Published March 17, 2011 by in
Today it was cold, wet and very foggy. Not a great day for an outing, but we forged ahead into our day.
The day began with a trip to another public school. It is amazing how God is opening the doors to allow us to talk freely about Jesus. He placed us in the schools with Christian leaders, so there have been no barriers. Our kids are doing a marvelous job of talking about what life is like in America. Today we had them explain how they share their faith with their friends at their various schools. We have public, home, private and college students with us so they have various answers on how they pray, treat others, and model the love of Jesus to others.
In the afternoon we traveled to Wath (Keva’s old stomping grounds) and saw her former churches. The main church where she officed is beautiful. We have pictures to share when we return. Her manse was next door so she was always close by.
We then traveled over the Wentworth and had a lovely lunch at the Garden Center. This is much like a nursery at home, but with a nice cafeteria. It was very busy, but we got to experience more English food (which has been wonderful so far!!!). We met up there with a friend of Keva’s who was to be our guide throughout the area. He was a former teacher so he had lots of facts to share with us.
We walked to the old village area and saw the “new church” which was built around the time of Texas’ statehood. It is a beautiful gothic style church that still holds Anglican services on Sundays. Then we walked over to the “old church” which was constructed in the 12th century. It was fun to listen to the kids as they realized how old that really was!!! Then a stroll through the village.
We then walked over to the Wentworth Woodhouse which is the largest estate home in Europe. Very few Brits know it is even here because it is privately owned. It was the home of the Fitzwilliams/Wentworth family. The story was that the Earl (Fitzwilliams) owned a race horse (“Whistlepants”) and he ran it in one of the English races. It made him so much money (plus the earnings from the betting) that he added onto the front of the house. When we approached the estate, we saw the first building which was massive by Dallas standards and we were informed that it was the stables! He kept 100 horses there with several carriages. He also had a stable 20 miles down the road with 300 race horses. I wish you could have seen the kids faces! Around the corner, we could see the house in the midst. It is twice the size of Buchingham Palace in London. The house was unbelievable. We could only see half of it and we were all flabbergasted! It has 365 rooms and 1,000 windows.
The Fitzwilliams owned many of the houses in the area and had the doors painted green. As we traveled through town, we saw the green doors still today. He was a kind land owner and often gave his tenants free food, even when they striked against him.
I’ll let the kids tell you to story of the Needle’s Eye.
We then went to the Lighthouse for the Homeless and had tea (dinner) with the men who live there. These are men who have been addicted to drugs and alcohol and are getting help and love from this ministry. One of the gentlemen shared his testimony. Connor and Michael performed the “God’s Chisel” skit and Emily gave her testimony. It was a special evening. The kids got to talk with the men about their stories and how God has transformed them. Some of them will be joining us on Sunday for worship.
We are all very tired and the week is beginning to catch up with many of us. Pray for continued strength as we still have much to do before we leave.
Blessings, Dana