Settled. Week 3.

Hi all! So I meant to post this last Wednesday, but then somehow forgot. I am sorry this update is a week late. You should have another one in a couple days.  As your reading this just pretend it's last Wednesday. :-) 

This past week has been so amazing. It’s crazy I have already been in Scotland for two and a half weeks. Time is going by so fast, but I feel truly settled at Stanley House now. I spent the past week really trying to figure out the different things I wanted to be apart of and help with while I am here in Paisley.

On Monday mornings, I will be heading into Paisley to help out with an outreach called Tea and Toast. It’s put on by the Nazarene church in Paisley and basically is a drop-in for people to come have tea and toast. I had a chance to participate last year when I was in Paisley and really wanted to help again. It was really wonderful. The walk to town is about a mile or so but I feel like I know my way around Paisley enough now that I had no trouble finding the church. I was able to meet a couple people while I was there.

The guy I talked to the most name was Daniel. He was really interesting guy. He’s a new Christian but is still struggling with an addiction to methadone.  Pastor Wesley, the Nazarene pastor has been talking with Daniel for a while about going to rehab.  When I arrived Pastor Wesley and Daniel were talking and I joined them. Daniel was talking about his younger brother who had died the week before of a drug overdose.  He seemed to be having a pretty difficult time dealing with it, but he really open with us about it. I talked with Daniel for over an hour and it was amazing just to hear his story and the things that he was dealing with.

I also had a chance to meet a few other people. One girl, Natalie, is getting married on Saturday and then I met some other ladies who work with the church. It was such a great experience It is something I plan to do weekly while I am in Paisley.

A lot of the other things I will be helping out with while in Paisley are currently in the planning stages. In two Saturdays we will be hosting a neighborhood BBQ  here at Stanley House and I am making a video to help share with the neighbors a little more about what YWAM is all about.

I also helped make a promo video for a weeklong event here at Stanley called Create Change. It is kind of like a week long summer camp for 16-18 year-olds in Paisley. They come and live at Stanley House for a week during July. The theme this year is justice. The kids who will come are from all different backgrounds so it will be really awesome to have about fifteen to twenty teenagers living here for a week. We will definitely have a full house. The video I helped make to promote Create Change is attached. It’s pretty fun and you can get a little tour of the inside of Stanley House. Here the video: 

I have been cooking and baking a lot as well. The DTS (Discipleship Training School) came back from their week-long trek on Monday night so while they were gone there was a lot more help needed in the kitchen.  Cooking meals for 20+ people is a pretty huge undertaking but it’s been fun to learn.

Lastly, this past weekend I spent Friday night and Saturday in Edinburgh. The Fringe Festival which happens in August is a huge musical festival that takes over Edinburgh for three weeks. YWAM has an outreached called Shine that they do during the Fringe Festival. Some of the members from the base are on a planning committee for Shine and they had a meeting in Edinburgh on Saturday so I tagged along. It was fun to get to listen and help them plan Shine even though I will be gone by the time it starts. It’s going to be really awesome. 

Okay…whew! So much is going on constantly but I love it. Paisley is such a great, little city and I feel so blessed to be here. Thanks for your prayers and support. Talk to you soon.

YWAM Words explained: 

DTS: Discipleship Training School: A six-month school for students of all ages to come and learn more about Jesus and what it means to be a disciple. 

Create: A open mic night in Paisley that YWAM helps put on for the young people. I came last year when it was just 100-200 people over the last year it has grown to be almost 500-600 young people. It's pretty amazing.