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| Sunrise over Devon |
Summary of our first 2 weeks
We arrived in England on Tues., December 17. Steve was scheduled to lead the worship for the mid-week study in Exeter on the 18th...so we jumped in right away! The first week we concentrated on getting over jet-lag and sorting out details like exchanging dollars to pounds, getting our phones set up for here, remembering bus routes, and reuniting with friends from the summer.
We arrived in England on Tues., December 17. Steve was scheduled to lead the worship for the mid-week study in Exeter on the 18th...so we jumped in right away! The first week we concentrated on getting over jet-lag and sorting out details like exchanging dollars to pounds, getting our phones set up for here, remembering bus routes, and reuniting with friends from the summer.
The ministry school has been pushed back to start in the fall, so we are currently looking for a place to rent in the Plymouth area. We are temporarily staying in Bittaford, a small village between Exeter and Plymouth, in the home of friends from the Wotter church.
The Wotter fellowship started as a Bible study in a home in Plymouth when we were here this summer and has now grown and moved into a church building in Wotter...a very small village up on the moor just outside of Plymouth. This is the one I talked about in my last post. The Lord has blessed this little group and new people come almost every week. They are excited to hear of a Bible-teaching church close to them.
We had a Christmas Carol service in Sunday, Dec. 22 there and 4 new families from surrounding villages came! One family lives right next door to the church but had not attended it yet. There were about 60 there for the service.
On the Thursday before the service, we went house to house in Wotter and the two closest villages delivering flyers and inviting people to come. The weather forecast was ominous but the Lord graciously held off the wind, rain and hail until we were finished and back in the cars! Then it came in full force! On Saturday we went out to cut fresh greens and decorated for the service.
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| Bittaford, Devon |
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| Gracious friends in Bittaford |
The Wotter fellowship started as a Bible study in a home in Plymouth when we were here this summer and has now grown and moved into a church building in Wotter...a very small village up on the moor just outside of Plymouth. This is the one I talked about in my last post. The Lord has blessed this little group and new people come almost every week. They are excited to hear of a Bible-teaching church close to them.
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| Wotter church |
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| First service |
We had a Christmas Carol service in Sunday, Dec. 22 there and 4 new families from surrounding villages came! One family lives right next door to the church but had not attended it yet. There were about 60 there for the service.
On the Thursday before the service, we went house to house in Wotter and the two closest villages delivering flyers and inviting people to come. The weather forecast was ominous but the Lord graciously held off the wind, rain and hail until we were finished and back in the cars! Then it came in full force! On Saturday we went out to cut fresh greens and decorated for the service.
Friday was a girls' lunch in Plymouth in an old building that was part of the Naval base. We had a great time of fellowship and sharing..and eating!
Sunday morning, Dec. 22, we rode with friends up to Exeter to the service and then back to get ready for the service in Wotter in the evening. The person who was supposed to do most of the music got sick so we had to jump in at the last. We found out that they have totally different tunes to almost all of the Christmas songs...so that was a small panic for us! But the Lord was good and all went well....they just needed someone to get them started on the songs. The service was joyful and people came from all around! It was such a blessing to worship with these sweet people. They were all so welcoming to us and gracious.
Monday the 23rd, it rained and hailed and blew up to 70 mi. an hour...we stayed in all day and rested. Tuesday we decided to take the bus into Ivybridge, the town down the road from Bittaford. As we waited at the bus stop, the bus went right by us.....on the other side of the road....we were waiting on the wrong side...silly Americans...so we walked to town (2 1/2 miles) and got familiar with the village center and the shops....met some folks who wanted to know why we were there..so we told them. The standard answer is usually, "Oh....right then! jolly good!" and then they change the subject :-)
There is a small church across the street from the house here that has an average of 4 people attending. They had a carol service on Christmas Eve so we walked over and they had a full house...about 30 people. It was very traditional. We are beginning to see more of the spiritual attitude here...and why the churches are not relating to the people. Alot of singing about Jesus...several verses..and reading some scriptures...The pastor talked about loving each other and community...missed the boat of the "why" Jesus came. It really is just tradition with most folks here...I guess it is that way in the states, also.
On Christmas day, we had a really nice meal with friends in Ivybridge who are part of the Exeter church and also the one in Wotter. It was pretty much the same as Christmas in the states...except they don't watch football...LOL!!
Friday, Dec. 27, we took the bus up to Exeter and walked around downtown. We hadn't done that yet since we returned here and were anxious to re-familiarize ourselves with the city. It was busy, as usual, with people in every direction. We stopped in at the McDonald's for lunch and found out that most of the city had the same idea! I have never seen so many people in a McDonald's all at the same time! Later on, we stopped for tea in the cafe at the cathedral.
Saturday we shopped for groceries, visited friends and looked at a couple of cottages for rent. Sunday we led worship at the Exeter church in the morning and then went to the Wotter church in the evening.
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| Shoppers on High Street |
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| Tea at Cathedral Cafe |
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| McDonald's lunch crowd..stacked to the door! |
Monday was a resting day and then Tuesday night, Dec. 31, we were treated to a wonderful evening of ballroom dancing and great food until after midnight. We actually did the waltz! (sort of...LOL)
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| New Year's Eve 2013 |
It has been a very full couple of weeks and now we are looking forward to settling into our own place, finding a routine and seeing what things the Lord is going to direct us to. Our prayer is to find a place to rent soon where we will have access to the bus routes so we can be available for ministry in Exeter and also in the Plymouth/Wotter area.
We are happy to be back and to see the growth in the people and in both churches. They are excited about what God is doing in the SW of England and it is so uplifting to be around them.
Again, thank you all for your encouragement, prayers and support. We do hope you feel that you are very much a part of our ministry here. You are in our hearts and prayers.
We will try to update our blog more often to keep you informed about what God is doing here. God bless all of you greatly!
Prayer
1. Finding a place to rent that is in our budget, near the bus stop and near the city center where we can meet and engage people.
2. Good health
3. Divine appointments with people who need to know the love of the Lord in their lives.
4. Direction and focus for ministry and outreach in Devon.
5. Wisdom and discernment in counselling and encouraging believers.
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| Devon county Isaiah 65:24 "It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear." |
