A few crazy journeys and a 4000 mile conversation

After our YFC meeting on Monday at which we did lots of planning for a weekend away that is coming up, I finally got my essay finished! I went round to have dinner with a couple from church which was lovely and I had a meeting afterwards about the services in February. We had some rather exciting ideas!

As usual I went to Moorlands on Tuesday. This meant that I left the house at 6 in the morning and after a delayed ferry, a boat in the way meaning that the journey to the mainland took twice as long as usual, and then a cancelled ferry on the way back, I finally got back 14 hours later!
I did however have some great lectures. Our lecturer managed to include a Lord of the Rings clip in a lecture on Jesus, and a Star Wars clip in a lecture on the Holy Spirit! We also had a lecture on Equality of Opportunities which sparked some good discussions.

From the ferry on the way back I called my friend in Uganda. He works as a driver, so he was in a National Park taking some people on safari, but unfortunately he was really unwell. I was really worried about him but all I could do for him was pray, and so I phoned again the next day to see how he was, and praise God, he was feeling and sounding so much better! What an incredible blessing to be able to have a conversation spanning 4000 miles, and hear such a good friend, from a boat on the River Nile, describe the scene in front of him of exotic birds, monkeys, crocodiles and even elephants whilst I was sat in my room in the UK!

Fortunately I didn't have too much out of the ordinary to do this week as I wasn't feeling up to much, but I managed to get the necessary planning done and to sort out my portfolio for Moorlands. In the evening on Wednesday I went to DofE and we helped the young people to start to put together a route for their first day walk.

On Thursday I had a meeting with my field work tutor for Moorlands, we were able to go through my portfolio and have a chat about my placement which was helpful. I did some planning for Rock Solid but unfortunately had to cancel it this week as all of my leaders couldn't make it.

On Friday morning we had the second session of listening training at YFC. Its interesting to think about how we listen in such detail! All week I wanted nothing more than to just be at home, so after the training, I drove over to East Cowes and got on a ferry to go home to my parent's house for the night. It was lovely to see them and to chat about how everything is going. My lovely Mummy made me some chicken soup with dumplings which was very yummy, and Dad and I spent the evening together as Mum had to go out. I made a quick apple crumble too which was nice.

The next day, Dad and I washed all three cars (they all certainly needed it!) and Mum and I did some more cooking. We made a chicken pie from scratch which reminded me of my time in Uganda, when the only way to have a pie at all was to make it from scratch. I did it a couple of times and introduced some Ugandan friends to the concept of pastry! My brother John and his girlfriend Cat came round for dinner which was really lovely. Despite winding each other up so much when we were kids, John and I get on really well now, so its always good to see him.

Washing cars

Chicken Pie

I had a bit of a crazy journey back because my friend Tallie from the island had been in London for the day, and was stuck in Guildford because there were trees down on the railway lines and no trains were running, so Dad and I made a dash up to Guildford to rescue her and then I drove the two of us back to the ferry in Southampton.

This morning I had the opportunity in church to show some photos and tell people at church about what I've been doing which was good. It also gave me a chance to make a request for volunteers for the new things that I want to set up. I also ran the youth group and we thought about choices and peer pressure.

As I've been reminded this week; sometimes prayer is all we have, but it certainly works. So if you'd like to help me out, I'd appreciate your prayers...

- Pray that I'll get completely over this cold.
- Pray that some more volunteers will come forward to help out with new things at church.
- Pray that I'll be able to hear God and to feel at peace about what he wants me to do.

'Build Your Kingdom Here!'

Last Sunday I decided to try to start putting together a program for my youth groups over the coming months so I asked my youth group about what they want to do and learn about this year ... turns out that they didn't have as many ideas as I was hoping that they might, so it looks as  though I'll have to get thinking!
I made good use of my afternoon by making some brownies with a friend which was fun.

On Monday at our weekly prayer breakfast at YFC we all agreed to give something up for the week in order to try to step out of our comfort zones a bit to get closer to God. I chose to give up Facebook for the week and I actually really enjoyed it! It was strangely refreshing and actually made me miss the simplicity of life that I experienced in the village when I was living in Uganda. Unfortunately, I think a lack of power would cause a few more problems in an English winter!
Not being distracted by Facebook made it a lot easier to get on with some planning and with my essay - this one is on youth work and has been really interesting.

At Moorlands this Tuesday we had Chris Bell from the Christian mission organisation, 'Interserve' as the speaker in chapel. He gave a brilliant talk about working for God and the fact that we are called to be uncomfortable. I had lectures on Christian Doctrine and on Community and we managed to get the early ferry back to the island which gave us an extra hour in the evening which was great.

This week's pile of books for my Youth Work essay

I went have a catch up with Linda (from church) on Wednesday and we ended up talking about a few exciting ideas and visions for the church. I'm so desperate to see God transform this church and the people in this community. Now I just need to figure out how to make these visions become a reality!
I did some more planning and essay writing in the afternoon, and in the process I came across a blog about the madness of christian youth group games which really made me laugh http://rachelheldevans.com/blog/youth-group-games
I went to DofE in the evening and we started to teach the young people how to read maps and take grid references.

The planning and essay writing continued on Thursday (who said that youth work was just messing around with a youth group!?) and then I had a meeting with Simon in the afternoon to talk about my role at Gunville and how everything is going. It was really good to step back and think about what I'm doing, what my vision is, and how I want to get there, but also quite daunting! I really want to see God starting to make a huge impact and bringing more of his Kingdom in this area. My prayer is that that passion wont die out, but will be the fuel that starts to make things happen.
Rock Solid in the evening went really well. We played some games around the theme of giving, and I told an interactive story to get the young people thinking about what we can give back to God. Then one of my other leaders ran a craft activity for everyone to make a bookmark to give away. I got very excited by all the stickers and pretty, shiny things!

Our YFC team had the first of 4 sessions of listening training on Friday morning which was interesting, and in the afternoon we set up for Catalyst which we then ran in the evening. This month we were looking at prayer, and lots of different people shared stories and testimonies about prayer. It was great to see so many young people sharing their stories and to hear lots of different experiences from lots of different people.
After we finished packing away, a few of us went to a friends house to relax for a while, before we realized what the time was and promptly headed home to bed.

I went over to Cowes on Saturday as the IOW Foodbank was changing location and they needed help to move 14 tonnes of food! We manged to pretty much get everything on the new site by mid-day, so I spent the afternoon writing my essay (still!) and then headed back over to Cowes in the evening for a worship service that my friend and her youth group were running.

Some of the last few boxes of food to
be moved to the new Food Bank site.

In my youth group on Sunday we looked at the Body of Christ, and I devised a great team work game from an empty Pringle pot, some string and a rubber duck - genius! I also discovered a cupboard that was pretty much empty, so I spent some time moving a few bits around and creating some storage space which I desperately needed! You know you work for a church when you get excited by an empty cupboard!

If you're up for praying, I'd appreciate prayer this week for...

- Good health as I'm getting a bit of a cold.
- Pray that God would continue to grow a passion in me to see him at work and to get closer to him, and give me the wisdom and ability to make things happen.
- Just a good week in general - pray that God will use me and that I'll enjoy the week.

Back on 'The Island'

After a pretty chilled out day at home last Monday, I made my way down to Moorlands on Tuesday morning. I had a good day with some interesting lectures, particularly on the humanity of Christ. I also got to see one of my best friends Esther whose Mum lives near (and studies at) Moorlands, so Esther came to see me which was lovely! In the evening, Phil and I made a rather rocky ferry crossing back to the island.

Despite lots of people being away on the YFC staff conference, a few of us still managed to get together that evening. It was nice to do something social as a bit of a 'welcome back' to the island!

I did a lot of essay writing (well... procrastination, and a bit of essay writing) on Wednesday. (To be fair, I am being a 'model student' and planning to hand it in early, so I think I'm allowed a bit of procrastination!) And in the evening I had a meeting with the other leaders where I help at a DofE group to talk about the coming term.

Thursday brought more essay writing, and some planning too for my Rock Solid group in the evening. We thought about the future and what our ambitions are which was exciting. Afterwards I headed over to join some friends for games and a general catch up which was good fun.

On Friday I continued the theme from Rock Solid of thinking about the future and had a phone call with Clare, talking about our plans for more adventures after we finish studying. I can't wait! Its really nice to have something to look forward to and to get excited about and I can't wait to spend more time having some crazy adventures with such a good friend. 

My lovely 'sister' Clare and I back in September,
I really don't know what I'd do without her!

I also did some more planning on Friday, and then in the evening I had the blessing of a Skype call with my good friend Brian in Uganda. It was also great to get to chat briefly to Alex and Innocent - two of the people I used to live with out there, and to catch up a bit with some of the gappers that are there now. 

Brian on Skype on Friday

On Saturday my lovely parents paid me a visit to see the place that I live and work. It was great to see them and to show them around (and to have a moan about the state of the island roads!) Being home over Christmas made me realise actually how much I love being at home,  and how much I love spending time with Mum and Dad, so although I haven't been back yet for very long, it was nice to see them again for the day.

After they left I had a lovely long phone call with Clare, and I realised how much I've been neglecting God lately, and how much of an effect it's been having on me. It's so easy to get so caught up in doing the work that God calls you to, that you forget about the God that is behind it. If anything is important, it is maintaining and growing in relationship with God, and that's something that we all struggle with sometimes. 

So this week, if you're up for praying for me...
- Please pray that I'll get excited and hungry for spending time with God and in his word again.
- Pray that my youth work will grow and that the young people I work with will grow.
- Pray that I'll have a really good, positive week, and enjoy everything I get up to.

The Week That 'Fishing Over the Door' Went Wireless

Last Sunday evening we got together with the whole Randall family at my Aunt's house... unfortunately our century old tradition of 'fishing over the door' didn't feature, but keep reading...

I had an essay to write for Moorlands so I spent most of Monday, Thursday and Friday doing that, but I had a break to bake some brownies on Monday and I made another trip up to Oxford to stay with Clare for New Year's eve.

We had a lovely evening with some other families from Eynsham and the next day we decided to go for a New Year's day walk in the rain, which almost turned into a swim. It was a good thing that we all had wellies on! We were invited to a gathering in the afternoon to play some games with lots of other families from the village which was good fun.

Unfortunately, Clare and I both had essays to write, so reluctantly I left on Wednesday evening so that we both stood some chance of getting it done. I stopped in Reading on the way home to have dinner with my Grandparents which was really lovely.

Finally, on Friday evening I finished my essay and went to dinner at my brother's house in the evening - chicken pie - my absolute favorite! It was here where we made sure to do the traditional 'Fishing Over the Door' - a century old Randall family Christmas tradition in which you 'fish' for a small present over a door with a fishing rod. Unfortunately this year we couldn't find said 'fishing rod' and so we decided that as it is now 2014, it's about time that 'Fishing Over the Door' went wireless, and hence, it became 'Throwing Over the Door'!

On Saturday we had some old family friends round for lunch which was great. It was good to catch up and to play some games (even though I didn't win!)

I don't get many chances to bake and cook when I'm on the Isle of Wight, so Mum and I made up for the lost time this weekend. We cooked crumpets on Saturday, and then on Sunday afternoon we dusted off the pasta roller and made ravioli from scratch. We made an attempt at pesto too but we didn't have enough basil so I don't think it would really be right to honour our 'concoction' with the title 'pesto'! Still, we invited John and Cat round to taste it and they seemed to approve! Dad even managed a brownie packet mix for 
pudding.

Home made crumpets

Ravioli

I'm due back on the Island this week so I'm heading back after a day at Moorlands on Tuesday. It's been so lovely being home for Christmas and spending lots of time with the family. It's been great going to my home church for a couple of weeks too. 
I'm hoping that God will do some great things in my youth work this year and that I'll have plenty of exciting experiences to keep you all entertained with!

Pray for me:
- Travelling to Sopley, and then on to the Island on Tuesday - pray for safety and good weather.
- Getting back into a routine this week
- Settling back into life on the Island. Pray that I'll remember how blessed I am and that I'll enjoy everything I get up to.

Thanks! :)