Hemmed in by the Tide: Blackpool

4/12/13 - 4/16/13

The first notable experience of our Blackpool experience was sitting in near-standstill traffic, cramped in a 17-passenger van with luggage for as many people, for over an hour. The second one was one of our leaders getting in a fender-bender with a granny. Some other ones included a leader's iPhone and wallet being stolen. People were sick, and comfort zones were stretched. But all that is nothing. The trip was incredible.

We arrived to springtime in Blackpool, a welcome change. Actually, our church was in Ansdell, not too far from Blackpool, but a completely different environment — well-to-do, suburban. The trip was very uncomfortable, with all our bags, so it was nice to stretch out and walk around the churchyard, which was in bloom. I was assigned a house with 5 other girls from my team, in the home of a family of 5, with one shower for 9 of us to share. (That's one example of comfort zones being stretched.) The six of us stayed in a bonus room type area. The house was huge and the host family was so hospitable. Like, it was just so natural for them, the whole family but especially the mother. We didn't feel as if we imposed at all.

We split into teams and some of us helped with a youth group meeting in Blackpool. I love the novelty factor we have, being Americans. It's really funny how many people (regardless of age) seem to think all Americans know each other — do we know Katy Perry? or… well, really just Katy Perry… Hm.

Blackpool has a bad reputation. It used to be a huge holiday center, and still is; but it now has a host of problems to accompany that. There is a lot of poverty, debauchery, drug abuse, etc. Interestingly, the city has a great gift for hospitality. The church we were partnering with has a desire to call that gift back to the forefront of the town's identity. So, Saturday, we went to help serve breakfast to some homeless / struggling people on a particular estate in Blackpool. We split up with different assignments: some in the kitchen, some serving food, some clearing tables, even some going out on the streets to see who they could find to minister to. My job was to clear tables. In doing so, I was afforded a lot of time to actually talk to the people who came for a meal. At first, I was not excited. Starting conversations is not my strong suit. And the environment is not the smiliest.

I'm going to change the names of the people I talked to this morning. I approached a woman called Rachael. She didn't wear the most open expression on her face. I sat down beside her and asked, "How are you doing today?" She responded, "Well, to be honest, I'm having a terrible day. I'm sorry, I don't want to talk about it. I'll talk about it with these people, they know me. You look like a nice lady, but I don't know you, and I only talk about things like this with people I know." But as she talked, she began to tear up, and within seconds she was pouring her heart out to me. She was facing a life-changing appointment that week, and it was breaking her heart. I spent a good long while with her, just listening. I got to pray for and prophesy over her, and believe for healing with her. Then we talked a little more. When she found out I was from Tennessee, her face just lit up, and she gave me the biggest hug! Her favorite wrestler is from Tennessee. I was delighted that she was delighted. I totally love this woman. I had to get back to my task, but I came back and talked with her a little more before I left. She and I took a photo together, but she only agreed to do so if I would not show it to anyone.

I talked to more people, and then I sat down with an elderly gentleman called Reuben. His story is one of the most heartbreaking ones I've ever heard — loss after tragic loss. I felt so, so heavy as a result, but I spent time with him to love him and pray with him. Father, please redeem the losses in my friend's life.

The experience was way different than I had been expecting. It was really hard, but really rewarding. I am so grateful I got to connect with some sweet people, and they honored me by opening their hearts and sharing their stories. Later, someone in our group paid me the compliment of saying that it was "stunning" to watch the way I interacted with the people that morning. I felt a little bashful, because I didn't realize anyone was observing me.

After food service was over, our group reunited. We went to the top of the tower in Blackpool (one of those glass-bottom viewing platform things), and engaged in more intercessory prayer. It was very cold and very windy. It was good. That night, we went to an Indian restaurant to celebrate team member Shannon's birthday. The company was good, and the food was OK.

Sunday, I was extremely honored to be chosen to deliver a message at the Sunday morning service. I spoke on Forgiveness. The story of my message is interesting it itself… I had to prepare it as a school assignment, but I was stuck. I couldn't even fake it — not even a textbook explanation of the topic — for weeks. It wasn't until I actually released forgiveness for a certain person that I could write it, and when I did so, I finished my entire message (Keynote presentation and all) in about 3 hours. Incredible.

I was nervous delivering my message, and I know my eye contact was somewhat lacking. The environment was perfect for my first time doing something like that. The congregation was very gracious, and had lots of experience with outreach students giving messages. And it's so interesting, how much I enjoyed speaking. I remember delivering a speech to a class of about 25 in university. My vision was narrow, I couldn't catch my breath, I was hot, and even broke out in a rash across my chest while speaking. This was nothing like that… Which seems miraculous enough to me.

I moved, maybe a bit too quickly, through my message and into ministry time. Then my fellow students came up to pray for anyone who needed it. One man came up to me for prayer, but before telling me what he needed, he blessed me to travel the world and deliver this message of Forgiveness. Throughout the day, person after person came up to me with great words of encouragement. And it wasn't encouragement as in, "You did a good job." Here are some specific things I remember people saying to me:
"You've stirred up something really important in our church."
"We all needed to hear that."
"Each sentence was like a drop of water, wearing away something big."

The church also requested that I e-mail them my sermon, and one particular member (who had been very excited during my message) shared with me some more passages, and even linguistic information, that I can add to my message next time.

After, some of us held prophetic presbytery for about 2.5 hours. Instead of 5 minutes per person, like we do at my home church, we got 15 minutes per person. I was worried how a team of 3 would fill the time, but we actually found ourselves outrunning the timer most times! And I was blown away by the increase in my spiritual sensitivity. I was speaking out stuff that was actually happening in the natural, whereas I usually speak more into spiritual matters. A couple came in and I saw that the woman was great at mothering young women who were in difficult situations (abuse, single parenthood, things of that nature). When she gained their trust and brought them in, her husband would be a great man to re-parent them, even if they would naturally have a distrust of men and father figures. I saw that this would be a one-at-a-time type thing, too. When I was talking about this, they started looking at each other and nudging each other, saying, "That's what we're doing with [girl's name] right now!" I also had a picture of a young man walking through a prestigious university, and there was a symbol in that; but it turned out he is a student at Cambridge. In talking to other fellow students, they experienced greater revelation that day, as well. It was so interesting, and encouraging to hear from the Lord in that way. I want to take that back home with me…

We had another youth meeting that night, which consisted of us watching Toy Story 3.

The next morning, I was looking through some prophetic words I have received in the past, and have written down to refer back to. It was funny how many of them refer to my voice, and to me having a larger stage or platform. I think me delivering that message was the start of something big. More, Lord!

We spent some more community-loving time in Blackpool, where I bought one man's lunch, and was given a chocolate caramel candy by an 83-year-old man (Eric) in a deerstalker hat.

In the evening, one of our students shared a message on "ungodly beliefs" — things that seem absolutely true based on your perceptions and experiences, but are absolutely false based on the truth of Who God Is. Although I was on the ministry team afterwards, a big ungodly belief surfaced, so I went to my fellow students for some prayer. Four of us late-20-year-old women ended up in a circle, talking and praying for each other about basically the same issues. It was quite amusing. It was also really helpful.

We left Ansdell on Tuesday morning, and our driver took us back a different way — through the Lake District. I was so pleased when I realized where we were going. We only went along the border, but gosh, it was gorgeous. I've wanted to see the Lake District for a long time, and even this taste of it from a trundling minibus filled my soul up. Do you think God ever calls missionaries to the Lakes?

We had the next day off. We spent it shopping. That's all I have to say about that.