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
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
1 comment:
Oh, how I miss Wales... You must have posted this a looonnng time ago...
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