Wow, the past week has gone by like a whirlwind. Saturday March 10th was the beginning of our spring break week, which officially ended at the stroke of midnight this morning. As many of you know, my dad came to visit for most of the week. He arrived on Friday March 9th three hours later than expected, via Frankfurt, Germany, and a little lighter in the wallet. Yes, my dad was of the international travel monster. So, his visit got started off slightly differently than we would have liked but we had a good time nonetheless.
It was nice for him to get to put names and faces together and gain an accurate picture of what ministry looks like here. On Friday we just popped ’round City Centre (downtown Manchester) and took in some sights. Saturday he went to the guitar club that I teach, played pool and table tennis with my mates Dave and Stu Fraser, and went to our Broughton Team worship service Saturday night. As a side note, Dave and Stu beat my dad and me at the Father/Son table tennis world championships; England verses the States, 21-17.
On Sunday my dad and I attended services at both St. Clements and St. James church. He was able to see the video project that I was in that will be shown all throughout England on Good Friday as well so that was special. My dad was also able to see the beauty and tradition of the liturgical services of the Church of England and gain a better appreciation of the style here. The rest of Sunday was spent eating as we had lunch with my dear friend Madeline Walker and her family and then had tea (dinner) with the Fraser family.
On Monday my dad and I caught a train to London and where there until Wednesday afternoon. Again, we had a great time catching up on life, sharing experiences, learning from each other, and taking in some amazing sights. I had been to London before (I spent two weeks there in the summer of 2002) but to me, it is a city that never loses its attraction. There is just so much to see and something going on in every corner. Some highlights of the trip were seeing the President of Ghana, Big Ben, the London Eye, and seeing the Queen’s private car waiting for her outside of Westminster Abbey. Copy and paste this link into your web browser to see pictures of our trip:
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/fugazzi02/album/576460762393670460
My dad left early Thursday morning and then I left on a mini bus with my team for Wales. I spent Thursday and Friday hiking through the hills of Wales, visiting ancient ruins hundreds of years old, and just taking in the magnificence of God’s creation. It was a nice time away with the team as we gear up for the last two months of our time here. Again, copy and paste this link into your web browser to see the pictures from my Wales trip:
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/fugazzi02/album/576460762393870095
It’s hard to believe that I will be back in the States in just under two months (May 15th). While there has been so much growth and change in the lives of the people we are working with, it seems that the ground is just now ready for growth. That is why I am so excited and feel it is so important to continue with God’s work here for another year. I have my official interview this week with Adventures in Missions with one of the leaders of the First Year Missionary program, Vicki Gross. She will be visiting for the next week observing God’s work here and interviewing me and three others from my team that feel God is leading us to stay. Please be in prayer that we can all communicate clearly our passion and purpose we believe that God has laid on our lives to be in England for another season of life.
I love hearing from you all so please drop me a comment on my blog or send me an email at [email protected]. For those of you still interested in joining with me and financially supporting God’s work Salford, I should hopefully have that information very soon. This interview is one of the final steps to officially coming back to England for at least another year.
I’m not famous but I know someone who is!!
Chad Mustain
