The houses in \yorkshire are very close together.  and there are cars parked everywhere, in the street, on the sidewalks, anywhere you could squeeze a tiny european car. There are so many people living in small areas.  \The neighborhoods look like sardines.  The people are not very friendly.  They talk to you but don't really want too.

Saturday it rained all day.  They had a 'bouncy castle' for the youth and finished the tournaments. We decided to take a tour of the city and actually ran into on of the youths moms.  This women reminded me of the men at the christ house.  She dealt with the same struggles, the same addictions, the same heartaches that those men have.  Entagled in alcohol, she has twelve children and is very unstable.   Her son is Joe, a boy, we have grown very attached to and has so much potential but any kind of stress or anxiety makes him regress into a childlike/toddler behavior.  The affects of alcohol on this home is enormous.  This women, Susan, talked to us about her struggles as a christian or rather her reasons for not being a christian.  It was the same old thing... excuses to not wanting to change her lifestyle, to want to reward of heaven withouth the repentence of her sin.  We spent the afternoon with this woman and ministering to her.  God sent this woman to us because we were able to meet and talk with people we would not have been able to talk to had she not come our way.  She opened the door of opportunity for us.

Saturday night was a barbeque on the church grounds.  i was very happy to see susan come and bring some friends.  They served us our hamburgers and \i couldn't help but laugh when i got mine.  It was the smallest cheeseburger i had ever seen.  it was about the size of a sausage patty.  hahaha! the  baked potato was maybe the size of two ping pong balls.  I most definitely took a picture of it. Oh america and our huge portion sizes.  \i have come to realize that Yorkshire's don't use napkins, salt, or ice.  Their food is very bland and very small portion sizes.  Bless Ruth for her kindness to us, she drives us by the store everynight so we can get some groceries so we don't hurt anyone's feelings. 

Sunday morning we got up early and went to the 'car boot' sale.  Cars were lined up in three isles and it was an intense yard sale.  kind of like a flea market. Nothing but junk, but there were people everywhere.  We set up a booth on the very end down the middle isle.  We walked around and talked with the people shopping and that had set up booths.  I was walking around and noticed a table where a man was selling books on spirituality.  books of spells, books of witchcraft and supernatural.  I took a deep breath and found the courage to strike up a conversation, even though i knew this would would dangerous ground for me spiritually.  Phillipians 4:13 is inscribed on my bracelet.  Whenever my past hits me in the face i find strength in the verse on my bracelet that i wear everyday.  I started talking with this man and he immediately picked up on my past and the spiritual warfare between us began.  We began to discuss witchcraft and the different Gods he worshipped, much of the same Gods i use to worship, i tried to appease.  After about a half an hour of trying to share Jesus with this man, i knew i had to leave.  i had to walk away because i when it comes to that area of my past, i have to protect myself. 

I walked down to our booth where to group was singing hymns and proclaiming God in the middle of this boot sale.  I smiled as i looked at the 'team of ten' The light in the darkness. after a couple of hours we headed back to the church where we got to be part of the morning service.  A truly great experience.  Diedre, Sara, and Maegan did a fantastic job dancing to 'None but Jesus'  We had a great morning in the Lord and had the most fantastic lunch!!

We went street witnessing later that afternoon.  As we walked down the street we sang hymns and chris played his guitar, the people started to come out to see what all the noise was.  a small group walked around and talked with people. The devil immediately made himself known.  We got to know the kids, talk with their parents, and share our life experiences and our faith.  We just went down one street but God was with us. I was really nervous about street evangalism at first and it still makes me nervous.  it's definitely out of my comfort zone but God was glorified. Even through my weakness and my fears.

I shared a bried testimony at the service that night.  Something i need to do more of.  After the service was over several people came up to me that have similar pasts as my own.  It was great meeting my brother's and sister's that have walked in my shoes, that have lived with the same emotions, the same feelings, the same walk i have walked.  i was encouraged and strengthened. Our testimonies are powerful things.  I often forget that.

We went for Indian food that night. it was amazing!! so good!! i can't wait to get home and eat more of it!! hahaha! We are off to the Sherwood forest this morning and i'm so excited!!! tomorrow we head back to London and that makes me sad.

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We have arrived to beautiful weather.  Not to hot and not to cold!  I immediately noticed how quiet people are around here.   People mainly stick to themselves.  There are no loud obnoxious cell phone talkers, large groups of people keep their conversation down.  While walking through the city it was generally quiet.  No loud blaring music through the malls, large groups of young people were not obnoxiously hanging out everywhere.  I have also noticed that people are not as friendly and generally are not as nice as they are back home.  There is no 'holding doors open', nobody would ever stop to help an old lady get groceries to her car.  Chivalry is not as recognized here as back home. It's barely recognized at home.  

this truly is a 'melting pot'  All food has twelve different labels for all the different languages the people speak.  I really didn't realize there would be a huge language and cultural barrier but there is.  I don't understand half of what people are saying to me and they most definitely don't understand me.  I asked for a 'to-go' box at the restaurant yesterday and got looked at like I was an insane person that just escaped the nut house!

Yesterday was spent dragging our suitcases through London and on several hundred million trains that eventually took us to the hotel.  My whole body is soar from the seven hour walking adventure we took yesterday.  HAHA! I have never walked so much.  It's definitely hard to stay together as a group and not get split up with 14 suitcases trying to cram on these trains.  The guys have done a great job looking out for us.  Our group got split up one time so far but everything ended up just fine.  I'm very grateful that they have almost taken pride in making sure we stay safe and we are never alone.  They are our 'angels' looking out for us!  It definitely has been an adventure so far. 

36 hours with no sleep! We struggled to stay awake so God could use us today for effectively.  We have all rested well and we are headed North for the next five days. We are meeting up with the church and hopefully we can be a huge encouragement to them.  Im praying for their safety because they are already almost two hours late in picking us up from the hotel. (This keyboard is very strange, sorry for the typos)

The city of London is absolutely beautiful.  The buildings are huge.  Buckingham palace was really cool. We have met several people and hopefully we have been a light everywhere we have gone!   

God has already been working in our lives and in the lives of the people of this city! The devil has tried his best to tear us down.  Everything from the group getting split up, to our train tickets not working, to our hotel manager taking on extra charges.  Everywhere we have gone there has been a person who has shown us extreme kindness in the midst of people 'not being so kind to us'  God has sent angels every step of the way to guide us and to support us.  My prayer is that God watches over our finances.  I know we will be fine.  We are all in good spirits and are very excited about heading North today. We are a little tired but renewed and ready to go!

Our friends have arrived and they are wonderful!! talk to you all soon!  We love y'all very much and we are praying for southside!!! God Bless! pray for a safe journey!

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