like a fire

I am adding more pictures as I get settled back in and get more from the team. To view them, click the Stickam sidebar.

We all landed safely in Orlando at 5:30ish yesterday and were glad to be back in the states and to see our families. What a great and tearful sight to see all the people waiting for us. Thanks for that UPC parents and family. It couldn’t have been a better homecoming.

The group that served has been an especially good one. Each person had his own contributions and needs. It was really great seeing the Body of Christ actually work somewhat close to its intentions. People filled in gaps where needed and everyone worked hard to include others in what was happening. I really feel like everything we did was pretty inclusive of the whole group.

Our last night was spent worshipping in a park near our place of residence. We had an opportunity to share what this trip meant and what that would mean for our reintegration into the American culture. Best of all was that we all wanted to continue getting together when we got back. Hopefully we will see lots of effects of this trip for a while.

Day 7 we left at 10 AM to go into London for some sight seeing. Little did we know that it would take over an hour to get into London on the tube. One line was down, so we hopped from train to train until we finally arrived. This was a great time for our team to just be tourists and hang out with each other (one of their favorite things here). We started out at London Bridge and then went to the London Tower. After lunch we rode the London Eye and then went to Westminster Abbey. After that, we walked over to buckingham palace through a really great park and then rested a bit in Hyde Park before going to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. It was a great day and everyone was ready for their beds when we got back at 11.

We are going back on Sunday to see the British Museum and then coming back to Masih Ghar for church at 4.

Monday we are expecting to arrive back in the states around 4.

Day 6 was our last day with the “multi-sport youth camp” (yes, that’s what they call it). We shortened each session to save some time for some extra stuff at the end. The extra stuff was pizza and a short gospel presentation. One thing about being here is that I actually like the pizza. They have pizza that is all veggies - onions, peppers, and corn. Now that probably doesn’t sound very good, but I am liking it so don’t blow it for me. The presentation was very simple due to the youngest children being 11, the languages that they normally speak and my ability to be louder than them.

After the time inside it was time to say goodbyes. In typical youth ministry fashion, we had a time where all the kids could express their appreciation for their leaders in appropriate ways. That meant a massive food fight where the kids got to make the leaders into hot fudge sundaes and then a water fight to clean up. It was a lot of fun and a great way to end the week. I think we are the only faith culture represented where you actually try to embarass and disrespect leaders in this way - for fun.

Later that night the older kids (11 and up) were invited back for youth club. This was an even more diverse group than the camp. Many of the 11 year olds came back, but there were also many up into their early twenties and much more um… worldly than the normal teens. This made for an interesting night. We had the whole worship band there so we decided to play that night interspersed with times of dancing to music from Ipods. I was really wondering how that would go over but the night turned out really great. We might have done more that night than the rest of the week. The unbelieving people there got to see some pretty cool American teens worshipping in a very unashamed way, the on the fence people got some encouragement and our teens got to see another side of Hounslow and also how good they have it back in the states. This was a really good night! Several of our teens got to talk about their faith in very real ways as questions were asked about why they raised their hands to God or why they came to London.

Day 7 is sight seeing so we are going to get some rest tonight.

We had a great day today. The camp was the same except for the threat of rain and everyone knows their parts. Though our numbers were slightly down due to another camp at the same time at the same place (ugh), we had lots more energy and attention for the ones who were there. I think there were around 30 kids ages 9-10, which is a lot of energy for a single session. Our leaders rose to the occasion though and we are all getting used to following accents and picking up on thet strnge glances at the things we say. For example, in the UK, pants are actually underwear, so if we should say, “I like your pants.” we usually get wierd looks. Also, a very common soccer term “Shag” means something else here, which Nelson found out.

In the afternoon we went to a Gurdwara, which is a Siek temple. This is the largest one outside of India making it the second largest in the world. It was very nice and we saw a lot there. They basically come in and bow before the book which has the holy writings in it. The girls and guys are separated and it is a lot more reserved than the Hindu temple we went to earlier in the week. As we were leaving, one of the members pulled me aside and asked me some questions. I don’t think he disliked our being there, but I think he would have liked to give us a tour, I felt really good about knowing what little I did about his beliefs and we had a pretty good exchange.

Later tonight we are going to eat and we will meet for some prayer and sharing back at the church. I can’t believe tomorrow is our last day with the camp. Pray for me and the team as we bring the closing gospel message to the camp. Also pray for our team as we lead worship tomorrow night at their youth club.