Over the weekend...

So to update:

Here i am in Bognor Regis (bog is another word for toilet, so in spite of how beautiful it is here, some look down on the town due to it's name). I've been asked to stay on to further explore a role with the church (which is good considering my flight home was Friday, 2 days ago!)
Friday was a low key day here at the Morris' house. It was raining and i didn't get out at all. Saturday was different: Sunny and a darn good day to head off to see the D-Day museum over in Portsmouth. It was a bit of a longer train ride than I expected, but oh well. I got there and went over to the museum straight away and had a really nice time.

I really like WWII history. I think it's a fascinating era, and what the world had to live through was really hard. To see it from Englands perspective was even more dramatic (nightly bombing raids by the germans and facing the threat of invasion for years on end while the Battle of Britan raged in the skies above). Thankfully the Germans never achieved their goal of owning the skies over England, so when the Americans arrived there was quite the anticipation of the tide turning.

The museum told a lot of what life was like for the English living with war on their doorstep. I was amazed at all the artifacts and things preserved from the war. I think there is undue American pride over the war but really it was such a international event that i don't think any country can claim they had the "best" had in winning the war. The simple truth is that if the world had not united in the face of such a threat, many of us would be living much different lives to say the least. But enough of my rambling over history...

Today was a bit of a hard day for me. I woke with emotions going nuts with the thought that I am out of my comfort zone. Now I know that this is where God is calling me, and that He has a plan and I need to trust Him. But in the face of that is some worry over how long it will take before I REALLY feel at home here. I don't have a Dave Fife or an Ian Carroll or other friends who know me and who can offer advice over a meal. I mean I have connected with some people but it can feel a bit daunting when I think of the time that it took at Oak Park and how long it may take to REALLY get to know people here.

I do feel loved and accepted for the most part. But there are hard moments where I just want to be in a place that's familiar and around people who know me (and where I don't feel like such a %&^! tourist!!!). On the other hand if I returned to Oak Park, what would I have to do? This is where God has me, and as hard as it is sometimes, I don't want anywhere else (unless God says "go").

Anyway, those feelings wore me out by the time we got home from church. I went and napped for an hour or so before lunch was ready. I met Ian Morris' mother and sister and brother-in-law and that was a nice time. Then Sara, James and I met up with Ronin over at the Baptist church for their "youth led" evening service. It was a nice time and I've been hearing a lot about the team from Brazil that's over there. But they were away for the weekend, so I didn't get to meet any of them! I met the pastor and another leader though, so my goal of making some connections paid off.

In the car on the way home Sara shared some things about one of the young people from Vineyard. Ian asked me my thoughts and I really realized for the first time what may be happening (or about to happen) among some of the students coming back from Soul Survivor.
The good thing about S.S. (soul survivor, a huge youth gathering every year here in England) is that it brings people together and participants see a spike in friendships and in what God is doing. It's a really good thing cause it opens people up in a way they might not in church on Sunday morning.

BUT the downside is that when they come home those tight friendships can:
A: exclude others who didn't attend
B: produce emotional attachments that can be unhealthy and
C: Put the emphasis on friends rather than God when it comes to dealing with hard issues.

I've seen some of all three but my intuition tells me that C may be something that will need to be dealt with soon. There is a line where friends can be a good thing, but there is also a need for "tough love" where the group needs to help point the way to Jesus because He's the one that wants to deal with the deep hurts and the group can not keep covering up those hurts by talking to friends. And friends come and go, but God is around for ever.

So now to try and encourage the group to seek deeper intamacy with God. I realize that when tough love is shown I can only give advice on what might be a good option. Other than that it's up to each student to work it out with God.

So it's a lot starting to form. I need to go to bed now cause there is an EARLY prayer meeting I'd like to attend at 6:30 am (12:30am in Oak Park!! hard to believe...)

Please pray for me and this group as these things develop. It helps me feel a bit more "involved" when I think like a pastor, so I'd like to see more opportunities come up to help point the young people to Jesus. Miss all of you!!