Week 8 - Fishponds baptist church, Bristol. (Ellen's home)

Final week of tooouuurrrrrr!!!!!!!! Our last week is done, I can't believe it! Here's how it went :)


Thursday 21st was when we moved from Ipswich to Bristol and that evening we went to talk to the young people at the youth group. That went alright, only 3 girls were there but it was nice all the same. Meant more snacks for us! 


Friday 22nd started with prayers at the church, and then we helped out at mums and toddlers until lunch. Lots of very cute babies! In the evening we helped out at the 12-16yr old group.... Oh my. 30 of them, loud, proud and very annoying. But we came out alive, just!


Saturday 23rd was 'Fun in the park'. The church puts on this free event every year, and it's basically a way to reach out to the community and show them a bit of Gods love. There's bouncy castles, rodeo thing I spent 2 hours manning the Freeset stuff and 2 hours face painting! My hands were stained orange afterwards from painting so many tigers and spider men!! 

At the Freeset stall with Karen. Pretty sure I'm munching on a burger here too.

Live music from the church band

At the Freeset stand

It was good fun. And the rain held off!! Not bad at all.

Sunday 24th started with, obviously, church. We did our usual talk about what we did in India, and gave our testimonies. We always say we are so bored of saying the same old stuff, we pretty much know each others testimonies off by heart now, but when you find out that what you had said had actually made a girl start to turn back to Christ, it makes it so worth it. God put us there for a reason, and now his child is returning home. YAY!

I don't look very happy but I prefer to call it... concentration...

Last ever church service!

In our sari's again!

We had just enough time for lunch, and then we were back out in the park for, you guessed it, Church in the park! Similar sort of thing to FITP but there was a very short sermon as well. And, us 4 did a puppet show. Oh yeah. 

Monday was kind to us and let us lie in. However I was awake at 8 due to losing the off switch on my body clock. But it was nice none the less. We got to church for about 11.30 and got to work on painting one of the church offices. But when you have to paint over wallpaper looks like this...:

...

...Its not so easy.

And heres some painty snaps just for fun...

At about 4 we headed back to our individual temporary places of residence and got ready to go out to the theatre and watch the Phantom of the Opera!! Very exciting.

Ta da!

We got to the theatre early so went around and visited a few people first....

And then we found this big mirrory globe thing:

And then it was about time to go into the theatre. The show was amaziiiing. Love love love going to the theatre! However the funniest part of the day wasn't until after the show. We were waiting for Ellen's mum to come and pick us up when 3 very drunk guys came up to us and one sat down next to me trying to chat me up etc. Offered me drugs and various other things! Luckily he noticed my dismissive tone and with a little help from his friends he left. Highly amusing though. Bless him.


On the 26th we helped set up and serve and the luncheon club (posh name for oldies meal). I love old people though they're so funny. Afterwards Darren (Pastor) took us on a tour of Bristol. We went to various places including Clifton suspension bridge and observatory, Bristol old vic theatre (For Bebe), etc.

250ft above the floor of Avon Gorge

It was nice to get out and see more of Bristol. Then Darren took us for a drink before we all went "home". Then it was time to relax until the evening when we were taken out to an Indian restaurant for dinner. A lovely way to end a great week. And I learnt a great new skill from Frin which I practiced on my bedsheets to leave a little surprise for Darren and Karen when I left:

How to make dead chickens out a napkin... Or my bed sheets in this case!

What a delightful dead chicken surprise for them!

Anyway, after a lovely lunch at the Pullins residence we left Bristol and now I'm back at IMC, and tour is pretty much officially over!! I'll do a 'feelings' bit in the next one when I will be back in my actual real life house! 

It may not be home home, but it's great to be back with the other action teamers.

Its been so crazy moving from place to place, but its good to remember that God is our 'dwelling place'. In him we have a home.

'Lord you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God' - Psalm 90:1-2

'For in Him we live and move and have our being' - Acts 17:28

Week 7- Burlington baptist church, Ipswich

Busiest week on tour is finally complete! And this week, you'll (hopefully) be happy to hear, I have more than two photos! Yay! So here goes, week 7 in all its glory:


Thursday 14th we got picked up and taken to Burlington baptist church (no crazy train journeys this week as this church is also in Ipswich!). Here we met with Claire who's the youth leader at the church, and had a chat about everything and anything until lunch where we met other church members and trustees. The afternoon was spent planning and shopping for the church weekend away, then at about 4 we helped lead the 8-11yr old group (pretty much just played games). When that finished we got taken to where we will be living for the week. The Gosden's residence is absolutely beautiful. And so is Elizabeth Gosden's cooking. And so are the Gosden's! Best house so far by a long shot! 


Friday 15th we had a lie in but in the afternoon we got taken to Vauxhall farm for the church weekend away. Luckily we had cabins to stay in and weren't camping! The weather forecast for the weekend was the worst gales we have seen in 50 years but God heard our prayers and kept it dry and actually sunny at points! After dinner we had our first session with the kids. 12x 10-13yr old boys and 3 girls. This was pretty much just spent playing games and getting to know each other. Despite my negative attitude towards the weekend and dreading leading kids at the most annoying age for the entire weekend, they were actually lovely kids and we had a lot of fun. 

A few of the boys playing the doughnut game.

Saturday 13th we had 3 more sessions with the youth. The first one was spent telling them about how most people lived in India, and challenged them to build a slum of their own.

They started as this:

And this:

 And after a lot of hard work:

We created this:

In the slum

And this:

Didn't they do well?! 

They really enjoyed making them and afterwards we had a discussion about how it would feel to actually have to live in these outside every day and every night. 

After a short break we all wrote cards to the girls at Entally Girls Hostel where we worked in India. All the youth make and wrote their own cards. They told the girls who they are, what they do, where they live, and some really lovely encouraging messages and bible verses. Some of these youth are actually really touched by the issues we came across when talking about India, and they have a real heart for the world. Its inspiring to see.

The youth with their cards

The cards

Beautifully decorated.

We're gonna send these cards along with the picture of us all to the girls. 

Saturday afternoon we had off and Elizabeth Gosden was running a bag making workshop so us girls went along to that and look what I made ALL BY MYSELF! (don't look too closely though!)

After this we had another session with the youth which we did on the salt and the light in Matthew 5. It went pretty well and they listened for the entire time (could have been cause we kept them interested with the fake poo in the jar, which we almost convinced them was real until they decided to touch it! Disgusting boys- what if it was real?!!!!) Anyway, throughout all this serious stuff we also played plenty of games, including the much loved ninja!

Sunday 17th we had our last session with the youth. This one was a study on the Great Commission in Matthew 28. We ended it with a challenge to go out and tell one person (or lots!) about God. We said this when we did the study on light the day before, spreading your light with someone else. Has the potential to do wonders!

It was good to finish the weekend. We have been dreading it for so long but it actually went a lot better than expected. And it was so nice to get back to the Gosden's lovely house and proper beds!

Monday was our day off so me and Ellen went into town and just relaxed which was lovely. And so good to not wake up until 10am! 

Tuesday 19th we had an early start as we did an assembly at St.Matthews primary school. The rest of the day after this was pretty free until the evening when we had a curry night/chat with the young people from the church which was nice. 

And today, Wednesday, we spent from 10am-3.45pm talking to people who are about age about mission etc. It was a laugh and we had some good discussions but I was SO tired! It has been a lovely sunny day as well and we were inside for most of it! But we did have a nice BBQ this evening before heading home to pack to move on to our final church, Fishponds baptist, Bristol (Ellen's church). 

Slight issues with packing? Not sure its all gonna fit.....

So that's the end of week 7. I'm shattered and drained and literally counting down the days until I get my own bed! (10). Its been a long 7 weeks, but I've learnt a lot, not just about myself but about God. One more week to go and then I will be back at IMC with the other Action Teamers for our final days together! Gonna be some sad good byes but can't wait to get home and see Chris and my family and friends. Miss them so much.  

Anyway, I am TIRED and need some sleep. Got the midnight munchies so I better get into bed before I go and raid an almost strangers fridge... 

Night :) x

Harriet's thought for the day.

Throughout tour I have met a whole range of interesting people, and had many interesting conversations. And its been amazing to see how God is working in peoples lives. Other peoples stories have made me even more grateful for the life God has given me, its actually so easy to forget that. Being in India and hearing peoples stories showed me just how blessed I am. And instead of always finding negatives I just want to live life to the full. But that got me thinking, what does it really mean to 'live life to the full'? People often associate that with things like sex and money and drugs. But how is that living? We put our faith in materialistic things which ultimately leads to disappointment. We're easily put down and disheartened. We see things through biased, cynical, pessimistic eyes. We judge and assume before we know the truth. We only do good when we can see the obvious reward or prize. We give and expect something in return. We fight and lie and cheat. We're always.moaning... But what if we OPENED our eyes. What if we LOVED everyone. What if we gave and did good JUST BECAUSE. What if we put our FAITH in the one who OPENS eyes, LOVES everyone, gives GENEROUSLY. The one who is SLOW to anger but RICH in LOVE. The mighty one who acts JUSTLY, walks HUMBLY, loves MERCY. The one who FILLS our hearts and CLEANSES our souls. What if we put our TRUST in the one who RESTORES the BROKEN and sets captives FREE. The one who sent his ONLY son so that we may have eternal FORGIVENESS. Its not about how much money we can make, how many holidays we can go on, how many people we sleep with, how drunk we can get, how many friends we have. Its not about getting to the highest level on an xbox game, seeing how much you can upset your 'enemies' or fighting just for fun. Its about loving and giving and trusting and putting your faith in the one who is ALWAYS there. When you know God, THAT'S when you start living. 


'I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.' - John 10:10


♥

Short "break" at IMC and onto week 6- Colchester Road, Ipswich (Josh's church)

I have a total of 2 photos for this blog. So if you're the kind of person who prefers to just 'look at the pictures', I would press your 'click to go back' button rouuund about now. Its okay, it's the thought that counts.

So on Monday 4th we left Littlehampton and headed back to IMC for a 3 day break. It was so great to see all the other action teamers and catch up. We also went to Drayton Manor for a day which was great fun but just wore us out even more! But probably good to keep going for a bit as by the end of the few days I was starting to feel a bit under the weather as I was beginning to wind down.... Bad idea. 

On Thursday 7th we traveled to Colchester road baptist church, Ipswich, which is Josh's home church.

Me and Naomi are staying with a lovely older couple from the church who provided us with the best towels we have had so far on tour: (Yep, you guessed it, here's the two photos!)

I was slightly envious that Naomi got Thomas.

Delightful.

Whilst here we have:

- Done a presentation for the oldie group (one man spent a lot of the conversation time talking about the war, he was deaf, I'm not sure he even knew why he was there. Gotta love old people.)

- Went to the cinema on our day off (Snow white and the huntsman)

- Morning and evening church services on Sunday (Our goal is to make people cry, we succeeded.)

- Primary school assembly (Kids love to volunteer)

- Secondary school assembly (Year 10's hate volunteering)

- Helped out at a coffee bar (Total of 8 people... only 4 accepted a love heart)

- Helped out at a youth group (Watched the boys play fifa, learnt the 'offside rule')

- Helped at mums and toddlers (Cute!)

- Talked at home groups (Loving the prayerful support)

Its been a busyish week, dreading next week though, we are organising and leading an entire youth weekend away..............

'The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

He leads me beside quiet waters, 

He refreshes my soul. 

He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, 

I will fear no evil, for you are with me; 

your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.'

- Psalm 23

Week five - Littlehampton (Naomi's home)

Its been a good week here in Littlehampton. I don't think I've ever eaten so many ice creams in one week! We arrived on the 28th May but we got here quite late, so things didn't kick off until Tuesday. After a meeting at the church with the pastor, Naomi's dad Steve took us out to play crazy golf. I came 3rd out of 6.. Not too bad! 

Me and Archie, Naomi's brother.

On the 30th we went to a primary school to do the year 5/6 assembly. We thought it went okay but it was good to hear that the head teacher had actually phoned and left a message to say how good it was! Loving the positiveness! In the afternoon we held Cameo which is the old people group at the church which was good. Old people are always so lovely!

On the 31st we did another primary school assembly. It went really well- especially dressing the head teacher (male) in a sari! The kids loved it! That evening we had a curry night (yay) and talk at the church. Its difficult knowing what to say so you don't end up repeating yourself to the same groups of people but I think it went alright. 

1st June! Officially entered our last month of tour! Today we did another two primary school assemblies- another success I think. 

The 2nd was The Big Church Day Out which was amaaazing. We saw:

Lou Fellingham and Phatfish

Rend Collective Experiment

Leeland

Newworldson

Phil Wickham

Newsboys

Israel Houghton

and Worship Central with Tim Hughes

It was a brilliant day. By the time Tim Hughes was on it was chucking it down with rain... Like storm rain. It was so heavy and we got drenched through (no I didn't have a coat) but it just made it an even better experience. The atmosphere was like no other- God was there. 

Sunday 3rd we dressed up in our Sari's once again and took part in the morning service. We even sung, on the stage, into microphones, with the worship band. Its been a long time since I've done that but it was kinda nice. However, I'm not very good at standing still when I'm singing but the baptism pool was below me which meant the temporary floor boards were pretty wobbly so I had to try and stand still. That could have been interesting.


So its the end of another week, and today we head back to IMC in Birmingham for a few days. I can't wait to see all the other action teamers again. Its gonna be a well needed break for all of us I think. 
Its been quite a difficult week for me in terms of missing home. I think the last few weeks are gonna be the hardest as they're pretty much all at peoples home churches. All the families are lovely it just makes me miss my home more. And the others are all excited about going home and giving me a daily countdown that just makes me feel worse as its so long until I get to go home. But as Nana tells me, there's a lot more to be grateful for than negative about. 


'The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing' - Zephaniah 3:17