Looking Back

Well this will most likely be my last post from Wales seeing as how we leave for our debrief time at a nearby coastal city tomorrow and then will only be back in Cardiff for a few hrs on Sunday before flying out on Monday! I can't believe my time here is already over! I feel like I just got here and there's so much more that I want to do but at the same time I think back on everything that has happened and it blows my mind that all of it could happen in just 6 weeks! Father is so good and He has done so much in and through me and my team this summer it is unbelievable!

As I try and think back over the past week or so since I've posted I don't even know where to begin to tell you what has happened! Our group of One-Week students came and my group was amazing! They were so mature and focused on doing Father's work I was blown away! Their boldness and inhibitions about going up and talking to people continuously amazed me and Father blessed their diligence. There were so many seeds planted in our area and in the other 4 areas it was incredible! I wish I could just sit and tell you story after story of students following the promptings of the HS to engage people in conversation and how Father blessed those conversations and the obedience that was rampant throughout the entire group! For me personally, at the beginning of the week I felt a little overwhelmed by the responsibility of leading this group of 8 around the city and making sure I had a plan and was keeping all of them safe and focused that I didn't really get to engage in many conversations myself. But as the week wore on and I realized that I really could trust not only these girls to do what they were supposed to but that I could trust Father to take care of them even when I couldn't I really got to see Father use me in the lives of the people of Cardiff and not just in the lives of the girls in my group.

If I had to pick just one story to tell it would have to be of a group of homeless people we built relationships with over the past week. All summer I don't remember seeing them in the park when we've been in there but the week that our students were here someone saw them and at least pred for them every day. The thing is that we didn't put together that we'd all been pring for the same group until the 4th day of the trip! On the 3rd day we sent some girls outside the park to walk around the outside of the nearby castle where many "troubled teens" like to hang out in  groups and engage in less than moral activities. Two of our girls really felt Father calling them to talk to these 2 men playing a game with a tennis ball on the castle wall and a woman that was sleeping next to them. So they engaged in conversation and realized that one of the men was fairly knowledgable in the Word and had some really good questions. They talked for quite a while until the woman woke up and freaked out that her boyfriend was talking to 2 girls and told him not to talk about JC anymore and made him end the conversation. So the next day we see the same people plus a couple more sitting inside the park and that was when it clicked with one of the girls that we had seen this same group all week so 3 of us went up and talked with them for quite a while. Again the same guy had a substantial knowledge of the Faith and admitted to growing up in the Church of England but lost his faith because of life situations. We again talked to him for several minutes and answered as many questions as we could. Then his girlfriend again freaked out and he had to leave. But part of the conversation included us taking out the Word and asked him if we gave him a copy if he would read it and he said he would be interested in that. So the next day after the One Weekers left a group of JSIs went back to the park looking for them. We gave them some food and water and again spiritual conversation came up. At this point we all split up and got to talk to all 5 of the men hanging out together while the same girl slept. Father had doors flying open left and right and we got to give them our extra copies of the Word and we shared the Message with all of them! They all promised to and were very excited about reading the Word and we are planning on going back to talk to them again before we leave to follow up.

Yesterday we went to London for the day and it was incredible to get to see all these places that I have dreamed of seeing for years now! We also went to go see Wicked the musical and it was wonderful to get to share that with my teammates and one of my friends from Baylor that is at Oxford this summer met us there to see it with us! It was so encouraging and refreshing just to get to hug the neck of someone from home and hear someone else say "Sic Em" as a expression of excitement again! haha!

Of course that is only one story of the wonderful things Father did in the past week! We also got to share the Message with our cupcake friend and we will be seeing her again on Sunday when we plan on giving her a copy of the Word from our entire team. Please be pring for that conversation as she will just be getting back from her grandfather's funeral and we need to be the best friends we can be to her and show her Father's love through our friendship. We head to the Gower tomorrow for debrief and I am excited to really hash through and reflect on all Father has been teaching me and really make plans on how I take what I've learned and implement it into every day life. I am so excited!

Thank you all for your support and prs throughout this entire summer! I know that none of this would have been possible without it! Please continue to pr that we will not loose the M mindset now that we are headed to a new location for a few days and pr that we will be able to wrap up goodbyes well and that Father still isn't done working through us this summer! Also I ask that you continue to pr for me as I come home that I would be able to take what I've learned and live it out in Rowlett and Waco! I will probably try to write one more blog when I get home as a reflection on the summer so be looking for that! Love and prs! Cheerio!