Time for a New Blog!!!!!

We invite you to join us at our new blog www.calledtotheuk.blogspot.com.

Abilene Bound!!!!!!

My how time flies! We’ve been Ducklington residents for almost 6 months now. We’ve learned to drive on the wrong side of the road (tiny little roads! . . . with roundabouts!) sitting on the wrong side of the car. We’ve picked up words like “lovely” and “brilliant” and “dodgey” and “posh” and “cheers.” Will we be able to remember our Texas roots!? We both still say “fixin’ to” and “y’all.” Some things never change, right? We’ve become accustom to walking instead of driving and we’ve become avid recyclers. We count British pounds instead of U.S. dollars and we think in Centigrade instead of Fahrenheit (Either way, it’s hot in Texas and not hot here!). We’ve come to love 50 degree mornings and 75 degree afternoons and afternoon tea and the funny conversational chirps of black birds that sort of sound like R2D2. We’ve had a “garden,” not a yard (which takes 5 minutes to mow instead of 2 hours) and everything in it blooms! Our time in England has overwhelmed us and God’s call for us to come here is undeniable. This has certainly been one of God’s most exciting adventures for us.

We are, however, very excited about coming home, but in a sense we feel that we are leaving “home,” too. The folks at Ducklington Baptist have embraced us completely and have truly become our family. On July 4th, they actually hung the Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes in the front of the sanctuary. We will miss our Monday evening Bible study together and our Wednesday evening prayer times. We will miss joisting with Janice on Monday mornings over whether a word is English or American and who had it first. It is easy to see that the Lord has melded us all together in our love for one another and for Him. There are a couple of our elderly members who continue to need lots of love and care and their spouses need continuous encouragement from the body as well as practical help with some of their daily responsibilities. It is sweet to see the body of Christ function so beautifully as they care for these precious saints.

Our replacements, Brian and Paula Brewer, have left their 3 young adult daughters in Illinois and are settling into our little house quite nicely. We had the opportunity to Skype with the Brewers twice and instantly felt that they were going to be a perfect fit to carry on the work here. Their hearts are also firmly grounded in discipleship and they will continue to encourage this church to wait on the Lord and seek His vision for the ministry.

When we arrived last January, we were met with snow, rain, drizzle, more rain, more drizzle, darkness by 4 p.m. every day, more rain and more drizzle. The skies were gray until at least March, but 9 Bartholomew Close became a place of sanctuary and prayer for us as we sought the Lord’s direction as to where to begin. Little by little His plan of nurturing, teaching, uniting, and loving this sweet body of believers became amazingly clear to us. Sometimes daily we found ourselves sharing Christ with our neighbors and others we met as we acclimated to our surrounding. We found that the British were not as reserved as we had been prepared for them to be. In most cases they quickly opened up to the subject of “the church” when they became aware of why we were here. However, without exception (unless they were believers), they kindly verbalized that they really saw no need for “the church” or “faith.” Life, in their opinion, was pretty good. They have a home to live in, food in their cupboard, a job that provides for their needs and most of their wants, someone to share life with (not always a wife or a husband), and they really didn’t “need” the church or faith. Each time we tried to explain to them that what we were doing was really not about “the church.” It was about a relationship with Christ. We have found them to be very much like Americans. Along the way we hope and pray that seeds have been planted and that those who remain here will be blessed to harvest fruit from our labor.

The beauty of this country is astounding and is almost impossible to describe! This past month as the sun has come out and the temperatures have warmed, we have taken every opportunity to walk the countryside. The Public Pathway system of Great Britain makes is very easy to see the country by walking through fields and villages, along rivers and sometimes right through people’s gardens. We have continued to be enthralled by 900 year old churches left unlocked and open to the public with 300 year old Bibles laying open on the pulpits for any visitor to look through. The heritage of faith is everywhere, yet the guest books in these old sanctuaries read like those in fine museums. “Beautiful Building!” . . . “Thank you for maintaining such a rich historical treasure.” . . . “Lovely, peaceful place.” We always wanted to write (and sometimes did) in capital letters – “What about Jesus! Remember Him!?” These beautiful old buildings were raised to the glory of God shortly after the turn of the millennium, but now the One Whose Glory they represent is never mentioned. Yes, this is a mission field!

Yet! . . . the Spirit is on the move. God’s people, those who have a passion for His Truth and who love this country, are sensing a fresh new call. They are looking past their historic buildings, outside the walls of yesterday’s traditions, and are communicating to the upcoming generation. They are praying for a revival. We attended a service recently on a Sunday night in Burford complete with guitars, drums, and even a harmonica. A young Scottish woman (Yes, muster all your grace! She is the pastor of the church.) brought a passionate message quoting from John Piper’s Don’t Waste Your Life issuing a challenge for us to seek God’s Spirit and His call on our lives. There was a sweet, sweet Spirit in that place. He is moving in extraordinary ways and it is spreading through churches that have been gasping for a final breath. Churches much like Ducklington Baptist are experiencing new growth and vitality. Those churches are learning to pray and wait on the Spirit to guide, but then they are also committed to do whatever He asks them to do. That evening we met an older couple from a nearby village who told us that 20 years ago their church had 5 members. Today it has over 200. God is at work here, as He is everywhere, and His people are learning to pray and wait.

It is an exciting time to be part of this movement and we are in hopes that He sees fit to bring us back. The thought of leaving England weighs heavy on our hearts as the hour of our departure draws near, but it’s time. We have missed our friends and our family very much. We are trusting that regardless of where we are, He will be at work in our lives. We will soon be back in our own house and adjusting to Texas temperature and driving on the right side of the road, but, Oh! the beauty of England and her people are set deep in our hearts.

More Adventures and Encounters . . .

When we took Granny to Heathrow a month ago, we looked at each other and confidently said, “Wow, we have more than a month left!” We’re not quite sure where that month has gone. We’ve tried our best to see everything that we had not yet seen in The Cotswolds. We have been out in the community as much as possible in order to meet people and hopefully engage them in conversation about our Lord. We have delighted in taking long (seriously long, 4-6 miles long) walks, over wold (hills) and vale (valleys), as often as possible to see this beautiful countryside, always encountering others along the way. And, we’ve eaten at as many pubs as we could afford to eat at in order to enjoy that one last Fish Pie or Bangers and Mash or yummy Stilton Cheese. (I, Brenda, am thinking that there is at least one more Fish Pie in my future before we leave here.) We’ve enjoyed the beauty and the taste of some of the most incredible gardens. Just last Saturday we opened our front door to find a bag of freshly harvested lettuce waiting for us.

Our day trips have taken us from ostentatious palaces like Blenheim Palace, where Winston Churchill was born and raised (and this is only the west face of the palace),

to walks through fields of cattle and sheep



to 12th century chapels hidden away in valleys


and more and more quaint little villages with beautiful churches.



We managed to take a real holiday and go for 3 days to visit Salisbury, Bath and Wales. The road to Salisbury took us by Stonehenge as well as the little village of Avebury which is completely encircled by those weird standing stones. Stonehenge was a bit anticlimactic since we were told by locals that the stones have been rearranged and some even stood up with cranes. Hummmm . . . you have to wonder what else we’re not being told. Bath is one of the most beautiful cities we’ve ever seen.It is a blend of Europe and England with gardens, cathedrals and 1st century Roman Baths. History records activity in Bath a century before Christ’s birth and this area is quite possibly where the first Christians stepped onto British soil.

While on our trip, we were asked by AIPM to travel to Wales to visit with pastor Geoffrey Fewkes and his wife Claris in Bridgend about the possibility of a small church in the mountains of southern Wales inviting an interim pastor to come from the States to help them.

While there, we drove some additional miles to spend a little time at the seashore. As we walked along that beautiful shore in a small seaside village we encountered a young man in a wheel chair. He was a recent amputee missing the lower part of his left leg. We engaged him in conversation about his dog and when he heard our accent and inquired, we had the opportunity to share with him what we were doing in the UK. He quickly informed us that he was an atheist. When asked what brought him to that belief, he said that there was no way he would believe “all the stuff in the Bible,” but he thought it was fine for others. The conversation that ensued was short and it was obvious that he was not interested in anything we might say. Disappointed, we continued on down the walkway only to come upon an elderly woman sitting in a motorized scooter reading a book. She could not have been more of a contrast to our previous conversation. She was a “strict Welsh Baptist,” but she and her husband (who only passed away last year) had decided to attend the Methodist Church in the village because the people were friendlier. She told us that her late husband felt that Welsh was the language that was spoken in heaven, so we told her that we would be looking her up when we got there to translate for us. She was a delight! We felt as though God blessed us greatly that day as He allowed us to see that in the midst of such spiritual darkness and apathy that His children are everywhere.

Later that afternoon, we stood outside a church in Cardiff that boasts one of only three surviving outdoor pulpits. When the 1904-5 revival began in Swansea,Wales, the churches could not hold all those who were hungry to hear the Gospel of Christ.
Churches began to build pulpits on their exteriors so that the preachers could preach to the streets as they were full of people coming to hear His Word proclaimed. What happened!? In less than 100 years, a generation now exists that knows nothing of God’s love for them. We have thought constantly that America is not far behind the UK. What will it take for our countries to turn their hearts back to a loving Heavenly Father?

The final day of our trip was spent investigating a 13th century castle in Caerphilly, Wales.
Not many towns can boast a castle sitting in the middle of the downtown area, but you can’t miss this one. Complete with moat and double walls, it is mostly in ruins now, but is well maintained and open for all to see.

As our time here is coming to an end, we feel that we have truly become a part of this beautiful place. Our neighbors and our church family have become dear friends and we are not looking forward to saying goodbye. At our regular Wednesday evening prayer time last night someone voiced the fact that God has truly changed their hearts. They can sense that through the study of His Word He has brought a renewed awareness of those around them and a deeper unity among them. The results are up to the Lord, but they are willing to do whatever He asks them to.

We hope to write one more entry on this blog before returning. As always, we love knowing that others are praying for us. Don’t stop! There is still work to be done.

HAPPY 88TH, GRANNY LIZ!

What a blessing it has been to have Granny Liz with us these past 3 week and especially today as it is her 88th birthday. For those who have asked, she has done amazingly well while she has been here. There have been days when she has been visited by pain in her legs and back, which is a regular occurrence; however, considering all that she has done since her arrival on May 7th, she has done very well. So, as a birthday tribute to her today, we wanted to share some pictures of her recent trip to London.

We (Brenda and Liz) boarded the train in Oxford for the short 58 minutes ride to London’s Paddington station. Our quaint little hotel was only a 3 minute walk from the train station and was reminiscent of the beautiful row house of Professor Henry Higgins in “My Fair Lady.”

Once we were checked in to our hotel, we headed around the corner to hop on one of those double-decker sight-seeing buses and spent the next 3 hours taking in the sights and sound of London from our birds-eye view on the top deck. We were delighted to find that our front row seats were directly across the aisle from a mother and daughter from Austin, Texas. We’ve found that Texans are just about everywhere!

Taking the bus tour on this first day give her a chance to decide which places she wanted to venture back to and spend time at the next day. We ended our day at St. Paul’s Cathedral where we attended their evening worship and prayers – Evensong. Evensong has taken place every evening since the cathedral opened in 1697. This beautiful place was the site of the wedding of Princess Diana and Prince Charles in 1981. The beautiful pipe organ and the voices of 20 little boys were truly heavenly.


Rising early the next day, our first stop was the London Eye.
We enjoyed clear skies for our 30 minute “flight” around this giant Ferris wheel on the bank of the River Thames. From our “pod” we had incredible views of the House of Parliament and Big Ben as well as Buckingham Palace in the distance across St. James Park.

Then we were off to the Tower of London which is the most historic site in London. Begun by William the Conqueror in 1066 A.D., it was home to the British monarchy until the mid-1500s and there is a house within the walls which can be stayed in at any time by the Royal Family. To see the entirety of the Tower would take no less than 3 hours and a lot of walking. Therefore, Granny was quite satisfied to just hear the stories of the beheading of Anne Boleyn and others rather than stand in the place when it took place.

It was at a dock close to the Tower that we hopped on a boat to cruise back up the River Thames toward Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.

From there we were back on the sight-seeing bus and on our way to Buckingham Palace for the final stop of our day.

It has been an incredible blessing to spend these past few weeks enjoying this beautiful country with such a lovely lady. We’ve visited the villages, admired the flowers, been awestruck by the enormity of the castles and the history they represent, and been humbled at the realization that somewhere in the ruins and records of this ancient country lies our ancestry. Yes, Thomas Gooch, Granny’s great-great-great . . . grandfather, left England in the early 1700s to start a new life in America. Maybe we’ll check into that someday. However, for today, her 88th birthday, we’ve enjoyed a Cream Tea and been thankful once again for the goodness of our God to give us this amazing experience.

Fritilleries, Picnics, Granny & AWANA

Thinking back over the last month we have such sweet memories of the many activities that we have been involved in both in the village, in the church, and in the neighboring villages. It seems that the Lord has had bigger plans for us than just ministering at Ducklington Baptist. We’ve found that we can now easily attend meetings and events in the village and end up being treated as real members of the community. It has become a regular thing to see a smile of recognition and enter into what sometimes turns out to be lengthy conversations with other village folks.

We participated in our first ever “Fritillery Sunday.” Fritilleries are small flowers that grow wild in only a couple of places in England and we enjoyed discovering that one of those places is just up Church Street and across the River Windrush from our house. So, on April 18 we ventured (with about 400 other people)
across the bridge and out into a field where we saw our first Fritilleries. Events of the day involved a Cream Tea (which is when you get to eat something wonderful like homemade cakes, pastries, or scones with clotted cream and jam while you enjoy your cup of tea) at the Village Hall followed by a time of Songs of Praise at St. Bartholomew’s Parish Church. We were thrilled to encounter some of the Mums & Dads that we have come to know from the toddler groups and have an opportunity to enjoy visiting with them in that casual and fun surrounding.

The following weekend was our regularly scheduled Dads & Tots morning which was attended by 7 Dads. It was also a time of celebrating the church’s anniversary, but no one could tell us exactly how many years. We enjoyed a pot luck lunch in the back room and, as typical Baptist, we had more food than we could eat. Later in that week we rode the train to London for a brief little 3 day whirlwind trip (see pictures on Facebook). We returned to a Sunday where Dennis preached in two different churches – our regular Sunday service here in Ducklington and then at Burford Baptist Church 8 miles west of here. 100% of the church membership was present – 2 ladies. They have been holding their little church together for several years and we were very touched by their faithfulness and hope that the Lord would once again ignite a fire in the hearts of the people of Burford. Their little church building is 300 years old (complete with tombstones in the churchyard) and it grieves their hearts to think of it being sold and turned into a residence or business.

May 3rd was the most anticipated day we have had since we’ve been here. It was a Monday bank holiday for all of the UK and so we chose that day to host the 1st ever Mums & Dads & Tots picnic. Over 50 people had signed up to come. On that day we woke up to cloudy, drizzly skies but by 4 p.m., when the picnic was scheduled to begin, there was bright sunshine. In spite of the cool temperatures we grilled burgers and sausages Texas style and enjoyed playing a couple of games with the little ones. It was a great success! There were 10 of us from the church who came to help out, so all together there were about 60 people.






This past weekend we drove to London to pick up Granny Liz who will be with us until May 27. She was quick to join in last Monday at Mums & Tots and is enjoying all the new sights. She is not, however, fond of our cool temperatures. Thus far, we’ve taken in the sights of Oxford, several Cotswold villages, and Warwick Castle. She and Brenda will head to London this week for a couple of days and then the next week we will see Blenheim Palace (Home of Winston Churchill) and Sudeley Castle. She will definitely need a few days of rest when she gets back to Abilene on May 27th but we are having a great time and enjoying her being with us.

One of the most thrilling experiences we’ve had since coming to the UK was an invitation to participate in an AWANA “Tester” which is basically an introduction to AWANA clubs.

Opening Ceremony

There has never been an AWANA club in a UK church even though AWANA has been on UK soil for some time. AWANA clubs have operated quite successfully on the US Air Force bases or on bases where Americans were in residence. Fairford AFB/RAF has hosted an AWANA club at their base chapel for the past 2-3 years. The pastor at Arlington Baptist Church in Bibury has taken his children to Fairford’s AWANA club ever since their daughters made the acquaintance of an American youngster from Fairford at their local primary school in Bibury.

Counsel Time

That child’s parents have been leaders in the Fairford AWANA program, but in July all the Americans will be going back to the States. Arlington Baptist Church has made the decision to move that program to their church. This past Thursday evening we had the wonderful opportunity to take part of that first club meeting. There were 8 children and we all had a blast!

Game Time in the Garden of the Manse (parsonage)

They are hoping to begin the actual club meetings in the fall. May God bless this great effort and through AWANA reach many boys and girls, as well as their parents, for Christ.



Arlington Baptist's First AWANA clubbers










This past month our Monday night Bible study time has been focused on a DVD series which was produced by the Baptist Union of Great Britain. It is based on information compiled through a survey that was done a couple of years ago on the condition and potential of the small churches in England. It contains wonderful information and encouragement for these little churches as well as offers many practical ideas and possibilities for new ministry. It has challenged us and caused us to talk about many things that would probably never have been discussed as ways of offering ministry and services here in the village. It has stretched us to think of different ways to do ministry that might be more effective within the setting of our church. We would certainly appreciate your prayers as we begin to brainstorm new ideas.

It’s hard for us to believe that we will be heading home two months from today. Brian and Paula Brewer will take our place and serve until January 2011. Hopefully, the work that has begun will flourish under Brian and Paula’s watch and the people of Ducklington will continue to hear the name of Christ spoken unashamedly in their streets, on their sidewalks and in their homes when possible. We have become so attached to these quiet, little curvy streets and these beautiful old stone homes that are now covered in brilliant clematis and fragrant wisteria. But, we’ve also come to love our neighbors, our sweet Mums, Dads & Tots, and most of all, our church family here. We have prayed week after week for the Lord to show us His plan and we wait patiently as He continues to work in ways that we have yet to see. May His Name be lifted high over these gorgeous green hills and may many come to know Him through the ministry of Ducklington Baptist Church.

Ducklings & Lambs!

We are still enjoying Springtime (with the exception of some extreme attacks of hay-fever) and are now enjoying the added excitement of newborn lambs and ducklings. How could a town named Ducklington not have ducklings? Yesterday was their first appearance in the village pond and we enjoyed watching their proud, little Mum attempt to keep them close to her. No doubt, many more will hatch out soon and the pond will be filled with these little guys.

Life in the UK continues to intrigue us, but as we have written in earlier posts, ministry has become much busier. We participated in all of the activities of Passion Week which ended in the silent March of Witness to the Market Square in Witney. We walked in silence behind a young man holding a very large cross high in the air. The only sound was the solemn beating of a drum. It was a though the whole town stood still for those moments. This is a yearly observance that has taken place in Witney for generations.

Once in Market Square, we enjoyed a wonderful worship service led by a praise band from one of the Community Churches followed by several Scripture readings by pastors of various other churches and a message by the pastor of the Congregational Church. Almost all of the churches in Witney were involved in this very evangelist service which drew about 200 people to the square. We found the reactions by the people on the street to be quite interesting. Some stopped and stood in silence as we walked up the High Street from the large Methodist Church to the Market Square. Some came out of the stores they were shopping in to see what was going on. Some continued walking along the sidewalks trying not to long at us. Some giggled and tried to act as though they didn’t see us.

One of our elderly church members has been in the hospital in Oxford for the past 5 weeks and we have managed to make 3 trips to see him. The first 2 weeks we drove our car (which can be an exciting experience in Oxford!), but this past week we decided to take the bus from Witney. The bus instantly became our favorite mode of transportation as we sat on the top deck and enjoyed the intense green of the English countryside. Another couple from the church, Bill and Lynette Nichols, asked if they could go with us and we were thrilled to have them since they are seasoned bus travelers as well as being quite familiar with Oxford. We have enjoyed 2 other day trips to Oxford since we’ve been in the UK, but being there with Bill and Lynette was not only informative but lots of fun and very entertaining as well. They are a delight!


Bill & Lynnetta at the Radcliffe Camera which houses 600,000 volumes of the University of Oxford Library

We are still amazed at the things we are learning about the roots of Christianity as we know it today. The city of Oxford was at the center of the English Reformation and one of the most solemn experiences we have had was walking around University Church of St. Mary the Virgin where Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury (and author of the Common Book of Prayer), was tried for treason under Queen Mary I (Bloody Mary) because he would not recant his decision to become an Reformist. He was rushed from St. Mary’s to Broad Street where the fire was already waiting for him. That was in 1556. Just a year before, two of his friends, Catholic bishops turned Reformists, were also burned at the stake in the same place – Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer. Latimer was reported to have said to Ridley as they were tied back to back at the stake and the fire was lit, “Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.” Those words came true as the fires burned over 300 martyrs on English soil during Mary’s reign. She hated the Reformers and would stop at nothing to put a stop to their cause. But, in the end, Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer’s love for God’s Word and their faith in the ability of Spirit-filled common folk to read it prevailed.

Both of us were struck by the busyness and bustle of the city of Oxford as people walked back and forth across Broad Street over a silent grouping of stones laid in the shape of a cross in the middle of the street that now mark the spot of those executions. The cost of following Christ has been great down through the years, but last Friday, walking from St. Mary’s to Broad Street and then standing there in that spot seemed to make it a bit more of a reality to us. It makes the work we are doing here even more serious to us. The Christian faith has experienced great turmoil on this soil and today is no different. Our co-workers at Henley-in-Arden told us of a Lent service they attended where the speaker actually told his audience that there were many important “gospels.” The most important one today is the “gospel of Global Warming.” Oh, really?! Shocking, isn’t it? How many ways can man find to take the focus off of Christ and put it on something as ridiculous as social agendas or environmental concerns? So, we are more and more convinced that the greatest need in churches in the UK is solid, expository teaching from passionate preachers. After all, isn’t that what the above mentioned men gave their lives for? It seems counter-productive to draw people into churches where rubbish is preached. Therefore, Dennis is beginning a series on Progressive Sanctification that will probably continue until we return to Texas.

The people of Ducklington Baptist are sensing how vital their relationships with one another are going to be if this little church is going to grow. It is vital that those around us in the village see how desperately we love one another. We definitely sense that progress is being made in our relationships at both the Mums and Dads and Tots days. We are planning an all-family picnic on May 3 which is a bank holiday here. Dennis will grill some hot dogs and we are going to organize some fun (AWANA) games for the little ones.

(Oh, by the way, speaking of AWANA . . . we were invited to attend a Good Friday service at a Baptist in the small village of Arlington about 15 miles from here. It is only about 5 miles from Fairford Air Force Base which is where some of our US troops are stationed if they are in the UK. There has been an AWANA program on that base for some time and the pastor’s children at Arlington have been attending there. The American couple who runs that program are soon to return to the U.S., so they are going to move the AWANA program to Arlington Baptist so that the pastor and his wife can take over the leadership of it. It will be the first ever AWANA program to be run by a British church. We have been invited to go over and help with the kick-off night in May. We will plan to incorporate some of those great Cubbies and Sparks games into our
Tots Picnic in a few weeks.)

So, we continue to be thankful for all of you who faithfully cover us with your prayers. God is certainly at work here . . . but not in the way we thought He would. The church has selected the AIPM couple who will replace us. Their bios are quite impressive and they have done missionary work in the UK previously, so you can begin praying for Bryan and Paula Brewer as they prepared to leave their home in Illinois for 6 months to come and minister here in Ducklington.

We love you and miss you all.

What's In a Name?

Nine weeks ago today we were still recovering from jet lag as we walked these streets in awe of our new surroundings. How quickly routine sets in and all that once seemed new and so intriguing becomes so familiar that you hardly notice. A couple of days ago as we walked home from a trip to the grocery store in Witney, we were reminiscing about that first day when David, Janice, Ray and Sue drove us down Witney Road through the heart of Ducklington, Oxfordshire. Even as we slowly made those turns through the village streets, we felt they were driving too fast for us to take it all in. We only got a glimpse of the little chapel that our hearts are now so attached to. My words can hardly describe the feeling that we now get when we walk through those doors and into that room where we worship each Sunday and where all those little children laugh and play on Monday mornings. You have to wonder what those walls would say to us in 2010 as they would recount the past 160 years of standing as a witness to our Lord Jesus in this little village.

Life in the village has changed drastically over the past 20-30 years. Someone told us the other day that where our house now stands was once the village barnyards. I believe they actually used the words “pig pen.” That’s a nice thought, isn’t it? What is now a beautifully designed housing addition (they would use the word “estate”) was once home to the village livestock. The beautiful houses of Cotswold stone that are mixed in around us were once barns. My goodness, what a different just a little patching and cleaning and imagination can do. All of the original village barns, including the old schoolhouse, have been transformed into lovely homes. Some are very small, but quite lovely.

Every home has its own name –


Manor Farm















The Manor Barn















The Church Barn















The Old Farmhouse















Wall stone at The Farmhouse dated May 5, 1682















Old Thatch Barn















The Old Schoolhouse















And some are still barns . . .















9 Bartholomew Close (our house) is Vine Cottage. We have Clematis vines growing all over our garage in our back garden, thus “Vine Cottage.” Somehow every house’s name, as well as most street names, indicates something descriptive about it. Our house in Bartholomew Close is “close” to St. Bartholomew Parish Church. It’s just up Church Street.

















And I can't forget the village neighbors who come to visit . . .















All of this makes me think about the ways God refers to us when He comes in and does that amazing job of cleaning us up by the blood of Christ. We become His Children, called by His Name. Whatever characterized our lives before now looks very different and aren’t we glad? What we were before is now gone, just as the pig pens where our house now sits. Who would ever even think about a pig pen when they drive in front of these beautiful old village homes?

As Dennis prepares for his sermon tomorrow from John 15, I can look out our back door and consider the vines growing on our garage. Right now they look so dead, but as the daffodils around them are beginning to bud and the primrose are starting to open in colors of bright yellow and pink, I know that because those vine branches have remained attached to the old, sturdy vine at the base, it will not be long until they are filled with beautiful white flowers (or so that is what our neighbors are telling us). The same is true of us, as we are attached to The Vine, we will produce beautiful fruit in its season.

As we are now starting our tenth week of ministry here, we are praying and trusting Christ to cause the fruit to grow in season. There is much work that needs to be done to get us ready for what is to come. We are continuing to pray for our own spiritual growth and maturity. We are continuing to ask the Lord for more servants. We need guidance from the Holy Spirit to know how to minister to young families and their children. We are seeking and praying for ways to make this little church more visible within the village and the community of Witney. We all have a deep sense of God’s activity in us and around us. As we remember the things that God has done in our lives since February 2005 when Dennis' job with Ross Labs ended (Or, as the English would say, "made redundant"), and as we listen to the stories told to us by the church members here to bring about their association with American Interim Pastors, we KNOW without a doubt that God is at work in this place. However, at the moment it’s a bit like looking at the back wall of our garden. Nothing seems to be growing there . . . YET! The timing is His. We will "remain in Him” as we wait.

So, for now, we walk the streets and pray and we meet people and pray more. We enjoy looking at the beautiful homes so reminiscent of days gone by. The windows that once framed the faces of horses, sheep and pigs, are now hung with crisp curtains and window boxes planted with spring flowers. What is God’s design for the future of Ducklington Baptist Church? What will it look like when He begins the growth? We pray that soon we will welcome young people and children and those 160 year old walls will turn the page of its old, worn diary and begin a new story of God’s unchanging and steadfast faithfulness to the next generation of villagers.

Thank you for your faithfulness to pray as God continues to transform all of us.