An hour later, we arrived in Bookham and went to a local café to grab some breakfast. This would also be the first time that I would meet Gillian, the person whom I am staying with for the next year. It was great to finally meet her! Once we finished with breakfast, I went to see my home that I would be living in this year and drop of my luggage. The house that I am staying at is right in the center of the village and is only about a 3 minute walk to the church that I will be working at, which is awesome! Bookham is a very beautiful village with a very calming atmosphere and wonderful people; I am excited to spend the next year of my life here!
While I am here in Bookham, I am working as a youth worker at Bookham Baptist Church. My main focus is working with girls from the 11-14 year old age range. There are not a large number of girls involved with the youth activities at the church from this age range, so the hope is that this year we can get more girls involved. We have just started our youth activities, so I haven’t really had much time to spend with the girls yet, but we did meet last Friday night and had a great time giving each other makeovers. Don’t we just look beautiful?!
I am looking forward to getting to know these girls better this year, and I am hopeful that the number of girls that attend the Friday night activities will grow! I will keep you posted on the different fun events that we do throughout the year.
Even though The Tribe girls are my main focus over here, I am involved with many other activities while I am here. I am taking a theology class on working with children and youth ministries in a nearby town called Guildford. This class will challenge me to think about things from different perspectives, but I believe that it will also help me grow in my Christian faith. Another activity that I am involved with is the Bookham Youth Café. Every Tuesday from 4-6, the local youth centre offers a place for the youth to come and engage in different activities such as: football(soccer), pool, jamming out in the music recording room, and hanging out with friends. The youth really enjoy coming here and I think that it is really neat that they have a place for the youth to hang out in a positive atmosphere. Lastly, I have been working in one of the local schools called the Howard-Effingham School. This school is made up of about 2,000 students and is a combined middle school and high school; however the different grade levels have their own section. During lunch time, we run a Christian based group called the Fish Thing. The Fish Thing focuses on how we can incorporate God into our daily lives and we also discuss some of the major issues that the youth are encountering and struggling with in their lives. I am excited to be able to experience the school setting as a Youth Worker and gain a new perspective aside from the teacher and student perspective I have already experienced.
Also below are pictures of some fun things that I have done since I have been here.
Meeting the King Henry VIII at Hampton Court Palace
Outside Buckingham Palace—so beautiful and big!
Big Ben!
Hope you are able to get a little taste of what life has been like for me in the UK this past month! Thank you all for your support, it truly means a lot to me!
