Going for Gold!

After our marathon journey to Caerleon, we had the weekend to settle in and catch up on some much needed sleep. We both started work on Monday 6th August. Lizzie set off for Cardiff and I set off for Lodge Farm Church. It's helpful that the Olympics are every four years as it gives churches a pretty good idea of a theme for a children's holiday club.

Having the Olympics in London this year seemed to make it extra special and even some of the younger children were talking about the events. It made watching the Olympics that night a must! From the excitement of Chris Hoy becoming the most celebrated Team GB Olympian to the surprise packages in judo and dressage. Caerleon is not too far from London about 120 miles (given that some events were in Glasgow 400 miles from London) and the British cycling team used the velodrome in Wales for their training and people could watch the likes of Chris Hoy and Jessica Pendleton. At the moment the whole place has gone cycling mad! Lizzie and I couldn't get moving on our bikes last week due to the number of kids and parents out on their bikes! I got caught up in the patriotic fervour and now have a Union Flag on the back of my car. Actually there is another reason for that but I digress. For the next 5 days there was an Olympic themed holiday club - 'Going for Gold'. Thankfully I wasn't leading so it gave me a good chance to meet the kids, leaders, and see how Lodge Farm did holiday clubs.

For those of you who have done kids holiday clubs this was a reboot of Going for Gold, not the original and just as Chris Nolan's Batman reboot was better than the Joel Schumacher's series so this reboot was better. Steve Harris was the person who gave it an update and it worked really well. Steve is a street evangelist with several gifts up his sleeve; most notably communicating a Biblical message extremely well, painting, and magic! It's quite clear that he has a real calling to this type of work, evidence by this being his third holiday club in a row.

For those of you who have never done one before, a kid’s holiday club is generally run over 5 days, with a theme that ties into the Biblical story or stories. Kids are split into teams according to their ages and then 2 big teams. There are songs, games. crafts, and quizzes. The stories this week were loosely tied into an Olympic event for example:

Monday's event was swimming which had the account of Jesus meeting the disciples on their boat as he walks out across the water to them. Peter decides to go to Jesus and initially walks on the water but he takes his eyes of Jesus and starts to sink, hence the swimming, before Jesus saves him. Other events were walking (the Israelites marching round Jericho), equestrian (Saul on his way to Damascus), the marathon (Philip running alongside the Ethiopian), and diving which had the well-known Bible story of Archie the Caterpillar.

I enjoyed meeting the kids and spent the most time with a working with the primary 6 guys which was a great group to be a part of. It was a relatively small group and they all loved football and video games so it meant we had something in common, other than the Olympics. When I get involved with school’s work this is the age group I’ll probably be doing the most amount of work with so at least some of them will know who I am.

The week finished off with a barbeque and family Olympics on the Friday night and they thought it would be a good idea for me to be on the barbeque, not literally of course! We were blessed with a warm sunny evening and I was really surprised by how well it was attended by parents and family members who were well fed. There were different games for families to compete in like the long jump, (straw) javelin throwing, and basketball amongst others. No Olympics would be complete without a prize ceremony in which the team from that week won their prize. Steve kept telling the kids that the team that wins gets a prize but he never told them that the other team’s participants would also get a prize, the same prize.




My Union Flag


As it was the holiday club this week there was no youth club on, that’s a story for another time.

It's one small move for youth work and it's one giant drive for the youth worker

How I imagined our journey starting.

At 03:00 on the 4th of August 2012 two YWEV (Youth work expeditionary vehicles (yes these are funny names for my car and the wife's car)) arrived atop on Trinity View on the southwestern corner of Wales. It ended a massive 10+ hour drive that was fraught with difficulties, a delayed departure coupled with YWEV 2's navigational problems - after one and a half miles, the next 370 miles were going to be interesting. To put that into context the last time we travelled down it took a little over 7 hours but arrived safe and sound, if a little tired and coffee dependant, although some say I'm that anyway.

Ok it was more like this, once you get rid of the rockets.

Since it is getting late I'm tempted to dwell upon the title of this post and come up with all sorts of silly and contrived lunar landing parallels which would be stretching things a bit but I'm going to anyway.



So it was more like this. The real YWEV 2 (above) aka a Vauxhall Corsa
and YWEV 1 also a Vauxhall Corsa.

 

1) A different view. We quite literally have a different view of things here. Back in Glasgow we woke up to see a well positioned brick wall, now we look down on England when we wake up. Any fellow Scots read what you will into that statement. For any offended English folks we literally look down on the Bristol Channel and the top of one of the English counties.



The view from our bedroom overlooking Caerleon.

2) Life is different. Even if Welsh village life isn't as drastically different from Scottish city living compared to spending time on the moon, there are some quite noticeable differences. The area we're living in is considerably more affluent than where we were living in Glasgow for a start. There is also a slower pace of life for us non-commuters with crazy rushing around. It's quite pleasant here if you ignore the the fact they enjoy building houses up ridiculously large and steep hills, when that's coming from a Glaswegian you know it's bad.

3) There's more life in Glasgow than on the moon and there is more life in Glasgow than down here.  Glasgow has a bigger population than Cardiff, Newport (including Caerleon), and Cwmbran put together. Besides that village life is closer than living in a big city, which is good as a lot of my role involves building relationships.

4) We're here for a purpose. Despite the fact that everyone remembers the iconic shots of astronauts playing golf on the moon there was a scientific and political purpose in putting then on the moon. Lizzie and I also have a work to do here. Lizzie's started work as a nurse in Cardiff and I've started to be involved with the youth work program. It's quite quiet at the moment as the schools are still off but it gives me a good chance to settle in and do planning and form filling.

5) We intend on coming home! I know we've only been here two weeks but we will come back to visit friends and family.

13 days to go...

Okay so a quick update...

Thursday was the wedding of the new Mr and Mrs Boyce, congratulations to them! It was a great wedding and a privilege for Lizzie and I to be there and the way they expressed their faith throughout the ceremony and reception was beautiful. And like I said in my previous post it was great that we didn't have to move up and down the road to attend which was a bonus although we are looking forward to our new start in Caerleon. Speaking of which we're leaving in 13 days time for Wales and as you may know I'm big on prayer. Incredibly we've managed to get our flat rented, although our flat is well worth renting so that's not so amazing, but what is amazing is the first person who viewed it a day or so after it went on the market loved it and will be the living there very soon. We were quite worried about this aspect as having a mortgage on a property we wouldn't be living in without any income from it would be a challenge. People may say this isn't an answer to prayer but it is. We prayed and God graciously answered, we could have waited a while before we got a tenant but we got one straight away. It's a burden off our shoulders knowing that we don't need to be worrying about the flat. Interestingly she moves in on the day I start my new job. 




The Burrell Collection cafe
looking nice and clean

Some of the residents of Pollok Country Park

So the next thing on the agenda is me finishing up work this weekend. Since November I've been working with Cordia in the Burrell Collection, in Pollok Country Park doing cleaning so from Monday it won't be as clean as it has been! It's a nice place to work and I've enjoyed working with the people there so I'll miss that. I still have several shifts at my other job to go but the money will from that will get us to Wales and to be honest I love working in Adelaides having been there since 2010. So things are taking shape nicely and we've packed, well mostly Lizzie has packed, a few more boxes. On Sunday the 29th of July at 7:30 I'll get to say a few words at the church Lizzie and I go to, about that I'll be doing in Wales, which will be the day after our going away night out. I'm excited about both of these things as I think it is important to go with the best wishes of friends and family and the prayer and blessing of our home church. It's the people we're going to miss the most and part of the reason for this blog is to try and keep in contact with our friends and family wherever they are. 

Sleepy Cow!

Hopefully we'll have a chance to catch up with as many family and friends before we leave Glasgow. I hadn't intended on putting these pics on my blog but these are just some of the views we'll be missing. I never thought I'd say this but we're going to miss Glasgow too.

The west end of Glasgow.
Our flat's down there somewhere!

Hard to believe this is 5 minutes walk from our flat!

What we wake up to every day,
 although normally there's no snow.

Till death do us part...

2 weddings and a funeral

Hello everyone! I had read on the rules of blogging you should never start with an apology for not posting in a while, so with that in mind sorry for the delay in updates. I hope you can accept my apology but there has been a lot going on with me since I last posted.Most notably my (great) uncle died which was a shock given he wasn't that old. That was a hard day.I've seen dead bodies before but I've never had to watch someone die over the course of a day. It was tough emotionally and spiritually and even physically. There was a lot happening in the aftermath with regards to funerals and sorting out his estate but most of that has died down now so we're now getting used to him no longer being with us.
My uncle and I were very close especially when I was younger I'd see him a couple of times a week up until my great-grand parents died after which he moved to England to be with his lady. When she died two years ago he moved back up and we saw each other a lot again. He didn't have any children of his own so my sisters and myself were very close to him. He used to give me and my sister pocket money and he was giving my youngest sister (she's 10 so that's allowed) pocket money up until he died. I've said this was a tough time and I spoke to the pastor at church and he said something I didn't expect. I told him that as far as I knew he was an atheist, although my gran was praying over her brother a lot, so I was expecting a little bit of sympathy with a dash of Hellfire thrown in. In stead he said something very different. He said Death sucks, I hate death, you hate death and God hates death. It was never meant to be. You need to find a way to redeem this situation. Redemption was two fold; I said that his death was a shock and it was. Although he was ill, we never thought he would die like he did. However, he was reluctant to see a doctor and even more reluctant to go to hospital ( he thought if I go there I'm never getting out) but I think he knew he was dying. I say this because the day before he died he gave me his car. Secondly I've said he was an atheist and had as far as I know never darkened  a church's door since he was a teenager. That changed, he was at my wedding last year and more than that he donated money to the missionary organization I'm going to be working for. Ironically he died on the day of my sister's birthday.
Work wise everything has progressed well for us. My funding is in place and my CRB check has also come through so I'm starting work on the 6th of August down in Wales. This has worked out well for us as we have house arrangements with regards to mortgages and renting our flat to be dealt with. Who knew going to the bank and sorting out paper work could take so long?
It also means we've been able to go to 2 weddings without going up and down. Gordy's wedding was nearly 2 weeks ago, congratulations to him and Debbie and we have our other friend's wedding in 2 weeks time. These weddings are in stark contrast to Jimmy's funeral. In one way a wedding is like that start of a new life, for the couple anyway, a funeral signifies the end of a life. One talks of the future and is a joyous occasion the other reflects on the past and is marked by tears. 
Lizzie has also handed her notice in at her current work so she'll be starting round about then too. We also have 2 cars which will be good for moving stuff to Wales and also for work when we are down there. I don't know how we would have got ourselves to Wales with just the one car. It's a small car. With one person and the seats down it should be ok and the same again for the other car. They're both small, actually they're both Vauxhall Corsas, even though the newer one is slightly bigger.
This has been a tough time for the family, with my uncle dying and also our move to Wales with new jobs and all that entails. so we would appreciate prayers for us.

There and back again, a youthworker's tale.

As you've guessed I do like Lord of the Rings and the shameless rip off in the title was there to suck you in. In all fairness the place is like Middle-Earth, Caerleon is like The Shire, Cardiff could be Osgiliath and Newport is Mordor - which leaves England across the Bristol Channel akin to the Grey Havens. Last week I was writing about going to Wales and visiting the church where I hope to be doing youth work soon. I would also like to point out that in my last post about the first thing we'd do in Wales was get lost, I wasn't joking. My excuse is I could see where were going but they had closed the road since the map had been made.

Having never been to Wales I have to say I look forward to returning as Lizzie and I had a great time, despite the last local leisure facility closing about 1700 years ago, a big thanks to Owen and his wife Ruth for their superb hospitality over the weekend. It was really, really good seeing the Caerleon (pronounced Kill Ian! - poor Ian!) and it's an incredible place with a very rich history dating back to the Iron age. If you like Roman history this place is a dream land with an amphitheatre and Roman baths amongst other things. back then it was home to the 2nd Augustan legion a force of 3000 foot soldiers and doesn't include cavalry or the likes. At present there are around 8000 people so there were probably more people there 2000 years ago!

<---- Our Welsh accommodation.

The traditional Welsh youth workers' uniform ------>


In many ways it's quite different from life in Glasgow which has a greater population than Caerleon, Newport and Cardiff combined but the Celtic heritage of Wales also gives it many similar traits that you find in Scotland. The church where I'd be working is totally different from any of the churches I've been to in Glasgow or anywhere for that matter, mostly due to its location and shape. It's at the very top of a hill and is an old farm, so the church as the grounds of a farm which include an iron age fort. Despite the church hall being in the cow shed there are no cow although someone may have told my mum they still had cows to provide the milk for the tea and coffee! There's a good community feel to the church and despite it not being the biggest church I've been in it's probably the loudest with good Welsh singing! The local area is quite middle class which has the upside of less serious trouble but the downside of people not seeing the need for a church or God in their lives. 
In terms of the work I'd be doing there there is a good range on ministries to be involved with and develop. At present there is a Sunday morning youth group, about 7 or so go; a Sunday Club for primary school with 12 kids and a midweek youth outreach group with 20 or so going. There is also a midweek youth Bible study which is doing the youth version of Christianity Explored. It was hard to try and imagine what I'd be doing until I'd seen what was going on and I can now start to flesh out so basic ideas having met the kids and youth. They're a great bunch and it was good to chat with them over the afternoon tea in the church. I've never felt so stuffed outwith Christmas. These are the things I'd be getting involved with but in addition we want to get involved with the local schools and I'd like to get involved with the local university campus too. We'd like to develop lunch clubs with the schools and eventually an after school club but that's a long way off. Hopefully I'd be able to help out in RE or the equivalent in Wales and assemblies. Both of these would be a great way of getting more involved with the community and hopefully making the assemblies and RE more interesting. I remember them being a bit boring and the Christian modules in RE had very little to do with being a Christian.
There are a few things that are still to be done before I can start in Wales, although I am now officially accepted as an OMS ministry candidate! That means I'm officially ratified after my interview which happened in Wales last week. I've still got the orientation to do and start my fundraising. Hopefully this won't take too long and I'll be down in Wales by the summer!
It's a scary thought in a way going all that way (well ~7 hours by car) from our families although it will be good too. I thought I'd also say that this job is a calling not just a mere job. There is a clear difference. A job is done to just get money where as a calling is done regardless of the finances. However, I use the terms 'job' and 'calling' interchangeably in this regard and I often use the term job more often as that's what most people understand.
So prayer points for those on the blower with God:

• Lizzie would get a job down there in one of the local hospitals. There is a vacancy within an ICU ward but it's only bank at the moment.

• The fundraising and orientation would go well and that the fundraising wouldn't take too long either.

• Our move would go well and we would settle into Welsh life.

Thanks to everyone who prayed for us before. We've seen God do good things and it's a testimony that he still cares for the small details in people's lives as well as the big things too.

<----- No prizes for guessing what this is for. Let's just say I won't be making use of this traditional Welsh method.

Road Trip!

So this weekend the wife and I are setting out on our epic road trip down to Wales. This is significant for 3 reasons, it's the first time either of us will have been in the land of leeks, daffodils and Tom Jones, we get to meet the people I'll be working with and, thirdly, it's the first time I will have had an interview in McDonald's. Spoiler alert: I've no pictures this week hence the Welsh theme with the colours but it also means it will be like a boring auntie's holiday itinerary.
So for those of you who I've not yet told, my first interview should have had some people from OMS present so they're going to rectify this by means of an interview in McDonald's over coffee (maybe they could include "interview coffee" in their next TV spot?).
So that's on Friday and pretty much the first thing we'll do in Wales other than get lost. We're then off to meet Owen and his wife which will be good as I've spoke to him quite a few times, so will be nice to finally meet him face-to-face.
Saturday is a chance to get to know the local area and that sort of thing. I've heard conflicting reports of what Newport and the surrounding area is like from people who have never been there so we can make up our own mind.
Sunday will probably be the most daunting day as we go to the church. They're very keen, as am I, for this to happen so it will be a case of being bombarded with lots of new faces and possibly a quick Q&A up front. However, I'm told there will be an afternoon tea which should be good.
And finally on Monday we come home. There might be a stop in Manchester at the OMS HQ or there may not. I was meant to stop there on Friday but due to the interview in a McDonald's on a roundabout it was delayed until Monday but I've just got an e-mail saying it may have to be another time. It seems I will need to be ratified at some point as apparently it can't be done over the phone.
There has been lots of staff movement at OMS with people starting new jobs so I think that hasn't helped and has slowed progress down. However, all in good time. God has been more than generous with us and has opened several doors for us in the last week. The church has very kindly offered to pay for my breakdown cover and has covered my fuel costs for getting to Wales and back which is a huge blessing as that was a bit of a concern given the cost of petrol. It's also important that Lizzie gets a job down there and in the last few days a temporary position has become available so that's also great and we have a potential tenant for our flat which is just incredible. God is good people.

Work it!

Adelaide Place Baptist Church. Where I work and where I got married. Convenient.



For those of you who I've not yet told I recently was offered a new job, although I've not yet started. In the meantime I'm still going to be at the Burrell Collection and Adelaide's Guest House (in fact that's where I am writing this).

The Burrell Collection (taken from rampantscotland.com) and view from the cafe in winter (taken from my phone).

SO if I've told you or you've read my other post about it then you can skip this paragraph. Basically I've been offered the job of youth worker in a church down in the valleys of Wales. Actually that might be a lie I don't think it's in valley. Anyway it's a great opportunity and I'm looking forward to it.
Anyway I'd promised updates and my latest update is that I had a chat with one of the board of trustees from OMS, who are my soon to be new employers, the other night there. Basically there is a board of trustees meeting on Monday the 5th and part of that meeting will be talking about my appointment and they have to ratify it and sort out any issues. To be be blunt I think my chat the other night there could have gone better as:

a) The questions I was asked were vastly different to what I expected.
b) Following on from being different some of the questions were about the form I filled in October, so that was tricky.
c) I have a cold and had lost my voice and only just got it back.

Anyway I croaked my through the chat and hopefully I'll hear a bit more soon. So what can I say? I don't have a start date but it's not likely to be before mid-April as there are CRB checks and more importantly I need to raise some of my own funds. I say more importantly as I know I'm not and axe murderer and fund raising takes longer than a CRB check. I'm aiming for between £3600 and £6000 as my accommodation is covered and there is partial funding in place. This will be a new experience for me as the last time I did fund raising it was for a youth club I did a while back and we held a ceilidh since it was near Christmas and people like Christmas' ceilidhs. In a couple of weeks Lizzie and I are going to visit the church where I'd be working as neither of us have been there but from speaking to the people there it sounds like a great place and they seem like a great bunch even if they talk funny. That being said an American over here told me everyone here talks funny. Also en-route to Wales we're hoping to stop off at the OMS HQ in Manchester to meet the people there. If we're able to we might even stop off at Bawtry on the way home to see more missionaries; Lizzie's brother and his ladies. Well his wife and daughter doesn't sound quite as cool. For those of you who don't know where Wales is click here. If you're interested we're in Glasgow which is 300+ miles to the north. I'm told the rain in Wales is warmer than Glasgow.
So prayer points for all you prayerers out there:

1. It's not too much money but I can't start until that's sorted.
2. For OMS in Manchester and the staff there. There are a lot of new staff there and there has been a bit of a breakdown in communication and that's why the process has taken so long. A wee aside a former OMS worker is now working with Pioneers which is where David (Lizzie's brother) and wife are. Small world.
3. We'd have a safe journey when we head down in 2 weeks and that everything would go well. It can be quite daunting meeting so many new people in the space of a weekend knowing that I'll have to make a good impression.