Isle of Lewis Team -Continued Travel

After our good byes, the Isle of Lewis team had some traveling still to do. After a beautiful drive through the Isle of Skye, we came to a port town in which we caught the ferry. The ferry ride was about three hours and not very generous to us even with Dramamine. 😁 But again, gorgeous! 

Finally on land-  A drive through The Isle of Harris and then to the Isle of Lewis! 

Our arrival was late in the evening, but we were still welcomed by those that work with the youth Jonathan and Fiona and the Pastor of the church that we would be working with, Hugh! There were also a handful of youth on hand to help us feel welcomed! After hugs and warm welcomes, which was much appreciated because it was FREEZING on the Isle, they took us to our homes for the week! We dove straight to bed-Sunday was coming! 

A day of travel-in Pictures!

Saturday was quite the day of travel. For one team it meant about 8 hours, the other about 12... 😁 but we could not have asked for more beautiful scenery.

Through the highlands of Scotland we go....

The team spent some time taking a tour of the Eilean Donan Castle. The family of the castle was actually on the premises for an evening wedding, but we never did catch them-but how neat! After this adventure the team took some time for hugs and goodbyes and we then went our separate ways for where the Lord had called us for the week! 

To give you a visual:

We flew into Glasgow. We stayed in Paisley for two nights. One team is ministering just outside of Inverness. One team is ministering in Stornoway. 

The beginning days-in Pictures!

As promised, here are pictures of our time in Scotland-though delayed! We cannot thank you enough for your love and support as Jesus sent us to the land of Scotland!

Beginning our adventure!

Arriving in Scotland we are grateful for a couple of days of adjusting to the time, being with our missionaries, team bonding, and prep work! 

Touring the YWAM Seamill Base!

We may have scrunched the whole team into Dani's bedroom 😊😍🙈

Our home in Paisley:

Touring the local castles (and trying to stay awake!): 

Super thankful for these days before heading out on Saturday! 

Stornoway Youth Week Summary!

Our main focus for our week on the Isle of Lewis was to invest into the youth of Stornoway. We can officially say they have captured our hearts. We are so grateful to the High Free Church Stornaway that invited us and took such good care of us. Such a picture of what church is meant to look like.

Each night of the week the church had planned something for the youth to be hosted by us (this was along with doing the schools during the day). We can honestly say it was a bit stretching at times, some things felt like we had been fileted open, but all for the glory of God and to be used by Him. Our team has done an amazing job and have done all that was asked of them. 

Sunday: we jumped straight in to leading Sunday school (older--taught by Asher and younger--taught by Jessica). That evening we hosted youth group with full on games, worship, and teaching (Anna Kate & Jessica). Their teaching led to an amazing opportunity to share our stories (Kristin, Jessica, AK, Asher, Teddy, and Nolan). This helped break the ice for the rest of the week.

Monday: we hosted a forum to share what is like to live life as a Christian.

Tuesday: we attended the weekly prayer meeting and had fellowship / get to know you time with the youth afterwards.

Wednesday: Movie Night! We watched a Franklin Graham movie which shared three different testimonies that led to very deep and eye opening discussions.

Thursday: sports night! The Americans vs. the Scottish! Oh what a night! Thursday also brought us the treat/blessing/step out of our comfort zone of being on the RADIO! Wowzers! Four of us (myself, Anna Kate, Jessica, and Peter) spoke and shared our testimonies. Nolan also shared his testimony and led worship live! What an amazing experience and open door the Lord gave us! 

Friday: BBQ & testimonies on the beach. We worshiped on the beach, our kids were vulnerable, shared their hearts (Kaitlyn, Krysta, and Andrew), and it paved the way for real life giving small group time.

Saturday: We went on a 6 mile "walkabout" with one of their youth leaders Jonathan. I do believe this was the toughest HIKE of my life. Cliffs, mud bogs, and barb wire included. But fun times were had by all-American and Scottish youth.

That evening we hosted a youth night again. Games, teaching, and then to close out the night with worship. Peter taught on "To live is to die" and it was a incredible wrap up to our week. 

Sunday: we attended church in the morning, a beautiful meal was had at the manse (the pastors home) and then some sweet team encouragement time. The week/evening wrapped up with attending church and then afterwards a time of fellowship in which our fearless leader and missionary, Lance Canter spoke on Hearing God. It was a beautiful end to our week here on the Island.

We are on the ferry now about to dock on the mainland. Pictures of our week are to come-promise! 

Inverness Team - Friday

FRIDAY!!!

Today we spent most of our time in Kiltarlity with the Primary School. We taught a Religious and Moral Education class at 11:00am this morning!

Before the assembly, I might have trespassed into a field of sheep to try to pet one. They ran away whenever I got close... so I took a selfie with them running away (selfie below). Later Cara and Rachel attempted to make friends with the sheep, but they failed as well. Some of the boys tried to corral the sheep so they would get closer to the girls, but that resulted in more of a stampede that luckily didn't kill anyone or sheep (insert nervous laughter here).

We then had to take Wayne (our Australian YWAM friend) to the bus station in Inverness. This was my first experience driving a manual transmission 17 passenger van on the left side of the road through a bigger city with several round-abouts. I think my stress level elevated to a point that it has never seen before. After dropping Wayne off, we made the trek back through the city and out into the countryside. We went back to Kiltarlity to put on a school assembly for the Primary School. After the assembly we played soccer and "rounders" (a baseball/cricket hybrid game).

We left the primary school and had coffee and sweets at the local coffee shop. I don't know what the shop is called, but it is a village stop for just about anything (limited groceries, limited banking needs, coffee shop that has a residential kitchen espresso machine, and convenience store).

We had "burritos" for dinner.

We had about 30 kids at the evening service tonight. The crowd was different. No two nights were the same. It was raining so none of the local kids came, but the kids from the next town (Kiltarlity) came over. We had a time for games, and a great time of worship. Josh TeBeest told the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000, and he told a personal story about God's faithfulness. I then gave a short salvation message along with a common salvation prayer. We broke up into small groups, and asked the groups if any of them prayed the salvation prayer. I believe there was a total of 11 students who admitted that they said the prayer. We are excited about the 11. Pray that they are able to become plugged in, and pray that God gives them opportunity to be discipled and grow in their faith.

Here are some pictures from the last couple of days:

They stole my phone and took a selfie...


Sheep Selfie... as promised.


Trying to pet a sheep


Saying goodbye to Wayne


Jump rope with Wayne


Evening session time Thursday


Evening session time Thursday


Cara teaching the younger children


Soccer at Kirkhill Primary


Selfie with Wayne... Did I mention we really like Wayne?

Inverness Team - Thursday

Thursday

Today we spent time with the Primary school in Kiltarlity teaching a class of 8-10 year olds about Christianity. It is interesting how very few of the students we encounter (whether they are primary or secondary school) really know what Christians are. Every time I ask, "can anyone tell me what Christians believe in?" The top three answers are:

1. You believe in God

2. You believe in Jesus

3. You believe Jesus is real

I poll every class to see how many would say they were Christians, and it has only been 1-3 students who will say that they are.

After that we went to the primary school in Kirkhill. There we played games with the students during their lunch time. Afterward we went o Beauly because I promised the team ice cream!!! After ice cream we went back to Kirkhill Primary and played with the students after school some more. The relationships between my students and the children of Kirkhill are similar to the relationships we have seen in previous trips to third-world countries. The need for love, community, and purpose is universal and comes in every shape, size, and color.

This evening we were a bit interested to see how many would show up. 45 students came! A long way from our 3 on Monday. A 12 year old girl today told me that she was going to go swimming with her friends and family today but she decided to stay behind and come see us instead. 

After a time of games and great moments of worship with Cara, Rachel gave a talk on friendships referencing Daivd and Jonathan in 1 Samuel. We then broke up into small groups divide by gender and 10+ year olds and 9- year olds.

Discussion was fun and the kids loved it! It was a crazy day, and we had fun.

Pray for tomorrow! We will gear the evening toward a salvation message with opportunities for response. Pray kid's hearts would be softened, and that many would come!

I forgot to compile pics from today, so I'll post them tomorrow.

Isle of Lewis Team Pictures

The Lord opened many doors for us while we were on the Isle of Lewis! Here are some pictures from those amazing God moments! 

Jesus opened the door for us to teach the religious and mora education classes at the local school in town. The topics we were given were, "What is faith?" And "Who is Jesus?"

The team picture before teaching at Nicholson on Thursday

Teddy and Asher introducing our team

Peter, Anna Kate, and Jessica during discussion time

The Nicholson Institute

Kaitlyn sharing her testimony

Nolan teaching on "What is faith?"


Anna Kate teaching "Who is Jesus?"

We were not necessarily allowed to tell them what to believe, but we were allowed to tell them what Christians believed. The kids were receptive and asked hard questions--that opened the door to share our testimonies of how Fod has come through in our own lives. We were prepared that we would have atheists in our classes and I can not tell you enough how proud I am of our students! They proclaimed the name of Jesus boldly! 

With that comes some play time...and exploring the beautiful island the Lord has allowed us to call home for the past week: 

We were well fed this week:

Our fearless leader Lance:

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