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)
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