Thanksgiving Update

We have had a very busy but very fruitful and blessed past two days. On actual Thanksgiving Day we had a very busy day of ministry. Surprisingly to some, England does not celebrate Thanksgiving on the 4th Thursday of November. They have a somewhat similar time in October called harvest. So as a result, Thursday was a jam-packed day of ministry. However, the occasion of being thankful helped us stir up many questions and answers with the young people we were working with that day.

One of our participants, Katie Mumper shared this story about her experience on Thanksgiving day:

Jarred, Josh Edwards, and I took a class of primary school kids (probably around age 6 or 7) to visit St. James Church, one of the local churches we work with in Broughton. Henry, the vicar of St. James, talked with the kids about what sorts of things can be found in the church, what Christians do when they’re at church, what happens during Communion and Baptism, and what instruments are played during worship (I got to play the pipe organ, which was pretty much the highlight of my day!) At one point, someone asked the kids how many of them had never been in a church before. Out of a class of 21, all but about 3 raised their hands! Eighteen kids had NEVER stepped foot in a church before today! My heart broke as I saw all those hands go up, and I almost started crying. In a country that birthed great theologians, missionaries, and defenders of the Christian faith, an entire generation is living life without hearing the Gospel. I was reminded again of why we’re here, but I was also reminded to be grateful to have been born to a Christian family who attended church every Sunday. I had the opportunity to hear the Gospel at least 936 times (and that’s only counting Sundays) between the time I was born and the time I graduated from high school. Thousands of kids all over England may very well finish school without ever hearing the Gospel.

So this Thanksgiving, I’m taking the time to be thankful for one more thing: the opportunity to hear and understand the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Katie is a very talented writer and deep thinker. I encourage you to check out her blog for more great updates and insightful thoughts: http://www.katherinemumper.myadventures.org/

While Katie was at St. James with the primary age kids, I was at the Albion High School hanging out at the A-Zone after school club. I have a group of 5 or 6 young people I hang out with there each week there and really try to invest a lot in. With the occasion of Thanksgiving as the conversation starter we were able to talk about what Thanksgiving means, things we are thankful for, and upcoming plans for the Christmas Holidays with a very brief conversation about what Christmas means to me personally. My friendships go deeper with this group of young people each week so please pray that I’ll have more and more opportunities to share glimpses of Jesus and his love with them.

Thursday night at the Albert Park Youth Club we had an exciting night. We helped start a new football (soccer) health and training team. So basically, to help promote good health we do some basic stretches, running exercises, and footballs drills for 30-45 minutes and then play football together. It was a blast playing with the young people. Even while on the pitch we try to take advantage of opportunities to challenge on issues of racism, swearing, and the very basic skill of sharing (in sports terms: passing). The night ended on an incredible note of my fellow staff-mate Drew heading in the game-winning goal. Needless to say they young people were shocked that an American showed them up and beat them. Good times.

Yesterday we had our own day of Thanksgiving with the second annual “Turkey Bowl” and a giant meal. I’m happy to report that the staff (Chad, Drew, Ange, Ange’s sister Laura, and Christine) beat the participants (Robby, Jacobs, Jarred, Hilary, and Katie) 6-3 (or 42-21 if you want to be technical). I scored two touchdowns and had a game changing interception towards the end. Josh Edwards was all-time QB. Here is a picture of Josh, Drew, and I just goofing around.

After the game went back to the house and finished out meal preparations. For the second year in a row I was put in charge of cooking the turkey. Last year the turkey turned out like the turkey that Chevy Chase cooked in “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.”

This year the turkey turned out much better (it was actually eatable and enjoyable) and we had a great meal together.


The highlight of the meal and our time together yesterday for me was going around the room sharing what each of us was thankful for. It was just so brilliant to see how richly God has blessed each person in the room.

And that is my Thanksgiving update.

Cheers!
Chad