Wales Cont'd

Saturday morning was the day EVERYONE had been waiting for! But we woke up to a foggy, wet day with dark gray clouds looming above. Julie and I drove to Cafarthfa Park around 9 AM and waited around for about an hour before Garreth had to finally tell us that the Fun Day In The Park had to be cancelled. He prayed for everyone, and then freed us to spend our last full day in Wales doing whatever we wanted. We were all so disappointed that the day had to be cancelled, but kept encouraging each other with the fact that God had this planned all along and that we needed to choose to glorify God with our attitudes and actions, instead of selfishly getting upset over circumstances we couldn’t control.
So a group of us decided we would at least go into town (Merthyr) for lunch somewhere and then decide what to do from there. Vikki and Anna ended up taking us to Chaplain’s Pub, where all 15 of us (I think) got this little downstairs room to ourselves. =)
Then Vikki and Anna said we should try to go to Caerphilly Castle…that was the BEST day ever! One of the men in the church graciously drove us to the castle and we spent the whole afternoon there, just walking around and taking TONS of pictures! It was the most beautiful ruined castle I’ve ever seen.

Sunday, our last day in Merthyr, we went to the service. James, Stephen, and Joey got to play with the Merthyr band for worship, and then Garreth spoke. It was very hard for some of us, knowing we might never see these precious people again until we’re worshipping around the Throne together. At the end of the service, they provided a huge lunch for us, and several of us (both on the team and in the church there) went up to the mic and shared how we had been affected by the trip, the team, or the church some way. We took a few last pictures, took a Team Picture, said our tearful goodbyes, and were on our way to London. Garreth and Tony drove us to a hotel where we’d stay for the night. When we got to the hotel, we practically threw our stuff in the rooms and ran downstairs to eat our last meal with the pastors in Wales. Kyle, Julie, Nathan, and I (Stephen, Joey, James, Maria, and Gloria stayed for a while) ended up staying down there until 1 AM just talking. The last night of a mission trip is always very bittersweet.

Monday morning, Julie and I woke up late and had approximately 5 minutes to eat the yummy breakfast before we had to be out by the curb with our luggage, waiting for the bus to pick us up and take us to the airport. We all made it safely on, without leaving anything (or anyone) behind. Once we got to the airport It was pretty much “smooth sailing” from there to Orlando.

I truly enjoyed my trip to Wales, because even though it didn’t look at ALL like what I was expecting, I learned SO much during that week! I believe God used that time, especially, to grow me in the area of evangelism. Every day that we went out “leafleting” I grew bolder in starting up conversations with strangers, and more confident that I COULD share the hope in Christ that I’ve been given. I developed friendships with people halfway across the world that I never want to let go of, and I learned invaluable lessons of humility and servanthood from the church in Merthyr Tidfyl.

THE END

Wales cont'd

The next morning (Thursday) we did some more leafleting in the morning, went back to the Lloyd’s to have a quick lunch, and then we got to go to Cardiff, Vikki’s city!! We took a train (that Stephen and Daniel missed!) into the city and then they set us loose to wander about the city! Julie and I walked around with Vikki for a while because she wanted to show us “Cahdiff”. We went shopping in their malls, bought presents for the fam, and some gifts for ourselves, and then we took a 1 hour tour on a double-decker bus with Joey and Lauren. I had never been on a double-decker bus before, so of course we had to sit on the top! We were really enjoying seeing the sights from “up high” until it started to rain. The lower level of the bus was packed, so we couldn’t go down there, and we still had about 20 minutes left of the tour and only ONE umbrella between the 5 of us! So I tried to brave it out by giving one of the girls my jacket…not sure what THAT did…but then I was given the umbrella. I was so grateful that I had this amazing invention to shield me from the bullets of H2O that were being shot at me from above, until that amazing invention was not so amazing anymore. The wind was blowing so hard it whipped the umbrella upwards, therefore rendering the umbrella useless, and leaving me unprotected from the evil raindrops that were “pecking my eyes out”! So then we ran through the wet streets of “Cahdiff” to meet up with the rest of the team. We then drove over to a fancy Italian restaurant (I forgot the name!) for dinner…YUM! By this time, though, some of us had lost restraint; this fancy restaurant was not prepared for such an unusual bunch. Daniel was SO enthralled with his dessert when it came, that he smothered his lips and half his face in the chocolate wonder and paraded from table to table, letting all of us take pictures.
After a while, someone mentioned that there was a cemetery across the street so we got permission to walk over there until everyone was ready to leave. It was really neat looking at all the different inscriptions on the gravestones, though the reverence was interrupted by the screams of unsuspecting girls and the childish antics of some of the guys. :)

Friday morning the plan was to do our last day of leafleting all day. But by the time we came back for lunch, it had been pouring miserably all morning that they decided to only send the school teams out, and Julie and I got to go over to Fran and Linda’s (where Kyle and Nathan stayed) to listen to the band rehearse for the next day’s “big event”. It was SO much fun as Julie, Anna and I curled up in a blanket on the couch (we were still freezing and soaked through), and listened as Amy, Matt, Fran, Ryan, Kyle, Joey, and James all played/sang. Then Julie and I were dropped off at home and decided to take it easy for the evening. So we got in our pj’s, fixed some tea, and watched a movie on Julie’s laptop. It was nice after such a long day. :)

Wales cont'd

It was a dismal and dreary morning as Julie and I headed to the team meeting. The worst-case scenario had overcome us, as we were sure we would be sent back to our own country and be forever known as the “silly Americans”. But needless to say, our fearless leader dealt with the matter in a very humble, and non-dramatic way, and all was forgiven. :)
So we went on (except for Amber, whose ankle had gotten worse) to do more leafleting for the day…we sort of got lost on this trip. But we met some neat people and had great conversations! One of the people I got to talk to was an older gentleman. He talked to me about everything from the Beatles, to symphonies, to musicals! It was very enjoyable. I did try to start talking about the Gospel or whether he was in a local church, but he seemed to just want to talk to me. He was a very sweet man.
That afternoon, Julie and I got back to the house just in time to change and leave again with Lynda. She drove Julie, Beth, Meg, and me over to Dan and Mira’s (where Amber and Lauren were staying) for dinner: Chicken Curry, Baked Potatoes with all the “fixins”!! Yum!
Once we were done with dinner, Lynda drove us over to Cafarthfa Castle to see the school children perform Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat! It was fantastic! The little boy who played Joseph was phenomenal! Julie and I really enjoyed it. By the time Jules and I got back to our little tower in the castle, we slunk into our beds, exhausted physically and emotionally!


Wednesday morning we continued to leaflet a few more neighborhoods, but the Merthyr church told us they wanted to take us to Sain Fagin’s for the afternoon! This is an area where they built replicas of historic buildings and villages from…I think the 1600’s. So we all just sort of split up into smaller groups and walked around the entire property, going inside old general stores, libraries, and an INCREDIBLE castle, complete with a gorgeous courtyard, vine-covered walkways, and a secret garden…alright, maybe it wasn’t a secret…but it was to me until I found it!
Then the park closed for an hour or so and re-opened for a special theatrical performance! All of us Americans were SO excited because we had no idea what lay in store for us! So we went just outside the park, where they had a grassy hill or two. We spread out blankets and sweatshirts, sat on the grass, and ate our lunches that our gracious families had packed for us! It was SO nice. Some of us just laid down and rested in the heat of the Welsh sun, some went for a walk, and some of the guys decided to play this strange hacky-sack game…guys where running, some were rolling, some were screaming…some screamed like girls.Then we went to see….THE MIKADO (the play)!!!!! It was at this little outdoor theater inside the park, and it was, very different from ANY play I’ve ever seen! It had political humor and jabs, tap-dancing, bicycles, an evil villain who looked a lot like Cruella DeVille, and there were names like Coco, Tiddy-Poo, and YumYum. It was entertaining! :)