RS Youth In Scotland: Inverness Team

Hey Everyone!!!

I've posted pictures below but I also wanted to give you an update on the "Inverness Team." It’s very late and I’m sleep deprived so I apologize for any grammar or spelling errors (they would probably happen anyway).

We have been very busy. We are staying in host homes between the towns of Kirkhill and Kiltarlity (pronounced: Kill TARRR Lit ee). Don't worry... No students are in a home alone. Cara is in a home without any of our students, and I am staying with the Pastor without any students. The congregants have been very warm and welcoming. We are in the middle of nowhere here in Scotland. Lots of sheep, rolling hills, and rape fields (where we get "rape seed oil" but it has made for some inappropriate conversations).

SUNDAY!!!
We hit the ground running on Sunday! The Pastor we are working with has two churches out in the Scottish wilderness. Each church (in Kirkhill and Kiltarlity) have about 30-40 congregants on Sunday mornings. We started in Kirkhill for a service where we were introduced and gave a quick explanation for why we were there, and once the service concluded, we dashed quickly 5 miles down the road to Kiltarlity to do it all again.

MONDAY!!!
School was out for the day so we printed out flyers advertising what we were doing. We drove around through about 5 little Scottish villages and gave them out to all the children we encountered (about 5). Each little village has a community soccer (football) field where we would stop and play around waiting for children to come out, but we really didn't see very many at all... Have you ever gone fishing and all you caught was a good tan? That was Monday. That evening we waited at the Kirkhill church to see if any children would show up to hang out with us. We had a set of triplet boys show up. We made them feel like they were the most important thing in the world. 10 Americans and 1 Australian (I'll explain the Aussie in a bit) all focusing their attention on these three boys really made their day! We played soccer with the boys, sang some worship songs, talked about Paul's conversion, and played some more soccer.

TUESDAY!!!
Today was different. We went into two different primary schools (ages 5-12). Every grade has a "Religious and Moral Education Class" that brings in a religious figure a few times a semester to talk about what they believe. We acted out the story of "Daniel and the Lions Den" for a group of about fifteen 7 year olds Kiltarlity. David Lutz then gave a testimony, We had fun and the children loved it. We then hung around for the primary school lunch time and played soccer in their field. All of our soccer skills pale in comparison to the middle school aged kids here in Scotland countryside. We then went to another primary school in Kirkhill and did a school assembly of about 150 children. We did the same "theatrical" act and then Katy Patterson gave a testimony. We answered questions about what side of the road we drive on, what our candy is like, and if Wayne (the Aussie) has a pet Koala. We advertised our evening events in the schools while were there, and we had about 10 show up tonight. We have had a blast getting to know and interact with the kids.

AUSSIE!!!
YWAM has paired us up with a fella named Wayne. Wayne is from Australia, and is working in YWAM's Seamill DTS Center. He has been in Scotland as a missionary for about 2.5 years and will continue for at least another 2. He has worked with refugees in Greece, orphans in Australia, was a semi-professional soccer player, very humble, and has meshed well with our students. Our students adore Wayne and he seems to like them. He will be the one in the pictures that is not a student. He's very good looking so don't confuse him with me (Robert).

PRAY!!!
Pray for us as we go into more classes and school assemblies tomorrow. Pray that the evening services will plant seeds in the hearts of the kids. Pray against sickness and spiritual warfare over some of the student's dreams. Pray all goes smooth and for protection.

I will write again tomorrow, but here are some pictures!

Katy at Kiltarlity Church