Thursday, October 29, 2015

Zoobilee Holiday Club

Holiday club! It is half term this week, which means kids don't have school because it the middle of their term. Usually during half term we don't do our toddler groups or youth clubs, so that the children's workers and youth leaders get a break too. But not this half term. This week we are running a three day holiday club. It is along the same lines of VBS. We spend all of Tuesday decorating our church with zoo-themed creations. It was a day of painting, gluing, and sticking to the extreme. I am most proud of my giraffe creation, Geremy. I worked with another volunteer for 80% of the day on this guy. We used a child sized table, a microphone stand extended as far as it would go, tons of cardboard, tons of paper, and even more duct tape and paint.

After about 8 hours of decorating and planning, we were ready to go! The next morning we had about 15 children show up. We have done everything from puppet shows to story times, songs to games, and even live animals. The kids have been loving it so much! Today was day two, and we had about 20 children show up. Most of these kids don't have church backgrounds, and know about this event through toddler groups or people in their schools who have invited them. For parents, we have a Zoo Cafe. This is a place for them to stay and hang out as long as they want while their kids enjoy the holiday club. We offer them free teas and coffees, and of course cake. Because every good English event must have cake. I have eaten more cake this year than every other year of my life combined! (Not that I am complaining!) The church leader and other church members have been joining parents in the Zoo Cafe and trying to talk with them and make it a friendly and inviting place.

Tomorrow is going to be our last day, and we will end it with some form of a baking activity with the kids. I have really enjoyed it! It will be sad for it to be over, but as long as Geremy stays up for a while longer I will be okay...

With Halloween next week, I have been surprised by England once again. It is a whole new culture shock when it comes to holidays in this country. The churches in England very strongly oppose Halloween. This is so different than the way I have grown up. Halloween has always been one of my favorites because you get to dress up really silly and eat candy. So this will be my first ever Halloween that I will not be celebrating. I have no costume and no plans. Most churches don't do anything, but there are a few in my area that I do some work with that do "light parties". This is supposed to be the opposite, Christianfied version of Halloween. One is having a glow party, and another is doing a superhero party... I understand their reasoning for not celebrating but it is very different than what I am used to. Don't even get me started on the lack of Thanksgiving here. That will be something I will have to face next month...

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Autumn

I am back to my "normal" intern life after the craziness of the summer holidays and a short trip I took to Germany! After a day in Enfield doing our weekly training I stood crowded in the center of an isle on the train home during rush hour. Rush hour takes on a whole different meaning in London. Too many people get crammed together into a train because there are not enough seats or space for everyone to sit. Everyone stays in their own world, not acknowledging anyone around them, sucked into their own virtual lives. This is the perfect place for me to be nosey without others realizing because everyone has to stand in such close proximity to each other. I easily peer over the shoulder of the man sitting below me who is texting a friend, joking about a woman he should date. The man standing next to him goes from reading the political section of the daily newspaper to looking at a crossword puzzle. Behind me is a man reading an article on how to save battery on the new iOS update, beside me is a man peering over the shoulder of someone beyond my view. He is probably doing the same thing I have been - seeing just a tiny portion of someone's day. Seeing who these strangers are on our train ride at the end of the day. Nobody speaks. Nobody goes outside of the comfort of being silent and antisocial. THIS is London. This has become a part of my weekly routine. Every Monday I take this train home and people-watch to my hearts content. I am often torn between feeling like a local, and knowing that I am a foreigner to this fast-paced and crowded city. This has become my home in so many ways. These insignificant train rides don't seem special now -in fact they are often more tedious than anything-  but in a few months when I am back in America and stuck in traffic by myself, this will be something I miss...

I am starting to get to the point where returning home is looming over me. The counting down app on my phone continues to make me more homesick the nearer I come to the comforts of home. This whole year the idea of going home has been in the back of my mind and seemed so far away. But now with only two months to go I am getting more and more excited. I have so many things I am looking forward to and I have already started making plans for my return. I am also becoming aware of everything I will miss about England. Just next month will be a month of lasts: last toddler groups, last youth clubs, last sublime training days, last time seeing people I have spent this year working with...

It is going to be so bittersweet! Although all of this is constantly on my mind, I am still working hard to be present at my placement and for what is happening right now. I have returned to my weekly groups in the church that I help at which has been so great! My placement church also got its new sublime intern last month. She is one of the 6 new German interns at Sublime. It has been a lot of fun getting to know a fresh batch of interns. It is so odd being the one who knows my way around. But their excitement to be here has really encouraged me to appreciate the rest of my internship. I often have to stop and remind myself how awesome God is, and how much He has done to bring me here and how much more He has done throughout the year. It is so difficult not to fall into routine and miss what God is up to. So I am trying to be very intentional with the rest of my time spent serving in London.

Thank you all for your continued prayers! It has really made such an impact. Please be praying for my placement church. In the last few months a few families in our congregation have lost their mothers/grandmothers, including the grandmother of my host family. Please be praying for God to continue moving and doing good in this time of loss for so many.