Ryan in Liverpool

2006-10-03T14:04:00.000-07:00

NBA Playoffs

2006-05-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

It hasn't happened in...well, I don't know how long, but it's been awhile since the Cleveland Cavaliers have been in the playoffs. And now they have finally returned and unfortunately I haven't been able to see a single game since I'm stuck over here in England.

Here's a little picture from last night's game 5 win to put us up 3-2 over the Wizards. LeBron James game winning shot. You don't get much better than that!

I turn 25...3 months early!

2006-04-30T13:58:00.000-07:00

One of the joys of being on STINT for the past two years is that I have gotten a fake birthday! What exactly is a fake birthday? Well, for any birthday that falls in the summer and we aren't together as a team we pick a random date and have a surprise birthday celebration for them. Mine was friday, and not only was it mine, but for one day I had a twin as we also celebrated Sarah's fake birthday!

Fake birthday's are almost better than real birthdays because they come as a surprise. I already had a feeling that mine was going to be friday, but it was still a surprise nonetheless. We went out to dinner at Nando's, which is a Portugese chicken restaurant but seems more like an American restaurant than any other place here in Liverpool. Afterwards we had a birthday celebration at the girls house with a few of our friends. Some of the notable atendees included:

1) Steven Gerrard - Liverpool FC Midfielder
2) Shayne Ward - Most recent Ex-Factor winner
3) Pauly Shore - Actor friend of Sarah's who flew over from the States.

Just kidding, none of them were actually there (really?), but it was still a great time had by all. The picture wasn't taken on our fake birthday, but it's actually inside the smallest house in Britain located in Conwy, Wales. Oh the crazy places you go while on STINT.

Spring Holiday

2006-04-27T13:48:00.000-07:00

For 2 weeks I lived my life out a suitcase, traveling from here to there. Here is a photo diary of what went on...
Things got started off in Nottingham for the Agape all Staff Conference. Here I am standing strong next to Robin Hood. Wow, what a cheesy picture.

Next it was off to Porto, Portugal with Kevin and K.C. Here we are enjoying the sun on the beach, and...

Enjoying some Port after touring the Calem cellar. We look pretty creepy here.

Next it was off to Salzburg, Austria with Kevin. It was probably one of the prettiest cities I've ever seen.

One day we took the train up to Hallstatt, a little town in the middle of the Alps. You had to take a ferry to get to the town!

Another day we took a tour of Salt Mine that required us to dress up like miners. I got some free salt.

After Austria we went to Dublin, Ireland for a couple days and met up with Nathan from the Salerno STINT team!
After that it was back to Liverpool in order to get ready to start back up again. Needless to say it was quite a crazy two weeks!

Play Ball!

2006-04-02T15:29:00.000-07:00

Today is a great day in the lives of all Americans. It's a day when we can officially announce that winter is over and spring has begun. It's a day of hope and excitment and also one when grown men and small child alike call in sick for the day to take part in the festivities. This day is non-other than the start of another year of America's past-time...baseball!!! Unfortunately I won't be able to watch the opening day matchup of my Cleveland Indians against the world champion Chicago White Sox, but I'm already looking forward to waking up tomorrow morning and reviewing the box score (crossing my fingers for a win here). It's hard being a Tribe fan (we haven’t won the World Series since 1948) but you learn a lot about perseverance through it. Each and every spring hopes are high that this might “be the year” and the same can definitely said about this year. We have a young team that won over 90 games last year and is predicted by many publications to make a run at the World Series this year. I leave you with a snapshot of the Indians two top free agent singings from this winter.

Speedster Willie Mays Hayes – “Hits likes Mays, runs likes Hayes.” The fans particularly enjoy his mix of athleticism and attitude that says “I don’t really care what my manager thinks about me.”

Pitcher Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn – Look out ladies, the “Wild Thing” has returned to Cleveland after a short stint with the California Penal League. Look for him to be a contributor if the organization can get him to sell the motorcycle and leather jacket and stick to traveling on the team bus.

More Cowbell

2006-03-31T10:42:00.000-08:00

Sorry it has been awhile since I’ve posted folks. I know all of you were growing impatient and struggling through many sleepless nights waiting for my next post. The reason I haven’t posted is because my camera was out of batteries, which was a necessity for this post and taking the picture on the right.

One of the greatest things you can get while on STINT is a care package. I have been blessed to get many care packages from friends and family since coming over here last year. However, nothing could prepare me for the package I received about 2 weeks ago…

It was early in the morning and I had just gotten out of the shower and was getting ready for the final day with the Miami Spring Breakers. All of the sudden the doorbell rang and I bounded down the stairs only to find that the postman was at the door with a package for me. Of course I immediately tore it open and what I found inside might possibly be the greatest t-shirt ever. Not only is it the color of mangos, but it has Will Ferrell playing the cowbell with the saying “More Cowbell” above it. Whoever made this shirt deserves an award. Mr. Dan Pressler also deserves an award for sending it to me. Dan – “It’s Chuck Time Baby!!!”

The Great Snowball Fight of '06

2006-03-13T14:44:00.000-08:00

Notice the cute look upon the face of this child here. He's all smiles, has a cute pink hat on, and looks as if he is loving spending a day outside in the snow. Completely innocent, right?

This was my thought as well, but yesterday proved me wrong...

Upon waking up on sunday morning I looked outside to see that once again snow was on the ground in Liverpool. However, this was not just a light dusting, but actually a pretty significant downfall. The streets and sidewalks were covered with snow. We still managed to make it to church on time, even though we had to run for the bus. After the service we were all walking towards the bus stop, when a group of about 8 local kids decided to throw some snow balls at us. Now, we are usually up for a good time so instead of just ignoring the kids like everyone else does, we decided to have a little fun and throw some snow balls back. BAD IDEA!!! It was fun for about 2 minutes and then we decided to move along to the bus stop. Unfortunately our new friends didn't quite get the idea that we were done with the snowball fight and continued to pelt us with snowballs and even smash some on our heads! After that, to use the words of Ron Burgundy, "things escalated quickly!" Before I knew it all of them were on the other side of the street bombing us with snowballs as we continued to fire back with snowballs and slush.

This continued for another 3 or 4 minutes until the bus arrived. Now you might think that the arrival of our bus would end the war, but things continued even as we ran onto the safety of the bus! As each of us piled in the snowballs continued to come in through the front door to the inside of the bus! Of course, nobody else did a thing and didn't try to stop them, and finally the bus closed the door and moved on with all of us safely inside.

Just another memory from a crazy 2 years of living in Liverpool, England.

The Return of the Agape Open Mic

2006-03-09T16:50:00.000-08:00

We have had a group of 18 students and staff from Bowling Green State University joining us in Liverpool this week. It has been great having them here and I have especially enjoyed the excitement they have brought with them. The week actually wasn't as crazy for us as I was expecting it to be and it seems as if a lot of people got into some good conversations with students.

Tonight we put on an open mic night, our first since December. The turnout was really good, and a good amount of the students we met during the week came along to it and got to meet more people. I found the night to be very enjoyable and encouraging as well. Here is a pic from it.

An Interesting Observation

2006-03-06T13:43:00.000-08:00

Today I made a quick stop at the Card Warehouse before I had to go and pick up the spring breakers at the hotel. I needed to get a card for a friend whose birthday was coming up so I began moving about the aisles checking out the many different birthday cards that were available. At one point I was standing next to a guy who was about my age who was also checking out the cards in this section. I noticed that this guy had already made a selection that he was holding on to as if he was planning on purchasing. I let my curiosity get the best of me and I took a quick look to see what card this guy was buying. I didn't look at the card long but from the glance I took I saw that this guy had picked out a card that said in huge letters across the top that said "HOW'S MY POO?" Now, I don't know what sort of occasion this fine young gentleman was buying this card, but I guess that makes for the beauty of the situation. I also think that he noticed me looking at his selection, because I looked again after half a minute and he had taken the card and hidden it below the envelope. This was a moment that I found to be humorous and when it happened I thought to myself "this is blog-worthy."

In other news, we received a group of 18 students and staff from Bowling Green State University yesterday. They are here to do ministry with us for the week, and it has been fun getting to know them. Tonight we had a men's curry night and during the day we spent some time prayer walking on campus and then met some students playing pool.

Snow

2006-03-02T12:09:00.000-08:00

Today was the 451st day of my life that I have lived in the UK. I know this because I keep a tally on the back of my wardrobe, and carve a notch into the wood every night before I go to bed. Okay, that is not really true, but I have actually lived in the UK for 451 days of my life. I only know this because this morning I had to fill out a UK tax form that asked me how many days I have been in the UK during the past 5 days. Now, why I have to pay taxes to both Queen Elizabeth and Uncle Sam is completely another story, but while I was calculating the number of days I have lived in the UK, I wondered what percentage of my life this is. So, using my mathmetic skills and a program on my computer that I found called 'Calculator', I decided to compute it, and the result is that I have lived in the UK for 5% of my life! So, this brings me to another question...is my nationality now 5% British? Hmm...an interesting question and one I will leave all of you to ponder while you watch re-runs of the The Facts of Life and Green Acres.

However, something happened today that hasn't happened in any of the previous 450 days I have lived here in the UK. When I woke up in the morning I looked out my front bay window and saw the street and cars in it were covered in snow! This is a very rare sight in England so I had to snap a few photos before it all melted when the temperature heated up in the afternoon. So I've decided to post one so that all of you may see the great snowfall of 2006 in Liverpool.

The Transition...

2006-02-28T14:31:00.000-08:00

So, when this blog was originally started it was started with the intent of giving my supporters back in the USA, a little more insight as to how ministry is going over here in Liverpool. Over time I have made a few observations about this site which I will share with you now...

1) The only people who ever seem to visit my site are my friends back home, in the UK or on STINT in other locations throughout the world.
2) While I do enjoy writing ministry updates, I would like to also include personal updates, and also just include really random stories and my thoughts on certain things.
3) I really don't have a number 3, but I thought I would include it because only 2 points doesn't really make a list.

So, I think from now on I will continue with the ministry updates, but this site will more become my personal blog. Of course that would include ministry updates, because, well, my life is ministry full-time. However, I am going to just start posting about whatever is on my mind now, so my faithful readership, if you haven't fastended your seat belts yet you're going to want to do so because you're in for a rollercoaster ride of excitement and drama. Call it a social commentary if you will. In fact, early reviews of my new style of blogging are in and I've included a select few from names of note that will intice you to continue reading my blog in the future...

"Grab your board and surf on over to this site, you won't be dissapointed." - Jaleel White, former star of Family Matters.
"I laughed, I cried, I spilt my cappuccino all over my laptop." - Danny Kwon, Liverpool STINTer
"A rip-roaring good time. I have had so much fun reading this site, that I've decided to make it my homepage instead of kfc.com." - Colonel Saunders

Stay tuned for more. For now I leave you with this picture of a friend that I made the other night in Manchester at the train station.

2006-02-18T16:10:00.000-08:00

The Liverpool mission week came and went in a flash. The whole week was really encouraging! During the week there were many events going on including action groups at each university,
lunch bars (evangelistic talk and lunch) at each university and an evening cafe. It was probably the biggest thing that was going on at the universities this past week and it seemed like many students knew about what was going on because of the great advertising the students put into it.

Many students got to hear the Gospel for the first time and many non-Christians came along to the events to find out more about a relationship with God. At night there was an evening cafe style meeting where a student shared their testimony and a guest speaker did an evangelistic talk. The events were really well put on and after every event it seemed as if people were having conversations about God. I have been really encouraged by the students involved with the CU this week and the passion they have for sharing Christ with others. During the week I worked specifically on Hope's campus, except for on monday night when I gave a last minute evangelistic talk at a pub quiz some of the students put on. I was expecting around maybe 25 or so people to be there, but there ended up being about 100 students there and a lot of them were not Christians! I was a little nervous about speaking in front of that large a group, but the Lord was with me and really helped me stay calm and I trust His message was at work in the hearts of those who were listening. It really was great to get to be a part of the whole week. The picture is of one of the evening cafe meetings.

CU Ball and Mission Week

2006-02-10T17:27:00.000-08:00

This past week has been great because we have been back on campus full-time after being gone at the NSC and mid-year conferences. It was a pretty busy week, with a few nights where I didn't get back to the house until late, but I was pretty excited about some of the conversations I had with students who are wrestling with the truth of the Gospel. One thing that was encouraging was hearing talks at mid-year about the power of the Gospel, and knowing that the message itself is powerful to change lives. Of course this is something I would say that I always knew, but sometimes it is good to be reminded of the the truth of these sayings. I know God is doing some great things in the lives of many students here in Liverpool and I'm excited to get to play some sort of part in that, whether it be sowing that initial seed or seeing someone actually make a decision to trust Christ. It was encouraging for me to think about this, because I think I can easily become discouraged when I don't see the visible 'fruit' of evangelism. As a team we haven't seen as many decisions made for Christ this year compared to last (and I know I shouldn't compare but sometimes I find myself doing so), but the Gospel continues to be shared, and there are many students who are close to making a decision. I trust that the Lord is using us in a big way, despite what we may not always visibly see.

Tonight was the annual CU Ball which kicks off mission week. The Ball was actually a ton of fun. At first I didn't quite know how long I wanted to stay, but Sarah, Danny, Angie and I ended up staying until 1am dancing away with everyone else to a bunch of songs that I had really never heard of before. During mission week there are many events, from lunchbars to evening cafes, where the Gospel is shared. We are also going to be doing action groups everyday at each campus. I am working with a hall group on the Hope Aigburth campus and we are actually going to be doing an action group in the dorms there which I'm excited about. Please pray for this upcoming week that the Lord would use it in a big way and that many of these students who are wrestling with the truth of the Gospel would place their faith in Jesus. Thanks!

Back in Liverpool

2006-02-05T15:42:00.000-08:00

So, after a week and a half of conference-o-rama, I'm sitting in the confines of my living room and watching SuperBowl XL. Unfortunately, we don't have Fox or ABC (whoever is broadcasting the game in the States) so we don't get the great commercials, but we do at least get the game, so that is good.

This past weekend was the National Student Conference, which is the big student conference here with Agape UK. We made our way down to the conference with a group from Liverpool and the weekend was great. The speakers were top quality, and the worship time was also fantastic as well. This morning I actually had the opportunity to give a seminar on God's glory in our lives and living every area of our life for the glory of the Lord. It was cool to have the opportunity to share.

On thursday we got back from Nerja, Spain where we had our STINT mid-year conference with all of the other teams from Western Europe, N. Africa, Middle East and Central Asia. The conference was nice, and pretty relaxing. It was great to be in some sunny weather above all! It was also really great to meet people from other teams and also spend time with people I have met at previous mid-years or briefings. It's kind of funny how you get to know so many people while on STINT that affter a year and a half so you start to see a lot of familar faces at these conferences! The picture is from our day off when I went to the rock of Gibraltar with Kevin, KC and a bunch of other people. And yes, that is a real ape on my shoulders.

Here are some more pictures from Mid-year and the NSC...

2006-01-14T16:54:00.000-08:00

This past week was our first week back on campus of the term. At times it was a bit tough to get back into the swing of things, especially since Hope and Liverpool students all had exam weeks. However, it gave us an opportunity to try out a new outreach, where we passed out exam survival kits to students at these universities. The kits included a packet of crisps (potato chips), capri sun, some candy and a handout sharing the Gospel using the subject of exams. We were able to pass out 200 of these and also were able to get into a few conversations with people while passing them out. We were hoping to be able to get into more conversations through it, but it's still great that all the students who got one will have something inside that shares about Jesus.

The rest of the week seemed to fly by and before I knew it friday was here and we celebrated Stephanie's fake birthday by going for dinner and then watching a movie at the girls house which made for a fun night. I definitely had too much to eat after dinner though, and ate 2 Cadbury creme eggs, 2 pieces of vienetta ice cream cake and a piece of birthday cake. I don't know what I was thinking, but it tasted great.

Tonight a group of us guys went out with our good friend and teammate Ed Kitchin to celebrate his final weekend in Liverpool as a single man. Ed is getting married in 2 weeks and we are excited for him, but unfortunately none of us on the team will be able to go to the wedding because we will be at our STINT mid-year conference. The picture is of Ed and Ben and while it appears Ben is trying to give Ed a kiss it also kind of looks like he is going for his throat. I don't know what to make of that, but I think it's pretty funny.

2006-01-07T08:37:00.000-08:00

After ten days in the good old US of A, I have returned to Liverpool and we resumed our ministry activities this past week.

Christmas back at home was really nice. Unfortunately I fought off a cold the whole time, but I had many great opportunities to catch up with friends and family who were in the area. Highlights included: going to a Cavaliers game where LeBron James has his worst night of the year and the Cavs still beat the Pacers, spending a few days in Pittsburgh with Dad's family, and getting together with the old crew and going bowling one night. Christmas eve service at our church and party at my aunt and uncle's house and Christmas day with the family were of course great times as well. I felt really blessed to be able to make the trip home for Christmas. I was back in Liverpool for New Year's eve which we spent together as a team and with some friends who were hanging around in Liverpool.

This past week we have been back on the job even though students are still on break. The week has actually been really nice, and a good one for all of us to prepare for the upcoming term. On Wednesday and Thursday Sarah and I traveled to Birmingham for a regional team leaders meeting, and then yesterday we celebrated K.C.'s birthday by taking a trip to Chester and having dinner at a Thai restaurant. It was my first time having Pad Thai and I have to say it's pretty good! Chester is a really cool city because it was originally a Roman settlement and the city walls that they built are still intact, surrounding a major portion of the city. Out of all the different cities I've been to in the UK, I have say that my favorite ones are the ones with walls around them (Chester, York, Conwy). After dinner a contingency of us walked around the walls of the city and the picture is of us at the end. You may notice that Danny has gotten pretty tired!

I'm really excited about the upcoming semester. There are many amazing opportunities coming up that we will get to be a part of. We have a mid-year conference in the end of January we go to and then after that is the National Student Conference (Feb. 3-5). This conference was really good last year and God used it in amazing ways in students lives. This year I am also giving a seminar on 'God's Glory in Your Life,' which I'm excited about doing and also a bit nervous of course. The following week is Liverpool's mission week, followed by Chester's mission week and then in March we have two weeks of Spring break trips from Bowling Green and Miami. The Gospel will go out in many ways which is exciting and I'm looking forward to see what happens.

The Term is Over

2005-12-17T14:37:00.000-08:00

Today was our first day of winter break and it's amazing for me to think that the first term is already over. As a team we are already 4 months into our year together, and it seems like just yesterday that we all met together in Colorado for our briefing...

During the past couple weeks I have been thinking about what a privelege it is to be doing what I do here in England. I really am thankful for the fact that I am here and get to be a part of building God's kingdom among students in Liverpool and Manchester. Each day seems like a new day and I never know what is going to come up next. There have definitely been challenging moments, and I feel as if my faith has been stretched many times, but the great thing is that it only seems to get stronger through these challenges. I'm looking forward to being home for Christmas this year and looking forward to seeing family and friends. However, I'm also looking forward to returning to Liverpool and continuing to do the work that God has called me and us to.

Tonight we had a team Christmas celebration by going to dinner at the local pub & carvery (all you can eat, that's what I'm talkin' about!) and had a gift exchange. It was great and I loved celebrating with everyone on the team.

Manchester and Open Mic

2005-12-12T16:02:00.000-08:00

During the past two weeks a lot has been going on and unfortunately I don't have any pictures because my camera hasn't been cooperating with me lately.

Twice in the past two weeks we have been to Manchester Metro University to begin doing work with students there. This is the first time Agape has had a presence there and it is really exciting to be a part of something new and something that is just beginning. We led two tuesday evening meetings, sharing with all of the students there about the Great Commission and then doing seminars with them dealing with evangelism. The next day we had action groups at both Manchester University and Manchester Metro and students came out with us to meet others and share the Gospel with them. It has been great to see some of them catching a vision for living a lifestyle of evangelism and discipleship.

I also have been able to give two Gospel talks in the past two weeks. This is something new for me so both times I was feeling a little nervous about getting up in front of a group and presenting the Gospel. In the end, both times God was at work providing me with the words and I trust that His Gospel made an impact in some way in someones life. I gave one of these talks on saturday at an open mic event we hosted at a bar in the city center. We had people come and play guitar or sing and then we shared the Gospel trough telling the Christmas story and I gave a short message. The evening was fun, and many people had good spiritual conversations with their friends while there.

Sunday was also a big day for me. I was baptised! It was a day where I made a public declaration of my faith in Jesus Christ and followed Christ's command to be baptised. The whole evening was really encouraging and thank you to all of you who came and supported me. It really was a great night and I'm glad that many of you who attended found it encouraging as well.

Thanksgiving and House Party

2005-11-28T07:43:00.000-08:00

Here I am getting ready to carve the Thanksgiving turkey. One of three turkeys that we cooked as a team!

So the great holiday of Thanksgiving has come and gone but we celebrated it in grand fashion. Somehow, we managed to cook a Thanksgiving dinner for over 50 people and still managed to have the usual Thanksgiving leftovers. The whole cooking process had to start on Wednesday evening and continued on through the day Thursday until we began eating at six o'clock. The evening was good fun and it was nice to share the holiday with so many people.

The day after Thanksgiving was over we all packed our bags and joined the Liverpool City CU on their weekend house party at a retreat center called Cefn Lea in Wales. The weekend was good fun, but by Sunday I began to feel the effects of all the busyness of the past couple days. On saturday I gave a seminar on "The Spirit-filled Life" which seemed to go pretty well. It's a funny topic to give a seminar on because it really is such a simple concept at the core, but one that we can so easily become tripped up on possibly because it is so easy. I know that I have found the simple word picture of 'spiritual breathing' to be one that has really helped me gain a greater understanding of the Spirit-filled life. If you don't know what it is, check it out by going to - http://grow.campuscrusadeforchrist.com/library/concepts/befilled.html.

Tonight I am speaking at a pub quiz outreach and then tomorrow night a bunch of us are going to Manchester Metro's CU to share with them about evangelism and do some training with them in evangelism. After all these things are over hopefully things will slow down a bit and we will all have time to catch our breath!

2005-11-19T09:03:00.000-08:00

So, I've spent most of the afternoon working on a seminar for the CU house party next weekend on the Spirit-filled Life. I'm really excited to give this seminar because I believe it is a topic that can really have a massive impact on a Christian's life. Personally, I have been really impacted by understanding the Holy Spirit and living a life that is led by the Spirit and not trying to do things in my own power. Perhaps I will post the notes from my seminar on this site after I give it so you viewers at home can check it out.

This past week I've been busy but haven't been on campus as much. For two days I was out of town at a regional team leader meeting in Birmingham. It's great to be with other team leaders from around the UK and hear how ministry is going in other parts of the country and also get more direction as to where our national ministry is going. It's tough being away from campus in Liverpool, but yesterday I had some great time on campus with Danny, Rick and B.J. Danny and I also had a great conversation with two guys that we talked to for over an hour about the Gospel. It still amazes me though how resistant some people can be to God and his offer of forgiveness and eternal life. I guess we know that some people will be but then there are others who won't be!

The weather here is getting cold and dark, so I've decided to post a picture of myself with my sister and two brothers. For those of you who have never met them - here they are! It was taken over the summer while I was back home. A picture like this helps brighten up a dark, cold November day.

I have returned...

2005-11-15T13:23:00.000-08:00

You will have to excuse my absence from the worldwide blog network. For the past three weeks I have been on vacation. You can find my favorite picture from my trip to the left. It's me in full clothing wading in a pond in order to catch ducks. You can see my prey at the top of the picture.

No, not really...in fact not at all...the past three weeks I have been busy busy here in Liverpool. I don't have any pictures from the past three weeks because my camera is less than subpar, so I decided to randomly post this picture of me from a digital photo scavengar hunt we did at the Agape UK Briefing. It's me with a duck, enjoy.

Over the past three weeks we have had an open mic outreach, Mike Harvey came to visit, held a Life Objectives Day conference, and had a fall visit from Mark Brown and Courtnee Austin, Miami staff team members. The open mic was really good. Many students came out for it and my boy Ben did a great job sharing his testimony with everyone that was there. There is talk of doing another one in the future. Mike was in town for that weekend and did a few songs, sending me back to my final year at Miami when he used to play uptown.

The fall visit this past weekend was encouraging. It came at a good time for myself and probably for the rest of the team as well. After 2 months of being here, the "honeymoon" period begins to come to a close and the long winter begins to set in. Having Mark and Courtnee come was a shot in the arm for myself and hopefully for the rest of the team as well. Life Objectives Day was this saturday, and although not well attended, was allright. It could have been better and looking back on it I would have done many things differently, but God works through situations like these to teach us how to do things better in the future.

Yesterday was our day with the Lord. It's basically a day we take once a month to spend reading the Bible, praying and seeking the Lord. It was one of the most refreshing days of the year! I pretty much spent the whole day reading and meditating on God's word. It was so nice to be able to do that and not have any time restraints or any other things to worry about going on later in the day. I have also been reading the book Knowing God by J.I. Packer. Even though I have only read the first two chapters I can tell that this book is going to be outstanding. I'm really looking forward to continuing to dive into this book. I also looked at my personal vision for the year I set at the beginning and examined my goals and priorities and re-committed myself to them. I'm finding it's so important to be consistently visiting a personal vision as well as movement vision.

Well there you have it. My past three weeks condensed into three nice edible bite sized paragraphs for all of you reading at home. Oh and also some other exciting news - I will be coming home for Christmas this year! Dec. 19-29 I will be back in good old Bay Village, OH so if you will be around let me know.

2005-10-22T17:08:00.000-07:00

In the northwestern part of England there is an area known as the Lake District that I have wanted to go to now for quite some time. Today I finally got to do that, as our friends Rich and Danny treated a bunch of us by taking us out to see this beautiful part of England for the day. It was a rainy day, but the scenery was still outstanding, and we had a great time walking around the lake and checking out the town of Keswick. Definitely a good time had by all. It was also nice to hop in a car and go for a drive, something that comes pretty rarely while on STINT!

The past week was a busy week for myself, but I managed to get through. The highlight was that on wednesday some of us went to Manchester to do the first action group of the year with students and 12 people came out to join us! That's a pretty large crowd and it's encouraging seeing how the ministry is growing there.

2005-10-16T15:35:00.000-07:00

The past week and a half has flown by (I feel like time always flies by while on STINT) and once again I find myself on a Sunday night getting ready for another week of ministry in Liverpool. Ministry has been encouraging lately. Over the past two weeks there have been 3 students who have decided to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior, which is amazing, and action groups have begun at each campus. 2 of these new Christians are students at Hope so Kevin and I are starting a follow up bible study for them and hopefully some other people as well. The other is a Chinese girl who is already expressing interest in coming to an action group herself. It's so encouraging when you see a someone who becomes a Christian and then immediately wants to go out and share their faith with someone else. How cool!

I've also done quite a bit of traveling in the past week. On tuesday and wednesday, Sarah and I traveled to Birmingham for an Agape UK regional team leaders meeting. The meetings were allright (what can I say they are meetings), but it was great to catch up with some of our national leaders and also get to know them on a more personal level. We traveled home on wednesday and got in right before the Christian Union meeting started. On that night our team was introduced to all the students and I got the opportunity to say a few words about who we are and then also invite students to come to an action group. The response we got was really encouraging and I love the fact that we have such a great partnership/relationship with the CU. How great to see the body of Christ working together!

After our team meeting on friday we headed off for a team weekend to Edinburgh, Scotland! The city is amazing and we got to stay with our friend Alasdair who works with Agape. On saturday we toured the Royal Mile and checked out Edinburgh castle. About mid-afternoon we took a stop at small cafe called Chocolate Soup that specializes in chocolate drinks. Brittney and Sarah were raving about how good they were from the year before, so we all decided to find out for ourselves. I've never had anything so rich in my life! It was like drinking a large starbucks cup of melted chocolate. Finishing one of them was a struggle that not many made it through but nevertheless I managed to actually finish two of them and the remains of Danny's in order to pick up a BC point. You can see our reactions to Chocolate Soup in the picture at the top. After I needed to make a trip to the bathroom (two chocolate soups will do that to you) and then a group of us hiked to the top of Arthur's Seat, a hill just outside the city, in order to get a view of the entire city. The hike was a lot of fun and as the wind whipped around us at the top we had a great view of the city and the North Sea. Definitely worth the effort put in to get there.

So, there's a snippet of what's been going on in my life. For those of you I haven't heard from in awhile it would be great to hear from you soon. For those back in the States we have a US phone number you can call and you will actually ring our house phone here in England. The number is (440) 377-0119. Give me a call!

2005-10-06T14:35:00.000-07:00

Today was one of those days where what happened makes everything I do so worth it. I started the day with Kevin at Hope U. We were supposed to meet a first year student that filled out a 30 second survey, but after 10 mins it seemed like he wasn't going to show up. However, Kevin got a call on his phone from the guy and we eventually got to sit down with him in the refectory and talk for awhile. We talked a bit about his spiritual background and what he thought about God and it was apparent that he wanted to know God and have Him be in his life, but just didn't know much more. For the next half an hour we shared with him about Jesus Christ and the offer of forgiveness and eternal life that he offers us. After discussing that all he needed to do was open the door of his life and invite Jesus in, and that Jesus would come into his life as he promises, he prayed right there to invite Christ into his life! It was amazing and so cool to be right there while he made the greatest decision of his life. Sometimes I am amazed that I get to be a part of this and feel so priveleged that I get to do this for my full time job! Then after that I went to Liverpool U. to meet a student for lunch. We had a great conversation and will be meeting up for discipleship in the future. Then I met Ed at John Moores U. and we had a good training time together and discussed our involvement with the universities in Manchester for the upcoming year. It's tough to figure out how we can most strategically have a presence there, but it is exciting because the students there seem excited about us being there and starting action groups. After that we headed back to our house for movement prayer, which is a weekly prayer meeting we have to pray for the ministry here in Liverpool. 15 of us all gathered to pray and then we all cooked tacos and ate dinner together. Talk about a good day!

2005-10-06T00:24:00.000-07:00

It's been a week and a half since I've last posted and that's honestly been because I've never had a spare moment to do so! The pace has been quick so far, and it seems like I'm constantly running off to do something else. The crazy thing is that there is so much more I wish I could fit into my day that I just don't have time for! That's been one of the toughest things for me so far, is figuring out how to balance all of my responsibilities and still have tons of time to invest in students. Nonetheless, I have been blessed with some great opportunities lately. Last night I got to share the Gospel with someone while at Globe Cafe (an outreach for international students) and there have also been other conversations I've had with students that I've met at the student union during lunchtime that have been good. We haven't seen much fruit yet from our efforts, but there are a number of people who have heard the Gospel and are considering the claims of Christ. Another exciting thing that has happened is that we have students who are interested in leading action groups this year. Action groups are intentional times of evangelism with training. Praise God for that! How incredible would it be if everyday of the week there was an action group, and people were out sharing their faith with others. It's thoughts like these that keep me at it!

This past saturday we decided to take a daytrip to Conwy, which is a small town in North Wales. Attractions included Conwy Castle, a walk around the city walls, and the smallest house in Great Britain. We also ate at a restaurant featuring 'world famous' fish 'n chips. Unfortunately the restaurant didn't live up to its reputation in my mind. Conwy Castle was great. It's over 700 years old and I kind of wished I could just hang out there all the time. The picture is of myself, Danny, Kevin and our good friend Rich at the top of the castle. I also enjoyed being able to get away from Liverpool and take a trip through the countryside. I love Liverpool, but sometimes you just need to break away and see some grass, trees, and an abundance of the color green. I got some of that on the train ride which was fulfilling.

Well that about covers it. I hope you, my loyal reader, feel 'updated' on my life.

Back in the Swing of Things

2005-09-26T15:49:00.000-07:00

The weekend came and went and I'm already finding myself thrust into a busy week. On friday night we had a party at the girls house which was pretty well attended by students. It was great to catch up with a lot of people that I haven't seen yet since coming back. The party ended up going pretty late and I didn't leave until 2am. We had originally thought of going to N. Wales on saturday, our day off, but that would have required getting an early start, so instead Kevin, Danny and I decided to go check out the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool. The building is probably my favorite site in Liverpool, with an incredibly enormous interior, and a great view from the top. The picture on the left is Liverpool from the top of the Cathedral.

The last freshers fair was on Sunday, at Liverpool University, so we are now busy following up all the contacts we made. Danny and I set up an appointment with a guy today for lunch, but unfortunately he was a no-show. We ended up still having a good lunch together, and then we ended up just finding a student in the Guild whom we were able to have a conversation with. The conversation wasn't anything exciting, but it was good to just be on campus again and begin meeting students and having conversations about the Gospel with them. The rest of my week seems like it has already filled up, between meeting with people from the team and meeting with people from the national office coming in on thursday. I'm hoping to still find some time to meet with students and set up appointments, but I can see that being in a different role this year is going to make that more difficult. I'm learning that sometimes the most effective use of my time will mean less time with students than I had last year, since one of my primary responsibilities is the growth and direction of our team and ministry.

Fresher Fayre Fun

2005-09-21T16:12:00.000-07:00

The freshers fayre have officially begun and we have been busy the past two days going to them. Freshers fayres are basically massive events, where every club or society in the university sets up a stall and tries to persuade all incoming "freshers" that they should sign up for their society. If you went to Miami, think of MegaFair, except with lots of loud noises, alcohol, and half naked men and women running around promoting the univerisities party nights. So, maybe it would be a little different than MegaFair, but you get the concept here. We did 30 second survey's to find students who were spiritually interested and wanted to know more about what it means to have a personal relationship with God. We met tons of students and were able to meet a handful of students who were interested in meeting up again and gave us their contact information. It is encouraging to know that a girl who was surveyed and followed up last year ended up becoming a Christian, so one of these students we met just might be in for a life-changing experience soon! The picture is of Danny doing some surveys with JMU students.

Yesterday we were at John Moores University's freshers fayre and today we went to Manchester to check out their freshers fayre and get to know the campuses there better. We only started going to Manchester at the end of last year so everything there is pretty new. We split up into teams to explore the campuses, prayer walk and make contacts with anyone. I went with Brittney and Kevin to Manchester Metro, which is a university we had no presence at last year, and we were actually able to make some great contact with a church there and with the Christian Union there. Overall a successful field trip to Manchester.

I'm pretty exhausted after these two days, not just from the travel today to Manchester, but also because a few of us went to a movie outreach last night at Hope's Aigburth campus. The funny thing is that I didn't even know this campus existed! We are finding new things all the time here. The outreach went pretty well and we were able to meet some people there who we can hopefully keep in touch with. Tonight, I took it easy, staying in and working on laundry and trying to get my room together. It's starting to feel more and more like home finally! I'm off to bed now. Until next time...

2005-09-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

The past week and half we have spent getting settled in to Liverpool, establishing a team covenant (still not finished yet) and team norms and also doing some orientation and prayer walking at the 3 university campuses.

We spent a day at each campus doing a prayer walk. It was a good way to get to know the universities, and I even discovered areas of each university that I didn't know about from last year. Prayer walking was actually pretty challenging, and tough to stay focused at times when cars are whizzing by and construction workers are tearing up the streets (I swear the entire city of Liverpool is under construction). Ultimately it was great though, and I'm excited that we were able to really saturate each campus in prayer before we begin.

Over the weekend I came down with a cold which was tough. I was really looking forward to just hanging out with the team and old friends from last year, but I had to take it pretty easy going to bed early on both friday and saturday night. I'm starting to feel better already so I'm glad that I did take it easy. On saturday night I did go to a laser show at Sefton Park, which really ended up being just a big promotion for the city of Liverpool and their 2008 European Capital of Culture status.

Today we had a day with the Lord. Basically it's a day that we spend seeking the Lord and his presence. It was great. During the day I read and meditated on Isaiah 1-2:5. It was fantastic and I really felt a close connection with the Lord, something I had struggled with over the past week. I was also able to spend lots of time in prayer and continued to read Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels, which I also found insightful. I'm really looking forward to future days with the Lord and hope that we are able to have one once a month.

Tomorrow is when the freshers fair begin so things are about to really pick up for us. I'll post on those when I get a chance.

The Whole Team's Here

2005-09-13T14:38:00.000-07:00

Everyone else from the team is now here in Liverpool and we have spent the past 5 days settling in to our houses, getting over jet lag, becoming aquainted with the city, and just getting used to life in England in general. Our new house is brilliant. It seems like it is about twice as big as our house last year and my room is probably six times bigger than the one I had last year. Keep in mind that I last year I lived in a box room that fit my bed, dresser and wardrobe, and that was about it. So, this is definitely an upgrade for me! One thing we are still lacking is curtains for our bay area window, which is funny, because anytime someone walks by our house they can look right into our living room and see all of us in there. One of these days we'll get around to getting some, but going to the store and buying curtains isn't my idea of an exciting trip into town. We also just got an internet connection a few days ago so it looks like I'll be able to keep this thing updated.

The past two days we have spent working on a team covenant and establishing some team norms. This means lots of time in meetings, which can be draining, but tomorrow we are going to get on campus for the first time. The students aren't really back at this point, but we are going to do some orientation for the new guys and also some prayer walking. This morning we also had Luke and Larry from the national office come visit and they shared with us the vision for Agape UK.

Another exciting thing that happened yesterday was that the student ministry team at my local church asked if we could be involved with their team this year. So, we had our first meeting last night and it took awhile, but in the end we came up with some good stuff for the upcoming year.

Well, I hope that catches all of you up on what has been going on here since the team has arrived. Things are going well and we are excited to get onto campus and start meeting students!

A Call to Prayer...

2005-09-02T06:44:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! This year our team has decided to set up an official prayer support network for everyone back home. It is great knowing that people back home are praying for you, and I thank all of you that are already doing that. If you are interested in supporting us through prayer/fasting during this upcoming year, we are asking that you sign up for a specific day or perhaps a specific pattern of days (every other saturday, etc.). If you sign up we will be able to send you really specific prayer requests so you will know how to pray for us. We are hoping to have one person a day for the entire year who is intentionally praying and interceding for us. Email Brittney Lenhoff, the coordinator of all this, at brittney_lenhoff@hotmail.com to sign up. Just tell her you read this post and are interested in praying/fasting for us.

I feel so blessed to have a wonderful group of family, friends and churches back home supporting me. Thank you again!

Life Out of a Suitcase

2005-09-02T06:28:00.000-07:00

It has been along time since I've written an update, basically because I haven't had any internet access. For a little over the past two weeks I have been on the move, going to Colorado for the STINT briefing and then leaving for England again only to drop my stuff off at my new house and head off to another conference, this one in Nottingham. Both of these conferences were great and continued to build my excitement for returning to ministry in Liverpool.

Colorado was amazing! We stayed in the Rocky Mountains and had some great team bonding time. Along with great Bible teaching and times of praise and worship, some highlights consisted of sledding down the side of a grassy slope, a random dance competition between Brittney and Danny, a late night playground session, hiking on top of Keystone peak, and one incredibly cold game of Texas Hold 'em. I wish I could could elaborate more, but I could go on forever.

My arrival in Liverpool was actually pretty odd. I didn't sleep at all on the plain ride over, so I made a point to stay up all day the next day to try and get over the jetlag. It was the strangest feeling when I finally got into the city and walked out of Lime Street station. All of the sudden everyone I was with before was no longer with me and I started to feel a bit lonely. The Lord really met me that afternoon reminding that "He will never leave me, nor forsake me." It was reassuring knowing that even though I was back on this funny little island country, God wanted me here and that was the best place I could be.

The Agape UK conference was good as well. It was nice to see all of the UK staff who I had gotten to know the year before. They are all so passionate about seeing the country changed that it is exciting being around all of them. This conference was a lot more low-key than the STINT briefing, but I learned a lot and also got to present our vision for the NW to everyone and got to share a personal testimony.

I'm back in Liverpool now and working on moving all of our stuff to our new house on Hereford Rd. I don't have internet access (I'm at the library as I write this) so once that is up and running, I will be able to post more often. I will also put some pictures up of the new team when I get a chance as well. Until then...

Final Weekend in the Village

2005-08-14T20:56:00.000-07:00

My final weekend in Bay for the summer just came to conclusion. I can't believe how quickly it has come and gone. God truly blessed me with some great time with friends and family while home and also some great time to begin preparing for the upcoming year.

On Saturday night I got to go to the Browns exhibition game against the Giants. They actually ended up winning 17-14! There was a lightning delay which worked out perfect because Jeff, Dan, Mike and I were late getting down and by the time we took a seat they resumed play. Great timing!

Today was just incredible. The message at church this morning was great and after church was over I had some people over to my house to hang out, swim, play cornhole and grill some burgers. After that we headed down to 707 which was off the hook! There was a baptism in which 10 people gave their testimony and were then baptized as a symbol of their new life in Christ. It was amazing to hear so many awesome stories of God's grace and the amazing work of the Holy Spirit in these people's lives.

The next few days I'll be getting ready to take off again and I'll be leaving wednesday morning. I might get in another post before then, if not maybe during the conference (if we have internet access) or after. Stay tuned...

Getting Ready for Departure...Again

2005-08-13T13:13:00.000-07:00

The Liverpool skyline...

Well, I have less than a week left at home until I leave to go to Colorado with the rest of our team for the worldwide STINT briefing. I can definitely say that leaving this year will be much easier than it was last year. I began the process of packing today because I thought it would take me a few days like it did last year. Wrong! I worked for about an hour and nearly finished! Then I remembered I really didn't bring all that much home with me so it wouldn't take me all that long to pack up again.

I also went for a morning kayak trip with Jeff and Mike on Lake Erie. My first and most likely only trip of the summer. The weather was overcast and the lake was a little bit wavy, but we still had a good time and managed to find a small cave on the inside of a cliff. I also tried to do some boulder climbing on these rocks at the end of a cliff, but instead ended up slipping on some insanely slippery rocks and tore my shin up pretty bad. I'm also expecting some nice bruises when I wake up tomorrow morning. Rock On.

I can't believe that I'm getting ready to leave again on Wednesday morning. Part of me is excited because I enjoy spreading the Word over there full-time and I love the vision of CCC and Agape UK, but at the same time being back home has made me desire having a bit more establishment in my life and not being constantly on the move. I take heart in knowing that there are different seasons of life and that this is the lifestyle that God has called me to for now. Who knows what He has in plan for the future, but I know that it is good.

Also, if you are in the NEOH area this weekend feel free to stop by my house tomorrow (Sunday) anytime after 2:30 for some pool and BBQ action. We will have burgers around 5 so we can leave for 707 at 6:30 to see Will and Emily's baptism. Come on, come all!

Veronica and I are trying this new thing called Yogging...

2005-08-08T12:56:00.000-07:00

...or maybe that was Blogging. I guess you simply just type stuff into an online journal.

I had to start my blog with a reference to 'Anchorman' of course.

Welcome to my online journal where I will (hopefully) keep everyone up to date on my life and ministry in Liverpool. This past year I wasn't very good with the electronic communication so this is a new effort on my behalf to keep all of you updated. If I can figure out how, I'm going to post all of my prayer letters from last year on this site so those of you who may not have gotten them will be able to find out all of the great stuff that happened last year in Liverpool. So, watch out for those.

We also have less than 10 days until we take off for the STINT briefing. If you could keep myself and our team in your prayers that would be incredible. We are all a little short on support right now but are trusting the Lord to bring it in for us before we arrive at briefing. Stay tuned for future updates!