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!