Birmingham Summers

Okay so maybe my title is a little off since nothing is really happening right now in London but I, coincidentally, am listening to classic U2 tracks and it just seemed appropriate. Well for starters, I survived my first attempted terrorist attack. I know, seriously, don't worry I'm fine. I was actually only a couple blocks away from where they found the first car before 2 a.m. I was seeing a couple local bands that were being showcased in an event called London Calling. The music was really good and all the bands seemed really excited just to have people show up. Kinda different from what I'm used to in the music world. Another highlight for me, I was able to see the glass chandelier hanging in the rotunda lobby of the Victoria & Albert Museum. It's by a glass artist named Dale Chihuly and I have been completely enamored with his work ever since my dad and I caught a special on PBS about one of his installations in Venice. It was absolutely breathtaking (note the pictures.)
In other news, I am back at a beatiful house in Highbury for the next couple of days. It's a little out of the city but only a short way away from the tube so I can get around pretty easily. Well I do believe I'm off to Chelsea to go see Stamford Bridge, also a personal dream of mine. Pictures should follow shortly. Cheers!!

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Well a couple days ago we had our last family dinner with the International students and I started to wonder to myself, just how fast did this month actually go by. Well the answer was way too quickly. It feels like just yesterday I was sitting in an airport for five hours waiting for the rest of the team, that I had never met or seen, to get there so i could have a ride to Asbury House. Then it literally feels like minutes ago I was at table with Naomi teaching English and Bible stories to Hitomi and Saloiva. I think it really hit home when Hitomi handed me a present that she had made for me. The note said thank you for talking about Christ in such a clear way so that she could understand it even though she doen't know English very well. The thing is that I really didn't know what I was doing at that table. I stuck with Naomi because she had a background in Japanese culture and relating the gospel to Asian people and I figured I could just sit back and learn from her. But then I get this note that say's even in my feeble attempts to communicate Christ with someone, He used it to impact her life. I was blown away and I really didnt know what to say about it all. It's been a fantastic month and I'm in London now doing debreifing and a bit of sightseeing with the rest of the team. Just to know that God used 9 students who had no clue what was gonna be happening really makes me smile. We serve such a great God and even when we don't expect much, He gives a lot.

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Well the last week has begun and I don't really know how I feel about it. To tell the truth, parts of this trip have been completely exhausting but on a whole it has been one of the most amazing experiences in my life. Tonight is our second to last family dinner where we are able to invite students that we have met so that we can build a deeper relationship with them and hopefully share the gospel. Yesterday Zack and I had lunch with a Chinese student named Jerry. He is a really awesome guy that the Lord put in our paths a couple weeks ago who believes that everything is controlled by fate and luck. he just isn't ready to believe that there is a God out there who loves him and is directing his steps. He showed me how to write my name in Chinese characters which was pretty cool. The rain has started once again so it's back to typical British weather. I've learned to always carry a rain jacket with me no matter what I'm doing because the chances of it raining can gofrom 0 to 100 in a matter of minutes. Well I'm gonna go get ready for our Bible study time but I would just ask that everyone pray for the students that we are meeting with tonight. Some of them are on the edge about Christianity and maybe tonight someone will be able to clearly share the love of Christ with them. Cheers!!

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I don't think that words can even begin to describe just exactly what, and how much, God taught me today. In all honesty, I have never been really comfortable around people who don't speak the same language as me very well. It's easy to just nod and say hello but that usually doesn't involve any type of personal interaction, therefore no relationship. Well today the Lord literally pushed me out of my box and onto a field with a large group of Asian students that wanted to learn how to play American football. The fun that we had on that field can only be summed up by saying that everything I thought about international students up to today was left on a field in Selly Park. I walked away with friends from a complete opposite part of the globe and the cool thing was that I didn;y even have to try. These students just wanted to be accepted, much like I want to be accepted by my friends. Another thing that was totally revolutionary was how to easily share my faith with someone of a completely opposite religion without causing confrontation. i went knocking doors in Selly Oak with my friend Pete and I was in awe of how easily he just asked questions to people and casually shared his faith in Christ like it was the only thing he really knew how to do. He was polite, honest, and sincere in his love for Christ and the person he was talking to. I was blown away. For so long I always skirted around the fact that my friends that don't know Christ would probably laugh at me if I started talking about God. But for Pete, it was just a natural outpouring of his faith in Christ. On a sad note, Nancy, our project leaders wife, faced the death of her mother today. She was a believer but it is still hard when that moment comes. I would just ask that you would pray for Nancy and G.P. as they head back to the states to deal with the funeral and family. Also for Zach and Naomi as they stay behind and lead the rest of the project in England. i would also just like to end tonights note by saying thanks to Roger, Jerry, Hitomi, and Nick for helping me realize that we aren't so different from each other and that even those differences shouldn't ever keep someone from being a friend. Cheers!!

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So today is our first official day off from doing anything project related and it just so happened that it was pretty much the most sunshiney day that we've had yet. Over the past week we have been making contacts on campus and just trying to really make friends with some people that are a) international students and b) people that don't know Christ. For the first half we we're all leading up to the family dinner where we invited everyone that we had met to just sit down for a free meal and talk some more. jake and I met an amazing guy named B.B. who ended up coming to the party and it was a complete blast to get to know him and just talk and hang out for the longest time. We're gearing up for what is known as Project PETE (Post Exam Training & Evangelism) next week. Basically it gives students a place to learn practical skills about evangelism and then they spend the afternoon going out on campuses in town and putting that knowledge to use. I'm gonna be leading the worship time so I'm really stoked about that. The British students that I have met here are just so full of passion and life. It's really hard for their passion to not rub off on everyone around them. I guess in short, next week is gonna be amazing an I am really looking forward to it. Cheers!!

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okay so I know I said that I would update at least every two days. My bad. This has been our first week of really heading out on campus and meeting international students. Sunday's church service was really amazing. ChurchCentral meets in an auditorium of King Edwards School and the history in the building itself was kinda overwhelming. Scholars dating back to the late 1800's were adorned in plaques on the walls. The church service was rather like many that I had been too in the U.S. but afterwards some fellow students invited us out onto the back cricket lawn for a picnic. It simply amazed me how everyone would just pack a lunch and sit together after the service and visit for hours. They also had a baptism in the school pool. Honestly, it felt more like a celebration then a baptism. We sat in the bleachers and cheered after the two girls were brought out of the water. Very refreshing.

So we've been on campus for two days now and I am finally getting used to talking to strangers about the gospel. It doesn't sound hard but when you have no clue where the person is from or if they even speak English, it can be very intimidating. My first day on campus Kate and I were accompanied by Lois, a local staff member of Agape, who really helped us refine the technique of how to engage the students in conversation and then start pointing towards spiritual subjects. The students here are exceptionally friendly and I haven't found anyone who isn't open to talking about their religous beliefs, or disbeliefs. Today we're heading back out on campus for more conversation starting but later the England vs. Estonia football game is on so a few of us may find a small pub to go watch the game with some real British footballers. It shall be jolly fun. Cheers!!

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So the one thing about Stratford-Upon-Avon that struck me as odd was the fact that William Shakespeare was buried inside the local church. I was under the impression that people buried inside these elaborate churches were usually of some large importance to the church community. I may be wrong but I didn't think that Shakespeare was a priest or viccar or anything. Anyways, Holy Trinity Church was absolutely beatiful and was an inspiration to see. I got a bit sunkissed but thats only because I'm a really white person and I forgot to bring sunscreen. Well tomorrow a couple of us are attending Church Central which meets right across from Birmingham Uni and also is right next to the school where J.R. Tolkien went to school as a boy. The students that invited us were really awesome so I am really excited to get to know them more and find out what church in the U.K. is like. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous for the past two days, which is an answered prayer since we had a BBQ for the international students. That was also a great thing getting to meet and just hang out with lots of the Chinese students and the British students that we will be working alongside. Well there's soo much to do tomorrow, including a Barn Dance British style which should be very interesting, so I'm gonna head to bed. Cheers!

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