Off the Round-a-bouts and Into the Countryside

What happened to the past 2 weeks! The last time I sat down here to write was the middle of February and now it is March. The old saying that “March blows in like a lion” must have come from England (as did most things in America) because we had a couple of days last week that made us wonder if we’d been magically transported back to West Texas. Oh, yes, the wind can definitely blow in England, but with it comes blowing drizzle and it’s truly a dreadful combination. We even had to laugh at a weather forecaster last Friday who reported that the forecast was so depressing for Sunday that he just wasn’t even going to tell us about it. The last 2 days have been absolutely glorious – brilliant blue skies, 50 degrees, flowers popping out everywhere you look. We are anxiously awaiting the springtime because everyone here gets so excited about it.


We are continuing to have 25+ Mums at Mums & Tots each week and our March meeting of Dads & Tots is just around the corner on March 13. We are in hopes of seeing many of the same young men back for the next one. We have moved into a Bible Study focused on the Lent season. Lent is a really big deal in England probably because of the overarching influence of the Church of England. So, we have joined in that observance and have begun to wonder why we don’t actively observe Lent in the U.S. What more important holiday is there in our Christian faith than the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Christ! What other faith that can boast of the power of a Risen Lord! We are looking forward to the corporate observance of Lent by all of the churches in Witney and Ducklington on Good Friday on the village green.

Last Thursday we were invited to drive about 1½ hours north of here to Henley-in-Arden where another interim pastor is serving in a small church in that community. Travel is still a bit daunting to say the very least, but we pulled out the maps and mustered all our courage to make the trip. We decided that the quickest way to get there was to drive over toward Oxford and connect with the M40 which is a very major “dual carriageway” going north. The M40 is like a 6 lane Interstate highway. It was 70 mph all the way with people flying around us at speeds far exceeding the posted limit. We were on the M40 for about 30 minutes before we reached the exit that would take us through the countryside to Henley-in-Arden.


Round-a-bouts continue to be a terrifying experience but we have discovered something more terrifying than a round-a-bout. That would be exiting off of a major highway and finding that you have exited into a round-a-bout. But the story doesn’t stop there. This particular round-a-bout had 3 lanes and they were all under construction. As Dennis drove round and round the round-a-bout, I attempted to read the signs for the 5 (YES, 5) exits off of that round-a-bout. It seemed that all of the roads entering and exiting out of this round-a-bout were also under construction. Finally, in the interest of time (we drove all the way around it at least 2 times) and being a bit dizzy, we decided to just take an exit that would send us in the general direction of Henley and then we would deal with it once we were off the round-a-bout. We traveled about 300 yards down the highway when I determined that we should find the next right turn and head through the countryside.

Dennis made the turn and we found ourselves traveling down a single lane road surrounded by beautiful hedges and peaceful green fields filled with fluffy white sheep. After passing through 2 or 3 very picturesque villages we came to a cross roads where a sign pointed the way to Henley-in-Arden. We arrived right on time at the home of Jim and Carole Fox (Jim and Carole are from Los Cruses, NM) and had a wonderful visit with them sharing this interesting adventure with American Interim Pastors. As we left their house that afternoon, we determined that we were not going back by way of the M40. We would take the country roads.

I must tell you that my purpose for telling that long tale is really a spiritual one. We have been in the UK now for a little over 6 weeks. When we arrived in mid-January, we “hit the ground running” and had visions of meeting all of our neighbors and seeing them one by one come to Christ and join our little Ducklington Baptist Church. Every time we heard a voice in the street or noticed someone walking by our house, we would find an excuse to go outside and meet them. By the end of our first month, we knew most of our neighbors on a first name basis. In Frank Peretti’s book, The Visitation, he tells of a young pastor who began pastoring a dying church in a small town in the Midwest. The former pastor was retired but still attended the church. The young pastor exuberantly told the old pastor that “We’re going to take this town for Jesus” to which the old pastor replied calmly, “Son, even Jesus didn’t ever take a town for Jesus.” While that’s kind of a funny exchange, it’s not so far from our original thoughts about the little village of Ducklington. These folks need Jesus and we were coming here to tell ‘em about Him, right? Well, yes, if the opportunity affords itself. However, mostly, we have discovered that just as driving the M40 caused us to miss the beauty of the English countryside and ended up being quite stressful, our constant hurrying and rushing around to meet everyone and trying to figure out some way to get our little church in their field of vision was actually a hindrance to showing them their greatest need. What they need is for us to live among them, get to know them, and allow the Holy Spirit to open their hearts to our message and the peace and joy that we experience as His children. We needed to settle in and make some deeper friendships, enjoy their unique style of life, wait for the Lord to bring about those spiritual conversations, and grow to love these wonderful people that God has placed us in the midst of.


So, I’m posting several pictures of what we see when we get off the highways and drive down those wandering lanes through the villages and along the rivers and across this gorgeous country. Everywhere we’ve stopped we’ve met people who are talkative and gracious and helpful and inquisitive about who we are and why we are here. Each and every time that we just take a deep breath and see these as God’s moments and not ours, we come away with the realization that this truly is God’s mission, not ours. It is His work, not ours. He has called us to tend a sweet little flock of folks who have faithfully persevered and are hopeful that the Lord will revive their little church. They are diligent to attend our Wednesday prayer times and those times have been rich with intercession for God’s Kingdom work. Those who cannot attend because of health reasons have assured us that while we are praying in groups, they are praying individually for the work of the Holy Spirit in this village. Many of them have been faithfully serving the Lord for much, much longer than we have been alive. They have witnessed the decline of church attendance in the UK yet remain hopeful that just as God sent revival to the country of England in the 19th century, He can do it again. We stand with them in asking the Lord for His favor and for a harvest and thanking Him for allowing us a small part in what He is doing here.


Hope you've enjoyed the pictures! And we pray that you too will slow down an enjoy the beauty of the moments God gives you. All of life is in His Sovereign control. Dennis' message this past Sunday was from John 17. God is the One who draws men to Himself. We must be so careful that we are not flying down the "dual carriageways" of life and miss our opportunity to be the one who brings them the Good News. Enjoy the countryside. It's much more beautiful there!

Too Busy to Blog! . . . but Finally . . .

With the start of our prayer groups last week, it seems that there is a bit of momentum, or at least there is a definite stirring of enthusiasm for what we are going to see God do as a result of a small group of people in a tiny little church in the south of England coming together to commit this work to the Lord on a weekly basis.

As we look at the date of our last blog, we both sit here and wonder where the time has gone. Let’s start with what was the largest turnout EVER for Dads and Tots last Saturday. Eleven men showed up for bacon rolls and to enjoy letting their little ones play in the warmth of our sweet little building. Ray Cole is quite the bacon roll chef and as he busied himself in the kitchen, David Bosley and Dennis visited with the Dads. After the experience of being with 20-30 Mums on Mondays, Dennis was very happy to sit and visit with the guys. He spent most of his time visiting with a young man named David and had a chance to invite him to bring his “partner” and come to church. They have a darling little 16 month old boy who usually comes to Mums and Tots with his grandmother on Mondays. David reappeared with his Mother on Monday morning for Mums and Tots and so he and Dennis had an opportunity to visit for a while longer. Hopefully that will result in additional opportunities for conversation that will lead to him eventually coming to church or at least open the door for Dennis to spend some more time with him in hopes of sharing Christ.

Sunday’s service was attended by all but 2 of our regular folks and I discovered for the first time that some of our very familiar old hymns are sung to very different tunes here in England. Dennis was teaching on discipleship and so I selected the wonderful old hymn “Take My Life and Let It Be.” It was in their hymnbook and I thought it would be a great discipleship song. Wwwwweeeeellllllllllllllllllllllllll . . . . by the end of the first verse, I realized that even though they were singing, it just didn’t sound the same as back home. They were kind enough to let me know at the end of the service that my tune was very different, “but quite nice.” So, I’ll be checking that out more carefully in the future.

On Tuesday, we had the great pleasure of being invited to the pastor’s home in Eynsham which is about 6 miles from here. Jean Andrews has pastored Eynsham Baptist Church for several years. Jean is wonderful and has a fabulous heart for evangelism and her little church. She trained at Regent Park’s College at Oxford which is where many of our professors at Southwestern come to train. Female pastors are not at all unusual in the UK and her church has experienced solid growth under her care. We loved being in her home and sharing insights into ministry with her and two other area pastors she had invited to join us. We were greatly encouraged by their individual experiences as well as their insights into Ducklington Baptist Church. Each of them had at one time or another traveled to Ducklington to fill in on a Sunday morning during these past 17 months that the church has been without a pastor. Each of these pastors offered the help of their own congregations for events or projects that we plan in the future to aid in growing this little church.

Our Wednesday prayer times are off to a great start as we had four in attendance at the afternoon time and seven yesterday evening. Contacts are consistently being made with neighbors and we are currently exploring ideas which will heighten the visibility of the church here in the village. We are still praying for the Lord’s guidance concerning childrens Sunday School and the logistics of that type of ministry on a regular basis.

We enjoyed a visit today from the Regional Minister of the South Counties of the British Baptist Association. Grenville Overton has served this area for many years and is quite familiar with our little church and its struggles over the past several years. He was very encouraging and definitely made us feel that he was available to us should we ever have questions or need his services.

We still enjoy walking the streets and are continually encouraged by those we meet. The British are friendly and quick to engage in conversations, so we are very sure that at some point in the future the Lord will bless our efforts and our prayers by deepening those relationships to the point that we will see a harvest.

" . . . one all-round good egg"

We have now finished our third week in this beautiful country and continue to be blessed and amazed by these that the Lord has seen fit to send us to. We’ve just returned home from our Monday evening Bible Study and were so encouraged by the interest and participation of this sweet group of folks. Lent begins on Wednesday, February 17, and Dennis has decided in the meantime to go through the little letter of Philemon with our Monday evening faithfuls. Since we have been actively working with our South Side family in Abilene on learning how to correctly observe, interpret, and apply Scripture, we decided to take our Ducklington group through that same process using Philemon. They quickly jumped into the process tonight by discovering all they could about the persons of Paul, Philemon and Onesimous. Janice Bosley summed up the observations on the person of Philemon with the quote of the evening when she said, “Philemon was one all-round good egg.” We told her immediately that she would get honorable mention on The Blog this evening. We may have to bring the Bosleys back to Abilene with us. They are such a blessing! (Yes, Janice, you are now “notorious”:) )

Mums & Tots was again the fastest hour and a half of our week. Apparently, Chicken Pox is working its way through the village. Therefore, several of our regulars were not with us this morning. We continue to visit with the women as we serve their tea and the children are beginning to warm up to us as we are becoming familiar faces to them. Our desire has been to gracefully move this group in a more spiritual direction and today Janice incorporated the song “The Wise Man Built His House Upon A Rock” into the repertoire. It was obvious that this was not a new song. As Janice and I visited about children’s songs, I discovered that “Zaccheus Was a Wee Little Man” is not known in the UK. She was quite amused when I stood in the kitchen and sang it for her . . . complete with the motions. I hated to admit that I’ve probably been singing that particular song for about _____ years.

We were blessed yesterday when a new couple showed up for the Sunday service. They had started attending DBC about 6 months ago, but left in November to spend the holiday season in New Zealand with their children. They returned last week and were back in church yesterday. They were also at Bible Study this evening and plan to join us for our newly scheduled weekly prayer time on Wednesday evening here at our house. Everyone seems very excited about this prayer emphasis and we are anticipating at least 8 people on Wednesday evening. That’s 50% of our total congregation which is a really good percentage. The other 50% are quite elderly but have expressed interest in having a prayer time if we would be willing to do it in Witney during the daytime hours. Jo and Alec Matthews, who we’ve talked about in earlier blogs have already offered their home and so we anticipate a start for that by next week. Not many churches can boast of 50% of their congregation attending Bible Study and 100% attending prayer meetings. So, we believe that God is going to bless these faithful servants and their diligence to study His Word and seek Him through prayer.

Continuing to Anticipate the Lord at Work in Ducklington

It seems that we have found a bit of a routine here in our little village. Our days are very quiet as we spend time walking the streets, praying and meeting those who live around us. This is a very different existence from what we are familiar with living in Abilene. With gasoline around $7.00 per gallon, most folks drive only when absolutely necessary. Therefore, foot traffic up and down our street as well as on Witney Road is a normal pattern and we seldom walk anywhere without being able to stop and visit along the way. It is a 4 minute walk to the church and we are beginning to see familiar faces and sense some recognition on their part as well.

We have decided that we will eat at one of the 2 pubs each week. They are warm and lively places and we find the locals to be very quick to notice our accents and want to know what we are doing there. Like we’ve said in earlier blogs, this is not an area frequented by tourist except to pass through going from London into The Cotswolds region; therefore, they engage us quickly and seem happy that we are living in their little community.

Church attendance was a bit discouraging this past Sunday as there were only 10 of us. Since the majority of our members are 80+ y/o, the cold, damp weather was really not conducive to their getting out for church. We had hoped to see the young man and his family that Dennis met and invited last week at Mums and Tots, but they did not come. We are hoping that they will not forget and possibly attend in the future. I had put a roast in the slow cooker for lunch just in case they came, so we were delighted to share that roast with Ray. His house is a little further from the church than ours, so as he joined us to walk home we invited him to share our lunch. It turned into another wonderful afternoon of learning more about this intriguing country as well as personal testimonies of how God’s hand has been revealed in his life since coming to know Christ in his 20s. We continued to be so blessed by Ray and his love for the Lord and especially his love and burden for this little village.

After the overflow crowd at Mums and Tots last week, we enjoyed a smaller group of 20 Mums this week and their 30+ toddlers. Dennis took up the job of serving tea as I walked around with a plate of biscuits (Cookies, remember?). In doing that simple act of serving, we were drawn into some of the little groups of 3 or 4 young women and it didn’t take them long to include us in their conversations. As always, Dennis is a hit with the little ones, so it probably won’t be long until he will be a regular down on the floor playing with them.

You will remember that we had asked you to pray specifically for a young woman named Stacy whom Dennis visited with on our first week at Mums in Tots. She is there every week and this past Monday I spent about 15-20 minutes in conversation with her and another young woman as their little ones put puzzles together around a small table. They had many questions about our churches in the States and especially about what we do there. I shared about the young women at South Side and how much I love ministering with them. I was able to tell them how as a young woman I found Scripture to be the best training for how to be a good Mum and wife. Stacy listens intently when Dennis or I talk and I believe that the Holy Spirit is drawing her. At this point, I really want to build her trust and develop a friendship with her. She and her sweet little Ashley have already won our hearts and we are asking the Lord to open her mind and heart to desire to know more about us and ultimately about Him.

I had another conversation with a young woman who lives around the corner from us. She has a little girl who struggles with allergies and a little asthma so we made an instant connection as I was able to sympathize with her after raising Wes. She is going to come have tea with me some afternoon and I will enjoy that very much. We continue to think that the Mums and Tots ministry is the key to opening up what God has planned for Ducklington. Some of the women attend St. Bartholomew, but the vast majority does not go to church at all, so “the fields are white . . .”

Ray finished our study of angels Monday evening. He would say that his leadership in this study has moved him “out of his comfort zone,” but he knows it is God’s doing and he is a very willing servant to whatever it is that God wants to do in his life. Lent is a very important observation in all the churches, so Dennis is praying about what we will study next and the emphasis on this season leading up to Easter. Last night Sue and David came to the house for our first Deacons’ Meeting. We all sense the importance of an additional evening of intentional prayer as we wait for God’s direction. We will begin that next Wednesday evening here at our house. Dennis and I will also attempt to designate a time one afternoon during each week when we will invite (and at times may even transport) the more elderly of our little Body to meet at someone’s house for a time of prayer. These sweet saints want to be involved, but their age complicates their participation in evening activities so we will do our best to accommodate them.

Our strategy right now is to pray. Please pray with us concerning activities for children in a church where there currently are no children. We must be ready! We will meet with Sue and David again in 2 weeks to discuss some practical things we can put in place so that we will not be caught off guard in the event that a family shows up on Sunday with small children. We will also make plans to regularly involve our fellow servants as we prayerwalk the village. When Dennis and I walk the perimeter of the village, it takes less time than walking the outside track at Redbud Park and within that area there are about 3000 people who need to know Christ’s love for them. So, if you walk at Redbud, pray for Ducklington as you walk.

A Few More Pictures of St. Bart's

Be sure you see the pictures from the earlier post this evening . . .

Christians first met on this site in the early 1100s. St. Bartholomew's has stood over the village of Ducklington for almost 1000 years. It is the "village church" and was originally a Catholic Church. However, as the Reformation rumbled through Germany, thanks to Martin Luther, there were also rebels in England. It's a long story but essentially St. Bart's became a Church of England in the 1500s in the heat of the Reformation. It's just down the street from our house and we hear the bells each day when the bell ringers practice for Sunday.



What's behind this tiny little door?


Behind that tiny little door is this tiny little stairwell leading to the bell tower. Just a little creepy . . .


These ropes ring huge bells that you can hear all over the village of Ducklington.

Another Interesting Day . . .

We don’t plan on making it a point to write a blog every day, but we can’t go to bed without telling you about this day. We just got home from the most amazing meeting! Sue Williams invited us to attend the quarterly meeting of Churches Together in Witney (CTiW) . This is the local arm of a larger organization called Churches Together in England. There is a similar group in Ireland. Communities all across the UK have these organizations in which representatives, sometimes the pastor/priest and sometimes lay persons, come together to discuss ways in which they can work together to make the church a visible entity within their given community. Tonight there were 25 of us who met in a small Catholic church to discuss and plan events for the Witney area.

There was a spirit of wonderful cooperation as they discussed the impact of their Christmas events which included charity drives as well as a community choir which sang during the Christmas season on a specified Saturday in the middle of the Towne Centre. The upcoming Easter season provides them with another opportunity for visibility in Witney. On Good Friday, church members from across the area will meet at the High Street Methodist Church in the middle of the Towne Centre and march solemnly up High Street, along the village green and ending at St. Mary’s Anglican Church. This march is done in total silence except for the slow beating of a single drum. There is a service to emphasize the crucifixion and then hot cross buns, with an explanation of the symbolism attached to them, are passed out to everyone along the streets (As soon as someone enlightens us as to what that tradition is, we’ll pass it along). They also organize a sunrise service on Easter which is held at another local church.

The next topic of discussion was the most astounding to us. This is an election year in England and the local parliamentary representative is hoping to oust current Prime Minister Gordon Brown. His name is David Cameron and he is from the Conservative Party. Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were both from the Labor Party and the folks around here are quite confident that their guy is going to make it a good run. CTiW historically has sponsored a Q & A for major party candidates and it is held in a local church. We sat there totally amazed at the fact that this group of church leaders are allowed by the British government to actively sponsor such an event. In fact, the questions they will ask and the reason for this event is for the express purpose of seeing where the candidates stand on issue pertaining to the church. Some observant individual in the group looked at us and asked if we did things like this in the States to which we replied, “Absolutely not! We are totally amazed by this whole discussion!” So, it was certainly an exciting evening to be a part of something like this.

The highlight of our day was a 2 hour visit with 90 year old retired missionaries from the Baptist Missionary Society (BMS), Josephine and Alex Matthews. They are long time members of our little church and served the Lord faithfully in Congo until the early 60s when they were evacuated along with most other missionaries. One of the items we hated to leave behind in Abilene was our reference books, so Alex gracious insisted that Dennis take his commentary series by William Barclay. Alex is a graduate of Spurgeon College in London. He innocently asked if we were familiar with Spurgeon to which we smiled and teased, “Vaguely . . .” Alex told us of he own father’s pictures of Charles Haddon Spurgeon’s funeral in London where thousands lined the streets of London to mourn his death. These wonderful saints and many like them are probably responsible for Congolese families such as Elias Kenyamitobo’s family hearing the gospel and coming to faith in Christ. We will, no doubt, spend more time with the Matthews. Such great stories!

Enjoy the pictures!

St. Bartholomew's was built in the very early 1200s. In fact, the columns on the right mark the wall of the original church which was the area to the right of them. That section has been dated to the last decade of the 12th century, probably around 1197 AD. The middle section was added during the 1200s and the left and finally section was added in the 1300s.


There is a continuous record of Rectors at St. Bart's beginning in 1222.


The Font was put in place when the middle section was built during the 1300s and the large wooden trunk sitting in front of it probably dates back 500 years and was the church coffer. The current Vicar told us that it originally had 3 locks on it and the church treasurer probably sat on it during the services.


Dennis would like one of these installed before he gets back and starts teaching Sunday School again. This one is dated in the mid-1800s and symbolises the Gospel carried on wings to the four corners of the earth

The Pace Picks Up!

Today we are realizing the blessing of our first 10 days in Ducklington. Beginning with the day we were delivered to our new home, we had 10 days of rest and peacefulness as we acclimated to our wonderful new, yet very different surroundings. It seems, though, that in the past 48 hours all that has drastically changed and our ministry is picking up speed.


Just to give you an update about our regular Sunday and Monday activities . . .
The Sunday Service was very encouraging. The excitement remained from what we all experienced on Saturday afternoon at the Celebration Service. A couple, who had previously (but somewhat sporadically) attended the Anglican Church, joined us for the service boosting our total attendance to 16. David and Janice led in worship along with the assistance of a guest pianist and long time friend of Ray Cole. We are learning some wonderful old English hymns which David and Janice mix beautifully with the praise and worship music we love so much. This is apparently the old stomping grounds of hymn writers John and Charles Wesley and we have been told that John Wesley preached his first sermon somewhere close by. Simple melodies and rich theology characterize these beautiful old songs.

Dennis continued his thoughts from the previous week in 2 Corinthians 4. Wanting to incorporate a pottery or clay vessel into his message, we drove (yes, we did!) to a nearby village where David, while giving Dennis a driving lesson, had pointed out a pottery and tea shop we might want to visit at some point. Our intent was to see if they might have something, a little bowl or pot that had been flawed or rejected. Dennis would then use it in his teaching about our having “this treasure in jars of clay.” There was a very friendly lady at the cash register in the pottery gift shop and we explained what we were looking for and sharing with her bits and pieces of the Scripture and Dennis’ desire to acquire something they might have cast off. She quickly rang for the potter and once he appeared from the back he listened as Dennis gave explanation of we were looking for. He remarked that he thought he had just the thing and quickly turned and disappeared into the back of the shop. When he returned, he was carrying the most perfect little vase. He told us that it had been “discarded” because it was “flawed” and would be “destroyed.” It was perfect – raw clay, never fired or painted, a flaw along the top rim, obvious imperfections - and he offered it to us free of charge. Again Dennis explained the passage briefly and how he would use this little vessel in his sermon. He was kind yet uninterested, excusing himself and returning to his work. The woman at the register, however, asked if she could wrap it up in tissue paper so that it would travel safely. In the process of her wrapping we began to talk about all the beautiful churches. In this area, everyone talks about St. Mary’s in Witney, but the constant comment we hear about St. Mary’s is, “It’s such a cold place.” This woman added that the feeling of “cold” was not merely the temperature in the room but came from the lack of spiritual feeling she sensed when there. She was interested in what we were doing in England and smiled as we shared our experience and warmth of the folks at Ducklington Baptist the previous Sunday. We will go back to see her soon, so pray for the Holy Spirit to quicken her heart so that she will be willing to talk with us again about spiritual things. Her name is Sonya.

We love the Tea and Biscuit time at the end of our Sunday services. We have quickly come to a realization that the kitchen is aptly named “Guinn’s Kitchen.” At 80+ years, she can have water boiled, tea made, biscuits on a plate, teacups on a tray and be asking if you want sugar or milk in about 5 minutes. She is an amazing servant! Everyone enjoys a cup of tea before departing every Sunday and it is time of very sweet fellowship.

“OVERWHELMING” is the word of choice for our experience at Mums and Tots yesterday. By 10:00 a.m. there were already 24 Mums settling in with their little ones and our number climbed to 34 (plus 1 grandmother) before the morning ended. Because of the pace, we were never really able to get an accurate count of the children, but we estimate at least 50. There is no intentional structure to this gathering. It is for the express purpose of allowing the little ones to play in a safe indoor environment and give these young mothers some time to chat with one another and make new friends. One unusual thing that happened yesterday morning was that a young dad appeared with his 2 children. He and Dennis found a corner in the midst of all those young women and stuck up a conversation which revealed that he and his wife (both Brits) have just returned to the UK from the Chicago area. They are believers, he is a Baptist preacher’s kid and she is an Anglican minister’s daughter. They are looking for a church and are very interested in ours. So, Dennis gave him the necessary information and we are hoping to see them on Sunday. In addition to Dennis’ visit with Chris, I had opportunities to chat with 2 or 3 young women at length. It is so hard to be patient and allow the Holy Spirit to move the conversation instead of me forcing it into the spiritual realm.

Again, our Bible Study time last night with the Bosleys, Ray and Guinn was truly a sacred time of looking into God’s Word and praying for this village. Their enthusiasm and expectancy is contagious and we are all wondering what God is doing. Each of them shared their awareness of new spiritual activity in this area, so we all wait and watch for God to delight us. Again we enjoyed Guinn's tea and last night Ray made Mince Pies . . . WOW! What a treat!

Our personal calendar is filling up with opportunities to become more actively involved in the communities of Ducklington and Witney. We have been invited to have tea today with the Vicar and his wife at St. Bartholomew’s Anglican Church here in the village. This Church predates St. Mary’s in Witney. Christians have been meeting on the site of St. Bartholomew’s since the 12th century and the church itself was built in the 1200s. They are promising a guided tour and we can’t wait. Some of the pictures we included in our earlier blogs show St. Bart’s. It is the large structure in the background of the picture of the Ducklington duck pond. We are very surprised by the information we are beginning to gather about the Anglican Church. Apparently, a large segment of the Anglican Church is quite conservative and relatively evangelical, especially in this area. They are appalled about what they hear from their Episcopalian counterpart in the United States (i.e. gay/lesbian priest, pro-abortion). All that said, we still see little to no spiritual activity in the folks who live in this village.

Tomorrow we will have a visit from a reporter for the Witney Gazette who was also at the Celebration Service last Saturday. She is a Christian and is a member of a non-denominational church in Witney. We will also attend a meeting of church representatives from around the community tomorrow evening. It is wonderful to see the churches working together to be an influential force within these villages and it amazes us to see how evangelical and conservative they are. They express a deep respect for each of their perspective church traditions and ministries yet work together to spread the gospel within the villages.

We continue to pray for all of you back home knowing that God is at work in each of your lives just as He is busy at work on this side of the Pond. May He be glorified in all that we do in His Name.