Sunshine, an Angry Brit, and Oxford

What a week this has been! An aside: the weather this week has been INCREDIBLE. Very strange for London...it has been 70s and 80s every day this week! It is currently Sunday afternoon and I'm sitting in my room trying to process/reflect on everything from these past few days. This week we really fell into a routine of sorts. Each day of ministry pretty much looks like this: wake up at 7:15am and run down and then along the Thames (I know, I still can't believe it)with my teammate Paige. From 9-10am is our devotional time and we are reading through the book of Mark along with a chapter each day in Tim Keller's book, King's Cross. We discuss what we are learning in Scripture and Keller's book and sometimes have a worship time (led by one of the staff) until around 10:30. Then we leave for all the different campuses we are assigned to around noon or so. We get to the campuses at lunchtime and spend all afternoon there.

Wednesday I went to UCL (University of College London), Thursday I was placed back at LSE, and Friday I went to UEL (University of East London). Some highlights from these three days of ministry:

--On Wednesday, one of my teammates (Yensy) and one staff person (Claudia) and I were in a great conversation with two Chinese students that study at UCL. A British student sitting nearby I guess had overheard parts of our conversation and took it upon himself to walk up and loudly and rudely question our motives for conversing with these students. It was really more of a "How dare you!" vent session for him. It shook us all up a bit because even though we've had negative reactions...they have never been so vocal or angry. After we walked away, we spent some time praying for the man and I was quite shaken up. I had never been so vehemently opposed to my face before and the assumptions he made about our motives really hurt as well. To be honest, I really just wanted to throw in the towel after that and head back to the flat. But Yensy and I decided to go over to a nearby park and try to initiate conversations with a couple more people. I remember praying for encouragement as we walked over there. The first girl we approached to talk to was named Talitha. We said, "That's a really cool name!" And she said, "It is from Mark 5! When Jesus healed the little girl he said to her 'Talitha koum!"...which means, 'Little girl, get up!'" We had a wonderful conversation with Talitha and found out that she is a Christian student at LSE and is originally from Singapore. She had never heard of Student Life (CRU at LSE) but was very interested in it. We exchanged contact information and on Thursday night invited her over to our flat for the spaghetti get-together we were hosting. She ended up coming! Yensy and I made sure to connect her with the staff woman (Namyoung). it was so cool that after that interaction with the British student that left me feeling very defeated and sad, the Lord provided Talitha to encourage us and to bring her into the Student Life community. After reflecting on this day, I was reminded of Paul's words the next morning: "For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows." --2 Cor 1:5

--The highlight for me on Thursday was a really cool conversation my teammate Liz and I had with two first-year Kings College students, Suzie and Sophie. They were British and studying on a blanket in the park by LSE (because of the gorgeous weather). We approached them and they didn't seem too keen on chatting but said they had 5 minutes or so and were willing to answer questions for the worldview survey we were giving. As we began talking, it was obvious these girls fit right in to the postmodern worldview that we've been studying. They are philosophy majors; therefore, they would constantly be quoting famous thinkers and philosophers to further their point that believing in a God was "ridiculous." At the beginning of the conversation (as the girls were spitting out facts and theories that were totally over my head), I was praying that the Lord would give Liz and I words when they would turn questions back on us. It was so cool because I began to feel really comfortable and felt like I could actually understand what they were saying. I was able to even talk about things I had learned in my 10th grade Bible class at Covenant! After 20 or 25 minutes of a little back-and-forth, but mostly them talking, I was able to talk about why I was a Christian. It was so cool because they seemed to really respect it while I was explaining it and after I finished explaining sin (and how it is a heart condition, not simply rule-breaking), Suzie said "I've never heard it explained that way before." What I was most encouraged about was that Suzie and Sophie were hopefully able to see that there is such a thing as an intelligent Christian. Someone who has thought about what they believe in and are able to explain aspects of it but also embrace the role of faith and the fact that there are some things we will never fully grasp in this lifetime. The end of the conversation was light and fun as we chatted about American TV shows they watch (Marye Street alert: they love New Girl!) and whatnot. The Lord definitely gave me words and the ability to communicate clearly the Good News of Christ and His love for us.

--Thursday night we made a BUNCH of spaghetti and hosted students we had met throughout the week and CRU staff over at our flat. So fun!

On our flat's balcony with students we invited over Thursday night

--Saturday was our day off and we arranged a day trip to Oxford with Claudia (one of the Agape staff) and her husband Stuart (who studied at Jesus College at Oxford). We hopped on a 10am train and it took about an hour to get there. The weather was gorgeous and it was so fun to walk around the town of Oxford and to be able to see some of the university. For lunch, we ate at The Eagle and Child Pub...where the Inklings writers' group would meet up regularly. The two famous members of this group? C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien! It was so fun to eat there and I got fish & chips in honor of eating at an authentic British pub. The afternoon was very relaxing because we hung out by a river that runs near Oxford and it was fun to watch all the people "punting" go by. I loved relaxing and not having a lot on our agenda...after a week that was very jam-packed with things to do.

Outside C.S. Lewis/JRR Tolkien's favorite hang-out spot

Relaxing by a river in Oxford

I miss you all very much and hope you are doing well. Shoot me an email if you have time with an update on YOUR life...I do feel very disconnected here from America. Pray for this coming week....it is Project PETE and I don't know much but I do know we'll be doing evangelism training every morning and then partnering with student leaders in Agape from different campuses to go out to the universities in the afternoon.

Sorry my posts are so long! As you know, I love to talk :)

Apathy and Wicked

Its been a great couple of days here in London town. Sunday we attended two church services...one in the morning and one at night. The staff here really want us to see and experience the body of Christ here in the UK (particularly the Church of England) and see that it is not dead; in fact, there are many churches that are alive and thriving. The morning service was at St. James Clerkenwell which met in a very historic building. It used to be a convent and many nuns are buried beneath the building. There was a large plaque on one of the church's walls that had the names of many English people that were killed "in the fires" for their faith in the late 16th century. It was fascinating to worship in such a historical building where people for generations had raised their voices to the Lord in praise. That night, we went to the 7pm service of Holy Trinity Brompton. It is a popular church and has a more contemporary feel. There were a bunch of younger people and it was a really neat service.

St. James Clerkenwell

Holy Trinity Brompton

After the HTB service, we galavanted around London with Jude as our guide. He is on staff and has lived in London for a long time. It was so nice to see places without the huge crowds and it was a really fun time with the whole team. We ate at a Singaporian restaurant in Chinatown and I got a Malaysian noodle dish! 

Monday was the first day of on-campus ministry! We met with the London staff in the morning and discussed decoding, which was to be the focus of our time that day. Decoding is pretty much getting a feel through conversations and interactions with students of the spiritual climate on-campus and the openness to Christianity (if any) that currently exists. I was put in a team with three others and we went to the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). It was a little intimidating at first...considering LSE is one of the most prestigious universities in the world. But once we got to campus and ate lunch and began walking around, I realized that these people are just like me and my friends at Mary Washington. And because it is term time over here, most of the students were holding study guides and notecards as they walked around to do any last-minute studying for upcoming finals. I walked around with my teammate Aaron and we had multiple conversations throughout the afternoon. Today we returned to LSE and I walked around mainly with my teammate Hannah. There were (as I've found in ministry in general) encouragements and discouragements. We used an informal survey to strike up conversations with students with the prayer that these interactions would lead to a gospel presentation or an exchange of contact information for follow-up. Some conversations flowed and some were quite awkward. I had been told (by the staff) that apathy towards spiritual things is rampant on the campus and throughout London in general. I really saw that displayed yesterday and today. Over the course of both our days of ministry thus far, I've had to give to the Lord every interaction and ask Him to work even when I might not necessarily feel like people are opening up or we're getting anywhere. I've made about three contacts (conversations that result in contact info given) and hope that these students may come to our Thursday night dinner we're inviting students we meet to. 

Prayer request: Pray that I would continue to have a heart for these students and for London. I am so comfortable in the ministry I'm involved in back at school and find myself missing that while I'm over here. Its more of missing the comfortability. But God is stretching me through this because I am in a new place, a new culture, surrounded by new people...yet these people have the same need to hear about Him. So it really is the same.

P.S.-- Last night, the staff arranged for us to see Wicked at the Apollo Theatre. It was SO GOOD. I had seen it in Richmond last fall and was so excited to see it again (considering I've known all the words to the songs for some time now). The set was awesome and the singing was wonderful. It was so fun to experience the famed London theater!

London!

Hello! So much has happened in the past 72 hours. It seems almost like a blur and almost surreal that I am currently sitting in our flat in London, where we'll live for the next three and a half weeks. I'll catch you up on our adventures so far...

On Tuesday around 6pm I arrived in Chicago and took a shuttle to a hotel, which was our team's rendezvous point. There are 12 of us...10 girls and 2 guys. We are from all over America...literally. Boston, California, North Carolina, Florida, Indiana, and (of course) Virginia! :) It is been really fun getting to know new people and we've been slowly shifting from the "Where are you from? What is your major?" kind of questions to laughter and memory-making. We spent Tuesday night in Chicago and then began the longest day of my life. Literally. Boarded the plane for London around 4pm and arrived in the UK at 5am Thursday...even though it was only an 8-hour flight and I could only fall asleep for about an hour of it. But we made it! Here is one of my first looks at London--from my window seat (yay!):

We were met at the airport by Chris (our project coordinator) and we made our way to the flat where all us girls would be staying. Rolling/carrying 50+ pounds of luggage through the city made for an exciting--and tiring--adventure. Upon arrival, we were greeted by other members of Agape UK (what they call Campus Crusade over here) staff from London. It was really cool to meet this group and they kept repeating their excitement and saying how we were an answer to prayer. 

Even though our bodies wanted to just stretch out and go to sleep, that was not in the plans. To combat jet lag, Chris explained that the best thing to do would just to go along with the time schedule of the new country. So after a delicious English breakfast made by the women staff, we set out to explore the city in 2 groups of six. Navigating throughout the city on the Tube (just like the Metro in D.C. or the Subway in NYC) was a learning experience but by the end of the day I was a lot more comfortable scanning my "Oyster" card to get on/get off. Some highlights of our very full day of sightseeing...

In front of Buckingham Palace

Crowding into a traditional telephone booth :) 

We stopped and ate lunch along the Thames River at a grab-n-go restaurant called "Eat." Later on that afternoon, we spent some time in the famous Covent Garden shopping and food district. It was fun to go in and out of each shop and I enjoyed chatting with the workers sometimes. One girl looked about my age and as we were chatting and she realized I was from America, she said "Oh! It is my dream to go to America!" And I answered: "Really? Because it was my dream to come here!" She laughed and said "Why?"  It was interesting because I think its all about perspective. If you grow up and live in a certain country or area, then that place is not always the place that holds allure.

Just a quick side note, here are a couple things I've noticed in London that is different then the United States:

--Men wear scarves. A lot.

--Obviously people drive on the left side of the road. But they also walk on the left side of the sidewalk. 

--Pedestrians do not have the right-of-way. At all.

--If someone says something is "close", then it is usually a 20-minute walk. At least!

--Restaurants don't like you asking for tap water. 

--You can't buy peanut butter here!

Yesterday (Friday) we finished up our bus tour tickets (they were 24-hour ones) and it included a Thames River Boat tour! The commentator was very funny and informative. When we passed the infamous Tower of London (picture below), he said that the last person to walk through the gates who was to be executed was a man by the name of William Wallace! 

Tower of London

Yesterday afternoon, we met with Chris and Monica (married couple on staff with Agape) and the rest of the staff for a briefing meeting. We got our schedules and a booklet with a lot of information to read. It was a great time of learning and worship. We also spent awhile in prayer for our mission and our hearts, for unity as a team, and for London as a whole. We will be reading through the book of Mark on our own throughout the month and talking about it together a couple times a week. Our ministry on-campus begins Monday and I am so excited. Our flat overlooks the city (we can see St. Paul's Cathedral from our window!) and I spent some our first night here just praying and looking out at all the busyness below. This city is a cultural crossroads and the nations are certainly here. It is also very dark, and I have seen that clearly in the short time I've been here. Hope is dependent on one's job, clothes, schooling, country of origin, and income. I am excited to be here but burdened for the lostness of the people. Pray for the hearts of the people I will interact with. Thanks for reading (sorry it was so long!) and being such a wonderful support to me. Love you all!

This is the verse that the staff chose for us to cling to throughout the month: 

"...but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for the reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect." --1 Peter 3:15

1 week

Crazy to think that this coming Tuesday (the 15th), I will be boarding a plane in Richmond and flying to Chicago...meeting my team and then flying out the next afternoon to the famed Heathrow Airport. Kind of experiencing nervous energy about all of this. I get a little sad thinking about the things I'll miss while overseas...my older sister's bridal shower, quality time with my little sister before she heads up to camp for the summer and my brother's seminary graduation. But I feel certain that this is where the Lord wants me. He is walking with me into this adventure and I'm so excited to see what He is going to do in me and through me while I'm over there.

"He must become greater, I must become less." --John 3:30