DT Week: One Awesome Team and a Really Cold Camping Trip

I am back online after a week of no computer! It was an amazing yet completely exhausting week which began on Monday. We received instructions on an exercise that would last the entire week, and every activity during the week would lead to the completion of that exercise.

Without going into too much confusing detail involving a made up money system and complicated rules, I'll say that the exercise was to build our team and make us work together. We all had to pull together to figure out the rules and achieve the goal: which was mainly to build a boat that would carry every member of the team across the dock. The other objectives were to plan and cook a meal for 15 + people on Friday, finish the exercise in profit, and clean and return all the equipment we would be using.

The exercise was broken down into smaller tasks, and when we completed a task we were awarded more materials to build said boat. Some of the more exciting ones were climbing and abseiling (rappelling), caving, and navigating through the hills with a compass and a map. More on these later.

In order to "rent" the equipment for the tasks, we had to earn the made-up money by completing activities; like running around the dock twice in 15 minutes, eating a can of cold beans (Absolutely foul, by the way. I didn't eat them... smelling them was enough. Kudos to my teammates that did eat them; I admire you.), and other various creative and strange things that were all worth different points. In between earning points, we split up to take classes on land rover maintenance, navigation, search and rescue, first aid, and mountain-hiking cooking and nutrition (MORE CALORIES).

After earning some fake money on the first say, we split into two groups for the climbing and caving. I was luckily in the climbing group and didn't have to crawl down any little dark holes, which made me incandescently happy. We took a land rover out to nearby cliffs and began the long process of climbing and abseiling/rappelling one at a time.

The scenery was absolutely stunning! Being from Indiana, where we just don't have scenery like that, I took about 400 pictures before I remembered that I should take some with people in them. (Yes, mom ((who is unhappy with the lack of photos of her lovely daughter)), I took them, but none of them have me in them because I couldn't climb and take pictures at the same time. I'm sure someone else did, and I'll track them down for you!)

Anyway, the first part of the climb was pretty easy, and so was the last. The middle, however, was not. What had looked to be good handholds from the bottom turned out to be too small for my hands and feet. I spent a fair amount of time there (okay, a really LONG time..) getting very frustrated with myself and wondering WHY I had thought this would be a good idea, hanging from the side of a cliff.

Eventually I made my pitiful way to the top, and after admiring the view and catching my breath, switched ropes to go back down. The safety rope anchors at the top and attaches to your harness at the front. The other rope runs from the top to the bottom of the cliff and is twisted through a figure-eight piece of metal on your harness. When you give it slack, you slide down. You lean backward over the cliff so that you are sitting over empty space, give it slack, and walk backward down the cliff. Pretty snazzy once you get the hang of it!

This part I enjoyed much more, once I convinced my body that there was indeed a rope and it WAS okay to lean backward over the side of a cliff. I did it slowly (because I am a coward) and I wish that I had been able to try it again now that I've done it once. We all made it up and down the cliff just fine, and received our materials. Yay! The other group earned the second pack by crawling through a ridiculously small hole in a cave called the letterbox for a very good reason. They claim it was fun. Congrats, team, but I'll take your word for it!

For the next task we were split into three groups for a navigation/backpacking and overnight camping trip. We took a land rover out into the middle of nowhere. (I'm serious. You people at home think where we live in Indiana is rural? Try rolling hills and streams for miles with dirt roads and 50 billion sheep.) There we loaded our packs, took our bearings in the freezing weather, and headed out with the sheep.

There were three separate hikes. Each team starting from a separate point and navigating to base camp from different directions. The one I was on was the shortest; our team carrying the majority of the food and tents, but it was also called "The Wet Wonder" because 99% of the time we were hiking through bog. (Praise God for borrowed water-proof boots!!)

Despite the cold and the ankle deep mud, I really enjoyed the hike. The view was beautiful before the fog settled in, and it was ridiculously quiet except for us. I was especially impressed with our navigators, who did an excellent job of guiding us through the hills and getting us to the checkpoints and base camp half an hour early.

We reached base camp four hours after beginning our trek and set up our tents to wait for the other teams. Both of them came over the top of the mountain on either side at nearly the exact same moment, and it was really encouraging to see them walk down together.

That night we cooked over trangias (basically a metal frame with a pot of oil beneath it to boil water over. It took ages. The other girl I was cooking with and I had a nice long, long, long chat as we waited. We ate our dinner, which was blessedly warm, and after a few hours sleep headed back to the land rovers via yet another path.

When we arrived back at the center, the real craziness began. One of our objectives was to finish the exercise in profit, and we were in debt. So began an absolutely mad scramble to complete as many activities as we could. My personal favorites were jumping into the freezing dock and climbing the caving ladder. The caving ladder is basically heavy-duty wire with metal rungs, which you climb all the way to the ceiling of the gym. From there you grab a ceiling beam, wait until they move the ladder, and let go. (All while wearing a climbing harness, of course.)

While this was going on, there was a team in the kitchen making and serving the meal, a team cleaning the equipment, and a team building the boat. Long story short, we got everything done with 16 seconds on the clock to spare. By that time, the boat was sinking, so most of the team valiantly jumped into the dock (again I say FREEZING) to pull it across in time.

We didn't finish in profit, but we did all the really important parts. I personally feel like we won, if only for succeeding in everything else that was so difficult that week. Planning, organizing, working together, staying positive on about 9 hours sleep in three days, and all the other things we had to do. Finishing in debt just doesn't feel that important to me. :)

The whole week was an experience I'll never forget. The whole team played off of each other's strengths as we learned more about each other and bonded. We've grown close and it's really encouraging to see everyone working together as a team.

This post doesn't do the week and everything that happened justice. I've left out so much for the sake of making this readable. There just isn't room to explain everything and go into detail. (By now I'm wondering if anyone is still reading, or just skimming. :D Don't worry, I'm not offended! I would probably be skimming, were I you!)

Thanks to everyone who is praying! I've learned so much about myself this week and who I am in Christ. God's been showing himself in really amazing ways, and I can't wait to share with you all in person! Please continue to pray as we keep growing as a team, that God would use us to encourage and grow one another.

Also please continue to pray as I decide on a placement location. I'm really torn between two places and two amazing opportunities now. I know God will use me wherever I go! Stay tuned for a decision!

Also, please pray for visas. Emma (the other American) and I are still waiting for our visas to visit India in November with the rest of the team. We've got time, but it would be nice to have them!

That's all for now! I apologize for the long post! I condensed as much as possible! Please bear with me on photos. I've taken hundreds, but it literally takes HOURS to upload only a few, and I don't have enough free time to post them all on facebook like I want to. I plan on sending a CD of them home to my family, so for all of you back home, my mother should have them within the next few weeks!

God bless you all! Thanks again for your prayers!

Kaitlyn

Southall, London

Most of this week was spent in Southall, London doing our cross-cultural training. Southall is made up of so many different cultures, it hardly felt like London at all. It's nicknamed mini-India for a good reason. I've never seen so many Saris and head scarves, or so many different types of restaurants in one place.
We were blessed to be able to stay in a local church for the week. The people running it were so lovely and commited to the Lord. It was such a blessing to be able to stay with them and spend the week there.
We arrived on Wednesday after a five (or so) hour bus ride, and after a lecture we helped prepare and serve a meal to local homeless. Some of our group played music and sang, which went over very, very well. A few of the men got up and danced, and at one point one got up and sang in Hindi, which was amazing!

Thursday we had a lecture about Islam and the differences between the Qur'an and the Bible. We were encouraged to read the Qur'an so that we can better understand what Islam is about and compare it to our Bible to be more effective witnesses to Muslims. I think I will someday, but it definitely makes me want to know my Bible more in-depth. Particularly the old Testament. Afterward we were able to visit a mosque and ask lots of questions about Islam. Although it was very difficult to get a straight answer most of the time, we learned a lot.

Friday was definitely the most eventful day. We spent the morning and a good part of the afternoon touring the British Museum and the British Library, where we got to see tablets and artifacts that predated the earliest copy of the Bible and that had names and history that up until they were discovered, could be found nowhere but the Bible. Proving those things to be accurate outside the Bible.  God works everywhere! On a side note, we also got to see the Rosetta Stone, which was REALLY cool.
After the museum we walked to the British Library to see ancient copies of the Qur'an and the Bible. It was absolutely amazing to see so many things that related to Christianity in such a secular place. To see artifacts that display history you've always known was true, but you still look at it and think "These things really happened. They're not just Bible stories."
We had Friday afternoon off, so we took the opportunity to play tourist. A few of us took the train system through London to see Big Ben, The London Eye, The Tower Bridge, The Tower of London, and Westminster Abbey. On the way there, we were rushing to catch a train and only half of our group made it on the train. For a moment I thought I was the only one who hadn't made it, which was a frightening thought, but it all turned out alright. I took more photos than I know what to do with, so expect those soon!

Saturday we had the morning off, so the group split yet again. I went to Camden Market, a massive outdoor market in central London that stretches on for ages with food and booths from different parts of the world. It was a good time for a few of us to shop for people back home and bond over Asian Food before taking the train back to Southall, where we deep cleaned and primer-painted the main hall of the church as a thank-you for letting us stay. It was great to be able to bless the church in return for all they did for us.

Sunday the group split yet again. Half of us went to Hillsong London and then on to Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park. The other half (including myself) stayed at the church for a morning and evening service. The morning service was in english, and the evening service was translated into Punjabi. Worship at both services was definitely my favorite part. Trying to sing in Punjabi was interesting, but fun. We ended the evening with some amazing Indian food.

Monday we were able to visit a Hindu Temple. Again the girls had to cover our heads. We went in and looked around a little before our lecture began. Idols were lined up all along the walls (some the women were asked not to get too close to), all of them dressed up in very expensive clothes. People wandered in and out and gave offerering to various gods and goddesses.
When the priest arrived to talk to us, we sat on the floor (with our feet pointed AWAY from the idols) and listened. Or tried to, at least. His english was not very good, and he muttered something awful. At one point he asked us to join him in meditating, but we convinced him we would rather not. By the end, all of us were just as confused as when we began, but it was a good experience.
Later in the afternoon, we had a quetionaire to fill out comparing Hinduism, Sikhism, and Islam. The idea of the game was to go around Southall in pairs and ask different people about different aspects of the religions. My partner in the game and I went to a local sweets shop we had been to before and ended up talking to three people about Sikhism for nearly an hour. They were so open and willing to explain about everything.
That evening we heard the testimony of a former Sikh man. He told us about Sikhism and how he became a Christian before his entire family became Christians. It was such a powerful testimony that really encouraged everyone. Definitely a highlight.

Monday was sadly the last day with the lovely Southall church people. In the morning we went to visit the Sikh temple. Again with heads covered and no shoes, only this time the guys shared in the head-covering. The temple had heated floors, which was wonderful.
Our guide was a really nice guy who explained Sikhism in depth and then led us around the temple. We got to sit in on their worship and share a meal with them. Everyone there was so sweet. The Sikhs has a humility and kindness in their attitudes that really challenged me. They are all about accepting and loving people from all backgrounds. Just as we should be as Christians. It was sad to see such wonderfully lovely people so misguided.
Someone in the groups said afterward: "Imagine if they were Christians?"

All in all, Southall had more cultural diversity than I've ever experienced in my entire life. It really gave me a heart for people of other religions and made me see them as God sees them. As hearts he desires just as much as he desires mine. God doesn't speak only english. He doesn't love only the western world.

On an entirely different note, I found out this morning that West Africa, which was my second placement option, is not currently taking anyone who does not speak french, which I do not. I'm still praying about where God wants me to go, and I would greatly appreciate continued prayer. Wherever I end up, God will use me! I don't have to know for sure for a little while still, so I have time to think and find out more about my options.

This next week is DT week, which is full of outdoor pursuits and team building. I won't be reachable during this week (they take out phones and computers away, oh no!!), but I will update you all as soon as I can! Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support!!! God bless you all!