Another beautiful day in Glasgow! Our team got an early jump on the day in order to get some bus/train/subway passes to use for the week. The cool morning stroll down what is normally a jam packed Style Mile (a main artery loaded with fashion boutiques, sporting goods shops and several coffee shops) was almost eerily quiet and serene.
After getting our passes, we traveled to Goven for our morning training session lead by Gena Wilson, a 20-year career missionary here in Glasgow. We talked about narrative mapping; the systematic approach to gaining information and insights into a given geographical area so we can better understand the people and strategically engage them with the Gospel.
The Partick team (Josephine, Vicky, Nathanael and Tommy) then headed to lunch at a local spot with Patrick. Then we were sent out to prayer walk, work on the narrative map, and study scripture using the "simple church" Bible study method that was outlined for us. It was a challenging afternoon, but the team did great stepping out boldly to speak with the locals and even striking up spiritual conversations along the way. This team will have the same task for the remainder of their time in Partick, so prayer for guidance and joy to continue faithfully would really be appreciated.
The Goven group (Kayla, Trevor, Kyle, and Rachel) ate a homemade lunch at the J girls flat and then walked to the Goven Church of the Nazarene, which is the local church we are working with. Pastor Rob and his wife Bev, along with Claire and Jess, had planned a youth trip to Loch Lomond, a nearby lake. Our group got to meet and hang out with about 8 local teens from the youth group for the afternoon. After the 45 min drive, we spent time hiking and skipping rocks in the lake, playing frisbee, and getting to know each other. Our youth said they found it hard to interact at first because of the Scottish teen's accent and cultural differences, but by the end of the outing they were all laughing and joking together while asking each other questions about life in another country. The lake and Scottish landscape were absolutely beautiful and we even got a few peeks of the sun. We also walked to a nearby chippy (fish and chips shop) and had deep fried Mars bars - a Scottish specialty :)
Both teams met up together again for dinner and debriefed the day back at our Hostel. Tomorrow we will be attending church where a few of our team members (Kayla, Kyle and Trevor) will be sharing their testimonies and answering questions in front of the congregation. Pray for them!
We appreciate and feel your prayers, so please do not stop! We are so thankful to be supported by such a loving community back at home. One of the most encouraging parts of our day is reading off the comments... So don't stop writing to us! We check in on them each day.
In other news, team Goven out-stepped team Partick 17,947 to 17,396.
In Christ,
Team Scotland