a garden party, a children's club and a holiday

I finished up my placement with the Glasgow Iranian Church this past Sunday with a garden party. It was a real blessing! It was held in the garden of Bill and Cathie Wood here in Kirkintilloch. There was a large group from the Glasgow Iranian Church there and several Scottish friends who came along to help. We had a concert, a barbecue, a drama, and I shared a challenge from the Word of God. I had a chance to pray with a number of people right there in the garden who wanted to get their lives right with God, and the people in the community were listening as well.

One neighbour approached our worship leader when he was leaving and expressed her gratitude for the evening as she said she had been listening to the whole thing from over the fence in her own garden. A friend of mine also rededicated her life to the Lord that evening, and I have since heard several awesome testimonies about the things God did in people lives.It was a wonderful night, and though my placement is over I look forward to future opportunities to continue the wonderful relationship God has given me with the Iranian young people.

After the garden party, we had a week with the kids here in Kirkintilloch. Riverside Church had a children's club called "The Ant Hill Club" which they hold every year for the children in the community. I had a good time working with the children and also enjoyed the opportunity to get to know some adults that I had not had a chance to know before.

I also had a chance to learn to know the man in the fish and chips shop more. We spent a lot of time visiting this week. The only concern I have is that he told me he's only there every other week, and on the other weeks its his brother. As I had previously always thought it was just one man, I fear I may not know the difference between the brothers. When I return from my holiday I shall have to see if I can figure out how to tell them apart!

Now, however, I am leaving for the next few weeks. As of tomorrow, I'm officially on holiday. For the first time in what seems like ages, I am going away to simply rest. I won't be working at all! I'm very excited about it. For the first week, I'll be at a wedding in Armenia. After that, I'll be on a cruise to Egypt. I don't know how often I will find access to the Internet, but I will try to post to this journal whenever possible so that there will be a record of my adventures.

About my chicken...

In response to my last journal entry, someone asked in a comment that they posted at the end of the message: "Have you named your chicken yet? Is it a laying hen? That means you could have fresh eggs for your brrreakfasts!! :-)" I've decided to dedicate a journal entry to an answer for that question...

As I mentioned in my previous journal entry, I was once given the gift of a chicken. It was a male chicken actually, so it didn't give me any eggs. At least I assume it was a male chicken because the local people called it a "cock," and I believe the term is technically meant to refer to the male of the species. However, I could be wrong as I realise local usage of the word in Kenya might possibly be different. Whatever the case, however, I'm afraid I never named my chicken. I ate it instead.

The chicken was given to me in Africa a few years ago. We visited a little house in a rural village of Africa. I think it was a mud hut with a thatched roof. It was after dark at the end of a long day of ministry, and someone from the village had asked if my team and I could stop by this house to share about God. The little house was packed full of people who were eager to receive teaching from the Bible, so though I was tired I spoke for quite some time. Then they gave us tea and bread and we finally left after it had become very late.

As I was standing outside waiting to get in the little car we were travelling in, Julius Njuki, my interpreter, told me we had been asked to wait just a moment because the host family wanted to give me a gift of appreciation. After a few minutes had passed, I was told to hold out both of my arms. As it was so dark that I couldn't really see anything, I just obediently held out my arms and waited to see what they would place in them. It was a strange feeling as they placed the gift in my arms because I could quickly tell it was alive, but I had no idea what it was. I turned to Julius and asked him, "What is it?" He said a word that, because of his accent, sounded like, "Cook. It's a cook." I didn't understand as I couldn't imagine that they had given me a cook small enough to hold in my arms. After a few attempts, however, I understood that he was saying it was "a cock."

Job, one of our team members, tied the chicken's legs and put it into the boot of our car. Then we drove on to our next destination. I actually never saw my chicken again alive. Julius kindly took it to his wife, and a few days later when we returned to Nairobi he invited me over to his house and we had a chicken dinner. The meal was really good, and now that I think of it I am glad we never got around to naming the chicken. The idea of eating a chicken supper didn't bother me, but I think it would have been difficult had it been a "Henry" supper or an "Alan" dinner. Either way, however, I was informed that the gift was considered a great hounour in the culture I was working in. One missionary was amazed when he heard about it. He said, "I have lived here for many years, and I have never been given the gift of livestock!" He said that it was a great gift indeed.

Flowers, etc.

Last night, I had to bring the regular Monday night meetings with the Iranian singles from the Glasgow Iranian Church to a close. The meetings were going very well, and it has been amazing to watch how these young men have grown over the past several months. However, due to obligations at the church in Kirkintilloch, there was no way that I could continue with these meetings. It was a sad time as I have developed such a wonderful friendship with them. However, we had a great time together last night as we studied the Word of God and shared together. When I said goodbye, more than one of the guys said to me, “Thanks for everything.” It meant a lot to me to hear their words of appreciation.

The Iranian singles also gave me flowers last week. It was a wonderful surprise! They gave me a beautiful boquet of flowers to congratulate me on my graduation. I was really touched by the act as I had never been given flowers before. I had been given a number of other gifts, of course, from people I have worked with, including: shoes, shirts, a big sombrero, traditional African and Mexican outfits, a live chicken, and many other wonderful gifts. But flowers were a new thing for me, and for some reason the gesture meant a lot to me.

However, the greatest gift they have given me is the gift of friendship. That is a gift I hope to continue to share with them for a long time to come. Though the Monday meetings cannot continue, I am sure that we will continue to spend time together when we can and to enjoy the gift of friendship that God has given us.

I have finished my studies in Glasgow!!!

The 20th of June was the longest day of the year. I know that if the longest day is reckoned according to the amount of hours of sunlight in the day that the 21st was the longest day, but for me the longest day was definitely the 20th…or perhaps I should say the 19th and 20th as they both went together as one day for me.

I spent that weekend at a hotel in a village called Bridge of Alan. It was my last week of college, and I was determined to finish all my papers even though I was way behind where I knew I should be. Unfortunately, my advisers at the college had failed to advise me as well as they might have, and as a result I ended up with almost twice as much work as expected in the final term. Doing close to a double load in addition to the work at the church in Kirkintilloch was really starting to take a toll on my health. However, I knew I had to finish, so I went away the last weekend so I could work without any distractions. I ended up working all night long on the 19th and continuing straight through to the evening of the 20th, at which time I taught the Bible study for the Iranian singles’ group I work with. By the time I went to bed on that day I was so exhausted I felt sick. However, I had finally broken the back of my work and reached the place where I knew I could finish my course. Two days later I turned in my last paper and went out to dinner with a friend to celebrate. After four years, I had finally completed my course in Glasgow!

Shortly after I finished my last paper, by brother came to visit. I took him all over the place so he could see the country. Then my sister and brother-in-law came at the end of my brother’s visit, and my parents are here now. I have had a great time showing them all around. I still have had very little sleep and am extremely exhausted, but I am very excited to have finished the course and am looking forward to the next chapter of my life, wherever that may lead. My parents will be here until Saturday and I plan to make the most of our rare time together. Then next week I plan to get some sleep before moving full speed ahead with the next phase of plans for the future.