The Americans Are Coming!

I don't know who the British counterpart to Paul Revere was, but he was rolling in his grave a couple of weeks ago as a group of seventeen Americans from the Reformed University Fellowship (RUF from here on out for all the newbies) at Mercer (who also happen to be some of our closest friends) came to Scotland just north of Glasgow in Kirkintilloch to do some mission work. Aaron and I had circled this past week because we were really looking forward to it. And it was a good thing we did because there's not enough ink to highlight how awesome that week was. (I know there's a metaphor hidden in there somewhere.)

Aaron and I had originally planned out an exciting welcome for them by me meeting them at the Glasgow airport while his bushy-bearded self waited around a corner with some sort of empty cup and asked for change from the group until someone recognized him. But since they weren't flying into Glasgow, that plan was out. Instead, we walked into a group meeting after they had all arrived. Let me just tell you, if I could bottle that feeling, I'd never have to work another day in my life. Talk about happiness. I guess this would be the appropriate spot to say that my girlfriend, Meredith, was a member of the group, so there was a little added anticipation to those initial hellos. It was great beyond description to embrace our brothers and sisters and be welcomed back, in a sense, into the body of Christ so lovingly. They were obviously tired from all of their traveling and settling in, but Aaron and I felt like dogs with a bone we forgot we'd buried. It was brilliant.



I will do my best to summarize the work of the group throughout the course of the week. Much of their time in mission work was spent in the schools in and around Kirkintilloch speaking and meeting with the students there. In addition to this, the group also participated in evening activities at the two churches, St. Mary's and St. David's, mostly serving younger children. Aaron and I traveled after our classes were done Monday and Tuesday while "commuting" back to Paisley at night, abut we were able to stay with the group from Wednesday evening on until saying our goodbyes on Friday.

Maybe my favorite part of the time spent in the field came after an assembly at Kirkintilloch High School. Marlin Harris spoke the gospel (I mean he brought it. We were all really pleasantly surprised at the fervor and enthusiasm coming from behind his Alabama swoop. Big ups.) to the group of high-schoolers who were rather receptive despite the 9:00 assembly time. Then we went to the library and met with the Christian student club at the school. How many members were there? Five. Out of a school of 700 there were 5 students there. While in the States many people would claim to be Christians and show up to a meeting like this one without having Christ in their hearts, even that feeling was absent among the student body.The leader of the group and captain (president) of his senior class was named David. The genuine care for his fellow students was astounding, and his stories of how difficult it is to be a believer in the daunting feelings of loneliness within himself and the apathy of his classmates left most of us speechless.

When it came time for us to ask the small group of students if there was anything we could pray for, David told us not to pray for them, because they were already assured of eternal life through their love of Christ. He told us to pray for his classmates, that their hardened hearts would soften and be open to receiving the gospel. Even as I type it, his words, as a senior in high school, just leave my jaw open. Join Aaron and I in doing as David said and praying for the students at Kirki High. If there is to be spiritual revival in Scotland, it must begin with the young people.

It wasn't all-work-and-no-play for our compatriots, however. There were trips to Stirling and the Wallace Monument, Ibrox to watch Rangers, the Falkirk Wheel, Edinburgh, and downtown Glasgow to make sure everyone had a solid view of Scotland before they left. And if these experiences weren't enough, everyone was set up with a host family with whom they would be lodging with. Aaron and I spent our time at the Leishman family's house in Kirkintilloch along with our friends Marlin "Bring-the-Word" Harris and Brett "21=Fun" Richstone. The four of us couldn't express to the Leishman's how thankful we were for their gracious hospitality. We had an unbelievable time watching and talking football with their two sons Andrew and Fraser, eating some of their mother, Fiona's, fine Scottish cooking (yes, including haggis...which is good, by the way), and just being made to feel like adopted sons during our short time with them. There was a general feeling amongst the RUF group that most everyone else also had a similar "royal treatment" experience. It was, truly, an unbelievable blessing and accurate picture of how we should open our homes and lives up to others in the name of Jesus.





On a side note, the four of us guys got had a little excursion of our own. On the Friday before the group was scheduled to fly back home, the churches planned a traditional Scottish dance, called a ceilidh (pronounced KAY-lee), as a send-off for the group. Well, Aaron, Brett, and Marlin had a conversation with a member of the men's club at St. Mary's earlier in the week named Jim McEwen who had offered to fit the lads with the accessories necessary to properly attend a ceilidh as Scots: namely a kilt and weapons. The four of us went to Jim's house that Friday afternoon and had a great time sitting in the living room of a genuine Scottish Clan Manager as he discussed the finer parts of Scottish pride and nationalism while explaining the sharp points of the claymore and broadsword he had in his living room. I think it's safe to say we got more than a taste of Scottish history that afternoon, and we all left feeling very much like clan brothers. Well, this picture speaks for itself.





It was sad to say goodbye to everyone that night after the ceilidh (which was an absolute ton of fun), but we knew that we would see everyone again in the Fall. Their visit was an incredible boost for me in terms of lifting me up and strengthening me spiritually for the rest of our time here. Continue to pray for Aaron and me and our spiritual walks while we're here. While we have each other, your prayers do more than you or we can know in keeping us going. We love all of you.


Some quick notes:

1) I played in my first and last college football game this past Sunday. We won as the UWS Pyros defeated the Durham Saints 18-6 to record the Pyros' first ever playoff win and push us into the British quarterfinals. As tight end, I recorded one catch for, I think, 3 or 4 yards. And as a special teams player, I had a tackle on a kickoff. My personal bottom line coming out of the game, though, is that on the opening kickoff, I was running down the field and just before my first contact with a Durham player my foot slid in the mud, and my knee bent (ever so slightly) backwards, sending a sickening chill up my leg. I shouldn't have played the rest of the game, but I did, and now I'm done for good. It's still very tight almost a week later. Again, prayers work miracles. Needless to say, it was a lot of fun playing with the guys and getting to know them as football players, too. I wish them nothing but the best in their playoff run. They have a game tomorrow in Newcastle, so GO PYROS!

2) One of our friends, Suzanne Bottorff (http://suzinoxford.blogspot.com), from Mercer who is studying at Oxford in England this semester came up to visit us while the RUF group was here. Again, it was great to hang out with her and show her around Paisley. Aaron got to go with her and the group to Stirling and had a blast. I know she could use some of your prayers down south, too!

3) Coursework is picking up steam a little bit, so pray that we can get it done.

4) If there's not another entry this coming week it's because we have a lot going on. Wednesday evening we're flying over to the Netherlands to hang out with our Dutch friend, Stefan, for a couple of days in Amsterdam. Then we fly back to Glasgow Friday night before flying out again Saturday morning to go to Wembley Stadium in London to watch England v. Slovakia in a friendly. Should be loads of fun, and England are unveiling new kits for that game. I'm excited. Pray that God gives us traveling mercies, and that we don't get too lost as we travel around Europe.

5) The weather this past week has been phenomenal! Hardly a cloud in the sky. It's probably warmer wherever you are right now, but at least we get to see some rare sunshine. It's amazing how much of an impact the sun has on people around here. Seriously, people are friendlier and more talkative. It's quite remarkable.

Thanks for keeping up with us! Sorry the writing has been a little more sporadic than we'd like, but we'll try to be better about that. Have a great weekend!

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood...

Oh Goodness! It's time for another Aaron entry!!

So it's been a little over a week since the last entry, and there is so much to tell! Well, I say “so much,” but it's really not a lot of different stories. There are just some stories that I will probably take a long time to explain... so buckle up those metaphorical seat belts! It's time to ride the story bus!

Here are some things I want to tell you about. 1) Last Friday night's dance competition that Matt and I participated in at the Student Union (the student center here). 2) Our trip to Manchester to watch a legendary football match and 3) My time at church and a brief mentioning of Matt's American football experiences so far. There aren't that many things to cover, but as I said I can get a little long-winded.

First up: Dance Competition. Anyone getting the itch to just throw your arms and legs in different directions in front of somewhere between 100-200 people? If you're not getting that itch you're normal. Matt and I are definitely not normal... or at least last Friday we weren't. The Student Union was having a “Western Night” party. The themed party would include mechanical bull riding, dancing, and multiple prizes to be given away. The night started pretty strong with some solid bull riding. Matt and I had the 1st and 2nd place times for a little bit with 21 and 37 seconds respectively. We both thought that I might win the bull riding competition until at the end of the night someone came along and stayed on for 40 seconds. It broke my heart. After riding the bull we got onto the dance floor as any true partier would. We got into the motions of moving one's head back and forth at the same time as the legs. While the head-leg combo is going on your arms can do whatever you want them to do... that's where you get creative.

The DJ is on a stage in front of us and begins talking about prizes. He tosses a couple of hats into the audience and Matt snags himself one (mine was taken... it made me sad). A couple minutes later the DJ asks for several volunteers. Matt and I were right at the front so we thought, “why not?” We get on the stage followed by two other guys and 4 girls. He announced a dance competition. The girls would go first and all dance, and the crowd would choose which one they liked best. The same method would be used for the guys after their song was over. So we step up there... Matt and I are on the stage front and center. We're looking out at a crowd that's probably 200 students. The final thoughts are, “Why in the world am I about to do this?” But before you can convince yourself again as to why it is a good reason the music starts... Some jams hit you and the bass shakes up you heart beat.. it's game time!

After about 2 ½ minutes of moving our arms, legs, hips, and head around in different directions at different times the song was over. All I know is that I caught a glimpse of Matt doing something that would fit in an old country movie (you know the ole grab-your-belt-and-do-something-like-the-can-can-except-a-little-faster move. This would come right before you link arms with your partner and spin around). I can't bash Matt because somewhere within the allotted time I almost slipped off the stage. On top of that I attempted the robot. Why?! I'm not sure. I know for a fact that my robot is horrible, but when the spotlight is on you things just happen. Finally the music was stopped. We both came back to consciousness to see the crowd kinda cheering... I think we both blacked. We must have been shaking the floor with our sweet Georgia steppin! The cheering began as the DJ went to the first dancer and then to the next. The yells got louder and softer depending on how much they liked that particular dancer... I must say I was pleasantly surprised at the end when I saw the DJ point to me and say, “The guy with the beard!” Thats right. I won the dance competition. I have to say, though, Matt was definitely a close second. After the victory was handed to me I will admit that I tried to start a USA chant. I really think I heard a few people start going along with it, but it ended quickly when the DJ gave me my prize and asked us to get off the stage. So my hat being taken earlier was replaced by something far superior in it's usefulness. That's right, I won a Razor Scooter! And not just any Razor Scooter. I won the “Hy-Pro Phantom!” With built-in head lights! For night riding! After our late night we headed back to attempt to grab a few hours of sleep before we woke up very early the next day to catch a train and a bus to get us to Manchester.

Before I can talk to you about our trip to Manchester to watch a football team called Manchester United play, I must describe why the Manchester United game even matters. For all of you readers out there who are not familiar with Manchester United Football Club (United) I must say a few sentences to introduce you to my world of United factoids. Matt is the guru of United football. Football only in it's truest sense: soccer. If you could see a sport team's crest in someone's blood Matt would be the first to tell you that Manchester United is flowing through his veins. Some call this an obsession. Some say it is unhealthy for a young man at the age of 20 (21 next Friday!!! What what!) to be following a form of entertainment this passionately, but I would have to say that United is far above entertainment in Matthew Suits' book, which won't be published until 2020 (be on the lookout for a book with a title somewhere close to My Life as a Manchester United Supporter: More Than a Fan). No, Matt would say that he has several “legit” reasons to enjoy the game of football as portrayed by the club of Manchester United. His interests in this particular team stretch farther than a favorite color or player (even though both of those exist in his list of reasons). He's got a story to tell, and he will tell it to anyone who will hear it. Manchester United is not just another football team. It is part of his life.

Now before you go judging him by saying in your head, “Yeah.. Matt is obsessed.” There are many more vices in the world that were worse than this one. But since I am not currently involved with any of the other unnamed addictions I will have to focus on this one. I don't think 2 days pass without Matt telling me something that involves Manchester United. Someone they are signing, someone they fired, the score of their most recent game, an update on an unknown player, a fact about the stadium, a funny comment that team manager Sir Alex Ferguson made in his last interview, why Ryan Giggs is the savior of United and why Ronaldo is not... I think you get the idea. And I say all of this in love. I really enjoy the things I am able to learn while in the company of Mr. Suits, but I must say them to give you an idea of why this trip is special. I was able to go to a Manchester United game with arguably the most passionate and biggest fan/supporter of Manchester United in America. This follower would fit in with the best of supporters from Europe. He knows his stuff, and he's invested the time to learn these things.

So Matt and I catch the 8:30 bus out of Glasgow. But before we made it to Glasgow we had to get to the train station in Paisley's town center at 7am. The bus was not running that early on Saturday morning, so Matt and I walked to the bus station. This half hour walk definitely allowed us to wake up before our long day, or give us more motivation to crash on the bus ride to Manchester. This 5 hour bus ride began extremely early, but we would both agree that it was well worth it. We talked some, slept some, and played games on his iTouch! I'm a big fan of the games on there, and if any of you have been around me when I'm playing with an iTouch or iPhone you've seen that I really enjoy the games on there...possibly too much for my age, but you can't stop me from enjoying the simple things. I definitely just referred to an iTouch as simple, but you get the point. The trip went by much faster than 5 hrs. Before we knew it we were pulling up to the station, getting out, and looking around at the new place that we have found ourselves in. First step: locate the stadium. Second step: EAT!!

We found where the stadium was and how to get there (we just had to ride the subway), and then we grabbed a bite to eat at the nearest restaurant/pub. After a weird but tasty chicken burger we headed toward Old Trafford, United's stadium. As we got closer I attempted to document the situation. I wanted all of our close friends to see what it was like to witness history in a young man's life. After watching 100's of Man United games Matt was going to Manchester and I was able to travel with him to see his team play live! It's really hard to explain what all was going on. It was really awesome for me too, but I think the point of the story is to tell about Matt. That's what you guys really want to know. We walked up the long road, slowly gaining ground on the stadium. Little by little the terraces of the stadium began to show. I think that Matt would have cried, but there was too much going on in his head at the time. There were no system managers up there to shoot some tears out.. there was portions of the stadium to inspect, scarves to buy, programs to collect, statues to admire, pictures to take, videos to record, atmosphere to take in.... and after all of that I realized what the whole day was like...

You know those family reunions that bring people together that haven't seen each other in years? Some of these long lost family members were unaware of the existence of other members, but there's still something that brings them together, something that they have in common. I witnessed one of these family reunions. I watched as young Matthew Suits rejoined his long lost family. He's never seen any of these people before, but now they all walk together, side by side with their United scarves around their neck and their jerseys proudly flaunted. At one point I even lost Matt! Ha ha! I was recording a video and as I was narrating I lose him. At that point Im thinking, “Alright... he's got his scarf and jersey on...but so do the rest of these people.. awesome.” I saw him a couple seconds later in front of Old Trafford taking a picture of the stadium and the statues of Man United legends. I could go on and on about the details of the game.. how Matt made sure to sing every one of the songs that started up in the stadium. The thing about that last comment is that Matt KNEW every one of the songs! Yeah, there was no listen-to-the-first-verse-and-then-I'll-sing-along-when-it-comes-back-around stuff. He heard the first couple of lines and began belting it out along with his other 75,000 uncles, cousins, and nephews. “There's only one United! There's only one United!” Yep.. songs were sung. I definitely joined in, but I was the wait-a-min-catch-on-to-the-song guy. As I was saying, the details would take up the rest of your afternoon, and I don't want to do that to you. You're probably already tired of this entry (but there's still some more left to talk about). I will mention an ironic portion of the game, though. I said something about Matt's not so fondness of Christiano Ronaldo earlier. Well it turns out that Ronaldo held the team together that game and ended up scoring the nastiest free kick! We yelled until we got horse, and then yelled some more!

There is one more thing I want to mention about the Manchester trip and that is the ride home. We ended up grabbing the 1am bus out of Manchester after finding that all the hotels in the area were completely full. We listened to a sermon that we had downloaded and discussed it for a little while (we knew that we would not be going to church the next day). The bus that drove us back to Glasgow in the wee hours of the night could have easily been traded for a sauna. I guarantee you that the temperatures were very close! I will say that the only thing that would make the sun bus more enjoyable would be a lady across the isle making sure that everyone knew what kind of misery she was in... yeah, I had the opportunity to share the isle space with “Oh my gosh!! I'm going to be sick..” There were occasionally a few choice words from her, but the Lord allowed me to sleep through some of it, and I am so thankful for that. Matt and I got back and caught the first train from Glasgow to Paisley then took a taxi from the train station to our flat. Needless to say we fell on our beds like unconscious walruses when we got back... I don't know how long we slept, but it was good! The Manchester trip was a huge success!

This past week went by pretty fast. The days don't last that long... we have class in the morning on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and then we are finished for the week! This past weekend we went to another football game. I wont talk too much about it because I wasn't planning on it, but I will tell you the basics. Celtic is one of Glasgow's two teams, and they were playing St. Miren, Paisley's team. We weren't expecting much of a game because of the skill differences between the two teams, we were just wanting to watch some football. Well football we saw! The ending score was 7-0! That really almost never happens! The scores are usually somewhere between 1 and 3 goals a game, but we were blessed with a goal-fest! (The rhyme was unintentional) We enjoyed our time for sure! It was like watching a shark fight a goldfish... the goldfish can swim as much as it can, but it's going to get eaten every time. St. Miren tried so hard to stop Celtic, but it was no use...

Sunday was a great day! I had invited our good friend, Stefan, to church, and he said he wanted to go. I looked online for some churches in Glasgow, and I finally found one that really looked good! The messages that I previewed sounded solid and the online videos of their vision really encouraged me to check this place out. It is called C7... because church should happen 7 days a week, and that is what they try to do. I looked it up and found where it was located by the address on the web site. Stefan, Eric (our Swedish friend), and myself set out at 9:30 for the 11 am service to ensure that we made it on time. We get to the area of Glasgow where this address is located with about an hour to spare... plenty of time! Apparently not. We looked and looked and then looked some more, but found no C7 Church. We asked a couple of police officers if they knew what we were talking about, but they had no idea of any church being called C7. I was beginning to sound as crazy as I looked... but I knew that I read it correctly. We kept looking. Eventually, when it was about 10 min until 11, we stopped this young couple that was dressed up hoping that they were going to church. They were! But not to C7. They were heading to a church called Glasgow Westend Vineyard. We asked if they had heard anything about this C7 church, and they had not. The man admitted that he was from Ireland and that he hadn't lived there for that long, so he really didn't know the surrounding area too well.

He pulls out his iPhone and looks up the church online to see if he can find a number or an address for us. He did and then wished us well and said that if we didn't find this church that we were invited to his church which was just up the road a ways, and we could come in whenever. It didn't matter if it was after 11am. We began our search once more to be unsuccessful after another 15 minutes. We decided to call it quites and go to this Vineyard church that the Irish guy told us about. The service was great! The worship was good, and the message was just what I needed/wanted. The pastor continued a series about spiritual gifts. The topics this week were Faith, Healing, and Miracles. Basically he explained that a life with God is not something you can just talk about, it is something you have to experience. He compared the Bible to a restaurant's menu. The menu describes the food, but you can't eat the menu. He said that the Bible tells us about a life that can be lived for God and how to live that life, but WE have to live it. We have to experience it. He focused a lot on praying and not being afraid of praying for the sick. He said that God looks for those who are willing to be used. We can't go around being scared to pray for people when the Bible tells us that if we ask in faith that we will receive it, and when we lay our hands on the sick they will recover. He said, “Pray. Don't be afraid of nothing happening. Don't let that keep you from exercising your faith.” It was good. Eric, Stefan, and I grabbed some lunch after attempting to find the invisible church one more time and coming up short again.

After we had finished and we were walking back to the train station I thought about all that went on that morning. I had prayed that we would find the church, and we found a church. It was the church He wanted us at and not the one I was expecting. This is just a funny picture: There are 3 guys walking around looking for a church. An American, a Dutch guy, and a Swedish guy all wandering seeking a place none of them had been. Asking for directions turned out to be useless, and after an hour of searching we had made no progress. Then God sends along a man. Not a man that knew much about Glasgow, but a nice Irish man who was willing to help us. So you've got 4 guys all trying to guess where a church was located that none of them had ever heard of or seen, and none of them having lived in Glasgow for very long or at all. It was funny to me. If you're not laughing I understand. It's one of those moments you had to witness. God is good and He showed me that yet again.

One final thing... Matt started his practice with the American Football team that the university has here. His dream of playing college football is being completed, and he gets to do it representing the United States of America (he's the only American on the team). He said that I could probably play, but I think will stick to the European football for now. Matt and I hope that all is going well and that God is teaching you all new things this semester as He is definitely teaching us. Thank you for your prayers and comments!

(sorry about the length of the post, but at least you'll get a week or so to rest your now-aching eyes)