Big Weekend!

We started the weekend with a wonderful lunch with Roisin and her family in Newmilns.  Roisin is a sweet 16 year old who shared her beautiful drawings with us and blessed all the girls with gorgeous bracelets.  Her grandmother, Catherine, served an amazing spread.  We have decided their cole slaw with the addition of cream is much more tasty than what we are accustom to in the States.  We also had our first pavlova.  After lunch we visited Loudoun Church (this is the first church Colonial ministered with in 2007) and got a little bit of Coventors' history.  Then continued down the road to view Loudoun Hill just outside of Darvel all the while enjoying Scotland's breathtaking countryside.  The day ended with a dinner of the best fish and chips at Tom and Sue's in Kilwinning.  We were joined by Ian and Elaine.  After dinner we were finally allowed to go to bed.  It was the best night's sleep.

Our team came together early Saturday morning for devotions before heading over for a prayer breakfast at the High Kirk hall.  We were greeted warmly by members of the three churches we will be working with this week.  It was such a blessing to come together to pray for all God will bring to the activities this coming week.  We then immediately began preparations for Family Fun Day which was held on the grounds of the High Kirk on Saturday afternoon.  A quick visit between set up and the actual event to see Margaret and Adam was a enjoyable treat.  Adam shared a devotional challenging us to appreciate the circumstances that God has us in and to recognize the hand of God in our lives.  Family Fun Day was a family event for all the families of Stevenston and was well attended with the beautiful weather.  This was a  great opportunity to connect with the people of Stevenston and meet some of the kids who will be attending Kids Club (VBS) this coming week. We estimate that there were over 175 children at the Family Fun Day. After dinner we ended the day with a trip to Largs.  Janet (Denise and Colby's hostess) went with us and was a wonderful guide. We parked near a viking monument from 1268. We then walked about two miles into Largs along the seaside. It was beautiful looking over the water with the sun setting behind the mountains/hills. We ate ice cream at Nandini's a tradition going back to 2007. Then the girls met some Scotts dressed in their kilts and had their pictures taken with them. How much fun! We then hiked back as the sun was setting at 10:45pm. Yes you read that right. The sun comes up at 4:20am and sets at 10:45pm. This was only our second day in Scotland.

Sunday began with services at the High Kirk.  Oh, how we love Rev Scott. His humble heart, his kindness to those around him and his love for Jesus was so refreshing and precious. We sat in high back pews and praised the Lord through hymns and praise songs. Scott's message was from Matthew 13, the parable of the sower. He talked about the 4 choices we can make. First, to totally ignore God. Second, to hear God but to choose to not follow Him, Third to listen to the message, like what you are hearing yet being unwilling to surrender your life to Him. Finally the fourth option is to accept the Lord, walk in His ways and obey his word. Then He will increase the harvest, thirty fold, sixty fold, even a hundred fold for His glory. We were reminded that we always want to be choosing option four and we can only do that is by being in His Word, praying daily and serving Him. It was such a blessing to be across the ocean worshipping together and praising the King. Our dear friend Margaret Durham blessed us with a lovely lunch in the church hall before we headed over to Kilmarnock for the afternoon and evening.

St. Marnocks church in Kilmarnock invited us to speak at one of their ministries called Broken Chains. The church ladies make a lovely dinner for those who are struggling with substance abuse. We opened with praise music. Katie played the piano and Russell played the guitar. Denise then shared about how we all are broken. This morning her glasses broke and Maddy brought duck tape (we have used it so much already) and Denise was able to tie that into her talk. Kirstie then presented the Gospel and how the Lord loves each one of us and that He wants a personal relationship with us. We then had an opportunity to sit down with the men and women as they ate and pray with them and encourage them to look to Jesus. They will only be able to overcome their addiction if they keep their eyes on Jesus. After we were done at St Marnocks we headed over to the Taits. Our team met Andy when he came over and stayed with the Marx's. His family invited us over for a BBQ of hamburgers, kebabs and hot dogs. Helen, Joanne and all the tennis boys came over to spend time with us. The food was amazing, especially the desserts of strawberry cheesecake, chocolate cake and a pavlova (meringue, whipped cream and fresh strawberries) We have had so much food and cups of tea. The girls were able to present and practice their puppet show and got great feedback. We have adjusted to the time change but are still a little tired. We can see the hand of the Lord move and we are so excited to see what He is going to do this week.
Denise, Kirstie and Diana