Dead Dogs and Homosexuality

Cali, in August

     Winner of most inappropriate blog post title EVER. But I have good and honest reasons for both things mentioned.

     First, last Tuesday I found out my dog in Texas died. My family skyped me to let me know that 5 year-old Cali suddenly passed away last Monday of unknown causes. I was very shocked and heartbroken as I could not be there. :(

     And, the homosexuality topic. Yes. So on Wednesdays, we go into Nunthorpe school and have Christian Union, a brief discussion with high school aged students during their lunch period. As last week was our first meeting, I introduced myself and allowed the students to ask me any questions about myself or America. After answering questions like "what's your favorite food" and "what does your tattoo say," I got an intimidating "what do you think about gay marriage" question. We are not in conservative Bible Belt Texas anymore. This is a big topic. Grateful that I had discussed this very issue with a Christian only the night before, I had an idea of how to answer. I said that as a Christian, I believe in God who says in his Bible that homosexuality is wrong. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). However, instead of judging others for not believing in what I believe, God calls me first to love them (Matthew 7:1). Instead of focusing on their life decisions, I need to care about their hearts rather than forcing them to follow my lifestyle. This discussion was a great wake up call for me, a reminder of the atmosphere I'm in, here in Middlesbrough.  Kids are so often judged and pushed away from the church because they are labeled as 'delinquents' or 'sinners,' so the church is dying. But if you look throughout scripture, God specifically reaches out to these people. Those the rest of the world overlooks. 1 Corinthians 1:26-31. I'm excited to love these people with God's gracious love!

Baking cookies with EQ (High School)

   Friday we had Life Group, a small group style Bible study with middle and high school aged students. We showed Rob Bell's Nooma video, "Sunday" and talked about how Christianity is more than following rules and rituals; God wants our hearts. The kids asked very thought-provoking questions and the discussion this led to was great. Most of these students are not Christians, but they have seen what it looks like to be a follower of Christ and want to learn more. It's a very difficult situation because, while we want these kids to get plugged into a church, most churches in this area are not reaching out and engaging this generation. The immediate future of the church in England is small groups, cafe churches and other non-traditional church gatherings. But that's exactly the picture the book of Acts paints when describing the first century church. It is the people, not the building.

Middlesbrough vs. Ipswich

     Saturday I went to my first Boro football match. We won 2-0.

     In other good news, my English accent is approved by actual English people. Thanks to Dr. Howard and Voice & Diction class.

     Monday morning the Youth for Christ team hiked up another mountain, Lordstones, to pray over the city. Amazing view!

Lordstones

      Monday afternoon we started again with all 3 youth groups (ages 4-8, 8-11, and 11-14). I'm learning names and getting a better idea of how I can help and build relationships with these kids. I really enjoy our Lightning Bolts group, the 11-14 year-olds. They are at the perfect age where they really start asking questions and want to know more about the Christian faith. This week I shared my testimony with the group. Later, as I was walking around chatting with different cliques, one girl wanted to know more about my story. She asked questions like "so if your parents weren't Christians and you didn't grow up going to church, do you still think you would be a Christian" and "what's the difference between believing in religion and having a relationship with God?" So I'm clearly very excited to invest in this age especially; they seem to have a lot of questions about inconsistencies between word and deed within the church.

Thunderbolts leaders at the Disco

     And I got to use my cow suit (such a wonderful investment) for the fairytale dress up disco. I was, of course, the cow who jumped over the moon. The dance was a lot of fun; we played Cupid Shuffle, Evolution of Dance, YMCA, Cha Cha Slide, and much more!