From Chalk to Jute

So Friday was out last day in our beloved house, Chalk Squat. We’ve now bid farewell to our high ceilings, wood floors, gorgeous fire places, amazing gas cooker, jacuzzi tub, and romantic garden of roses and daisies. Even though there were 8 of us living there it never seemed crowded. But I’m not sure I’ll be able to say the same of our new home, Jute. There’s still 8 of us, but now we’re a bedroom short (poor Dave will be kipping down on a matress on the living room floor) and we’ll only have one bathroom. I’ve already designated a bush in the garden as my new urination station. So to help me gain a more postive outlook on the situation, I’ve been looking at this site about slums.

But for now I’m enjoying of a weekend of domestic bliss at the Pizzo cottage. The garden is in full bloom, the sweet smell of sizzling meat and veggies on the BBQ is wafting into the room, and best of all are D&P and for one day more Auntie Kathy.

Painting by Patrick Cullen

P.S. Today we went to Art in Action and saw some incredible art, including this painting… def check it out.

Marvellos Moors

We’ve been having a splendid time w/Aunt Kathy and Tuesday was the most beautiful sunny day & we headed to the North York Moors which were gorgeous. Sheep, pink heather, charming stone cottages…

But now I’ve got to pack cos we’re moving house….

N-A-T-T-I-E

We just spent 4 fabulous days with super-star Nattie. It was such a blessing to be together again and have everything easily revert back to the way things were when we lived nearby each other. It’s hard to believe we’ve been in England almost a year now.

Thursday was Nattie’s birthday and we had a lovely time walking round York, feasting on a home-made Lebanese meal, eating chocolate ganache and talking talking talking. This is the 4th birthday in a row we’ve spent together and it was wonderful reminiscing good times.

On Friday we set up a stand in the centre of York for Stop The Traffik, a charity that works to stop human trafficking. Our housemate Dave also set up an art installation w/bound child dummies laying in the street. Art has power. People really took notice, and some took offense. I think in many ways we wanted the art to cause a strong reaction in people, because modern-day slavery is an appalling reality. But it was tragic to discover that some felt more sympathy for the dummies than for the millions of humans that are enslaved right now.

Our last day w/Nattie we even got a break from the incessant rain as we explored Knaresborough. We’ve found a whole row of houses there that are unoccupied so we’ve decided to start a squatting community there in November. We’re now accepting applications if you’d like to join. Then we attempted to dance our blues away at a cheese-alicous club before saying farewell to our bosom buddy at 1am as she climbed onto the bus and disappeared into the darkness.

Only a visit from Aunt Kathy (who arrived today!) has eased our grieving.

Bringin’ some soul to your summer

Summer Soul was INTENSE. We had over a week of 12+ hour-long days. We scrubbed off graffiti throughout the town. I got to chat with people from Angola, China, Colombia, Germany, Iran, Norway, Saudi Arabia and more. But my favourite times were spent with society’s rejects.

There’s Arthur, an alcoholic who lives in a trailer by the river and calls me “lit’lun.” He looks like a jolly Santa Claus - full white beard, rosy red checks. He kisses his crucifix and tells us of his Irish Catholic upbringing as he sneaks sips of beer from behind his jacket. Recently he was sober for over a week. “My boys were so happy,” he recounts, “but I missed me mates.” So he returned to his friends, and returned to drink.

There’s Eddie, who’s looks about my age. “People tell me I don’t look homeless because I wear nice clothes, but I’m living on the street,” he tells us. His father is also homeless. “I used to be a drug addict,” he tells us, “but now I’m just an alcoholic.” Moments later, a man approaches him and the conversation ends abruptly as the two exchange cash and drugs.

Then there’s Tammy, whose bulging belly speaks of possible pregnancy. Her face is black and blue like I’ve never seen before. “He would never hurt a fly. He just looses his temper sometimes… but I deserve it.” Then her partner arrives - “She’s so pathetic,” he smirks.

Miss Smith is a dear old granny in her 70s who hauls a large pink duffel bag with her as she enters the cafe. Years ago the hospital she’d been at dropped her off on a dangerous street in the early hours of the morning. Thankfully Mr. Fox, a sweet Scottish man who was working at a hot dog stand, befriended her. They’ve been companions on the street ever since. But now their dear dog has died and they’ve been denied a busking license.

Trev, Arthur’s drug dealer, recently received free furniture from Besom, a social action project we’re involved in. At church he can’t stop talking about how God has blessed him through this. He’s buzzing with unbelief at people’s generosity and wants to give something back to the community. But first he’s just going to finish his can before the Sunday service.

These people are all so precious, yet so broken. Some are slaves to addiction. Others are trapped in abusive relationships. All seem caught in a cycle of despair and destruction.

I take heart in stories like that of Gram Seed, a former homeless heroin addict who encountered a dramatic healing while on death’s door. Or Paul, another homeless man who tried to commit suicide a week before he found listening ears, hot coffee and hope at the cafe. And by the end of the week he decided to pursue God and change his life.

But the road is seldomly easy. Healing’s rarely instantaneous. And sometimes hope is hard to find.

Happy 4th of July!

We got it!

Only a day after I wrote my previous post (saying we still hadn’t gotten permission to stay in the UK) Dan’s permit arrived! We were both completely floored. This is a total miracle. According to the US government website they’re just now processing the applications that were received July 2007. Our application was received January 2008! The applications are processed in the order , the only exceptions being life-or-death emergencies. Thank you so much for praying!

We are so excited about the upcoming adventures here! This week we are volounteering with Summer Soul (a week of events including a free cafe, social action work and chatting w/ppl on the street), then superstar Nattie visits, followed by a visit by Dearest Auntie Kathy, followed by 2 weeks in Wales and then in September we head to a large Communist country in Asia for 2 months! CRAZY!

Plans

There’s still no news on the permit Dan’s hoping to get so we can stay in England, so please keep praying. Meanwhile, we’ve decided that if we do have to return to the states early, we’d still like to finish our DTS. So that means we’d need to do a 2 month-long outreach w/a YWAM base stateside. Right now there’s some possibilities brewing for us in Alaska, Arizona and California. We’re still hoping to stay in the UK but it’s good to have a plan B emerging.

Race you to bed…

Last weekend we headed to Knaresborough for their 39th annual bed race. Basically, 6 runners roll a “bed” complete with a brave bedridden boy (or girl) around the town on a designated 3km course that even features a river crossing. But before the race, there’s a parade of the beds all dressed up. This year’s theme was “Transportation Through the Ages” and featured everything from a yellow submarine to a Jamaican bobsled team to the Flinstone’s car. Then they strip the beds and begin the race.

We found a sunny spot near the river crossing and it was crazy watching them go. Some teams were über competitive and plunged straight down the steep river bank. Others were dead exhausted and gingerly lowered the beds water-ward. They even had scuba divers ready in the river for any non float-worthy beds.

Then we spent the rest of the day exploring Knaresborugh. It’s a charming town and there are some beautiful old mansions down by the river. We peeked over the walls at gorgeous gardens and scoured the ground for candy leftover from the earlier bed parade.

In other news…. we just finished watching the Back to the Future trilogy and I can’t wait till 2015 when Hoverboards are invented.

Top 10 things I miss about summertime in the States

In random order…

1. Watermelon

2. Warm weather

3. Sunshine

4. Front porches

5. Thunder & lighting storms

6. Fireflys

7. Window & door screens

8. Swimming in creeks, rivers & lakes

9. Outdoor swimming pools

10. Getting a tan

I realize some of these things do exist in England but with a lack of #2 and #3 many of them (esp. 8-10) loose their charm.

The cuteness that is kids

So today we put on an assembly at a primary school about the Tower of Babel. Afterwards we had some of our housemates share their language skills. Dan spoke and they were able to correctly identify it as Italian, Dave spoke and they recognised his French. But when Jennifer spoke in Chinese the kids guessed that she must be speaking either American or London! Speaking of London, I hope I can head there to see this exhibit at the Tate Modern.