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!!!