Hemmed in by the Tide: Just Life

April 10, 2013

I'm typing this post on my iPad, on a minibus to York. One sentence in, and I'm already praying for patience...

I have not been able to update like I was hoping. I thought that might be the case, but not this extreme. We cannot access Internet at our host home, which is actually quite nice. At the church, neither my iPad, my iPod, nor my laptop can connect to the wifi, where previously there was no issue. My phone can connect, but Instagram has stopped working, and my SD card (which stores photos on the phone) is also messed up. I feel horrible even writing this paragraph, because it is First World Problems to the max. I'm not whinging, though; I'm just letting you all know what's up with this blog. Especially you, my dear sponsors, who may have an interest.

But let's make up for lost time, shall we? I can put up some photos and give you an idea of everything we've done so far.

Places I've been: Durham, Bamburgh, Lindisfarne, the sea, the sea, the fields... York today, Blackpool tomorrow... In this post, I will write about Wednesday and Thursday, and keep writing in chunks as I get the chance.

In Durham, we enjoyed an unofficial tour of the Durham Cathedral, where St Cuthbert is enshrined. No photos allowed, sadly. Apparently the library at the cathedral is where some of Harry Potter was filmed. It was beautiful. We also tried to tour the castle, but, "You can't just walk into a castle," we were told, so instead we stood on a roof and had cream tea.

Cream tea means tea, scones, clotted cream, and jam. It was perfect. The roof to which I refer was at the top of some student housing. Up there we took pictures, prayed, and spoke life over Tom and Jake. Tom is tied in to Bethshan (the church we're working with here). He's a student at Durham, and our driver for these three weeks. He is an excellent person. Jake is also a student, and has been with us for a good bit of this time- classes are on break. Jake is the one who dubbed Mary and me "the two cultured vegetarians," and he makes me laugh.

Thursday, we had a free afternoon, and Mary and I took a walk in the park near the church. It has been a little difficult to travel with such a large group, because there is so little independence and alone time. For some people, it's not a problem. For me, it is a huge stretch. The people are all lovely, though. I'm glad we've been through 7 months of intense things together, so we all understand what kind of heart everyone has, even if one begins to feel in distress. In other words: Thank you, group, for not being offended by my need for Contemplator time.

That night, we split up and went to different home groups in various nearby towns. In our group, Mary shared about the Father Heart of God. I happened to have my ukulele, so I provided a bit of music during prayer and ministry time. It was very good. One girl got led to The Lord. (My iPad automatically capitalized The Lord. Isn't that strange?) Many people were affected by the heart of the message. They are just so hungry.

What you can pray for this area: Freedom!