UK & Ireland – 16 to 30 March

England

Streatham

We stayed with Will, from our DTS family for a week with Serena, Rapha and Ben (who we met in Sicily on our DTS). It was such a blessing to be able to chillout for a week after the course and say goodbye to everyone gradually. We said goodbye to a lot of people in Harpenden and it was a bit of a shock and pretty emotional.

We went into London and saw a few sites - watched the changing of the guards, visited the London Eye and chilled out a lot. I met Nicky Gumble! He’s one of the guys who helped start running the Alpha course outside the church. It’s running in a lot of churches for those who are interested, intrigued or want to get to know the Christian faith better, in an environment that is open and basically everything is up for discussion. It’s brought many to know what the Christian faith is all about, highly recommended. Even I did it and learnt a lot from it.

Ipswich

We stayed just under a week at Mikey (who I met in Wickham back in the day) and Michelle’s. Loads of people wondered why on earth we were going to Ipswich. We were looked at weirdly as we walked down the street with our backpacks – I don’t think they expected backpackers to be trudging through Ipswich…or it could have been Dan’s bright orange pants!

We went and visited Grime’s Grave flint mine which is “5,000” years old. We weren’t able to go too far into it. We got down in to the shaft and waited for the woman to come down and unlock the gates…nup. It’s not “stable” enough to be crawling around. We laughed cause we expected to be able to…let’s say it would be an unfair comparison to the caves in Margaret River.

We also visited Framlington Castle. It had the surrounding walls still standing. It was pretty cool to see such an old structure. It was a audio-guided tour and the history was pretty cool to listen to.

We then visited Orford Castle which was really amazing! It was tall and slim-ish but had all these little rooms you could go into - some were toilets. The spiral staircase was really cool. We went for a walk around the town of Orford and had some local smoked cheese – sooo really tasty, nothing like smokey burps! We also walked around a graveyard surrounding a church. It’s kinda eerie over there, many churches in England have graveyard surrounding the church within the fence.

We went for a walk around some woods in Ipswich and we were, I reckon, five minutes from seeing the birth of a calf on one of the farms! The mother was licking it down and Dan saw it eat the umbilical cord (if I had’ve I think I would have puked). I waited for like 10 minutes to see if the other cows would give birth. I don’t really know what I would have done - freaked out, tried to help pucked – but it would have been awesome to see…in a way.

So, I totally lost my return train ticket and we had to buy another one. I was spewing! The public transport system over here is very complex and awesome, but pretty expensive also. I was so annoyed at myself. But, I guess we learn from these things…Dan now holds the tickets. I have yet to create a filing system.

Ireland

Back to the Euro’s!

Cork

Made it to Cork in Ireland after my hand luggage was strip searched and violated because they detected “baby food” jars in my bag. They basically took EVERYTHING out and wiped down my stuff with this drug/explosives strip-thing. They took away my Vegemite I was going to give to Mama Rosa in Sicily and my almost-finished Promite. Liquid my butt!... and Dan gets away with having bubble soap mixture in his bag! Anyway…

Spent two nights in a cute little lodge just out of the centre of town. Awesome breakfast with yummy Irish yoghurt. I don’t like the black pudding much, but white pudding is nice (you’re right Michelle!). We went to the St Patrick’s Day parade which had some interesting floats and people in it. We didn’t do a lot in Cork, we relaxed a bit and caught up on some Bible reading. Acts is going well – for Lent (“40” days before Easter – a time to remember the temptations Jesus endured in the desert before He started His ministry) I am reading through Acts thoroughly, and I’ve given up coffee. It’s going really well and I’m getting so much out of it. Paul was an amazing man to go the places He did and be the man he was, so different to how he used to live before he met Jesus…literally.

We caught the bus to Dublin, which I was told was only 3 hours. When 5 hours had passed I got a little impatient and anxious to get off. So, what does one do when one is agitated? One sits up and uses the abs to keep one stable…and there you have it - an abs workout! Hmmm…

Dublin

I have to say, I wasn’t overly impressed with this place. It costs a bit to stay and be entertained. We had an awesome Mexican meal – so tasty. We visited Christchurch Cathedral, which we had pay to see so we didn’t go in. I can understand why they charge, the maintenance cost on the massive and hard-to-reach places must be enormous. We went to a huge park and rode on hire bikes. There where deer grazing on the soccer field and a cute little castle with grass hedging which reminded me of running around the bush amongst the spinifex. Oh, them were the days - innocent, easy-to-please, imaginative fun.

I have to say. The whole Ireland and Northern Ireland travel has been a little difficult for me. We, or I because this is travel I wanted to do, haven’t done too much investigating of the countries. We basically stayed in city/large town areas and didn’t get to see the countryside. We’re really rushing through these areas as we need to be in Italy for an Ultimate competition Dan is playing in, for early April. I am mixed in feelings – I feel like it’s been waste of time and money, and I haven’t done enough to see the place or work out what we can do and see. We’ve basically had one whole day in each, which has been difficult. So we walk around the city. I’ve struggle with the concept of wandering around and not having a purpose or mission, which those who know me will understand the frustration. So, I’m trying to work that out and be okay about the whole thing. The other thing is the atmosphere, in Ireland mostly. It felt kinda depressing. It was almost as if the only thing travelers did was sightsee, shop and get drunk, something that doesn’t interest me anymore. There are pubs everywhere! I feel kinda purposeless right now…

Northern Ireland

Back to the Pounds!

Belfast

We stayed here for two nights, but still only had one day to do anything. We did a “Black Taxi” tour, which basically took us to the Prodestant and Catholic sides of Belfast. The story is quite sad and nothing to be proud of if you are of faith in Christ Jesus. It totally goes against what Jesus intended for His church to be. Human error and pride, and giving God a bad name kinda irritates me and NOT what God is all about! I’m not perfect at this either…Anyway...during the tour we visited a part of the Peace Wall that divides the two denominations within the area. Dan and I both wrote on the wall, there were loads of Aussie’s who signed it.

We then took a ferry, two trains and walked heaps to get to our accommodation in Edinburgh…never again. My advice – FLY. It took like 7 hours travel. Or you could use the time to…read or something. I guess if you prepare your mind for it, it would be okay. Once again I underestimate the size and distance of these countries.

Scotland

Edinburgh

Well, we spent 3 nights in Edinburgh and saw the city a bit. We visited Edinburgh castle which we did not pay to go in…I was kinda over castles by this stage. Dan tried some haggis, which my stomach could not handle at the time. The older I get the less I can try in terms of food. After Sicily, the thought of pizza or pasta makes me feel a little queasy, me thinks I overdid it on outreach…or maybe it was the all-you-can eat restaurant when we got back to the base. That’s right! We had lunch at the restaurant and I OVERATE, then that night I was…well, let’s just say “not well” and I think the body remembers the last thing you ate when this things sort of happens and it rejects it in future…even if it wasn’t the cause. There was sickness going around the oval at the time and it was pretty nasty.

We went on a 3-day tour to the Isle of Skye (you were right Peta – beautiful!). I loved it. It’s spring over here - snow-capped mountains that were melting, with little, and sometimes very large, waterfalls running down them. We did heaps of stops and had history lessons along the way. We had to wait in a town for over 20 minutes as we picked up some more people for the tour and I was glad cause we got to visit a MacNaughton shop. Twas so cool. Different spelling, but eeright.

We had pretty good weather the time we were in Scotland. On the tour there were times when the weather was shocking while we were on the bus, then when we stopped to get off and wander around, it was decent - less rain and bearable. The sun came out to say hi a couple of times but the wind just stole it’s warmth. The day we left and caught the plane was SHOCKING! It was freezing cold with rain and wind as we waited on the tarmac. We were looking forward to Italy…and maybe some sun…

For me personally, I am trying to focus on not having any regrets. Scotland was better as we got to see the country. I am learning a thing or two about myself, and situations are bringing to the surface some stuff I don’t like, which I want to improve on or get rid of, period. I think I process, plan and analyse too much and don’t “just do it.” I may be hard on myself, but I think sometimes it’s necessary to get my butt into gear.

I stressed out – again – about organizing travel. I’d spent hours on the computer trying to figure out what we were going to do between Sicily and Turkey – which is probably going to be Greece (Athens) for 4 days. There is so much to do and see I couldn’t decide, especially with costs and logistics with getting to places. I completely freaked out and poor Dan was doing his best to make me feel better. I get this way when trying to organise things I have no experience with, I can’t visualise or don’t have any knowledge of the place we’re going - I’m out of my comfort zone. That night, I put into practice “walking in the opposite spirit” and it definitely works, hard but it does work. Die to self – especially emotions that are not positive or helpful.

Oh mum (Laurel), I’ve been listening to the pre-marital counseling talks you sent a long time ago :o) They are long but sooo relevant. It’s been a little strange because at times I’ll be going through something and it’ll speak right into the situation. I think I might start taking notes to help me remember. Thank you for them!

I hope you are all doing well. I try and keep updated about things happening in Aussie but we’re totally out of the loop. So feel free to let us in on stuff and send me an email or FB me about yaself and what you’re up to. We may be on the other side of the world, but we haven’t forgotten where are roots are and who we love.

xoxo

Lizzie Mc

lizabef777@hotmail.com

Brighton, England - 3 to 22 February 2010

After we left Nicosia, we went to Enna for 2 nights which is Belly Button of Sicily. There I met Mama Rosa who is at the Il Faro centre there. She lived in Australia for a while and has a daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren in Sydney. She was so hospitable and Rafa, Will, Rosa, Angelo, Dan and I had an awesome lunch there. Mama Rosa made this tasty zucchini bake which was delicious! She said it was basic, oh man yummo!

We also went to Palermo for 1 night to stay with Angelo and a place he bought. Man it has potential. Needs a few touch ups but will be a an awesome place for YWAM. The garden is awesome and has many orange trees, sooo tasty! There is also a Vanilla Orange tree there, not as nice but novel. We did some gardening while we were there...in the rain. I'd had practice while in Nicosia so I was loving it. Pulling up weeds and carting leaves and soil to a compost area - saweet!

So, Brighton...

Brighton was jam-packed full of stuff. I am going to try and remember it all cause I sent my diary home in the post.

Well, we gained another member - Nargiz - and we stayed with the Salvation Army while we were there and they really looked after us. We slept on really thin mats on the ground and I wondered how I was going to survive - but I did. I think the week in Blackpool during the lecture phase was practice...as I look back on it now there is a lot of practice...which may be for something in the future, we'll see...

We were all split into 3 different churches - the Salvation Army, Montpelier Baptist Church and Gloucester Place Baptist Church, which Dan and I went to. We'd been split before but it was a real shock for us all as we'd been together as one big team for so long and then we had to split to do different ministries. It was also a bit of a culture shock and there was a different spiritual atmosphere which took some time getting used to. It was nearing the end of our outreach phase and we had to keep ourselves from being apathetic and lazy.

Ministry

- most of us were involved in a youth group, either running it or helping

- we served with an organisation called "off the fence" which goes to the streets every night and offers food and hot drink to the homeless/rough sleepers. I really enjoyed this one. I went on Friday nights and got to talk to some of them. I prayed with one guy who was sick and it was really cool.

- Rafa, Abby, Roos, Dan and I helped with a kids club day "our" church was holding. I helped out with the crafts which took my back to my childhood in school holidays when Mr Mills came and did craft (for my family mob who remember). I seriously got into it! I helped a couple of them make their fury pencil, then I made one (photo on Facebook). Twas chuffed! :D

- we did street evangelism with Montpelier Baptist which was a stand with information, tracts being available for anyone and everyone to talk

- we did a day of street evangelism in Messina where we held card with a story telling about how Jesus heals broken hearts. Andy and I had similar idea to do it in Brighton except this time everyone writes a question or statement they want people to know. I had two - "God wants to tell you..." which I then later wrote on it "I love you" and the other was "If you want out, let me know - Jesus." Whilst I didn't have anyone stop and talk, I saw people talk to each other about them and saw one particular lady's smile and knew it had touched her heart.

- we also did some dramas and teaching/preaching with a Christian rapper (yeah MC Tempo!) who had a speaker and microphone. We talked, did dramas and rapped for a few hours on two occasions.

I also spoke on one day. The day for me had the same vibe as being in the village in Catania - I didn't feel I wanted to say anything but when the time came I had something. I basically apologised to everyone and said that we (the church and me personally) have made mistakes in the past, and have not given people the best idea or representation of the God who loves them. From this day I have been concerned with how some of us as followers of Christ/Christians have behaved and what kind of reputation or image we present to others of God. It seems a bit unfair to me! I am guilty of much! Now I feel like Paul :) Seriously though, I walked around and called myself a Christian for many years and I am appalled at the image I've given. I know, it's a lot to think about, take on board and a bit extreme but if you were to represent someone you love and want to share with others, why wouldn't you think this way? It has definitely made me more discerning and thoughtful about how I treat people and what I do/say. Blessed for me (and anyone else who accepts) God is gracious and has, does and will forgive me, I know...and He is bigger than any image I can present...but tis is my journey thus far.

- we dressed up as cartoon characters as we were to go on a fundraiser walk with one of the youth groups, but it got cancelled because of weather....WHICH by the way, God gave me snow! First time it's EVER snowed on me. It was soooo much fun...and cold...but sooo much fun!....so we dressed up anyway and caught the bus to the youth pastor's office and had some fun walking around the streets. I was dressed as spiderpig - classic! Photos on Facebook.

I think to sum up outreach it was tough in terms of evangelism. We were in a country (Sicily) where people were open to hearing and talking about the Jesus but we couldn't speak the language, to a country (England) where we could speak the language but people weren't as open.

Back to Harpenden

We left Brighton on Monday 22 February to get back to the oval for debrief week. It was really exciting. We arrived at the train station and it was SNOWING again! So exciting. The guys got a ride to the oval and the girls walked. It was really exciting because the Ecuador team was already back. The oval was covered in SNOW! It was soo pretty! I made a snow angel (photos on Facebook). It was crazy times as we saw everyone again. The France team got in later that night - I was asleep, too much excitement in one day. Debrief week was really good and it was awesome to spend a week at the oval without too much to do. I find it great to be able to relax in an environment where I am normally busy and scheduled.

There was a sports DTS on base, they were a smaller group so I can't imagine what it was like having 28 students come into the house we were all living in. I got to run one last circuit class which I wasn't really too nervous about, considering I was running it for almost 30 people and they were "sporty." It was a lot of fun.

So, this concludes the period of time during DTS with YWAM.

There will be more postings about travels (with photos on Facebook) soon.

Lizzie

:o)

Nicosia, Sicily - 18 to 30 January 2010

This post was also written on 1 February 10...

Nicosia, Sicily

We stayed at a house where they take in and look after children from troubled homes. The ministry is called Il Faro (meaning "Lighthouse") and is the biggest Evangelical charity in Italy. It was started by Walter and Elizabeth from Switzerland when they were 20 or so. With stories such as theirs, I am more inspired by missionaries - such a heart.

Nicosia is the cutest little town. It's MIGHTY hilly though. A good workout just walking round and into the main town area. All the houses are pretty small and set in the hillside and very close to one another. Sooo beautiful.

Camy, Roos, Andy and Rafa went back to Catania on the 22nd to meet with some ladies at a prayer meeting. They have very little interaction with other Christians and I believe they were a real blessing to them. I did devotions that morning and we prayed for them as they travelled there and met with them. I felt it was a significant journey and the conditions they lived it were tough for those visiting - emotionally and spiritually. During devotions, I had a thought to give them a CD I was given in Messina with Italian worship songs and hope they've been able to enjoy it.

Meanwhile, Ashley, Serena, Abby, Dan and I had a movie night. Serena, Dan and I tried to get back into our accomodation at 1am but it was locked so we went back to where Abby and Ashley were and had a sleepover. The four of us also went exploring in an abandoned house. All the floors were smashed through and it looked like a safety risk big time, but that didn't stop the others from climbing around inside it. All I thought was, "Daddy, come to Sicily and build me a castle on a hill! So I can be in the serenity." :p

On the last night we were there, we organised an all-night of prayer and an hour for the kids. It was so much fun. We played "pass the parcel" which was my idea and I loved setting it up; a game where they had to dress someone in their team with all these different materials eg, toilet paper, plastic bags, card; the "Hai" game we learnt from Jenny during the lecture phase; and had face painting, balloons and dancing in the end.

The all-night prayer was organised by Will, Rafa and Andy. There were 6 cards with different prayer points about the organisation, leaders, volunteers, adopters and the children. We all took an hour slot praying, worshiping and asking God to speak to us. All the cards got filled with encouragements, bible verses and other words. It was a really awesome night.

We did a lot of practical work, mainly painting. The first work duty I did was weeding in the rain, it tested me. All about mindset, you gotta turn these things into joy. The others worked inside - preparing the hallway to be painted and painting two bedrooms. Now I don't know why but the thought of painting didn't float my boat. You get it all over your clothes, if you make a mistake it takes a bit to change or correct it. Then Dan, Andy and I then varnished the playground. The first time I really used a paint brush. I was so worried I wasn't doing it properly or correctly and kept asking Dan to check it. Then I got confident and went for it! It was so much fun and it looked awesome!

Then I wanted to help out inside in the bedrooms, cause I didn't want to do anymore outdoor work - it was cold. I attempted to sponge orange on a sun and then left Abby to it - she is sooo good with art. I started painting one of the hallways in a light yellow. That was heapsa fun too. Then it came the time to do the main hallway. They wanted to change the green to another colour and Angelo chose a bright purple, we did two coats. The following day we went to do a third coat and when we mixed it, it produced a light pink color. We couldn't believe it! It was so much lighter (you can see the photos on Facebook). We joked around saying God had a hand in it because the occupants were jokingly telling us they' were going to paint over the purple as soon as we left. I must admit, the purple was pretty bright, nice, but bright for a hallway I think.

We bought gifts for Walter, Elizabeth and the workers there. Dan then designed balloon baskets for them. So talented this husband of mine. Seriously though, anything Dan puts his hands to, he can do. Can be sometimes irritatingly great.

Ciao from Nicosia

Ellie Mc

Catania, Sicily - 13 to 18 January 2010

This blog was written on 1 February 10 and I'm only now entering it on the website...

Catania, Sicily

While we were in Catania we were hosted by Pastor Octtavia's church. We slept below the church in kids' club rooms. They have a woodfired pizza oven and we basically lived off pizza while we were there. They do Nutella pizzas and have a 5kg jars of the stuff - awesomeness!

Serena and I went shopping for Pastor Octtavia's birthday and we bought lots of chocolates. Dan then made a balloon basket to hold them in, it was so cool. He was really impressed with the gift, "chuffed" if I do say so myself. We all gathered for heaps of pizza and then played this Italian game where we stand in a circle and count to however many people are in the circle, in Italian. I didn't get it, wasn't sure how you get elimÌnated. There was also another game where one person turns their back to everyone and someone hits you, then you have to guess who did it, the boys seemed to really enjoy it.

We spoke at a youth service and went evangelising in a small village the church goes to every Sunday. Not many people actually come out of their houses, but they set up a sound system and sing, talk and tell the people about Jesus. Dan and Andy made balloons for the kids and they had a great time, it was so cute. I wasn't sure if I wanted to speak and Andy said to let him know when the time came. When he first asked I said no then really felt I should. There was a worship song and during the song I had a picture of crying as I was talking and getting on my knees. Speaking was something I felt I should do once I saw it and one of the organisers wanted someone to say a simple Gospel message, and picked me. I got up to speak and had forgotten about the picture. I spoke about how much God loves them...and I cried. I really felt God's love for all of them. Before I came on outreach we had a session where they told us to ask God what He wanted to show us on outreach, God told me he'd break my heart for the lost...and He did at that moment. It was a really amazing experience and I truly felt God's heart for them.

On the Sunday night we all split into three different churches. Will, Rafa and I went to our host church. We'd all prepared something to say but we didn't feel confident about it, due to not having spoken before about what we'd written, no practice run. When we got there I also felt we weren't meant to speak, then we found out we only had 5 minutes. I got nomÌnated to speak about the Next Wave and the tour they're doing in June/July this year. It was a pretty big church and I didn't feel at all nervous.

Ellie Mc