Local Church Missionary's Trip Report
Hannah Baker, one of the youth's of Morris Community Church, had an opportunity to be "sent" to Scotland in the summer of 2002. She took this opportunity when a Royal Servants (a short-term missions organization) representative visited Mainstream (a community youth get-together on the 3rd Monday of every month at the J.A. Haavig Center) one Monday during the Spring (month?) of 2002.
God taught her to be faithful and to persevere right up to her last week prior to her trip as He blessed her with some "last minute" funds to be financially supported to be "sent". Hannah has an amazing testimony on how God provided the "last minute" in order for her to go on this trip!
Here is a report from 7/16/02:
Hey everyone!! first of all, mom & dad, sorry for not having a personal email to you - if i get time after writing this i'll send one out. also, sorry for the lack of capitals... it's alot faster. i paid a pound (£) for 52 minutes, but don't know how long the rest of my d-group is going to be. that said... i'm in scotland! we're living in a baptist church in drumchapel, which is a suburb of glasgow. if you want my address, talk to my mom, and mail QUICKLY, since mail can take up to 2 weeks to get here. so far most of our free time has been spent playing with the kids in the area. today is our trip out to shop, check email, etc. i had my first experience with fish & chips about 45 minutes ago, which was cool. very greasy, which usually doesn't bother me, but royal servants food is a little different from home! (not that mom's food is greasy, either, but i haven't seen any of it for a very long time!
i love our team. we have a total of 12 staff, including senior staff, and 14 students. combined that gives us 6 guys and 20 girls, which keeps things interesting. mom may have said that, due to the shortage of students/surplus of staff, that 3 other girls (staff)and i form an 'encouragement group' whose main purpose is to encourage the rest of the team. this is a lot of fun, but we haven't gotten to much accomplished yet... i've ended up struggling a bit with some things (mainly wrestling with God, which isn't fun... don't try it), and so have had a hard time concentrating on building up the rest of the team. things are getting better now, though, so i' looking forward to the rest of our time. only less than 3 weeks left - i'm trying not to think about it. as much as i miss everyone, the thought of saying goodbye to my family here is heartbreaking. oh, yeah... my d-group. all of us on the e-group except Sarah, who leads it, are also somewhat of a co-leader in a discpleship group. our groups main leader is Laura McVeity, and the girls are Laura Grove, Amy Wallenhopt, and Amber Saunders.
along that note, please, pray for me!! this week we're going to be starting more outreach type ministry - street programs, servant evangelism, coffee bars, etc. next week, tuesday-friday we'll be doing a VBS, which we'll need a lot of prayer for... these kids have had next to no discipline, and have atrocious language. there are literally TONS of kids... at one point the other day i did a quick head count, and there were 16 kids, mainly ages 3-13, hanging out in the church yard. they come and go constantly, and when we're busy inside they bang on the door. they always beg for 'go-carries' (piggy back rides) and 'swings' (grabbing thier hands and spinning in circles). some of the other people on the team are having a hard time, because they don't neccessarily enjoy being around kids, at least not everytime they step outside. i personally love it, but can understand how it gets draining.
what else do i want to share.... many thanks to jodi, lee marie, & johanna-i got your letters, loved them, and am hoping to get postcards off soon... as soon as i find & buy them. hopefully today! we get our first mail since arriving in Scotland tonight, and we were all eyeing the many packages in the pile before leaving for glasgow. are there any for me? ;)
feel free to respond & email me, can't promise I'll get a chance to respond though. we're hoping to find out if the library in drumchapel has internet connections, and if they'll charge us, so hopefully i'll get a opportunity again sometime. Peter has email, but doesn't want us getting into our own on his computer, so i might be able to email home from his account, but didn't write other people's address down, so don't expect to hear from me that way.
next monday we're going into Edinbourgh - assuming all the girls in my dgroup get their verses memorized, that is! thankfully everybody got them all for today. a couple of the kids have a hard time with it. another area to pray for me about... as staff, we don't get tested on memorizing the stuff, but are still expected to know it. memorizing usually isn't to big of a problem for me, but i'm having a hard time being motivated and remembering everything. :(
well, i think i'm going to wind this up. love you all, can't wait to see you (well, those in my area, at least) when i get home. congratualations again, Troy & Najla & Jessica & Chris - i thought of you on your days! David & Jenn, happy anniversary next week! (right? 21?) Lee Marie, i saw the church annoucement (yes, i can check my info-link account), glad that you're new 'position' is official and public now! hope you're enjoying it!
Hanna
Below is an e-mail report when she arrived from Scotland (8/7/02):
Hey!
I'm home! I'm planning on sending out a more complete report of what my summer was like, (after I have time to figure it all out!) but wanted to let everyone know I made it home safely. While it's very, very good to be home, and I missed my parents & siblings so much, I still feel homesick - this time for my Scotland family! I feel like I have approx. 20 sisters & 5 more brothers, and I just said goodbye to them, not knowing if I'll ever see them again. Well, I know I'll see them - it just may be 40+ years, after we're in Heaven!
Anyway, so I made it home, and had one of the best summers of my life. I fully heartedly recommend it, and there are several of you that I'm planning on doing my utmost best to persuade you to go next summer - or at least the year after!
As far as what happened overseas goes, while we were there over 20 people accepted Christ to sit on the throne of their lives. There are some awesome stories about some of them!! Our days were spent playing with children, building relationships at the park, doing programs, servant evangelism, and work projects. The Scottish people are awesome - they kept inviting us into their homes to take showers, which often included a meal. We as a team were blessed over & over by their generousity.
We also had some great culture & fun days! I'm in much better shape than I left in - hiking around Glasgow, Edinbourgh, Oban, & London for hours on end with a backpack on is a blast =).
We were well trained on certain things -
#1, you ALWAYS have your
passport holder on you. I took it off last night & resisted the
temptation to put it on this morning - first day in 6 weeks! my waist
feels very empty... rather scary..
.#2, you NEVER leave the church without your daybag (backpack). This
always contains certain neccessary items, including your Bible, notebook,
journal, dishes, rain gear, TP & a change of clothes. My parents very
unreasonably made me leave it in the car when we stopped at Perkins on
the home from the airport - I felt very incomplete.
#3, you ALWAYS are in a group of at least 3, including a staff or a guy.
Since I was staff, this wasn't a problem. Being away from my team - my
'family' - and not having 2 other people with me constantly is a little
difficult!
Anyway, I said I'd save the complete report for later! Can't wait to see those of you who live close... hopefully soon!!
thanks for your prayers & support!! God did awesome things!!
Hanna
E-Mail Fwd: What goes around comes around...
from Pon (4/07)
"His name was Fleming, and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog. There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death. The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved. "I want to repay you," said the nobleman. "You saved my son's life." "No, I can't accept payment for what I did," the Scottish farmer replied waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel. "Is that your son?" the nobleman asked. "Yes," the farmer replied proudly. "I'll make you a deal. Let me provide him with the level of education my own son will enjoy. If the lad is anything like his father, he'll no doubt grow to be a man we both will be proud of." And that he did. Farmer Fleming's son attended the very best schools and in time, graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin. Years afterward, the same nobleman's son who was saved from the bog was stricken with pneumonia. What saved his life this time? Penicillin. The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill. His son's name? Sir Winston Churchill.
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