Collin

My dear friend Collin at Lodging House Mission surprised me today. He brought me a gift.
About a week ago, I was sitting with him having some tea and mentioned that we were traveling to Edinburgh the next day. His eyes lit up and he spent the next 30 minutes telling me all about the city. He especially talked about Greyfriar's Bobby, this legendary dog who sat on his master's grave in Edinburgh's cemetary for 14 years out of devotion to his deceased master. Collin made me promise to visit the dog's grave the following day.
I visited the graveyard as I had promised, dragging the rest of the team with me. Collin was right. There was a gravestone especially for Greyfriar's Bobby, and a fountain built in his honor.
This morning when Collin got to the mission he sat down next to me and pulled out a plastic bag. He gave it to me. Inside the neatly taped bag I found a big post card with a photo of Greyfriars Bobby's statue. Collin wanted to make sure that I saw it in case I hadn't gotten to in Edinburgh.

We're back! just in time to party.

Thursda night we returned from our holiday to the North Sea just in time to join the frenzy that preceded the Void Avoidance party. Here's one of hundreds of flyers we passed out.

Part of the shindig was John Egan's art installation. Lots of double sided tape and band flyers.

Righteous, huh?

During the night the seven of us manned (and womaned) the door, pampered promoters, carried band equipment, and donned "taches."


The party was a big success. Everyone loved it and Stuart made enough money to cover costs. Tons of connections were made and the website and network got great PR. Hopefully this is the launch that Void Avoidance needs to become a trustworthy resource for local musicians and a venue for christian and non-christian musicians to collaborate and support each other.

So, it's been a few days...

Just to keep you up to date, here's what we've done since you last heard from us...
1. We finished up at Lodging House Mission. We have a before and after photo some where, but who knows where that is just now. It was kind of bitter sweet ending there, as it marked the end of our time there everyday. It doesn't mean, though, that the relationships are over. Not by any means what so ever.

2. It also marks the beginning of our next adventure. This week, the team is helping Stuart promote his party, which is one of the main reasons we came. The party is an outreach to the local music scene of Glasgow. We are also leaving for a brief stint of holiday this week (3 days). We will travel to Inverness, Aberdeen, and St. Andrews (where our friend Mariam, who used to be on staff at Scum, is studying).

3. Saturday morning two of us (Sam and Paul) took surveys of people in the Partick area for Mosaic. The questionaires asked why people of the area needed and how the church might respond to that need. Nate went to the skate park to try to start some relationships there, and Ben, Heidi, and Jenna went to the Mosaic Saturday club to learn about physics and Jesus. I (Josh) stayed home and did dishes.

4. Then, we went to Edinburgh and saw the castle, walked the Royal Mile, went to the underground tour, and the Museum of Modern Art. It was a nice day to see another part of Scotland, and to learn more about their culture.
5. Sunday morning we met Mark from the Lodging House Mission and cycled the route we wlll be marshalling for the LHM bike ride that raises money and awareness of the Mission and its purpose. Then we went to Mosaic and heard Stuart Weir talk about how to make eternal relationships. The church definitely has a missional vibe to it, which is nice.
6. In honor of Heidi, we went to see Harry Potter. It was good to see it before everyone in the states can, so there!

Please pray for the team. We've spent a lot of time together, and we will be spending more intense time together while on holiday. Too much togetherness can sometimes be a not good thing. We have been getting along famously, but there are always hiccups on the way. Pray that God would unite us and give us an incredible love for each other.

An Unexpected Swim

This morning, about ten minutes after we got to Lodging House, just after i had sat down to eat my Scottish breakfast (see Nates post), the craziest junkie that I have met so far comes up to me and asks if I would like to have my name put down on the list of those who are going swimming. I look at this list and see that Nates name is already on it, but i turn him down, because, seriousely, would you go swimming with a drugged out wierdo in Glasgow? After a few more bites of black pudding, i walk over to Nate and ask if he is actually going swimming. He says yes, and that they provide the swimsuits. So i go find James (the craziest junkie) and tell him to put my name down on the list. Twenty minutes later, James, Nate, Eddie, two ladies that work there and some other junkie who i never met all pile into a huge van. We drive to a big rec. center and all pile out. John, the guy who took us all out to play football, met us at the front (see photo below).

Once we get inside, one of the ladies goes to the counter and gets us all lockers. While we wait for her, James divies out the swimsuits and towels. Once everything is sorted, we all go off to our various lockers and get changed. Nate and I went straight out to the pool and started swimming. Eddie (pictured below)

came out and jumped in with us. All the others went up to the saunas and hot tubs upstairs. After a while, we tired of splashing each other and teaching Eddie how to free-style swim, so we joined the others. Once we got upstairs and were sitting in the hot tub, we began to wonder where James had gone off to. All of a sudden, he wanders up with toilet paper stuck all over his face. He had tried to shave with one of the razors they give out at the mission, but it looked like he had used a rusty spoon. There was no end to the crap that we gave him that day. Needless to say, it was a hilarious time, very unexpected and it just goes to show that you cant judge a book by its cover, or a junkie by his craziness.

Bus Stop

In case you're not aware, the Harry Potter movie came out here today. Don't be too jealous. None of us have seen it yet, but we did go to this nifty bus that looks a bit like the "knight bus" in Harry Potter . . . only sketchier. It's a double decker called the Salt and Light bus. It parks near the train station downtown twice a week. The bottom half has a big window that opens up and serves food to homeless guys and pimps on the street. The top deck is a pink and purple lounge for female prostitutes. The women come upstairs for tea and snacks and get a chance to relax and chat with other ladies. Sounds cheesy huh? You're thinking "No prostitute would get on a bus like that." Well, they do. Salt and Light has seen close to 80 women turn their lives around over the last 5 years.
Jenna and I were allowed on the bus while the guys sipped tea on the curb. I passed out lots of coffee and pizza and had a long conversation upstairs. The whole thing is just really fabulous. I think I'll try to go back again next week.

Whats for Breakfast?

Breakfast of Champions at Lodging House Mission
Nutritional facts: Scotland culture
Fat: no comment
Carbohydrates: the plastic tray
Sugar: two scoops in the tea
Tomato: microwave so that the seeds start to bubble
Egg: over easy, maybe too easy
Tottiescone: under the egg, it is a potato deep-fried maybe the best part
Spam: deep-fried, do I need to say anything else
Black pudding: oatmeal, lard, and wait for it . . . wait for it . . .sheep blood.
Refried beans: kind of rubbery with a Jell-O consistency
Ham: fried in the stomach musical grease
Knife: doesn't really need to be used
Spoon: plastic so that the junkies don't cook up in the bathroom, seriously
Fork: doubles as a spoon, fork and knife
Bread: more butter than white bleached flour bread
Tea: strong

Right so...I'm sitten here, in our huge flat for the month its 11:30pm and the sun has just set, can you believe it, 11:30pm and there is still day light peeking through the clouds! This is my (Jenna) first blog post of the trip, I'll try not to ramble. So this little lady in this picture is Sylvia telling me "don't you dare take my picture", however after taking it she asked if I could bring her a copy of the picture (She just likes to have a good shout). Having Sylvia shout (very sweetly) at me over a traditional Scottish breakfast at Lodging House Mission has become one of my favoite parts of our day, usually we have her good friend Jackie with us as well. He loves to take the mic (make fun of me) but Sylvia has to interpret for me because I can't understand a word he says, it doesn't seem to bother Jackie none he keeps right on going taking the mic. . Today we visited Glasgow City Mission, the next location we will be serving at, and while on a tour, who do we run into but my good friends Sylvia and Jackie. I'm glad that I'll be able to see them while we are there as well.
Anywho, it was very uplifitng being at the City Mission today and listening to the staff talk about what they do and to hear their heart for the people they serve, and their heart for God. I am chuffed (excited) that we get to spend some time with them!



We had a very exciting day of foot ball, not American foot ball, but real foot ball. We palyed this afternoon with some lads from lodging house mission, and then we played another game this evening with Stuart and his friends. John a guy from the mission gave me quite the complement, "Jenna, I thought you'd be carp, but your not half bad for a girl!" . (Thats a complement right??) Those of us that played both matches are fearing the pains of tormorrow, prayer for sour muscles is very appreciated! We hope to have much more Foot Ball FUN! Love love love from your friends in Glasgow!!!

Old Friends and New Ones

So, today is the completion of the first week we are in Scotland. The project that we are working on at Lodging House Mission is almost complete. I think that they thought we were of the lazier breed of Americans, but we are getting it done way before schedule. They have some other things for us to do there, but we should be able to knock those out with no problem.



So, the heading...Well, since we are running a bit ahead of schedule, we figured that we could not go into LHM today, but rather take some time and seek out new avenues for ministry. Sam is going to LHM to have breakfast with some of the friends he's made there, Paul is looking into swing dancing, Nate is trying to find out about the bike culture, and Heidi is going with our friend Lynsey to a children's summer program. Since I (Josh) was the only one here last summer, I made contacts that were in my interest field. But the great thing about the team is that there are so many varied interests. The hope is to further build relationships in Glasgow that would allow us to have a continued ministry here on future trips. Praise God for that.

Today I am also looking into disclosure forms. To be able to work with vulnerable people in Scotland (homeless and youth), you need to complete a background check. Unfortunately, not being UK citizens means that we have no backgrounds. Therefore, we are not supposed to have any contact with vulnerable peoples. We've been able to skirt that a bit, but I am trying to figure out for future trips how we might be able to do that well.

Cheers!

Bowling, On Grass

Today our friends Lindsay, Jenn and Lola took us bowling down at the local bowling green. Here in Scotland, one of the rainiest places this side of the Amazon, they decided that it would be better to bowl outdoors. No wonder the Scotts are a hearty people. The other odd thing about Scottish bowling is that the balls are weighted, but only on one side. This is so that however bad you are at rolling the ball down the green, you can always have something to blame it on. Also, there are no pins in Scottish bowling, just a small white cue ball that you have to try to get close to. At least there is no fear of getting foot fungus, though, because you dont have to rent out shoes. We all met up at approximately five o'clock, and qickly, through the use of rocks, papers and scissors, paired off into teams. Bowling at this particular green was free, and the groundskeeper not only had bowling balls, but tennis racquets and croquet things as well. The top picture was taken by Heidi, who ran out onto the green and had to lay down in front of the balls to get the angle she wanted. I (Paul) am on the far left. Next to me is Ben, who was my team-mate, Lola, Josh, Nate, Jen, Lindsay, Jenna and Sam. The bottom photo shows Sam, demonstrating his flawless technique to a number of admiring young ladies. Watch out though, ladies, he's taken.

Flea Market Exploits

On Sunday we split into two groups for church. Nate, Josh, and Ben went to a church called St. Georges of Scotland-at Tron. Heidi, Jenna, Paul, and I (Sam) went to a newer style church (for Scotland) called Destiny Church. They were holding it back in the center of the city where they had started the church 3 years earlier. It was an ok church. The worship appeared to be what I have seen several times back in the states when churches try to appeal to a hipper crowd. The band all had "hipster" styling of clothes and style. They played there own music and we were informed that they are putting out a cd internationally this July. Kind of strange but they have an obvious love of Jesus. The preaching was ok if not completely biblically sound (we wouldn't call it heresy but we felt he was reaching conclusions that weren't able to be supported completely with scripture). Overall the feeling was one of several churches which I have been to in the states. Their mission statement was to grow a big church as a little church, meaning that they want to reach as many people as possible while still focusing on the individual with personal relationships. sounds hard but God speed to them.

As Paul wrote in an earlier blog Stevie took us to an alley style flea market where I (sam) purchased a bicycle. Today we all went and Heidi, Paul, and Nate also purchased bicycles. They aren't the best but they were cheap have character and will last the month...hopefully. The bikes remind me of the team. We are not completely useful but we work and we are trying...and hopefully we last the month as well. In any event it is great to see the side of the city that Scum is used to dealing with. I hope we get to have more adventures like this on this trip.

"Can you dive into a plants?"

Finding his foot placement with Hykim, Paul is about to dive into the wild world of plant making. At Mosaic there are many different opportunities to invovle the community with the church. This event is a planting event where all botony lovers came togeather, wheather big or small and got their hands in the rich Scotland soil that looked as dark as a night sky. Everyone was able to go home with food in their bellies and flowers or potted seeds in their hands, with hope for growth.



Within Glasgow the many of the underprivilaged and second looked population are the Indian and Pakistani race. Discouraging glances are often seen on the bus or toward this population. Helping with Mosaic has helped reach out to the Lords children that are left out. At the end of the event a small devotional was shared for all to listen: " if we have faith as small as a mustard seed we will be able to move mountains." It is encouraging to see the desire for faith for all that are searching for their place in the spirtual world. Planting seeds here at this event was just one of the Lord's seeds that He wil be able to use for His Glory.

FORK!

This morning Wes and Stewart from Mosaic Church came over to the flat to meet us. Mosaic doesn't offer a traditional church service this weekend. Instead they encourage their members to participate in something Wes calls "missional living" - basically just worshipping God through service. So while Nate, Ben, and Paul helped host a gardening seminar across town, Jenna, Sam and I joined Stewart and became Friends of the River Kelvin. We walk by the Kelvin every day, but this morning we bonded with the river by cleaning up litter with some locals. Jenna perfected her muddy butt slide down the bank, Sam found a car in the water, and I won a new umbrella. All became familiar with Scottish stinging nettle as well. Don't scratch, it only makes it worse!

This is a picture of Fatal (Fat Al), Stevie, me, Andy, Collin, Heidi and Sam sitting in the lunch room during the lunch break. All the old fellas were almost entirely impossible to understand, except for Stevie. He is the one who dubbed Al, "Fatal". He was one of the first people at lodging house that we were all able to really connect with. His sense of humour is endlessly funny and uniquely Scottish. Soon after this picture was taken, he took Sam, Nate and myself to a back alley flea market to look for cheap bikes. On the way, he showed us where a building had collapsed due to a fire the day before, and told us stories about the seedier side of Glasgow. He is definitely someone who we look forward to seeing whenever we go to Lodging House Mission. He is a great example of how we have been welcomed in Scotland. Everybody has been eager to show us around and help us with whatever we might need. Even though I dont understand what they are saying half of the time, I have enjoyed talking to and getting to know the people of Scotland.

This is a picture of nate and myself choreographing a dance routine on stationary bicycles. Because the weather is so rainy, we cant dance on real bikes outside. Plus, they drive on the other side of the road, so we would probably get hit by cars if we tried. Out here in Scotland, you have to go to great lengths to entertain the homeless. Because Glasgow is so cosmopolitan, even the homeless have seen everything. Sock puppets and flannel graphs dont have nearly the effect that they would on American non-christians. Oh well, anything to spread the love of Jesus.

All hands GO!

What you don't see is Paul reaching with a paint roller for the wall above the stairs, and Nate is giving a helping hand with a joke while smiling to the goodwill of the team. Behind their arms is a room full of resource and hope for the homeless of Glasgow. Lodging House Mission uses this room for art, exercise, prayer and group meetings. The team's spirit was high today. Waking late from the first night after jet let and walks all over the city the day before we still made it to work at the Mission with energy and cohesiveness. Interactions at the Mission were wonderful as we all fell into the lifestyle of this international city. Dinner concluded the day with laughter and banter about odds and ends, and through it all it made pence (the cents in the pound). We came to Glasgow to serve, but in the end of day one we were the ones who have felt gifted, blessed and touched by the raindrops of goodness to others from the heavens.

WE MADE IT!

So, after about 11 hours on a plane (and getting to meet Ms. Rodeo Nevada), we made it to Glasgow this morning. We got to the flat without any problems, and it is well kitted for us with linens and directions on how to use everything. We did a bit of exploring the city this afternoon, ending at Lodging House Mission, where we will spend a good part of our time here this summer.

Thank you for all of your prayers and concerns. Blessings.

The Party we will be helping put on whilst we are in Glasgow:

Last summer I met a guy named Stuart who lives in Scotland. He is hosting a party this summer while we are there that we are helping him with. The party is a launch for his website that serves local musicians in Glasgow. The website allows him to build relationships with people the church has seemingly overlooked for quite some time.