First Week in Wales

What a busy first week it has been here in Newport, Wales.  Actually, to be specific, the family I am staying with (the Winstanleys) lives in the small village of Peterstone, halfway between Newport and Cardiff.  I wasn't sure exactly what to do or where to start when I first arrived (other than sleep :)), but looking back over the past week I realize that God has already provided a lot of opportunities for me to get to know the Church and community here.

Sunday (April 13) was the first time I got to see the Newport congregation all together since I visited in November 2012.  It was good to be with them again, though it was a bit different since there were a number of visitors from other churches visiting with them.  Some families that had worshiped with them have left in the past year, while some others have joined.  There was a guest preacher with us on Sunday named Paddy Boyns who is the director of the British Bible School (BBS).  The BBS was, for many years, similar to a preaching school in the States, but in recent years has transitioned to focus on training and general equipping

of churches in the UK so that they can do better ministry.  Also, there were some young people visiting from the Bristol Church of Christ on Sunday (by young people I mean university students and just out of college).  It was good meeting all of the above and I had a great time getting to know them at a barbecue the Winstanleys hosted that afternoon at their house.

Sunday evening and Monday were a really good time to hang out with the folks from Bristol and the teens from Newport (which pretty much consist of the four Sharoon siblings: Sanober, Micha, Solomon, and Aaron).  We went to the Cardiff International Pool both Sunday and Monday evening to go swimming.  It is an amazing facility that I think was built in connection with the 2012 London Olympics.  Most of the day Monday we were at Roath Park in Cardiff.  We wandered around the park's lake, sat in the warm sunshine (we've had a lot of that the last few days), and they even tried to teach me how to play Cricket (with limited success).  It was a very enjoyable day.

I'm slowly starting to adjust to how things work here, but it is definitely going to take some time.  However, I am sort of thankful for this, because I think being "off-balance" keeps me more reliant on God and asking the question, "what do you want to do with me here?"  A verse that I have come back to a fair bit since I got here is 1st Corinthians 1:9: "God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful."  I still don't know exactly what God is wanting to do with me here, but I know He is faithful, and that He wants me to be faithful in trusting Him and surrendering to Him.  Please continue to pray for me in this.  More to come soon, I hope!

Sincerely in Christ,
Chris

P.S I have posted some more pictures on the Facebook group "Serving Jesus in Newport, Wales."