During the month of March I have been participating in an Alpha course at my church. Before coming to England I had heard of churches running Alpha courses, but I didn't actually know what an Alpha course was all about until recently. Alpha courses are designed for people who are non Christians, but want to learn more about the basics of Christianity and what being a Christian means. However, there are people who are Christians, that are a part of the course to help facilitate groups in discussions and also be there as a mentor for people as they begin their faith journey.
Each Wednesday night, about 30 of us meet in the church hall to have a meal together, listen to a speaker, and have small group discussions over the talk. We gather around the table for a meal and then engage in teachings and discussions about Christianity, just like Jesus did with his disciples. I think that it is a great idea that each week we all have a meal together, because it helps build community amongst the group. Also, the discussions provide an opportunity to explore a little bit deeper on the topic discussed. The discussions have personally really helped me to confirm what I believe in and why I have chosen to be a Christian.
Having the opportunity to participate in this course has been really cool for me. Since August, I have come a long way with my relationship with God. I am a lot more confident about my Christian faith and sharing it with others. Many of the things that are taught in the Alpha sessions are reinforcing what I have already learned in Sunday school and Confirmation classes that I attended at my home church when I was younger. However, without having this foundational teaching I would not feel confident to be challenged about my faith, and I believe this helps to strengthen my relationship with God.
I have enjoyed taking the Alpha course and helping guide others along on their faith journey. There have been a few people who have been a part of the Alpha course who have now decided that they want to become Christians. It is amazing to see the change that has been made in these people since they have decided this. They are now regularly attending church, making better lifestyle choices, looking into being Baptized in the near future, and just seem filled with new life. Seeing the impact that God can have on people's lives is incredible. It has really showed me how powerful the love of God is.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Naturally Supernatural
Recently I attended a conference called Naturally Supernatural with a few other youth workers. The main focus of this conference was to learn more about the Holy Spirit and the importance of allowing ourselves to be open to Him on a daily basis. I was a little nervous to attend this conference because I knew that I was going to be taken out of my comfort zone for the four days of the conference.
At the conference, we spent a lot of time waiting on the Holy Spirit to do what He wanted to do. We would wait in silence until the Holy Spirit started to move and rest upon people. I didn't know what to expect, this is the first time that I had ever waited on the Holy Spirit. At first, I felt very uncomfortable, especially because I was nervous that the Holy Spirit was going to rest on me and make me do things like shake or fall to the ground crying, which I didn't want happening to me. I believe that the Holy Spirit is present in my everyday life, but I am not sitting around waiting for Him to rest upon me. Some of the people that I was with could tell that I was nervous and anxious about the Holy Spirit resting on me. They told me to just relax and that the Holy Spirit is a gentleman and won't force anything upon me that I didn't want to happen. After hearing this, I allowed myself to relax and to take in more of what was happening around me.
Each time after worship was the time when the Holy Spirit would be invited to come and rest upon people. At first, the church was silent and after about 2-3 minutes, people would start showing signs of the Holy Spirit resting upon them. Some of these signs include: rocking back and forth, shaking, singing, and speaking in tongues. Once the Holy Spirit started resting upon people they would be invited to the front for prayer. People of the congregation would be invited to the front to pray for these people, especially if they felt that God wanted to share a word or picture with one of them. I was surprised to see how many people would go to the front and pray for a complete stranger. Then I realized that even though we view ourselves as strangers, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. God loves each and everyone of us the same and through his love we are able to love and pray for one another.
Each church community that I have been blessed to be a part of has been a very strong support system for me. There have been times that I have forgotten this, but the church community has always been there to remind me that I am not alone and that I am loved. We are all different and unique in our own ways. There are people who will never be able to understand one another, but when we all come together to worship and praise God that doesn't matter, we are able to put our differences aside for this time. The love of God is lived out in the church community and this really stood out to me at this conference.
Even though I was out of my comfort zone throughout the conference, I was comfortable with it. I was never pushed into doing anything that I didn't want to do, but I was still able to spend time with God. Also, this conference helped me to grow in my relationship with God and gave me a better understanding about the Holy Spirit.
At the conference, we spent a lot of time waiting on the Holy Spirit to do what He wanted to do. We would wait in silence until the Holy Spirit started to move and rest upon people. I didn't know what to expect, this is the first time that I had ever waited on the Holy Spirit. At first, I felt very uncomfortable, especially because I was nervous that the Holy Spirit was going to rest on me and make me do things like shake or fall to the ground crying, which I didn't want happening to me. I believe that the Holy Spirit is present in my everyday life, but I am not sitting around waiting for Him to rest upon me. Some of the people that I was with could tell that I was nervous and anxious about the Holy Spirit resting on me. They told me to just relax and that the Holy Spirit is a gentleman and won't force anything upon me that I didn't want to happen. After hearing this, I allowed myself to relax and to take in more of what was happening around me.
Each time after worship was the time when the Holy Spirit would be invited to come and rest upon people. At first, the church was silent and after about 2-3 minutes, people would start showing signs of the Holy Spirit resting upon them. Some of these signs include: rocking back and forth, shaking, singing, and speaking in tongues. Once the Holy Spirit started resting upon people they would be invited to the front for prayer. People of the congregation would be invited to the front to pray for these people, especially if they felt that God wanted to share a word or picture with one of them. I was surprised to see how many people would go to the front and pray for a complete stranger. Then I realized that even though we view ourselves as strangers, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. God loves each and everyone of us the same and through his love we are able to love and pray for one another.
Each church community that I have been blessed to be a part of has been a very strong support system for me. There have been times that I have forgotten this, but the church community has always been there to remind me that I am not alone and that I am loved. We are all different and unique in our own ways. There are people who will never be able to understand one another, but when we all come together to worship and praise God that doesn't matter, we are able to put our differences aside for this time. The love of God is lived out in the church community and this really stood out to me at this conference.
Even though I was out of my comfort zone throughout the conference, I was comfortable with it. I was never pushed into doing anything that I didn't want to do, but I was still able to spend time with God. Also, this conference helped me to grow in my relationship with God and gave me a better understanding about the Holy Spirit.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Soulnet
This past weekend I went to a youth workers retreat in Nottingham called Soulnet. It was a lot of fun to be able to have a weekend where I could relax and hang out with the other youth workers that are based in my area. We stayed at a resort called Center Parcs, which was located in the middle of Sherwood Forest (aka where Robin Hood lived), the scenery was beautiful! We had a lot of free time during the weekend, but we also had the opportunity to attend worship services and inspirational but informative sessions on youth work.
One of my favorite parts of the weekend was attending the worship services. I really enjoy how openly and freely people worship here in the United Kingdom
Many of the churches that I have attended back in the States have more traditional services rather than contemporary services. The church that I am a member of back home does have one contemporary service, but this contemporary service is very similar to many of the traditional services that I have attended here in the United Kingdom Bookham Baptist Church
I had an amazing time this weekend at Soulnet and it was great to be able to deepen my relationship with God and spend time with the other youth workers. I feel refreshed and inspired to make the most out of my last six months as a youth worker for Bookham Baptist Church
Fun Fact: It finally properly snowed here in the UK
A few of us hanging out at Center Parcs!
Monday, January 30, 2012
New Year and New Opportunities
At the beginning of the New Year there were some changes made in my position as a youth worker. Before the New Year I was leading a group of 11-14 year old girls called the Tribettes. Recently, I have handed my leadership over to one of the volunteer youth workers from the church and have begun to lead a group of 15 and 16 year old boys. I have been leading this group of boys for about a month now and I am really enjoy it! I meet with the boys each Friday night where we do a variety of activities such as playing football (soccer), watching a film, and even baking. The focus of Friday night is building community amongst the group of youth. I meet with this same group of boys on Sunday mornings along with a couple of girls in this age range where the focus is on learning about God. We have just finished learning about and discussing the 10 commandments. Each time that the youth met on Sunday mornings, we dedicated that session to one of the 10 commandments. The discussions that the youth engage in are incredible. For example, a few Sundays ago we were learning about the Second Commandment, you shall not have any idols, and the youth starting discussing what an idol was. We decided that an idol is anything that we put above spending time with God. From there the discussion led to whether and Ipad, a mobile phone, or Facebook was considered a idol, because those are all things that people spend a lot more time using than spending time with God. It was a great discussion and I was very impressed with the amount of depth the youth were able to look into this commandment with. So far, each of the sessions that I have done with the youth have involved discussions that go more in depth about the topic rather than just revolving around the surface questions and statements. This is helping both the youth and myself grow in our faith, but also challenge ourselves to think more critically about the bible and our relationship with God. I am looking forward to the future activities and discussions with this group of most boys and a few girls that I will be able to be a part of. Everything has been falling into place so far and I hope that this continues to keep happening!
Friday, December 30, 2011
Christmas Crackers, Christmas Pudding, A Wonderful UK Christmas
This year was the first Christmas that I would not be celebrating at home with my family. When I accepted to join the YAGM program, I knew this, but it wasn't until the holiday decorations started appearing and Christmas music was being played all around that it hit me that I really would not be spending Christmas with my family back in the United States. However, I knew that I would be spending Christmas with my family in the United Kingdom, the Clements and the Lu families, and I couldn't wait to see what was in store for me!
The Christmas celebrations started on Christmas Eve. On the afternoon of Christmas Eve I went to the Lu's house to do some baking. Since the pumpkin pie was such a big hit at Thanksgiving we decided to make it for Christmas to! This time around we were not able to find any pumpkin in the stores so we used butternut squash, which surprisingly turned out to taste very similar to pumpkin, and instead of making just one pie we made three and delivered the extras to other families in the village. It was a lot of fun! Then, I went to the Clements's house for dinner, followed by going to a few different Christmas Eve parties hosted by some friends of ours, then heading to the midnight candlelight church service. After the service I went back home with the Lu family to spend the night with them. Before heading to bed we decided to try our pumpkin pie we made earlier in the day, and it was delicious! Just before going to bed I received a phone call from my family back in America to wish me a Merry Christmas, it was great to be able to talk to them for a few minutes before it was time for bed!
On Christmas morning I woke up to stockings from Santa by my bed. It was an amazing surprise that I didn't expect at all. I am so thankful that I have been blessed with amazing families who have welcomed me into their homes and lives. Once we opened our stockings and presents it was time to get to work preparing our Christmas meal. It was time to stuff the turkey, cut the veg, and make sure everything was prepared for the meal. Once the table was filled with food, it was time to eat, but first we did the Christmas crackers, of course. I had never heard of Christmas crackers before this year, so for those of you who are like me and don't know what they are let me try to explain. The best way I can think to describe them is that they look like a giant tootsie roll. You hold on to one end of the cracker and give the other end to the person sitting next to you. You each pull in the opposite direction and a popping sound is made and the cracker is opened. Inside there is a paper hat, a small present, and a joke or an interesting fact. The paper hats are worn throughout the meal and the jokes make for a great laugh at the table. Once we stuffed ourselves full with food, it was time to take a break and play some games before Christmas pudding. Before we ate the Christmas pudding, we lit it on fire to burn the Brandy into it. I thought that this was pretty neat! We spent the rest of the night playing more games, eating sweets, and watching movies. I had an amazing Christmas and I am very thankful that these two wonderful families let me be apart of their Christmas day!
Christmas celebrations were not over yet! The 26th of December is a bank holiday and is also known as Boxing Day. I would compare this day to Black Friday in the United States. There are amazing sales that happen this day, but it is also a day where many people continue to celebrate Christmas with their family. I spent Boxing Day with the Lu family and their extended family. Once again we ate lots of food, but this time we decided to take a walk afterwards to burn off some of the calories that we had taken in the past few days. I enjoyed being able to spend the day with the Lu's and their family!
This year my Christmas was different than what I am used to, but it was definitely a great time! There are some British traditions that I have been able to experience, which I would love to continue to be a part of my future Christmas celebrations.
I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas!
Happy New Year! :)
The Christmas celebrations started on Christmas Eve. On the afternoon of Christmas Eve I went to the Lu's house to do some baking. Since the pumpkin pie was such a big hit at Thanksgiving we decided to make it for Christmas to! This time around we were not able to find any pumpkin in the stores so we used butternut squash, which surprisingly turned out to taste very similar to pumpkin, and instead of making just one pie we made three and delivered the extras to other families in the village. It was a lot of fun! Then, I went to the Clements's house for dinner, followed by going to a few different Christmas Eve parties hosted by some friends of ours, then heading to the midnight candlelight church service. After the service I went back home with the Lu family to spend the night with them. Before heading to bed we decided to try our pumpkin pie we made earlier in the day, and it was delicious! Just before going to bed I received a phone call from my family back in America to wish me a Merry Christmas, it was great to be able to talk to them for a few minutes before it was time for bed!
On Christmas morning I woke up to stockings from Santa by my bed. It was an amazing surprise that I didn't expect at all. I am so thankful that I have been blessed with amazing families who have welcomed me into their homes and lives. Once we opened our stockings and presents it was time to get to work preparing our Christmas meal. It was time to stuff the turkey, cut the veg, and make sure everything was prepared for the meal. Once the table was filled with food, it was time to eat, but first we did the Christmas crackers, of course. I had never heard of Christmas crackers before this year, so for those of you who are like me and don't know what they are let me try to explain. The best way I can think to describe them is that they look like a giant tootsie roll. You hold on to one end of the cracker and give the other end to the person sitting next to you. You each pull in the opposite direction and a popping sound is made and the cracker is opened. Inside there is a paper hat, a small present, and a joke or an interesting fact. The paper hats are worn throughout the meal and the jokes make for a great laugh at the table. Once we stuffed ourselves full with food, it was time to take a break and play some games before Christmas pudding. Before we ate the Christmas pudding, we lit it on fire to burn the Brandy into it. I thought that this was pretty neat! We spent the rest of the night playing more games, eating sweets, and watching movies. I had an amazing Christmas and I am very thankful that these two wonderful families let me be apart of their Christmas day!
Christmas celebrations were not over yet! The 26th of December is a bank holiday and is also known as Boxing Day. I would compare this day to Black Friday in the United States. There are amazing sales that happen this day, but it is also a day where many people continue to celebrate Christmas with their family. I spent Boxing Day with the Lu family and their extended family. Once again we ate lots of food, but this time we decided to take a walk afterwards to burn off some of the calories that we had taken in the past few days. I enjoyed being able to spend the day with the Lu's and their family!
This year my Christmas was different than what I am used to, but it was definitely a great time! There are some British traditions that I have been able to experience, which I would love to continue to be a part of my future Christmas celebrations.
I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas!
Happy New Year! :)
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
A UK Thanksgiving
My day started off at 5:00 am the morning of Thanksgiving. I woke up and put on my Hunter Wellies and trench coat. Then I grabbed my shotgun and headed out to the rural country side of Surrey. There I perched myself among the morning residue reeds (tall grass) and waited patiently for my prey. Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang; rang out my shotgun. With a shock look on my face, I went to claim the turkey that would become our part of the meal. After carrying the turkey across my shoulder for several miles, I finally reached my destination. I hastily went to the west wing of the house to prepare the succulent beast. I plucked the turkey feather by feather until it was bare naked. Then I reached down and grabbed my dagger out of my Hunter Wellies and with rapid speed the turkey was gutted. Now it was time to wander out to the garden to grab herbs and vegetables to make the home-made stuffing. I hastily prepared the stuffing and then punched it into the turkey. Due to the turkey’s massive size, it would not fit in the oven, so I had to roast it on a stick over the fire. Thank goodness for my gardener Harold and my maid Dorothy who helped me throughout the day. They prepared the veg and mash, because there just wasn't enough time for me to do this during the day.
With the banquet table all laid out and prepared for fine dining, I gathered my British subjects in the banquet room and the feast began. Soon the turkey was stripped to the bone and our stomachs were extremely full, but of course we could make room for the delicious home-made pumpkin pie. Yes, I made my first home-made pumpkin pie, let me tell you about it. To make this possible, one of the first things that I made sure to do when I got here was plant some pumpkin seeds in the garden, so that I would have ripe pumpkins for my Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. After months of tending to the pumpkins they were picked, carved, and pureed. Then cinnamon, ginger, crème fresh, brown sugar, eggs, and a pinch of salt were all mixed together with the pumpkin. Finally the mixture was poured into the biscuit based crust and put in the oven to bake. After an hour of waiting, the pumpkin pie was served hot with tasty brandy cream. The night ended with games such as Uno and consequence along with lots of fun and laughter. I am so thankful for the wonderful Lu Family who I was able to spend Thanksgiving with this year!
I did have a wonderful Thanksgiving this year, but it may not have been exactly like how I described it in the story above, but hope you did enjoy reading it! Many thanks to the Lu family for helping me write my story about my Thanksgiving this year! It is true that I did make my first home-made pumpkin pie though!
I am so thankful for the amazing friends and family that I have in my life, both here in the UK and in the USA.
With the banquet table all laid out and prepared for fine dining, I gathered my British subjects in the banquet room and the feast began. Soon the turkey was stripped to the bone and our stomachs were extremely full, but of course we could make room for the delicious home-made pumpkin pie. Yes, I made my first home-made pumpkin pie, let me tell you about it. To make this possible, one of the first things that I made sure to do when I got here was plant some pumpkin seeds in the garden, so that I would have ripe pumpkins for my Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. After months of tending to the pumpkins they were picked, carved, and pureed. Then cinnamon, ginger, crème fresh, brown sugar, eggs, and a pinch of salt were all mixed together with the pumpkin. Finally the mixture was poured into the biscuit based crust and put in the oven to bake. After an hour of waiting, the pumpkin pie was served hot with tasty brandy cream. The night ended with games such as Uno and consequence along with lots of fun and laughter. I am so thankful for the wonderful Lu Family who I was able to spend Thanksgiving with this year!
I did have a wonderful Thanksgiving this year, but it may not have been exactly like how I described it in the story above, but hope you did enjoy reading it! Many thanks to the Lu family for helping me write my story about my Thanksgiving this year! It is true that I did make my first home-made pumpkin pie though!
I am so thankful for the amazing friends and family that I have in my life, both here in the UK and in the USA.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
The Poor Will Not Always Be With Us
This past weekend, I went to Eastbourne for a youth work conference. It was an amazing weekend with great sessions and inspirational speakers. One of the speakers was an American named Scott Todd. Scott has a passion for working to end extreme poverty in the world, and to make people more aware of what they can do to help end extreme poverty. One of the ways in which he has done this is by helping with the creation of 58: The Film. This film confronts the brutality of extreme poverty and shares with the viewer those people who live out the True Fast of Isaiah 58 and create stunning new possibilities for the future. 58: The Film allows the viewer to see the relentlessly loving God at work through His Church bringing hope to the darkest challenges of our day. As I was listening to Scott, I felt so inspired. I want to be a person who can make a difference like him. Then I thought to myself, only in my dreams do I have the money to start a non-profit organization or travel around the world donating my time and money to help improve the lives of those in extreme poverty. These thoughts were stopped when Scott spoke these words, "Even something as small as providing a small amount of funding to a child through the Compassion Organization or buying fair-trade goods does make a difference and has an impact on the goal of ending extreme poverty". This was a great reminder to me that there are little things that can still have a big impact. Since I have been here there are times where I feel like I need to be doing more. I am thankful for the amazing people that I work with here, who assure me that I am making a difference, even if there are times when I feel like I am not. I have learned that even though I can't see the impact that I have had here, doesn't mean that I have made no impact on the community of Bookham Baptist Church.
Sponsoring a child in extreme poverty will definitely make an impact and change that child's life. Our youth group is now looking into sponsoring one or two children in the New Year. We want to show the youth that they can make a difference in the world and we want them to be inspired to take action.
Just a fun fact for you! Did you know that in the 1981 52% of the world's population was living in extreme poverty and today it is 26%. In a generation, we cut the percentage of people living in extreme poverty in half! This just goes to show that we can be the change and make a difference in the world!
Below I have posted a talk by Scott Todd. Please take a look at it! It is very eye opening and inspirational!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uZV90fsoCY
I know that this post consists of many random thoughts, but I just thought I would share with you the many things that are on my mind! :)
Sponsoring a child in extreme poverty will definitely make an impact and change that child's life. Our youth group is now looking into sponsoring one or two children in the New Year. We want to show the youth that they can make a difference in the world and we want them to be inspired to take action.
Just a fun fact for you! Did you know that in the 1981 52% of the world's population was living in extreme poverty and today it is 26%. In a generation, we cut the percentage of people living in extreme poverty in half! This just goes to show that we can be the change and make a difference in the world!
Below I have posted a talk by Scott Todd. Please take a look at it! It is very eye opening and inspirational!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uZV90fsoCY
I know that this post consists of many random thoughts, but I just thought I would share with you the many things that are on my mind! :)
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