Joe Allyn Signing Off

Since I only had enough vacation days to stay for 3 weeks, Maggie and I are leaving early. During this mission trip, the team has been studying through “Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life” by Donald Whitney. In the last chapter we studied prior to Maggie and I's departure, we learned about silence, and the place that it holds in the Christian Life. As I think over the progress and events of the last three weeks, how God has worked in my life and many others, I worship God... and I do so in silence.

Zepheniah 1:7a Be silent before the Lord GOD...

I'm sitting in the London Heathrow Airport. Terminal 1 has countless overpriced shops and a seating court for the numerous travellers waiting for their next flight, just as I am. Maggie and I sat in this same place 3 weeks ago. At that time we were tired from our flight across the Atlantic, exhausted from our attempt to stay awake even after 20+ hours without sleep. Now, I think about that same flight and the sleeplessness that awaits until we arrive home in Lenexa, KS, but the thought is overshadowed by the thoughts of the events that have transpired from our first arrival until now.

I say I'm silent because I can't quite express what I feel. I can tell you what I and the team have done both individually and corporately, but I don't think I can write quite what it now means to me. I'll try to start with what I can tell you: We studied. We shared. We worked.

We studied:

• Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney (We were able to study 10 of the 11 disciplines: Reading, Studying, and Meditating on Scripture, Prayer, Worship, Fasting, Silence and Solitude, Stewardship, Evangelism. Maggie and I read through the Journaling and Learning chapters during our flight from Edinburgh to London Heathrow.)
• Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians (We were able to study 5 of the 6 chapters of this epistle).
• The Psalms (several evenings we met as a team and one of us gave an exposition of a psalm and we would sing it together)
• We heard Pastor Quigley preach. If you haven't gotten to hear Andrew preach yet in person or via sermonaudio.com, you need to. He preaches powerfully, applying the written word of God to the situations of everyday Christian life. While in Airdrie, we had the blessing of hearing Andrew twice every Sabbath (6 sermons). The church was also working to meet people in the community, so Andrew preached a message a night three nights in a row two of the weeks we were there (another 6 sermons). These sermons were preached in the community centers for some of the smaller suburbs of Airdrie. I recall the communities: Caldercruix, Clarkston, Gartlea, Rochsoles, Calderbank, and Jerviston. The basic theme of these messages were “Feeling Trapped?”: how everyone at one time or another is trapped by problems in life. These problems find their origin in sin and the only remedy is a relationship with Jesus.

We shared:

• We wrote and practiced a short drama based on the Exile of Israel into Babylon. We made costumes and props and learned psalms which fit the theme, which is that we must seek God and repent of our sin. We presented the drama and songs to several primary schools (like elementary schools in the US).
• We sat in on Mrs. Byrne's Religious Education classes at Caldervale secondary school. The class discussed euthanasia, abortion, suffering, and the virgin birth. We were able to provide a Christian perspective to the discussion. This was challenging as often only 1 or 2 of the students had opinions which matched Biblical Christianity. It was eye-opening to see how anti-religious Scotland youth have become.
• We prepared 5 minute testimonies. A testimony is a way a person tells what God has done in their life. For me, I shared how even though I grew up knowing what God's law was I still fought with sin (and still do). Because of my sinfulness, I need someone to save me and that person is Jesus. Jesus isn't sinful, but instead is righteous and through belief and trust in Him, God sees me as if I was as righteous as Jesus and forgives me of my sins. We shared these testimonies in St. Margaret's secondary school (the British equivalent of High School).
• We spent time with the Covenant Youth (basically just the high school aged kids in the congregation). Most of the girls thought I looked like Chandler from the TV show, Friends. It was a good time to hang out with them, though I wish I'd asked more questions, like what their testimonies are and how their Christian walk is.

We worked:

• We were asked to do some painting while we were there. We started with an assignment to paint a small halway, some toilets (which means bathrooms in Britain), and the kitchen. When Pastor Quigley learned that I had owned my own painting company he assigned me as foreman for the team. We did such a great job with the kitchen, the list of areas to paint soon expanded. Before I left, we had finished the following:
• The kitchen (walls)
• The men's toilet (ceiling, walls, and skirting boards)
• The women's toilet (ceiling, walls doors, and skirting boards)
• The rear hallway (ceiling, walls, doors, and skirting boards)
• The rear entryway (walls)
• The front entryway and staircase (walls and trim)
• The downstairs of the sanctuary (walls)
• The fellowship hall (ceiling, walls, doors, and trim)
• The secretary's office (ceiling, walls, doors, and trim)
• The connecting hallway (ceiling, walls, doors, and trim)

As the list above attests, we worked very hard and accomplished much. Had a paid crew come to do the work, it would likely have cost thousands of pounds (1 pound is approximately 1.6 dollars).

• We distributed leaflets for the sermons Andrew preached at the various community centers.
• We served one another among the team members, doing laundry and dishes. We took turns cooking dinner.
  

I mention all the above not to elevate anyone's opinion of myself or the mission team. We did study, we did share, and we did work, but as I look back on it, I see very clearly that all of it was God working in us, through us, and with us. I can't fully describe it all but I do fully ascribe it all to God. Even now, I pray that where He led us to water, plant, and nurture that He will give the growth. To HIM be all the praise!