Those of us who were up at 12:03 am on November 20th to welcome in my birthday - the earliest I have ever seen it (because of the time change).
My beautiful flowers - thank you Mom and Dad!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Birthday Pictures
Those of us who were up at 12:03 am on November 20th to welcome in my birthday - the earliest I have ever seen it (because of the time change).My beautiful flowers - thank you Mom and Dad! 
Friday, November 21, 2008
A Saturday Ramble in the Countryside
Wellies are the best things ever invented!
Driving on the left-hand side is starting to make sense to me - scary, I know!
Lovely Louise
You can see Blenheim Palace in the distance.
Helen tried to cross the puddle in her wellies, but couldn't quite make it.
I tried to make friends with the sheep, but Mike ruined my efforts by chasing them.
Back at the guys' house we had curry from the Indian restaurant around the corner and then passed out on the floor (or at least I did - that's me in the blue skirt).It's all going by so fast!
I have started writing two separate blogs in the past few weeks and then waited so long to finish them that I had to start from scratch again. Whew! I can't believe how fast time is going. It sometimes feels like I've been sucked up in a tornado. I think all of us in the college are feeling like that. There is a facebook group for our class and on it we have a section for funny quotes that happen throughout the year. Here is one of my favorites (said while a few of the girls were sitting in McDonalds have a small group meeting):
Sarah: Oh, it's going so fast!
Louise: I know. We just have to enjoy the time together.
Sarah: Oh no, I was meaning my McMuffin.
Yeah, don't know that most of us have had Sarah's experience with a McMuffin (for the record, I have not been into McDonald's since I've been here), but we are feeling that the days are flying by!
We had two weeks on Church History which were so good - although not nearly long enough. I have been challenged so much both intellectually and spiritually. Particularly in the second week, it was amazing to see God doing major work in a lot of us through the stories of men like John Wesley and George Whitefield. It was especially powerful hearing about Smith Wigglesworth on the last day. Our lecturer was originally from the same area as Smith Wigglesworth and had grown up hearing firsthand stories about him from area pastors. After that we ended up scrapping the last hour of our lecture to have some prayer and ministry time. Really powerful stuff - and kind of crazy that it all happened during a Church History week when we didn't even crack open the Bible!
From Tuesday to Thursday this week we were in Derby for a prayer conference with the leaders of Salt & Light churches in the UK. It was a very intense time between fasting on Tuesday and then praying all day Wednesday, but I enjoyed it so much. I was surprised at how easy it was to pray for that length of time. We kept splitting up into different groups to pray for different things, so it was great to get to know people from all over Salt and Light as I prayed with them. A highlight was when one of the pastors assumed that I was Irish - after having heard me pray! Yeah, his hearing must be going or something, but I milked it for all it was worth with the rest of my team because they all wish they could talk in an Irish accent!
One of the reasons that things have been picking up in pace is that we have been given our church placements. I am with two other girls at a church in Wantage, a smaller town about twenty minutes drive from Oxford. I honestly don't think that I could have been put in a better church. The people are so welcoming and friendly and I feel at home with them already - which is good because I will be going there a couple of times a week for a good long while. I also really enjoy the pastor, Neil, and his wife Dee. I am definitely looking forward to spending more time with them!
In our group we have kind of settled down into being one big crazy family. There are always issues to be worked out as we live in community, but we are learning to love each other right through our faults, and sometimes even because of them. Things are messy and exhausting with lots of late night talks and hugs, but it is all part of how we grow.
Oh, and I had a birthday yesterday! Everyone was great about wishing me happy birthday and offering to get me tea/coffee/juice. We were having a training time with a well known evangelist that day, so it was very intense and tiring - not really the kind of day that makes you bounce up and down and say, "yay, it's my birthday", but it was good. We didn't get home until the evening, but I was then surprised by the whole elementary school at TNT singing happy birthday to me on Skype. It made my day! It was also great to talk to my family. We went over to the guys' house to watch Band of Brothers, so I talked to them on Skype from there. It was kind of surreal to be sitting on the floor of the guys' house, opening presents in front of a computer - but it was nice!
Ok, gotta head out! I'll try to post pictures later tonight. Hopefully this makes up for some of my delinquencies in blogging.... :)
Sarah: Oh, it's going so fast!
Louise: I know. We just have to enjoy the time together.
Sarah: Oh no, I was meaning my McMuffin.
Yeah, don't know that most of us have had Sarah's experience with a McMuffin (for the record, I have not been into McDonald's since I've been here), but we are feeling that the days are flying by!
We had two weeks on Church History which were so good - although not nearly long enough. I have been challenged so much both intellectually and spiritually. Particularly in the second week, it was amazing to see God doing major work in a lot of us through the stories of men like John Wesley and George Whitefield. It was especially powerful hearing about Smith Wigglesworth on the last day. Our lecturer was originally from the same area as Smith Wigglesworth and had grown up hearing firsthand stories about him from area pastors. After that we ended up scrapping the last hour of our lecture to have some prayer and ministry time. Really powerful stuff - and kind of crazy that it all happened during a Church History week when we didn't even crack open the Bible!
From Tuesday to Thursday this week we were in Derby for a prayer conference with the leaders of Salt & Light churches in the UK. It was a very intense time between fasting on Tuesday and then praying all day Wednesday, but I enjoyed it so much. I was surprised at how easy it was to pray for that length of time. We kept splitting up into different groups to pray for different things, so it was great to get to know people from all over Salt and Light as I prayed with them. A highlight was when one of the pastors assumed that I was Irish - after having heard me pray! Yeah, his hearing must be going or something, but I milked it for all it was worth with the rest of my team because they all wish they could talk in an Irish accent!
One of the reasons that things have been picking up in pace is that we have been given our church placements. I am with two other girls at a church in Wantage, a smaller town about twenty minutes drive from Oxford. I honestly don't think that I could have been put in a better church. The people are so welcoming and friendly and I feel at home with them already - which is good because I will be going there a couple of times a week for a good long while. I also really enjoy the pastor, Neil, and his wife Dee. I am definitely looking forward to spending more time with them!
In our group we have kind of settled down into being one big crazy family. There are always issues to be worked out as we live in community, but we are learning to love each other right through our faults, and sometimes even because of them. Things are messy and exhausting with lots of late night talks and hugs, but it is all part of how we grow.
Oh, and I had a birthday yesterday! Everyone was great about wishing me happy birthday and offering to get me tea/coffee/juice. We were having a training time with a well known evangelist that day, so it was very intense and tiring - not really the kind of day that makes you bounce up and down and say, "yay, it's my birthday", but it was good. We didn't get home until the evening, but I was then surprised by the whole elementary school at TNT singing happy birthday to me on Skype. It made my day! It was also great to talk to my family. We went over to the guys' house to watch Band of Brothers, so I talked to them on Skype from there. It was kind of surreal to be sitting on the floor of the guys' house, opening presents in front of a computer - but it was nice!
Ok, gotta head out! I'll try to post pictures later tonight. Hopefully this makes up for some of my delinquencies in blogging.... :)
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
It's snowing in Walsall!
Yes, I meant that. Not Warsaw - Walsall. And it really is snowing! Ok, actually I just looked outside and I think it has stopped. But it did snow gigantic flakes for an hour or two and accumulated a couple of inches on the ground. Snow in October would be newsworthy in Massachusetts and is nothing short of amazing in England.
So to backtrack a little, I am in Walsall for reading week, staying with my friend Abby and the family that she is living with this year - Erin and Dan and their 3 boys. Sam and Ethan are twin 6 year olds and Judah is 3. (By the way, the picture is of Ethan as he is walking out the door to go play in the snow.)
~ ~ ~ ~
Ok, I just took a little break to get little Judah into his pajamas, but now I'm back. So as I was saying, I'm here through Thursday and then I go to Gloucester to visit my friend Mike from KBC and then we'll catch the train back to Oxford on Friday. I have to admit that my schedule is not the most conducive to reading, but I am doing the best I can in that department - and having lots of fun in the meantime! Being in a house with little boys is an especial treat and I am trying to soak up as much of the random silliness and cuteness as I possibly can. I am also really enjoying the adults in the house - lots of good talks about books and economic systems and just processing stuff from Bible college.
Ok, it's almost dinner time and the bedlam in the kitchen is reaching a fevered pitch, so I'm going to stop for now. More will come later!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
American Culture - I'm spreading it like the plague!
Just a quick post while I stand in our kitchen, waiting for my cookies to cool...
So for all of you people back home, yes I am keeping track of the Sox (and holding my breath tonight - well not literally, because I'll be asleep by the time the game starts) On Monday night the game started at 4:37 EST - so it was 9:37 our time instead of 1am like it has been for all the other games. One of the guys here was able to get the game on his computer by some miracle of downloading (he says it's legal...) so I was able to watch the first few innings. I was surprised at how nice it was to see Fenway Park again - a little taste of home! I was literally bouncing up and down. :) I spent most of the time trying to explain baseball to the British guys, but was paying enough attention to see Lester give up 5 runs. Yeah, not the best innings to watch - but I am glad I got to see some.
Along the sports line, on Saturday a group of us played American football and I got a huge ego boost when I discovered that I can throw better spirals than the British guys. Not farther, but better! Thank you Ben Creisher for teaching me how to throw a spiral one recess back in 10th grade!
My last little bit of American culture is that I just made a ton of Snickerdoodles! I have already won the girls in my house over to believe that Snickerdoodles really are the best cookie ever created. I am going to bring the rest over to the guys' house where we are having dinner tonight and hopefully spread the love a little more. Muhahahaha!!! Just a little less distinction between England and America!
So for all of you people back home, yes I am keeping track of the Sox (and holding my breath tonight - well not literally, because I'll be asleep by the time the game starts) On Monday night the game started at 4:37 EST - so it was 9:37 our time instead of 1am like it has been for all the other games. One of the guys here was able to get the game on his computer by some miracle of downloading (he says it's legal...) so I was able to watch the first few innings. I was surprised at how nice it was to see Fenway Park again - a little taste of home! I was literally bouncing up and down. :) I spent most of the time trying to explain baseball to the British guys, but was paying enough attention to see Lester give up 5 runs. Yeah, not the best innings to watch - but I am glad I got to see some.
Along the sports line, on Saturday a group of us played American football and I got a huge ego boost when I discovered that I can throw better spirals than the British guys. Not farther, but better! Thank you Ben Creisher for teaching me how to throw a spiral one recess back in 10th grade!
My last little bit of American culture is that I just made a ton of Snickerdoodles! I have already won the girls in my house over to believe that Snickerdoodles really are the best cookie ever created. I am going to bring the rest over to the guys' house where we are having dinner tonight and hopefully spread the love a little more. Muhahahaha!!! Just a little less distinction between England and America!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Kurds and Cooking
It is definitely time for another blog. If I don't write one soon, I won't be able to remember everything that has happened. Actually, things are already kind of fuzzy from last week. I actually have no idea what I did Tuesday night. And I thought my memory would get better once I stopped working nights...
So the highlight of lectures last week would have to be Tom Sine coming. He talked about different ways that churches are rethinking what they are focused on and how they interact with the community. He also talked about Christians living more in community (not communes!), for economic, environmental and spiritual reasons. He did some quoting of Shane Claiborne (for anyone who has read The Irresistible Revolution). He also encouraged us to do a lot of brainstorming for ways that we could do things differently after we get out of KBC. In some ways this lecture would have fit more into the third term of our course, but I think it was a good thing to have it now because it got us thinking about how we can practically apply things that we are learning.
Tom was with us on Thursday and then Friday after lectures I drove up to Derby with Daniella, one of the other students who is from Derby. (By the way, Derby is pronounced "Darby", although no one could give a good reason for why they say it that way!) We stayed in the house that Dani had lived in before she came to KBC - and it was amazing! The giant three story house is owned by Adam and Karina who are the pastors of the International Salt and Light Church in Derby (as opposed the regular Salt and Light church in Derby which is much bigger and meets in a regular church building.) Also in the house are Adam and Karina's three kids, a young married couple (the husband is an American!), a girl who is working with the international church, and a young Iranian guy who is doing a discipleship program with the larger Derby church. Actually, those people are just the current permanent residents. There is also a constant flow of missionaries who are home on sebatical or people like us who are just passing through for a night or two. I love how Adam and Karina will just welcome anyone into the house. It is such a homey atmosphere and they don't seem to stress about anything. Billy, the American guy, was telling me that one night a week before there were 18 people in the house - with only one shower because the other one was broken. Incidently, 5 out of the 6 adults in the house are former YWAMers so they know how to live in those types of conditions!
The house is in a highly Middle Eastern neighborhood - specifically a very Kurdish area. I loved watching how all of the people in that house have become a part of that community. The night that we got there, Adam and Karina went with their kids to visit a new family on the street (I think the family was Iranian, but I could be remembering wrong). Adam ended up sitting down with local mosque committee and telling them a parable. Then Saturday night a Muslim Jordanian couple was over the house. It was amazing to see how you can be cross-cultural missionaries without ever leaving the western world!
Here are some highlights of the weekend: On Saturday night we were hanging out in the living room having an impromptu worship service. (We were singing OLD songs from this book in which the titles were written in a type of Arabic - so it was a constant guessing game of name that tune!) Then a missionary couple who were spending the night came home. Food was brought out and port was poured. We were passing around pieces of nan bread (which is a flat bread, almost like pita bread except better and without a pocket), when Adam was like, "Well, we might as well have communion while we're at it!" So we prayed and had communion with the port and nan bread. I loved it! Another highlight was getting to spend time with Tasha, the single girl who lives there. She is a good friend of Dani and also of some other people here at KBC - and she is so great! On Sunday we went out with Tasha and a couple of her friends to Kurdish Kabbob restaurant. If you ever have a chance to eat Kurdish food, jump at it! My goal is now to learn to cook like that. :)
Speaking of cooking, we have community lunch for all of the staff and students every Thursday and today I led the group which did the cooking. That in and of itself is kind of funny because I have spent the last month saying, "I hope that when I'm on community lunch there is someone in the group who really knows what they're doing." Well, I guess that person was me! Our group was generally inexperienced in cooking, although I did recruit my little brother Mike who can cook and was a great help (good job, Mike's mom!) So we made lasagna and this banana cake with chocolate chips for desert. Everything came together and I think people enjoyed it. It was kind of hard to tell myself, because I was too busy to really taste the food I was eating - and I was pretty sick of it after looking at it for so long. The banana cake didn't fully cook in the center, so we tried to just pass out pieces from the outer edge and people didn't seem to mind. We also accidently put in double the amount of salt than there was supposed to be in the cake batter (lack of communication between several cooks). I did have a dream last night that I was explaining to Simon and Gaynor, our principal and his wife, why the cake tasted salty - but thankfully my dream did not come true and you couldn't really notice the extra salt. I was completely exhausted by the time we were done, but it was a good experience and my group was so great!
Ok, gotta take a nap now. I am really looking forward to resting this weekend and hopefully will be able to write about lectures this week. Lots of good stuff to think about!
~ Hannah
So the highlight of lectures last week would have to be Tom Sine coming. He talked about different ways that churches are rethinking what they are focused on and how they interact with the community. He also talked about Christians living more in community (not communes!), for economic, environmental and spiritual reasons. He did some quoting of Shane Claiborne (for anyone who has read The Irresistible Revolution). He also encouraged us to do a lot of brainstorming for ways that we could do things differently after we get out of KBC. In some ways this lecture would have fit more into the third term of our course, but I think it was a good thing to have it now because it got us thinking about how we can practically apply things that we are learning.
Tom was with us on Thursday and then Friday after lectures I drove up to Derby with Daniella, one of the other students who is from Derby. (By the way, Derby is pronounced "Darby", although no one could give a good reason for why they say it that way!) We stayed in the house that Dani had lived in before she came to KBC - and it was amazing! The giant three story house is owned by Adam and Karina who are the pastors of the International Salt and Light Church in Derby (as opposed the regular Salt and Light church in Derby which is much bigger and meets in a regular church building.) Also in the house are Adam and Karina's three kids, a young married couple (the husband is an American!), a girl who is working with the international church, and a young Iranian guy who is doing a discipleship program with the larger Derby church. Actually, those people are just the current permanent residents. There is also a constant flow of missionaries who are home on sebatical or people like us who are just passing through for a night or two. I love how Adam and Karina will just welcome anyone into the house. It is such a homey atmosphere and they don't seem to stress about anything. Billy, the American guy, was telling me that one night a week before there were 18 people in the house - with only one shower because the other one was broken. Incidently, 5 out of the 6 adults in the house are former YWAMers so they know how to live in those types of conditions!
The house is in a highly Middle Eastern neighborhood - specifically a very Kurdish area. I loved watching how all of the people in that house have become a part of that community. The night that we got there, Adam and Karina went with their kids to visit a new family on the street (I think the family was Iranian, but I could be remembering wrong). Adam ended up sitting down with local mosque committee and telling them a parable. Then Saturday night a Muslim Jordanian couple was over the house. It was amazing to see how you can be cross-cultural missionaries without ever leaving the western world!
Here are some highlights of the weekend: On Saturday night we were hanging out in the living room having an impromptu worship service. (We were singing OLD songs from this book in which the titles were written in a type of Arabic - so it was a constant guessing game of name that tune!) Then a missionary couple who were spending the night came home. Food was brought out and port was poured. We were passing around pieces of nan bread (which is a flat bread, almost like pita bread except better and without a pocket), when Adam was like, "Well, we might as well have communion while we're at it!" So we prayed and had communion with the port and nan bread. I loved it! Another highlight was getting to spend time with Tasha, the single girl who lives there. She is a good friend of Dani and also of some other people here at KBC - and she is so great! On Sunday we went out with Tasha and a couple of her friends to Kurdish Kabbob restaurant. If you ever have a chance to eat Kurdish food, jump at it! My goal is now to learn to cook like that. :)
Speaking of cooking, we have community lunch for all of the staff and students every Thursday and today I led the group which did the cooking. That in and of itself is kind of funny because I have spent the last month saying, "I hope that when I'm on community lunch there is someone in the group who really knows what they're doing." Well, I guess that person was me! Our group was generally inexperienced in cooking, although I did recruit my little brother Mike who can cook and was a great help (good job, Mike's mom!) So we made lasagna and this banana cake with chocolate chips for desert. Everything came together and I think people enjoyed it. It was kind of hard to tell myself, because I was too busy to really taste the food I was eating - and I was pretty sick of it after looking at it for so long. The banana cake didn't fully cook in the center, so we tried to just pass out pieces from the outer edge and people didn't seem to mind. We also accidently put in double the amount of salt than there was supposed to be in the cake batter (lack of communication between several cooks). I did have a dream last night that I was explaining to Simon and Gaynor, our principal and his wife, why the cake tasted salty - but thankfully my dream did not come true and you couldn't really notice the extra salt. I was completely exhausted by the time we were done, but it was a good experience and my group was so great!
Ok, gotta take a nap now. I am really looking forward to resting this weekend and hopefully will be able to write about lectures this week. Lots of good stuff to think about!
~ Hannah
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Off for the Weekend
Hey guys!
Just a quick post to let people know that I will be gone for the weekend at a Salt and Light worship conference. I won't be back until Sunday afternoon and may not be skype-able until Monday.
By the way, we had a guy named Tom Sine speak yesterday. Really, really good stuff, although our brains are all about to explode from the influx of new ideas and ways of thinking. He is getting people to re-think a lot about how we do Church and Christian community. Good stuff. I haven't read any of his books yet, but I plan to and I would recommend other people to also (yes Dad, that means you - you know you want to!)
Ok, gotta polish off my exegesis steps which are due today. Not much more to do!
Just a quick post to let people know that I will be gone for the weekend at a Salt and Light worship conference. I won't be back until Sunday afternoon and may not be skype-able until Monday.
By the way, we had a guy named Tom Sine speak yesterday. Really, really good stuff, although our brains are all about to explode from the influx of new ideas and ways of thinking. He is getting people to re-think a lot about how we do Church and Christian community. Good stuff. I haven't read any of his books yet, but I plan to and I would recommend other people to also (yes Dad, that means you - you know you want to!)
Ok, gotta polish off my exegesis steps which are due today. Not much more to do!
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