Wow, this has been a crazy, busy week! This past week was our “week of good-byes” with the various schools and clubs we work with. The parties were all a lot of fun and the young people and adults that we have been working with were all very appreciative. At the youth club on Thursday some of the young people decided to show their appreciation of me by chasing me all over the football pitch (soccer field) and dumping carbonated lemonade, various juices, and really any other liquid, rubbish etc. they could find to dump on me or throw at me. So, while I was incredibly sticky and covered in stuff I don’t want to know what it actually was, I considered it a great honour that the young people valued me enough to have so much fun with me in saying good-bye. I am really looking forward to getting back here in August (their last 4 weeks of summer holiday) to pick up where we left off and continue to show them and share with them God’s love. This coming Saturday and Sunday will be our final good-byes to the churches we have worked with over the past 9 months.
On Saturday I went to a service of first Holy Communion with my good friend Madeline. Her grandson was recently confirmed in the Roman Catholic Church and Bleu (named after the colours of the football club Manchester City) invited me to come along. Again, I count it as a great honour that Madeline and her family values our friendship enough to invite me to come celebrate with them as family.
Yesterday had two highlights. The first was going to watch my first proper Cricket match. I went with an older man called Arthur, who is the lay reader (lay minister) at St. James Church. Arthur is a great older man in his late 70’s who is now a Cricket umpire for fun. Arthur took me to a match at the Lancashire County Cricket Club at Old Trafford. In England, this could be compared to watching a baseball game a Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. Cricket is a very confusing sport with positional names such as the Night Watchman and the Wicket Keeper. Despite my best efforts to understand the game, I’m still greatly confused! For more information on Cricket, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket
Last night we took the evening service at St. James. I was the lead worshipper along with Drew on the jembe and Andrea and Christine singing. The highlight of this service is that my Muslim friend Monthana attended. A few weeks back Drew and I went with him to his mosque and in return he attended at service at St. James. Monthana loved the service and wanted to know if we would be doing it again next week! It was such a beautiful sight to see my friend of different beliefs, find a common ground, singing songs to the God of Abraham. It was also a sight because all the while he was singing and having a great time, he was video recording the worship time on his phone so he could show his wife and friends, so that they would hopefully come sometime in the future.
Today we leave for our debriefing time. We’ll be spending the next 4 days on Holy Island off the northeast coast of England. During our debriefing time we’ll reflect on what God has done in our lives individually, as a team, and in the Salford community. We’ll also begin the process of saying good-bye to each other, as we will leave to head back to the States in 8 days.
God has been very good this past week and I’ve spend a great amount of time in reflection on what he has done in my life over the past 8 months. It is difficult trying to summarize and process all that has been learned and experienced. I hope the greatest thing I have learned and continue to learn is to both love and see with my heart. My dear friend Mamie captured this best for me when she said:
“And then there are those matters of the heart. May I be so bold as to say, Dear One, you are learning to see with your heart as well as love with it.”
May this be a lesson we all continue to learn, to both love and see with the heart, just as Christ loves us.
Chaddington
