Mind the Gap

Hello, lovely people who read my blog! If you're reading this, just know that you are my favorite.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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: "Mind the Gap." "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.

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 :)

Hurricane Crystal heading to Florida

I 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.

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").

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:

5. The Cadbury chocolate gorilla: This is the commercial I cannot seem to get away from. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

4. The Edinburgh Tattoo: Umm, bagpipes, kilts, and a castle...need I say more?

3. The Queen's wave: Of the utmost importance, obviously.

2. Paul Potts: From "Britain's Got Talent," and the video that brings instant tears to my eyes...every single time.

1. The infamous "Charlie Bit My Finger" children: Adorable and hilarious. Don't you love little British kids?

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! FLORIDIANS BEWARE: 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.

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WWII and eating jackets

Can I come up with weirder titles for my blog posts? Perhaps.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

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!

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.

Cheers!

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!

1.) Scotland: 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 ~

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sisterhutch/

2.) Friends: 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.

3.) E-mail: Here is an excerpt from a message our team recently received from the head of the Religious Education department at West Bridgford School ~

"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."

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).

4.) Decision: 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!

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 :)


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.

Pip pip and cheerio, my friends!

Cherry Tree

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.

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!

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!

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.

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!

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.

All-in-all, a very successful weekend indeed :)

Steaming hot cup of evangelism

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.

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.

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.

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 :)

Click here to see the SkyNews clip with Simon

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.

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.

Why do you believe in God?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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