Monthly Archives: May 2014

Life has regained its normalcy as all of us have returned home to our families and friends and the chaperones are back to school.  As I reflect back over the last nine days, here are a few thoughts of things learned:

1) “The effective prayer of a righteous person can accomplish much.” (James 5:16).  There is NO WAY that we could have scripted the week we had in Scotland.  All of the best planning in the world wouldn’t have topped the plan that God put together for us while in Scotland.  The people we met, the experiences we had all fit together to create a beautiful tapestry of ministry and work for Christ and His kingdom.  

2) The people of Scotland are beautiful and welcoming and generous.  It is an extraordinary melting pot of different people groups (with a Scottish accent) who each hold a strong opinion about something (especially football and politics) that need Jesus.  Because of the strength of will of the Scottish people to stand alone when necessary, I personally believe that a revival in Scotland will have major ripple effects in many nations.

3) I need to take more coffee and tea breaks.  We struggled, initially, to embrace the regular coffee and tea breaks afforded to us in Scotland.  We wanted to work, but what we learned was the importance of people and relationship through these tea breaks filled with good conversation.  It was refreshing to be reminded of the need to set aside our agenda and listen to the person across from you.

4) All of the hard work, fundraising and planning was WORTH IT!

5) After three senior trips, this class raised the bar of expectation for future classes regarding team unity, work ethic and commitment to serving others.  I will be using Scotland 2014 as a reference for future planning.  This is a testament to Mr. Hokenbrough and Mrs. Urquhart’s excellent leadership and the seniors’ class.  Well done!  You finished well!

Friday is graduation… unbelievable.  I pray that you will keep what you have learned on this trip and from your time here at Lititz Christian to move forward in your faith in Christ and help you live more fearlessly for Him.

Cheers!

Mr. Lewis

We have packed, survived security, and are seated at our gate in Glasgow Airport. In less than an hour we’ll be boarding our plane for Philly! The flight is on-time and we are eager to see you all. (Although we may require a nap upon arrival.) See you soon!

Flight #: US Airways 769
Arrives: in Philly at 1:00 PM

Just wanted everyone to know that we safely arrived in Glasgow this afternoon, toured Celtic Park (home of Celtic Football Club) and have settled into our accommodations at the airport Travelodge hotel.  The trip back through the Highlands was stunning as the weather was far nicer than the day we travelled the A9 a week ago.  Beautiful valleys and winding rivers with crystal clear water… Scotland is truly a beautiful country.

After dinner in the hotel restaurant, we had a time of debriefing as a team.  As leaders, we are incredibly proud of their unity and hard work this week.  So many seeds were planted of Christ’s love through these seniors’ efforts and attitudes.  

Tomorrow morning, we head home to see each of you.  We will miss Scotland and its wonderful people, but we cannot wait to be with each of you again.  We will try to communicate from the airport of our flight status and then will call Mr. Bernhardt when we finally land in Philadelphia.

Cheers!

What an amazingly wonderful week!  We have been absolutely embraced by Margaret and Murdo Macleod, who hosted the boys all week and Reay Ross, who hosted the girls.  Last night, we had a farewell gathering, which also included extended family.  It was a blast getting to know so many of them.  Reay and Margaret’s brother Allen and his son, Jordan were also a regular with our group this week and were a delight to get to know.  I think it is safe to say that we will be having another senior trip here to Scotland at some point down the road.

Today, we say goodbye to our Scotland family and begin our trek back to Glasgow for a 1:45 p.m. tour of Deltic Park, the famed Scottish football club.  After our tour, then we will find our way to our hotel, return our vans to the airport rental agency and settle in for one final dinner together as a team.  Then, we get a shuttle to the airport to fly home on Sunday morning local time.  Depending on internet access at the hotel, we may not be able to update the blog.  We will try to send a quick communication from the Glasgow Airport before we leave to confirm our departure time.

See you Sunday!

On Thursday morning, we had a time of debriefing with some of the leaders who helped us at the Alness Baptist Church.  Jan was incredibly helpful in organizing our team with work each day and providing the tools we needed   He is a transplant from the Netherlands, but married a wonderful Scottish women which led him to Scotland years ago.  Captain Drew was integral in taking photos of each team and helping each team get organized with the local contacts in the community.  Drew works in the oil industry in the North Sea region on one of the tugboats, which ferries the large oil tankers and cruise ships into Invergordon.  Drew is a local.  Dirk was a wonderful influence on the team with his huge heart for evangelism and reaching the lost.  Dirk is from Malta, but has been pretty much everywhere in the world and has had some amazing experiences in ministering for Christ.  Pastor Mike was the driving influence in helping our team get to Alness and organizing the basketball game for us on Tuesday night.  Mike’s father was from Poland who fled to Scotland during WWII.  Mike coached Anna Urquhart’s husband, Jonathan’s basketball team for years and has been a steady influence for Jesus in the area.

Jan

So many members of this wonderful little “city on a hill” (literally) were so encouraging and helpful during our stay here.  They fed us time and again and were so flexible to our needs.  I am sincerely praying that the Lord allows another senior class in the future to come and learn alongside these brothers and sisters to see their genuine faith and love for others.  We will miss them greatly!

Pray that God will bring healing to Pastor Ian.  We were only able to see him one time at the Sunday morning service due to some health issues, so pray for a full recovery.  Also, pray that the Lord will raise up a new generation of believers at the church who can embrace leadership and take the church into the future.

Captain Drew

Dirk

Here are some other riveting pics from the last 24 hours!

A Highland Cow (sometimes pronounced “Heeland Coo”)

Haggis.  Yep.  We all LOVED it!  Seriously.  We ate four of these… 20 pounds of haggis with neeps, tatties and trifle.  A meal fit for Scottish royalty.  We also read some Robert Burns poetry and listened to some pipe music.

Leaders strolling through the streets of Inverness

Waterfront at Inverness

Urquhart Castle

‘Ello! Hola! An nyung!

Let’s start off by saying that the food here is amazingly fantastically yummy and delicioso. Wow. Even the haggis, neeps and tatties last night were pretty great! We had a great Burns Dinner last night, complete with the procession and ode to the haggis, performed with only the finest of Scottish accents from the lads. We enjoyed an extremely fun evening…maybe we’ll leave it there because what happens at a Burns dinner STAYS at a Burns dinner..

Honorary Lads of Macleod

This morning began with a short time of prayer and debriefing at the church with Jan, Drew, and Dirk–some of the leaders we’ve been working with. We then went to the Alness Heritage Center, where we enjoyed a very long and detailed tour about rather exciting things such as turnip cutters and horse shoes. In all reality, it was interesting and they hosted a delicious lunch for us. Not anything new here, we greatly enjoyed the food, tea, and sweeties.

Next stop was Urquhart Castle, our dear teacher’s ancient home. Despite the persistent rain, we had a fun time exploring the ancient ruins of the castle, and the beautiful Loch Ness. Hok spotted Nessie, so we can check that off the bucket list! Some of us were daring enough to put our bare piggy toes in the water, while others drank the pristine water.

After hours of exploring, taking pictures, and being tourists, we headed off to Inverness for some more shopping. We split into groups and enjoyed some free time to eat the characteristically fantastic food. We all headed home with some kind of souvenir, and some even headed home with the memory of being led down a back alley by a lovely stranger to find a local cafe. We met up, stopped by a kilt shop, and after buying some shortbread, hobnobs, and dairy milk, headed back to Margaret’s, where we’ve been hanging out, drinking tea, eating scones, and making lots of amazingly fantastically, and even yummy and deliciosos, memories.

See you on the flipside,

The lassies

Team Pic at our castle – Urquhart Castle!

Do you see Nessie? We did. nbd.

Josh picking rhubarb this morning with Aunt Margaret

The welcome slide at the Church of Scotland in Invergordon at the café – Monday.

Train station at Invergordon – Monday.

On the way up Fyrish – Sunday

View from atop Fyrish – Sunday

Panoramic from Fyrish – Sunday