, Snow White...) that everyone knows. Then, the Panto twist is that the story is tweaked a bit, and turned into a comedic performance with major female roles played by men. There is a lot of audience participation, and usually a few sing-a-long parts as well (with well known or currently popular songs worked in to the story line). Last year, I attended a professional Panto of Peter Pan, and this year I attended one at the local school with lots of kids in it that I know from the community (they did Cinderella). It's fun, and makes me feel like I have an inside joke with England! I now know all of the audience cues, like whenever a character starts a sentence like <span style="font-style:italic;">"Oh no, I did not!"</span> we all have to enthusiastically shout <span style="font-style:italic;">"OH YES YOU DID!"</span> Very dorky, and VERY fun :)<br /><br />CHRISTMAS CRACKERS: I can't help it...I just love them so much. It's such a simple thing, but it's so much fun for some reason! It's hard to describe the Christmas cracker, so just <a href="http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=christmas+crackers&page=2">watch this video</a> to understand the basic concept if you don't know it already. Inside the crackers, though, is a little trinket, a paper crown (which you of course HAVE to wear immediately), and the worst, cheeeeeeeziest jokes ever. Again, I don't know why...but I love 'em.<br /><br />GERMAN MARKETS: Ahh...I saved the best for last! Apparently, Germany knows how to do Christmas. They know it SO well in fact, that they spread their Christmas joy all over European cities in the form of German Markets. Basically, they set up little stalls in major city areas that sell handicrafts from all over the world. The BEST part is the food - amazing German sausages (!!!) and tons of sweets! Chocolate covered waffles, apples stuffed with marzipan, sandwiches inside massive soft pretzels, coconut covered marshmallows, skewers of fruit dipped in chocolate, and...the crown jewel of them all...German crepes! Ooooh yes...and a giant mechanical moose singing Christmas songs in German. <br /><br />Well, that's all for my list! I hope that you all have a very Merry Christmas. I am VERY excited today...because I get to have a proper Christmas holiday! I'm leaving early tomorrow morning with my housemate Amy to visit Prague for a couple of nights. After that, we're flying up to Sweden (just north of Stockholm) to spend Christmas with a friend's family. Then...why just go home after that? Oh no - we're going to stop in Germany and visit some REAL German markets before heading back to Nottingham. Oh the joys of cheap travel within Europe! I know I'm going to miss my family a lot (again) this year, so I'm glad that Amy and I have found something fun to distract ourselves with!<br /><br />I thought I'd post another video up here that I put together for one of the local Anglican churches. This was for their Christmas Carol service last Sunday night. I hope you enjoy! Happy Christmas everyone :)<br /><br /><center><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwR9RNB1r76dwxW8v3CSeYmbhVn71RLxCGdbIP9FSNqiejXYtDBGQe1M1QRU1XSzhMxBIwOEkpyvaSF-JZjPQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></center>Crystal Hutchesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07376112203583917991noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6751092020257085668.post-8851538798137905342008-11-17T19:30:00.003+00:002008-11-17T22:07:19.067+00:00Crystal's TOP 5 LISTWell folks, I made it back to England! I had an amazing trip to my favorite peninsula, and would like to send a huge, resounding "THANK YOU" to each of you who took part in hosting me while I was in your area. I had a lot of fun getting to visit family and friends, and only wish my time there could have been longer! I'm still going through all my paperwork to see if I raised enough money for this coming year, so I would appreciate your continued prayers for my funding. It was a rough time to raise money with the economy the way it is right now, so I am thankful to have a God who provides for all things within His perfect will. <br /><br />And now for a little bit of ridiculous fun. Since I'm quite a list-maker, I decided to come up with a list...the TOP 5 MOST AMERICAN THINGS I DID WHILE I WAS HOME. Enjoy :)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">5. Ate hot dogs</span><br />While it is true that England has hot dogs available, it is NOT true to say that they are any good. The English pride themselves on having an excellent selection of sausages (each region has its own famous flavor), however, hot dogs in England come in a can. Usually, the hot dogs are in cans wrapped in an American flag. As a general rule, I have learned to steer clear of any foods in England that claim to be "All-American." Also disgusting is something found in England called "Florida Salad." Lies!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">4. Watched the World Series</span><br />Oh c'mon Rays...why couldn't you pull it off?? I guess I can't really be too upset at them. Going from the worst team in the series to the 2nd best the following year isn't all bad when you really think about it. Also, I find it interesting to hear what one of my English friends said about the World Series in general. It was something like: "Only in America would they label something a 'WORLD' series and yet only allow American teams to play." Hmmmmm... :)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">3. Purchased a can of pumpkin</span><br />It's true - Thanksgiving is pretty much only an American tradition (I say "pretty much" because apparently Canada celebrates Thanksgiving in October. But we all know that Canada is really just America's hat, so they're allowed to celebrate the day of thanks with us). This year, Amy (my American housemate) and I are going to throw a Thanksgiving celebration at our house like never before! Our lovely British friends are ecstatic and curious to learn about this crazy American tradition...including figuring out what exactly YAMS are, and learning how to create a piece of turkey artwork simply out of the outline of their hand. It's going to blow them away! Now if I could just figure out a way to get the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade broadcast in the UK...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">2. I went to Church</span><br />This doesn't need much explanation...I don't want to be a Debbie Downer in the middle of this blog, but seriously - only 2% of the British go to church anymore...and I must admit, it was nice to go to a church where you have to rush in to secure yourself a seat.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">AND the number one most American thing I did while I was home...(insert drum roll)...</span><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">1. I Voted</span><br />YES, of course I voted! I voted the only way I've ever voted, actually...absentee ballot. It's fun, but you never get a sticker...boo. I was flying in the air on election day. It's funny how many people in England were concerned about me seeming to "skip out" on election day! I reassured them that I did my duty as a citizen of that great non-canned-hot-dog-eating nation. I'm not exactly sure which conversation I dread more with the English - the one about my feelings on how the election went, or the one where they want me to explain the workings of our electoral college. Keep in mind that the fastest way to make me look like an idiot is to ask me anything about the inner-workings of our great American government.<br /><br />And now back to your regularly scheduled blog :)<br /><br />The first day I landed in England my teammates and I started a new program that we have called "The Point." The point of The Point is to be an intro to Christianity for youth. After having taught in a lot of the Religious Education courses here, we've heard a lot of the same questions over and over. Right now is the perfect time for our team (along with other local youth workers) to address these questions head-on with youth in the community. We've invited anyone interested in learning more about the basics of Christianity to meet with us at a lovely place called Mr. Pizza for free pizza (who'da thunk?) and a soda for an hour after school on Tuesday afternoons for 6-weeks. That first week our topic was simply <span style="font-style:italic;">"Who is Jesus?"</span> and last week we looked into <span style="font-style:italic;">"Why did Jesus have to die?"</span> Tomorrow we are studying <span style="font-style:italic;">"How can we thank Jesus for that?"</span> (basically, we're going over the whole "believe, repent, confess, baptism" thing). I'm really excited about tomorrow! Each week, we've had more kids show up (last week we had 10 kids). A lot of them have very little to no church background whatsoever. However, one of the girls who DOES go to church with her grandma sometimes told my teammate last week that she had never heard of any of this stuff we are teaching them! That's crazy! I'm so proud to be part of something like this. The kids are going out of their way to come to something blatantly about Christianity...they're learning AND having fun...AND bringing friends. And I don't think it's just for the free slices of pizza...but that definitely makes it just <span style="font-style:italic;">that much more</span> of an enjoyable experience.<br /><br />Other than that, life in England seems to be getting back to normal. I have a new place to live this year (pictures coming soon, hopefully!) and I just had a birthday. 25 years old...holy canoli, what a weird milestone to reach. A man once told me that the more birthdays you have, the longer you live, so...birthdays must be pretty healthy. <br /><br />Until next time...Cheers!Crystal Hutchesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07376112203583917991noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6751092020257085668.post-49495439796224535542008-10-07T00:58:00.005+01:002008-10-07T18:28:24.109+01:00Mind the GapHello, lovely people who read my blog! If you're reading this, just know that you are my favorite. <br /><br />So, it's been just about 2 weeks since I landed in Florida. So far, everything has been great! I've finally met my new niece (adorable, by the way!), had more waffle fries from Chic-Fil-A than one should normally consume in a two-week period, got to see friends at Florida Christian College, taught a lesson in Route 56 (my old stomping ground at Christ's Church Mandarin)...I have such a surreal life right now! I have to keep reminding myself that life in the US doesn't always involve people shrieking your name in high (happy) tones while running towards you in the prepare-to-hug position. Who else in the world gets to take a month out of life to travel around and see all of their favorite people?? I'm the luckiest girl in the world, and that's the truth. Remember: If you're ever feeling down in the dumps, just leave for a year...come back, and see how dramatic people get, going out of their way to make your life wonderful.<br /><br />As for my schedule while I'm here - - I'm in Jacksonville now, but soon will be in Port Richey. Then, a week of Mount Dora, Orlando, Cocoa...then on to Tallahassee, Panama City...Woah doggies! I'm already knackered (haven't used that British-ism in a while), but obviously very excited to see my supporting churches in these areas, and hoping to add a few new churches to my repertoire as well.<br /><br />Right now, I'm sitting in the living room of one of my favorite families in the whole world: the Davis family. It's really strange being back in Jacksonville, and hanging out at the church that I worked at for the year before I went to England. I was sitting in my old cubicle today, working away at the computer. It almost feels like this past year was a dream! Or, like I had gone on one really long summer break, and now I'm back to normal life. It's a strange reality.<br /><br />One thing I'm really excited about is getting the chance to tell my story to so many people! I've been asked if I'm already annoyed with answering the same questions over and over again, and I can honestly say "no way, Jose!" I am finding that more and more, I LOVE talking with people about what I get to do in England. God is doing some amazing things, and I just want to tell the world. So, to those of you who I'll be coming to see soon, get your questions ready...fire away. Bring it.<br /><br />I'm also very excited about my new "campaign slogan," if you will. I'm no Sarah Palin, but I think I came up with a pretty creative way to promote our ministry in Nottingham! It's simple: "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_the_gap">Mind the Gap</a>." "Mind the Gap" is used in public transport around Britain, most famously at the Tube stations in London, to warn travelers of the gap between the platform and the train. I think this phrase quickly sums up what my team in England is doing - "minding the gap" that exists between the youth of Nottingham and the church. Our team is working each day trying to bridge the gaping chasm between culture and Christ (you can tell I went to Bible college because I can throw out spiritual alliterations like nobody's business). I'm so used to being around teenagers who have no concept of Christ or the church, which makes being in Jacksonville that much more encouraging. The youth that I left behind here just over a year ago are still able to inspire me with the way they grasp and refine their own faith. I love these kids - and can't wait to see what adventure God has planned for their lives.<br /><br />Well, another day is up...one less day filled with sunshine and waffle fries. One day closer to being back in the land of tea and monarchy. I am torn between two wonderful worlds, and I love it :)Crystal Hutchesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07376112203583917991noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6751092020257085668.post-23810960440175221992008-09-09T15:20:00.006+01:002008-09-09T16:42:34.870+01:00Hurricane Crystal heading to FloridaI didn't think I was one of those people whose life shuts down when their technology shuts down, but apparently...I am. I suppose that since I now live somewhere in the ballpark of 5,000 miles away from home, I have become more thankful to technology for allowing me to keep in touch. Lately, however, I just want to find whoever created computers and give them a swift kick in the knickers! Don't get me wrong, computers are GREAT. So great in fact, that I apparently became addicted to my trusty iMac laptop, and trusted it to keep my (incredibly necessary and all-important) "To-Do" lists, schedules, ideas...all the things that make my life run smoothly. Then, about two weeks ago, my computer decided it was done. It's never good when you turn on a laptop and see nothing but a black screen with a giant "X" symbol. Now I'm finding out that I've lost all of my files on that computer, along with the "To-Do" lists that made my life a happy place, much like the forests in a Bob Ross painting. Tomorrow I will be getting my iMac back, but our relationship with no longer be the same. I'm going to be keeping my lists and life on paper as much as possible.<br /><br />So now that I've played my tiny violins for you and begged for your pity, allow me to tell you some stories of my life from the past couple of months since I haven't blogged in a while (which I would love to blame on my laptop, now nick-named "the Scape Goat"). <br /><br />First of all, THE OLYMPICS! When it comes to me and sports, I have stories of me faking nausea on the soccer team in 8th grade, or me running from volleyballs in high school. I have to admit, I'm not much of a sport's fan...unless the Braves are having a good season, in which case I tend to profess that I've been a life-long die hard fan...OR, whenever any sort of Olympic event is being held. I ADORE the Olympics, and have since the day I decided I wanted to become Kristi Yamaguchi. Watching the Olympics in a different country was an interesting experience, to say the least. First of all, the sports that their media focuses on here are more of the boating/kayaking events, badminton, archery, etc. The funniest thing I noticed about seeing the Olympics through English eyes was (again) the Eeyore-ish mindset. They never expect to win, and even the commentators will often say things like "Honestly, team GB isn't going to pull through to get a medal, and we all know it." Wow, what a positive attitude! They did blame most of their losses on the fact that they plugged most of the athletes in there trying to get them experience for 2012 - the London games. I HAD written out an amazing list of people and things I'd like to see in London's Olympic opening ceremonies (since I'm obviously qualified to make such important decisions in the country's history), but unfortunately, that was one of the notes that got blown up inside my laptop. Here come the tiny violins again... But for those of you who really care, here is a list of some of my favo(u)rite British things that (in my expert opinion) should be featured in 2012:<br /><br />5. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnzFRV1LwIo">The Cadbury chocolate gorilla</a>: This is the commercial I cannot seem to get away from. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. <br /><br />4. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xgwRitTgU4">The Edinburgh Tattoo</a>: Umm, bagpipes, kilts, and a castle...need I say more?<br /><br />3. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5pkDB7zEeo">The Queen's wave</a>: Of the utmost importance, obviously.<br /><br />2. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLF9iEXnBRo">Paul Potts</a>: From "Britain's Got Talent," and the video that brings instant tears to my eyes...every single time.<br /><br />1. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM">The infamous "Charlie Bit My Finger" children</a>: Adorable and hilarious. Don't you love little British kids?<br /><br />The big news in my life right now is that I'm going to Florida in just THREE WEEKS! I've been fortunate enough this year to not suffer too badly from home sickness, but I'm finding that as the hours tick by and the day gets closer, I am getting SO excited about going home and spending time with my family and friends that I'm finding it hard to sleep! The reason for the trip home is to raise continued and new support for my next year in England. Please pray for me! Raising money is the hardest thing I've ever done, and having to return to do it again in short timespan is difficult. Also, pray that I don't spend too much of my own personal money on stuff I've been missing this past year! <span style="font-weight:bold;">FLORIDIANS BEWARE</span>: From September 22nd through the 3rd of November, there may be nothing left in Target or Old Navy. Also, Chic-Fil-A will be out of waffle fries and Moe's will be emptied of their Moo-Moo burritos. <br /><br />I don't want to write too much in these posts and get all boring, so I'll wait to tell you my other tales of England in a couple of weeks. I'm moving in a week and a half, so hopefully I'll be able to post pictures of my new British home! Stay tuned, and I'll be seeing some of you in just a few weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Crystal Hutchesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07376112203583917991noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6751092020257085668.post-90474505342908686742008-07-24T10:41:00.004+01:002008-07-24T12:13:12.160+01:00WWII and eating jacketsCan I come up with weirder titles for my blog posts? Perhaps.<br /><br />I think I've mentioned this before, but there are so many theories floating around about what exactly happened in England to land it in this current state of spiritual vapidness (is that a word? It sounds good anyways...). In other words, everyone wants to know what (or whom) we should point our fingers at. I've been overwhelmed in the past at the amount of theories, but one recently has struck me and I haven't been able to get it out of my head. <br /><br />Ever since I arrived in England, I've been surprised at how many scars are still left behind by World War II. Damage to old buildings are still apparent, every town has at least one memorial, and they're STILL finding un-exploded bombs in some areas of England! I knew that WWII was a big deal in England, not because I learned about it in school (my history classes never went past WWI), but rather because I remember being sad for the broken family in one of my favorite Hailey Mills films (the WWI period piece, "Back Home" - just one of many Hailey Mills classics! Seriously..."Pollyanna" changed my life). So what does a world war have to do with the demise of an entire country's spirituality? Well, parts of the answer are too obvious for me to even type. Another aspect that I found somewhat less obvious (or maybe I'm just slow) is lost leadership. When WWII broke out on English soil, the church leaders wanted to set a good example, and as such, became many of the first to the front lines. Can you imagine an entire generation of church leaders wiped out by a MASSIVE war? I refuse to point fingers of blame in one direction, but I can't imagine it would be easy for any single church (much less an entire country worth of churches) to bounce back from that. I guess not all scars of war are as visible as a monument. Come to think of it, I wonder if people would notice if I built a monument in remembrance of the church.<br /><br />This theory has now got me thinking a lot lately about the importance of leadership. I'm finding myself in an interesting stage of life where I'm watching many of the friends I graduated from Bible college with now becoming the new generation of church leadership. How bizarre is that! It just boggles my mind. I recently visited the Hillsong Church in London (what an experience!) and heard a sermon there on leadership. The precher compared it to a baton race, and that each generation is responsible for not only taking on the baton of leadership and running faithfully, but also for learning how best to perform the baton exchange when it's the next runner's turn. It's so true that races are won or lost in the exchange zone! It's such a quick process, but it makes all the difference how the baton is handed from runner to runner. I've started to pray even more fervently for my friends taking up roles of leadership, as well as for the current leadership that can train my friends and build them into incredible men and women ready to bear the baton for a season.<br /><br />On a lighter note, I've been listening to BBC Radio 1 while writing this, and a news bulletin just came on saying that a woman recently had twins and tried to have them named "Fish" and "Chips," and was actually denied that naming right. Maybe I should be praying for these kids as well...haha! At least she didn't want them to be called "Bangers" and "Mash."<br /><br />Speaking of food, I've had a request for me to write a bit about my English food experience! I absolutely LOVE English food. Most of the classic English dishes are very homey, comfort-ish foods, which I love. Plus I've always been a huge fan of cheese, and it turns out that each region of England has at least one type of its own cheese...heaven! So far, I love Derby (pronounced "Darby") and Red Leicester (pronounced "Lester") cheeses. Traditional English breakfasts are a fave (eggs, beans, mushrooms, tomato, sausage...), also pancakes (more like what we think of as crepes), Scotch Eggs (boiled egg wrapped in sausage and breading, then fried), Damson Jam (it's a type of plum), carrot & corriander soup, sandwiches with cucumber, anything with Nutella, Sunday roasts with Yorkshire pudding (!!!) and of course the classics like meat pies, fish 'n chips, kebabs...gosh, this is making me hungry. I'd have to say that the two types of food that I eat the most in England is Indian food (somehow England thinks it originated Indian food...but who cares, it's good! Rogan Josh is my choice of curry) and Jacket Potatoes. Jacket Potatoes are basically baked potatoes with whatever topping (the most popular being beans, tuna, sweetcorn, curry, pickle, pineapple...yeah, weird I know). I love visiting our local JPM ("Jacket Potato Man") to order a jacket with cheese, tuna, and sweetcorn. Classic English cuisine.<br /><br />As for things like scones, crumpets and tea...what we think of as "proper English tea rooms" are getting harder to find (they're slowly being replaced by Starbucks and the like), therefore proper scones and crumpets are hard to find! I do love when we find a proper tea place (usually in smaller, cutesy towns like the Cotswolds) and we get to stop for an afternoon cream tea (scones with jam and hand-whipped cream....oooooh yeah). And as for tea, I'm becoming ever more English as I've slowly changed from drinking something that more resembled tea-flavored candy into now a proper cup of "white tea," meaning tea with just milk. Yay me!<br /><br />I hope you all are having a lovely July! I'm currently dog sitting, so I get to enjoy the English summer weather even more than usual :) But for now, I'm going to go grab myself some lunch and then off for some more adventures in Nottingham. <br /><br />Cheers!Crystal Hutchesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07376112203583917991noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6751092020257085668.post-5856562324360098082008-06-12T13:13:00.005+01:002008-06-12T18:02:49.925+01:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQopzsKyxhqUO8wCLtMWiAHatYv6un7mxIlm4G4oafouyWYM3rGIsY663Q9YFHU09kqs631MaOl5ArHPfWSH9puQGIsnd3GJDyvoDCNBpLIamufs6QRZkp-b3qUym3Ej3RByqreswydE3/s1600-h/2527296237_08ebdcfac3.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQopzsKyxhqUO8wCLtMWiAHatYv6un7mxIlm4G4oafouyWYM3rGIsY663Q9YFHU09kqs631MaOl5ArHPfWSH9puQGIsnd3GJDyvoDCNBpLIamufs6QRZkp-b3qUym3Ej3RByqreswydE3/s320/2527296237_08ebdcfac3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211039609447968898" /></a><br />I suppose it's my own fault for waiting this long to write a new blog, because now I find myself struggling to choose which stories to share of the hundreds of things that have happened since my last post. I've narrowed the "hundreds" down to just 4...aren't you proud? I tried to be brilliant, and make the 4 things start with the same letter, or at least have them spell out a word...after all, I DID go to Bible College. As we all know, every good ministry-related thing makes excellent use of alliteration and the like. I was unsuccessful, sadly...yet another reason I could never be a preacher. Well, on with it, already!<br /><br />1.) <span style="font-weight:bold;">Scotland:</span> I have finally experienced a proper "British Holiday" as I spent a week in Scotland with my teammate (Amy), her sister, and her sister's friend. Scotland was AMAZING!! We were in Edinburgh for a couple of days (even had time to visit with a missionary there who Amy went to Ozark Christian College with) and then took a backpacker's tour (with "Haggis Adventures") up through the Highlands of Scotland, including Loch Ness and many other crazy-beautiful areas of Scotland. I ate haggis (twice, actually...I liked it!), saw an ancient (like, B.C. ancient) pagan worship site, learned how to make a kilt by simply folding one giant piece of fabric (a skill which will, no doubt, come in handy often), and took a cruise on Loch Ness searching for the illustrious Nessie. My photos are in the Scotland album on my Flickr site ~ <br /><br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/sisterhutch/<br /><br />2.) <span style="font-weight:bold;">Friends:</span> I can't stress enough how encouraging it was for me to have two of my friends visit! It's strange to think that everyone I've been with over the last 9 months or so has been people I've only known for...well, 9 months or so. It was nice to have friends that I've known for years make the tiring journey across the pond to stay with me for a little over a week! Bonnie and Miriam stayed in Nottingham for a few days, getting to see (and participate in!) some of the ministry I'm involved in on a weekly basis. It was really good for me to see Nottingham and my ministry here from new eyes all over again! We had a lovely time seeing the city, playing crazy games with youth, and strolling by my favorite place in West Bridgford - - the Trent River. After that, we spent the weekend in London, getting to see some of my favorite "big-city" sites - the Tower of London, Big Ben, the British Museum...and, of course, experiencing the joy of the underground Tube! I had an amazing time in London; we went to a few places I've never had the chance to go in London yet, such as Portobello Road (remember that from Angela Landsbury's "Bedknobs and Broomsticks"??) and we even went to church at the new Hillsong London venue. <br /><br />3.) <span style="font-weight:bold;">E-mail</span>: Here is an excerpt from a message our team recently received from the head of the Religious Education department at West Bridgford School ~<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"I am writing Year 7 reports at the moment, which involved them writing about their achievements this year. A significant number mentioned the lesson with the Americans as standing out a lot in their memory. One girl wrote: "the topic that I think I did well in was when we had visitors from USA and I listened and concentrated and I still remember what they were saying" - which I take to mean the lesson had a big impact."</span><br /><br />How encouraging! Also, one of the older girls that has been coming to our after-school club for years now has been showing a LOT of interest in learning more about God. She has even chosen to focus on Religious Education in her Sixth Form courses (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixth_Form). My teammate David has given her a teen Bible, and we're all hoping to get the chance to talk with her about things more outside of school. Please pray for her and for her parents (who are atheists who often forbid her to visit our after school club). <br /><br />4.) <span style="font-weight:bold;">Decision</span>: After tons and tons of prayer and talking with friends and family (both here and in the U.S.), I have finally made my decision to stay for another year. I'll still be going home for a month or more to re-raise support and make sure my visa is in order, so hopefully I'll have the chance to visit most of you during that time!<br /><br />I've been working really hard over the last year to get to the point where I am now with the local youth, and it seems like leaving now would be a huge mistake. I feel that I've managed to build trusting relationships with a few different groups of un-churched kids, and I don't feel right dropping those right now. Also, a lot of what I've been doing this past year has been preparation, set up, and ground work for some really exciting ministries...we're getting SO close to seeing the fruits of our labor as everything starts to kick off, and I want to be here to see these projects through. It just makes sense on so many levels, and God has really given me a peace about staying. I think I'm starting to get even MORE excited about what God's going to do in my 2nd year here than I was about coming for this year...so yeah, that's a lot of excitement :)<br /><br /><br />So there we go...my update. Sorry for the delay between posts! What can I say? I'm a terrible person :) I'll try to be better in the future. Until then, thanks again for all of your encouraging e-mails and comments. <br /><br />Pip pip and cheerio, my friends!Crystal Hutchesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07376112203583917991noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6751092020257085668.post-90673311413008367682008-04-21T16:16:00.004+01:002008-04-21T17:11:46.766+01:00Cherry Tree<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2jw1DGZr7rbHLHAB7kVDSLEUvIx0j3ysMI3pTOOdoHnt5ovPBVTX7-QIGrY2TsF1MK1W3e6uqkg6jHDw4cMrG4H1lIxgVoWVUqQVFvKmorGj9AuV2aaFL8QNNq-B8R8b044f_ngcDkNNw/s1600-h/2429651368_c1882fdf65.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2jw1DGZr7rbHLHAB7kVDSLEUvIx0j3ysMI3pTOOdoHnt5ovPBVTX7-QIGrY2TsF1MK1W3e6uqkg6jHDw4cMrG4H1lIxgVoWVUqQVFvKmorGj9AuV2aaFL8QNNq-B8R8b044f_ngcDkNNw/s320/2429651368_c1882fdf65.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5191730038129368274" /></a><br />This past weekend, I went with most of my team to visit a church in Romiley, part of the Greater Manchester area. We had previously met a guy from Romiley who is involved in a similar ministry to what we're currently working towards in West Bridgford. When he invited us to visit, we thought he was thinking of taking us on a little walk, maybe grab some food, have a chat...but no! This guy (his name is Joe) actually put together an entire 3-day schedule for us to observe and interview all sorts of people involved in the ministry there! It was so exciting to see the energy of the people and to be able to see such a vibrant, growing ministry. <br /><br />I'm a story junkie. I get easily sucked into TV series like "LOST" because there's such an intricate story line to follow. Sometimes I forget that every person I meet has an interesting story of their own to tell, and the church in Romiley was no exception! <br /><br />We met a vicar (Tom) who, in my team-mate David's words, is "an Anglican who isn't bothered about being Anglican." He told us the story of how the church he is the vicar of began to look outside itself as it felt the challenge to "do church in new ways." The entire church went through a makeover period, including everything from painting the inside to make it look more joyous to him deciding to not wear his vicar's collar (he said it seemed to reinforce the mindset that ministry was only HIS job, and not the congregation's). He was such a cool guy! One of those types of people you meet and immediately are jealous of his magnetic personality. He even told us a story about how he met a total stranger on the slopes in Switzerland who had become a Christian just 6 weeks before. Tom shared the church's vision to start a community centre, and the stranger decided to give 100,000 pounds towards the cause! <br /><br />Well, Tom is definitely not the only creative, passionate minister in Romiley. We met with loads of people - some volunteer, some staff - who simply live to love the people of Romiley. There is not a need in the community that is not being met by the church and its community ministries. They give computer courses, family counseling, youth care, school teachers...so much more! The main reason we went was to see the Cherry Tree Community Shop. Cherry Tree is an area of Romiley that used to be known as a lost cause, with loads of troublesome teens, violence, alcohol and drug issues. Our friend Joe and his wife Kat decided to strategically move into a house on the Cherry Tree estate, and to begin loving the Cherry Tree people with the love of Christ. They opened (with the help of the local borough council) a youth and community centre. They not only keep the kids off the streets and out of trouble, but they teach them how to feed themselves properly (most of these kids don't get a nutritional meal at home, if they get one at all), and encourage them to learn life skills that can lead to a successful career. The kids have helped rebuild and put together the centre, and now have such a high respect for what they've done that it has never been vandalized. The youth love and respect Joe and Kat so much that they are the first people they go to with issues and problems. They are always meeting with kids in their home, and are continuing to share life and Christ with them. They have seen lives begin to change, and now the entire community of Cherry Tree has been uplifted! Even while we were visiting, we saw Joe engaging in conversation with the local drug dealer, who was asking Joe to get together with him and talk about how he could get himself out of the terrible life he's made for himself. Wow.<br /><br />Isn't that so exciting? Well, my team and I were thrilled. It was so encouraging to meet people that we know nothing about really...but since we all had one very important thing in common, it was like meeting family. It was neat to see that a lot of what we're starting to do now is something that can actually work! Similar to Romiley, we work with the local schools, borough council youth clubs, as well as churches, so it was great to see how it can all link together. We learned a lot, received some great advice, and now have contact with a similar ministry that is a couple of years ahead of what is just sparking in our ministry now. Neato!<br /><br />Also...we got to have a bit of fun time in Liverpool over the weekend. I was beyond excited, being a Beatles fan all my life, and a new Liverpool Football Club fan!! The picture at the top of this post is myself on the left with my teammate Amy at the Cavern Club, which is an ex-bomb raid shelter where the Beatles performed 292 times in one year alone! We also got to see the river Mersey, where I sang the Gerry and the Pacemaker's 1964 hit, "Ferry cross the Mersey" song for a good 15 minutes straight. It was an amazing city, and I'd love to go back. A couple of very exciting, but completely random things happened in Liverpool: we met the Harlem Globetrotters while they were being tourists themselves (they are apparently touring Great Britain right now, who knew?) and we also found A&W Root Beer in Chinatown (root beer is one of the American luxuries that doesn't exist in England, sadly enough). I have pictures of my Liverpool trip (and a recent trip to Sherwood Forest!!) up on my Flickr site - www.Flickr.com/photos/sisterhutch.<br /><br />All-in-all, a very successful weekend indeed :)Crystal Hutchesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07376112203583917991noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6751092020257085668.post-10339410313046128902008-03-24T17:27:00.008+00:002008-03-24T20:45:40.882+00:00Steaming hot cup of evangelism<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUKmx7ZPvVHgwyevWDq08uTzr3DXgR_IjS7NAtYW_xRIMMjZMSPATFwZSHSp1pGIy6AlKdBTUFBcvLxHITr1LZ4dcU3ayaUkMwGMDOxSOgihLp2G9wy3ImvrMWxDIw2mqOtcmO5pxEE_MI/s1600-h/2342871589_3b5652693b.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUKmx7ZPvVHgwyevWDq08uTzr3DXgR_IjS7NAtYW_xRIMMjZMSPATFwZSHSp1pGIy6AlKdBTUFBcvLxHITr1LZ4dcU3ayaUkMwGMDOxSOgihLp2G9wy3ImvrMWxDIw2mqOtcmO5pxEE_MI/s200/2342871589_3b5652693b.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5181412139561735010" /></a><br /><br /><br />When I have the opportunity to speak on the phone (or on the computer via SKYPE, the most amazing invention since the Cadbury Cream Egg McFlurry) with family or friends in Florida, I always get some sort of semi-braggy comment about the weather. Well people, you can HAVE your humid hot weather! I am absolutely LOVING the seasons in England! Autumn felt (and looked) like Autumn, there was a bit of snow in the winter...and now that Spring is on its way, I am AMAZED at the amount of wild daffodils and perfect little pink blossoms on the trees. Sure, it's still a bit chilly outside, and sometimes I worry that I might be getting frostbite in my fingers, but the chill that still lingers in the wind serves its purpose. It helps me to be able to use the newest, most exciting, most effective evangelistic tool known to mankind today. Hot chocolate.<br /><br />Some of the local youth workers (including myself) have decided to take the church to the streets, and hand out *proper* Cadbury hot chocolate every other Friday night. We meet at a church, pack up the chocolate and other goods (marshmallows and "squirty cream," of course), pray for our journey, and then head out. It's funny, because the Friday nights that we go out are usually the coldest nights of the week! I guess it makes us walk faster, and makes us all learn more about each other since we're holding on to each other for warmth. No matter how cold it may be, there are always kids just wandering around in the streets! We try not to attack or frighten them away, but just gently walk up smiling, asking if they'd like a cup of hot chocolate. Of course, there's the initial "My mom told me not to take candy from strangers" look of reply, but then all the fear melts away when they see the steam coming off the fresh brewed cup o' chocolate. Mmmmm! We always make it extra pretty with loads of cream and 'mallows, which helps to break the ice (literally) and start up a bit of conversation. They always want to know why on earth we're out in the cold, and why on earth we're not asking them to pay for the hot cup of happiness. <br /><br />We've had a few interesting experiences in the few times we've been out on the streets. Last week, our team gave hot chocolate to a boy who was on his way to work at a lap dance club in the city, and we also interrupted a drug deal...I'm not kidding! We gave them all hot chocolate (extra marshmallows), and actually ended up having deeper God-centered conversations with those kids than we'd ever had before. We've also seen one boy who literally RAN away from us (woops!), some who thought we were crazy, but also others who were so intrigued by the simple gift of warmth that they ask all sorts of questions. I think it's been so long since anyone in this area has seen a practical application of Christian principles. It's also been cool to see their reaction when we tell them that each and every one of us there is a leader in a DIFFERENT church - not two of us go to the same one! So, obviously, we're not there pushing the agenda of one church, nor are we trying to push them to go to OUR church. We just want to show them love in a simple, practical way.<br /><br />In other news...one of the churches I regularly attend was recently featured in a news segment on SkyTV! One of my vicar friends, Simon, is pretty well known in the area because he's no regular ho-hum Oxford graduate vicar...he's also a racer! The media finds him quite interesting. He was excited to have the chance to speak out in the news about the Christian perspective on debt. The link below will send you to the video clip with Simon and St. Giles Anglican Church. The young people sitting in a circle with Simon are some of my friends from Something Else! Keep your eye out for the girl in the circle who looks bored out of her mind (curly hair, black scarf) - that's my housemate Josephine :)<br /><br /><a href="http://video.news.sky.com/skynews/video/?&videoSourceID=1308944">Click here to see the SkyNews clip with Simon</a><br /><br />I hope that you all had a "well good" Easter. I went to St. Giles for their morning service, and then had an incredibly American day...going out for lunch at TGI Fridays. Also, my housemate's parents bought me a load of Belgian chocolate eggs! Oh yeah!! Amazing. <br /><br />Be sure to check out my pictures (www.flickr.com/photos/sisterhutch) - I finally posted the ones from the castle I stayed in with St. Luke's youth group, and I also put up my pictures from the Cotswolds area of England. Quite nice indeed.Crystal Hutchesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07376112203583917991noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6751092020257085668.post-30808043935322512122008-02-28T22:00:00.005+00:002008-02-28T23:53:22.072+00:00Why 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.<br /><br />Now, as the Brits would say, "On to the more important bit!"<br /><br />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...<br /><br />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. <br /><br />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!<br /><br />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:<br /><br />- "How can you believe a God exists when things like hurricane Katrina happen?"<br />- "Do you think homosexuals are going to hell?"<br />- "How can you believe that someone died and came back to life?"<br />- "Do you think that maybe you're just a Christian because your parents are?"<br />- "Have you ever witnessed a miracle?"<br />- "Do you believe in ghosts?"<br />- "If there is a God, why did he give most of the money in the world to selfish people?"<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br />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 <span style="font-style:italic;">dungeon</span>, and small group meetings in the <span style="font-style:italic;">crypt</span>. 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?<br /><br />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 :)Crystal Hutchesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07376112203583917991noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6751092020257085668.post-23056903699707107412008-02-17T23:40:00.008+00:002008-02-20T16:48:33.622+00:00HeldIs it strange that I still wake up most mornings thinking "Holy cow, I live in ENGLAND!" <span style="font-style:italic;">Blessed</span> 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.<br /><br />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!<br /><br />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.<br /><br />Wow, how did I get off onto that tangent? Back to "Something Else."<br /><br />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. <br /><br />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 :) <br /><br />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.<br /><br />I'll stop blabbering on and just let the song lyrics speak for themselves. Enjoy the video!<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br />(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.)</span><br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0yviPtVYpRs&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0yviPtVYpRs&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>Crystal Hutchesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07376112203583917991noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6751092020257085668.post-29050344315262344722008-01-30T14:37:00.000+00:002008-01-30T23:41:03.556+00:00For such a time as this<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2014/2040303457_b57650c8a3_o.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2014/2040303457_b57650c8a3_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />I was having a chinwag (my favorite British word for "chat") with one of my new British friends. She's a wonderful gal, close to my age, with whom I share four very important passions: God, youth work, hot chocolate, and shopping at IKEA. Aside from all that, I'm just downright impressed that she graduated from Cambridge University! I mean...wowzers. So, anyhow, the other day we had a chinwag (seriously, I can't stop using this word) about youth work in West Bridgford (the *posh* area of Nottingham that I live and work in). Now, my friend was born and raised in Nottingham, and has a wonderful grasp on the community and youth in the area. My friend remembers more than one group of workers coming in for weeks or months at a time, attempting to set up some sort of youth ministry in West Bridgford. The way all of these groups individually described West Bridgford to her was as if it had a sort of haze over it...like a cloud of apathy just hanging there above the seemingly perfect little town. <br /><br />West Bridgford has long carried the title "<span style="font-style:italic;">Fur coat & no knickers</span>," given to it from the surrounding areas of Nottingham. Aside from being an adorable-sounding British phrase, "Fur coat & no knickers" basically means it's all about show. The theory is that West Bridgfordians only have enough money to APPEAR wealthy (thus the fur coat), but underneath it all...can't even afford underwear.<br /><br />Putting both of the above ideas together in my head seems to paint an almost Stepford Wives-ish picture. <br /><br />Where I find myself right now is in a state of awe of God's timing. The team I'm working with is in the EXCITING stage of putting together a vision team for our future outreach center / youth church / cafe ministry / <span style="font-style:italic;">whatever</span> you want to call it. As we've been making lists of names and praying over them, amazing things have been happening. Again, this is something that has been hard for me to assign words or coherent thoughts to...but of course, I'll try to type it out anyway! Please forgive me as I attempt to record my scattered thoughts.<br /><br />There are already big stories of God's power coming from our vision team...and we haven't even had our first official meeting yet. Ha! We divided the names of the people we needed to "cast the vision" to, in hopes that we could persuade some of the people on our list to join our vision team. So how's this for making our job easier - some of them <span style="font-style:italic;">approached us before we had time to ask</span>...inquiring about how they could get involved in what we're doing because they had recently been feeling like God was really tugging on their hearts to get involved in youth ministry! <br /><br />One of the gals I asked to be on our VT was recently given the task at her job to map out all the local youth clubs or centres...and, as expected, she found a grand total of ZERO. Zip-a-dee-doo-da. This is quite an embarrassing find for such a prestigious area of Notts! The government in the area is to the point where they are DESPERATE for anyone to do ANYTHING with the youth in West Bridgford. So, now our vision team gal's task at work is to propose what the local borough councils should invest in...gee, can you think of anyone wanting to put together a community minded youth ministry?? :)<br /><br />This is the perfect time for our ministry to take root. The churches in West Bridgford are coming together in an amazing way for the first time. It just seems like the local church leadership is being pruned, primed, and prepared for something BIG. Time and time again, the passage in Esther about how Mordecai suggests that she was brought to her position by God specifically "for such a time as this" has come up. It keeps popping up in sermons and devotions had by our vision and prayer teams. <br /><br />My teammate, Amy, told us that her mom says God answers prayer in four ways: <br /><br />1.) Yes<br />2.) No <br />3.) Later, or <br />4.) I thought you'd never ask! <br /><br />We're thinking that all of our prayers for this area of Nottingham is resulting in God answering us with #4. That's exciting.<br /><br />There is an unseen spiritual battle going on right now in West Bridgford. Satan has had an invisible hold on this area for a long time now, and he's not going to let go without a fight. But...God is raising up an army of dorky Americans and silly Brits that are ready to take hold of the promise found in 1 Chronicles 20:15 - "Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's."Crystal Hutchesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07376112203583917991noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6751092020257085668.post-25046170686291450632008-01-06T15:28:00.000+00:002008-01-07T14:31:02.976+00:00Selfishness, Football, and VelmaIt is interesting to talk with the English about what they think of the USA. Unfortunately, most of them only know the USA seen on TV - via New York City and "Hollyweird," as my Dad would say. Unfortunately, people like Tom Cruise and Paris Hilton end up being the face of the States to the rest of the world. Lovely. I've heard many opinions on the American lifestyle, but the one thing that comes up <span style="font-style:italic;">time after time</span> is selfishness. Most of the people I've spoken with here have the mindset that Americans are <span style="font-weight:bold;">incredibly</span> wasteful. Images of large SUVs and other un-necessary gas guzzlers that are all about status and image puzzle the Brits (you could NEVER fit even a mid-sized American car on their tiny little roads!). I never realized how much open space we have in the US compared to a tiny little island country like England where they have to build UP-wards instead of OUT-wards. I've never learned so much about recycling since I came here! It's like every English person tries to take me on as their personal project, teaching me how to refute my "wasteful American" ways. They drop a heavy fine on you if you don't recycle properly! We have had more in our recycling bin than in our "rubbish" bin every week! I've heard more than a few <span style="font-style:italic;">sermons</span> on the importance of recycling...that's so bizarre to me, but it's finally all starting to sink in. Weather I completely agree with all of the American stereotypes, I'm going to do my bit to change my wasteful habits. <br /><br />One of my favorite hymns in the churches here is called "Make Me A Channel of Your Peace." The song is a great reminder, again, of the pitfalls of a selfish lifestyle. I'd never heard of this song before, but apparently it is an adaptation of a famous prayer by St. Francis of Assisi. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Make me a channel of your peace.<br />Where there is hatred let me bring your love;<br />Where there is injury your pardon, Lord;<br />And where there's doubt true faith in you.<br /><br />Refrain:<br />Oh, Master grant that I may never seek<br />So much to be consoled as to console;<br />To be understood as to understand;<br />To be loved as to love with all my soul.<br /><br />Make me a channel of your peace.<br />Where there's despair in life let me bring hope;<br />Where there is darkness, only light;<br />And where there's sadness, ever joy.<br /><br />Refrain<br /><br />Make me a channel of your peace.<br />It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;<br />In giving to all men that we receive;<br />And in dying that we're born to eternal life.<br /><br />Refrain</span><br /><br />According to Wikipedia.org (I'm addicted to Wikipedia! It's a disease, I know), Mother Teresa started each day reciting this prayer. Many quite diverse musicians have recorded their own versions of the song, and even Margaret Thatcher paraphrased the prayer right after she won the election for Prime Minister of England in 1979. If you would like to hear a version of the song that is very similar to the way the hymn is played in churches, click here: <a href="http://www.happybirthdaydenison.com/music/30/denison_witmer-prayer_of_saint_francis_traditional.mp3">Channel of Your Peace</a> <span style="font-style:italic;">(A big thanks to my friends Dan & Serenity for bringing that link to my attention! I really am in love with this song, and Denison Witmer did a great job on it!)</span><br /><br />I hope and pray that as Christians (regardless of tribe, tongue, or nation) we can learn to leave selfishness behind. As much as we seek to be understood, may we even more seek to understand others. As much as we seek to love, may we even more so seek to love the rest of the world with the love of Christ.<br /><br />In other MUCHO important news...I have made a very important, life-altering decision. After much prayer, fasting, and supplication, I have decided which football team I will claim as my own. Football (soccer) is more popular here than ANYTHING else. I've never experienced anything like the loyalty every person in this country holds for "their" team! When the country surveyed its youth, 5 out of the top 10 role models they listed were footballers. So...drum roll please...I've decided that my team is...Liverpool! And yes, I'm such a girl. I chose my team not based on stats, popularity, players, coach, or anything normal like that. I just picked them because that's where The Beatles are from. What can I say? Any city that can produce hits like "Eleanor Rigby" and "Penny Lane" deserves my support, right? :) Hey, at least I didn't pick them based on how pretty their uniforms are.<br /><br />I hope that all of you enjoyed your Christmas and New Years Eve! I spent Christmas Eve through <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_day">Boxing Day</a> in the ORIGINAL Boston, which is in Lincolnshire. My British roommate's family invited myself and my teammate over for the holidays! We had a lovely time, sampling traditional British (and Dutch) Christmas food. As for New Years Eve, one of the local Church of England evangelists invited me over for his "Fancy Dress" party. "Fancy Dress" in England means "Costume Party," and the theme for his was cartoon characters. I went as a surprisingly convincing Velma from Scooby Doo! You can see pictures of Boston and Velma on my <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sisterhutch">Flickr</a> site, if you so wish. <br /><br /><div style="float: center; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sisterhutch/2175410050/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2283/2175410050_ce0f213a38_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a> <br /> <span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sisterhutch/2175410050/">Velma_5</a> <br /> Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/sisterhutch/">sisterhutch11</a> </span></div><br clear="all" />Crystal Hutchesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07376112203583917991noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6751092020257085668.post-86452702577184438202007-12-17T22:18:00.001+00:002007-12-17T23:10:37.733+00:00Happy Christmas!Happy Christmas! That's what I see and hear all over the country. I don't know if it's always been this way, but it's rare to find a "Merry" Christmas anywhere. I suppose I don't mind, but it's just one of those things that I've noticed is different about Christmas in England than in Florida.<br /><br />I've been asked by many of the English what differences I've noticed in the Christmas season here as compared to the US. So far, I can't put my finger on too many differences, but will list the main ones for you here:<br /><br />1.) The weather! It actually FEELS like Christmas here in Nottingham :) It hasn't <span style="font-style:italic;">really</span> snowed yet, but there was a snow flurry once. I was walking to church that night when it started to flurry. I ran into the building with a huge smile on my face proclaiming, "Look everyone, it's SNOWING outside!!!" The response was "aww, poor Florida girl thinks THAT'S snow..." Well, it was enough to get me excited and ready for Christmas!<br /><br />2.) Mince pies and Christmas Crackers. Everywhere I go these days...church, schools, shopping stores...there are mince pies and Christmas crackers! I was excited about mince pies at first, because I thought it was a meat-based pie. Boy howdy was I wrong! Mince pies, though sometimes referred to as "mincemeat pies," are made of dried fruits in a pastry. I think it's the fruitcake of England, honestly. I definitely prefer the Yule log as a Christmas desert! It's strange to eat a desert that is shaped to look like firewood, but MAN is it good. It's like a giant tree-shaped Little Debby...mmm! Christmas Crackers also hold a misleading name, since they are NOT crackers! You don't even eat them at all, sadly. A Christmas Cracker is a traditional cardboard tube wrapped in festive paper. Two people hold either side of the Cracker, and PULL! The package sort of explodes...and one of the two sides produces a small present for one lucky winner. There are also Christmas jokes and small paper crowns that shoot out. I guess it's a cross between Cracker Jacks and a wishbone!<br /><br />4.) Christmas Carols. Well, there are a couple of differences when it comes to carols. First of all, some of the traditional carols (like "O Little Town of Bethlehem") have different tunes here! I was told that American colonists changed the tunes to be more receptive to harmonies. But another difference I've noticed in celebrating Christmas in this culture showed up during our after school club Christmas party last week. We had planned a game for the kids to compete against other groups in a yuletide version of "Name that Tune." They were asked to receive their Christmas carol assignment, run back to their team, and GARGLE the tune until their group recognized the song. Sounds like a great game, right? Well, the only hitch was that only a couple of kids in the club recognized even half of the songs on the list. My teammate David since this experience heard on the radio that 77% of the English haven't sang a Christmas carol in 4 years, and that around 46% of the British couldn't sing one Christmas carol if you asked them to. Can you imagine life without "Silent Night"?<br /><br />I had the opportunity to spend a few days in London last week! The city was beautiful in its Christmas decor. Feel free to check out my pictures on my Flickr website: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sisterhutch<br /><br /><div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sisterhutch/2108985299/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2412/2108985299_4052193f4d_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a> <br /> <span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sisterhutch/2108985299/">BenScene</a> <br /> Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/sisterhutch/">sisterhutch11</a> </span></div><br clear="all" /><br /><br />Finally, I have a prayer request. Hope '08 (http://www.hope08.com) is a national effort to pull churches in the UK together for one year in events across the country. I've been going to meetings with local youth ministers to start our own youth effort in Nottingham. We're going to be planning a number of large-scale youth events throughout the year, beginning with our kick-off event on January 25. It has been VERY encouraging to meet with youth workers from 5 VERY different churches. Please pray that our unified efforts will result in some amazing events for kids in this area! I know that God wants to do something awesome in this city, so pray that we will allow God to use us however He can.<br /><br />I pray that you will all enjoy your time with your family and friends this Christmas season! I miss you all even more during this time :)Crystal Hutchesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07376112203583917991noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6751092020257085668.post-6207749221543707942007-12-05T08:10:00.000+00:002007-12-05T08:22:21.573+00:00The famous CristabelIf anyone would like to receive an e-mail notice when I post an update on this blog, well...today is your LUCKY day! I just found an easy way for me to input e-mail addresses into my Blogger that will automatically send out a notice when I update. Just send me an e-mail at SisterHutch@gmail.com and I'll add you! <br /><br />May I just quickly say that it's so much fun being a foreigner? Over the last week, I have been asked if I'm from Scotland, and if I am a Mormon missionary (which is pretty common of Americans in this area). Also, I've found out that "Crystal" isn't a very common name in England. One girl wrote down my name as "Cristabel," which was a more common name to her than "Crystal." Sometimes, being American makes me feel famous...mostly among young girls that are huge High School Musical fans. I guess they think that since I sound like everyone in the movie, perhaps I know them, or could at least help the girls meet the stars of the film.<br /><br />Random thoughts, but there you go! I hope everyone has a lovely day. It's raining outside right now (big surprise) so I'm going to go fix myself a spot of tea :)Crystal Hutchesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07376112203583917991noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6751092020257085668.post-13845794844769621312007-12-04T22:50:00.000+00:002007-12-04T23:22:23.947+00:00Living life on purposeI should have decided to be a missionary YEARS ago! I've been told my whole life that every Christian is a missionary, yet somehow...having an official visa with "missionary" stamped under occupation has made me live life differently. What can I say? I'm always a bit behind.<br /><br />One thing that has changed about me is being conscious of living life intentionally. What I mean by that is attempting to build relationships with anyone I come in contact with. It's SO hard, but is turning into a fun game for me :) When I go to the local grocery store, I try to be in the same person's line (Sue is her name), and I try to frequent the same places at the same time each week (you can find me hanging out with "The Jacket Potato Man" in town center during lunch hour once a week or so...yummm!). It's fun to try to create quick, memorable moments for each of my unsuspecting contacts. I have to admit, it's probably easier in a different culture, because the moment I open my mouth, I hear: "Wow, YOU'RE not from around here!" followed by the imminent "why on earth would you move to England from FLORIDA??" conversation. Haha!<br /><br />Other than sharing short moments with local shopkeepers, I'm trying to get involved in community work and clubs that have absolutely nothing to do with church. Over the next month, I'm going to be visiting homeless shelters, retirement homes, reading to the blind, working in a charity shop, attending a salsa dance lesson (yikes!!), and taking an improv comedy class. All of these things scare me, and put me WAY outside of my comfort zone. I think that mostly it's that good kind of scary feeling that often comes as a side-effect of extreme excitement! This is my way of trying to go to "their" turf, if you know what I mean. This isn't one of those "invite people to church" cultures, and if I can't get someone to GO to church, then I guess I have to bring church to them. So, here I am...trying to be the church. Even in the midst of a salsa dance lesson...I can't even type that without laughing!<br /><br />Please pray for me as I attempt to get involved in these areas. I specifically ask that you would pray for my social skills, as strange as that may sound! I can be very shy at times, and am often an awkward wallflower when put in uncomfortable situations. I don't have time to be awkward! Building relationships takes time, and I really want to jump right in and get to know the right people at the right times. <br /><br />I want to leave you with a challenge to do what I neglected to do for the first 24 years of my life! Dare to be bold, and dare to be a missionary in your city! Do something that scares you to death for the sake of the Kingdom :)Crystal Hutchesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07376112203583917991noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6751092020257085668.post-62633561978285402772007-12-02T00:27:00.000+00:002007-12-03T23:34:15.028+00:00Religious EducationLast week was AMAZING. I got to experience something like nothing else. Something that challenged me, and re-affirmed my presence here.<br /><br />I went into the classroom.<br /><br />The West Bridgford School is a secondary school in the area that has opened its doors to the Fittros (CMF missionaries I'm working with) since they moved here about 5 years ago. WBS is where we host our after-school club on Thursdays, and where we will soon be hosting a lunch-time club once every other week. But this last week, my teammates and I were invited into their Religious Education classes.<br /><br />Religious Education (known simply as "R.E.") is a standard course taken by all students in the public system which stresses knowledge about major world religions. They teach different aspects of religion (existence of God, forgiveness, life-after-death...) during different years of school. The section they were on this week was prayer. My team was invited into the class to give the Christian perspective. It was sort of strange at first, feeling like a caged animal at a zoo having people watch me carefully, poking around to study my reactions. I eventually got used to the stares, and tried to forget the knot of nerves welling up in my stomach, praying that I wouldn't be asked any question too difficult...or that I would answer a question in the wrong way! <br /><br />Overall, the experience was wonderful. In one class, I was placed alone in a small group of about 11 13-year old students. They were told to interview me, and ask questions pertaining to reasons why many people don't believe in prayer. The kids were great - I got a few questions like "How amazing is it to live in Florida?" Then they asked the usual questions like: "How do you pray?" "Why do you pray?" "What can you pray for?" "How long do you pray?" "Where do you pray?" and then got into more difficult questions such as: "What if God doesn't answer your prayer?" and "Do you ever talk to God out of anger?" I was honored and delighted to answer all of their questions! As per my teammate David Fittro's advice, I tried to keep my answers as real, open, and honest as possible. I wanted to show those kids that God is a personal God. He isn't only my Creator, but He is also my friend, and having the chance to talk to Him is a HUGE part of my daily life. The kids in my group were literally shocked when I explained to them that prayer doesn't have to be this huge formal event (hands folded, head bowed, eyes closed, while reciting a memorized incantation), but that prayer can be anywhere, anytime, and about anything. I tried to compare prayer to the way we get to know our best friends, and how we learn more about people and grow closer to them the more we keep our communication lines open. <br /><br />The kids in this culture are so far removed from Christianity. Most of the kids I've met in the schools don't just NOT go to church themselves, but they literally don't know anyone who does. Anyone they may come across in life that does go to church doesn't take it so seriously to the point that it effects the way they live their lives. When the Religious Education teacher asked the kids "Do you think prayer is important in the lives of Christians?" one kid raised his hand and said "I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't such a big deal to them." <br /><br />I'm so glad to be a part of something that can help change the perception of Christians in the lives of some pretty amazing kids. Please pray for the team here as we continue to venture into places far removed from the empty Church buildings to be a light.Crystal Hutchesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07376112203583917991noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6751092020257085668.post-83643360485853670872007-11-25T14:30:00.001+00:002007-12-05T00:06:11.645+00:00Pictures from around Nottingham - - and the Goose Fair!This is a slideshow I put together of mostly Goose Fair pictures. The Goose Fair is an annual event in Nottingham that happens every October! It's filled with hundreds of years of tradition, and was fun to experience.<br /><br />If you want to see all of my pictures, you can click on the "My Pictures" link on the left side of this page, or go to www.Flickr.com/SisterHutch<br /><br />Enjoy! :)<br /><br /><div><embed src="http://widget-9f.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" quality="high" scale="noscale" salign="l" wmode="transparent" flashvars="cy=bb&il=1&channel=72057594049328799&site=widget-9f.slide.com" style="width:400px;height:320px" name="flashticker" align="middle"></embed><div style="width:400px;text-align:left;"><a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&ad=0&id=72057594049328799&map=1" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-9f.slide.com/p1/72057594049328799/bb_t017_v000_a000_f00/images/xslide1.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /></a> <a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=bb&ad=0&id=72057594049328799&map=2" target="_blank"><img src="http://widget-9f.slide.com/p2/72057594049328799/bb_t017_v000_a000_f00/images/xslide2.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /></a></div></div>Crystal Hutchesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07376112203583917991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6751092020257085668.post-30671818097720801742007-11-10T15:41:00.000+00:002007-11-10T11:33:16.819+00:00Two months down......10 more to go! I can't believe I've already been here two months. Well, to be fair, sometimes it feels like I've been here a few years, but at other times everything still feels so new. I suppose it's normal to take a while to get adjusted to a new culture, even if it does seem fairly similar to home.<br /><br />So...what do I say after a two months of living in Nottingham, England? Where do I begin? Well, first of all, let me get the formalities out of the way. Yes, I'm doing well. Yes, I'm settling in nicely. Yes, I get along with my roommates and teammates...anything else I forgot? Oooh yes, the most common question I'm hearing from people at home can once and for all be answered: YES, I am actually enjoying the food! Apparently England doesn't have much of a reputation for being the gourmet capital of the world, but I am LOVING all of the different European flavours (look at how my spelling has changed!) and all of the Indian food as well. I think that India is to England what Mexico is to Florida...they have so many Indian restaurants, and all of the British restaurants offer some sort of curry dish. Quite interesting.<br /><br />There are too many stories to share! Lots of interesting things have happened. I was chased through a mall once by a Middle-Eastern man asking if I knew what the Hebrew word on my shirt said (of course I did - I didn't go to Bible college for nothing!). I went to a pub one night to observe a debate on the existance of God (VERY interesting to watch!). I got stuck in "the loo" in a British house (there are always so many plugs, switches, and pull-cords in the bathrooms here, and I never can figure out how to use simple things like lights and toilets). I have had the chance to visit many areas of England already, including Warwick Castle, the house of a Duke and Duchess, the Peak District, and many cities and areas in the central part of England. This is a BEAUTIFUL country! I'm so used to living in the flatness of Florida, so the peaks and hills of England are breathtaking! Adding to the splendor of the countryside right now is Autumn. I've never seen a season like it! <br /><br />Now - about the churches. I've had the opportunity to visit many churches in the area, all of different denominations. It has been interesting to see the way "church is done" in England. One of the churches we went to visit was celebrating their 100th anniversary, and another was celebrating 136 years! Isn't that amazing? Those two churches, however, are literally dying out. One of them had about 15 in their congregation - - ALL over the age of 65. All but one of the churches I have visited had what I would consider a REALLY small congregation. A couple of them are working on reaching out into the community, but I would say that most of these churches really struggle with looking outside of their own building. It's really sad to see. It makes me even more upset to see the community of Nottingham, realizing that the churches are FAR from being a reflection of the area. Nottingham is such an alive, rapidly growing, vibrant city! It is CRAWLING with University students, young families, and teenagers. When I look at 90% of the churches, all I see is a dusty old building with mildly tempered "ho-hum" personalities who love to remember their past glory days, but do nothing to re-live those times. The few churches in the area that seem to do well are the ones that really take advantage of the culture around it, and revel in reaching out to the needs of the people outside their walls.<br /><br />As for my ministry here, my main responsibility lies in an after-school club held on Thursday afternoons at the West Bridgford School. My team, along with a local youth minister, prepare 2.5 hours worth of fun stuff for the students (Jr. and Sr. High age) to participate in. There's lots of games, food, and what is called "Square Time" where we sit and talk about life issues, centering around a Christian message. So far, the club has around 10 girls that come on a regular basis. We're hoping to grow this number in the coming weeks, and hoping to add a few boys to the mix! <br /><br />One huge thing coming up for the team here is the possibility of putting together a cafe church/ministry for the local youth. There isn't any place in the area to keep the droves of teenagers out of trouble! From what I can tell, a place for the students to hang out after school is very much needed, and would have instant success. We are well into the process of searching for a building in a convenient location, and are putting together the business-minded details about starting up such a venture. This is something that is REALLY exciting to me! I've seen and heard about what a cafe ministry can do. It would be a perfect opportunity for us to build relationships with the local community, and to run a ministry out of something not as "scary" to a Brit as a church building. I think it would serve as a perfect bridge to building our ministry in Nottingham!<br /><br />Well, there are so many more stories to share, but I don't want to write a whole book as my first blog! I will be posting more, on a more regular basis. I have pictures to share as well, so be on the lookout for that! Thanks for reading, and thank you to all of you for your support and encouragement. May God bless you and your families over in the colonies :)Crystal Hutchesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07376112203583917991noreply@blogger.com0