i'm not the biggest fan of hot weather or beaches or any of those common summer things, but after growing up at camps and pools in the Arkansas heat, experiencing a summer in England is a bit of a shock. 

first, i could not be more thankful for the weather these past three days. we've had a high of 60-65, which to most of you probably sounds freezing. to us, it was a heatwave. the best thing about this weather is that it brought out the community of stockton. three days in a row we were outside playing sports and having conversations with people in the town. this is rare. in a place where the weather is usually pretty cool and dreary, the people tend to have negative or tired attitudes. this is not absolute, just a general observation. but all over town people were out, and the ones we had the chance to talk to caught a glimpse of the hope and light that comes from Christ. 

as i have said before, we made friends with some of the kids who live in stockton. right now i want to tell you the story of one of them. this young man is 17 years old (he is on my left in the picture below), and for the past few years he has been living on his own. every member of his family either has passed away or has moved from the area. i'm not sure what it is, but something has kept him here. he is homeless. i don't know how long it's been this way, but it is overwhelming to think about. compared to the other kids we know, he is the most clean cut, most concerned with his looks... i was a little bit confused when he was so drawn to us from the beginning (he has been where we are almost every single day... he can't stay away), but then i realized he has no one else. he has a couple of close friends in the area, but it is likely that none of them show they care as much as we have been. on Sunday, we were heading out to Saltburn to hike a little bit and have a worship service/baptism on the beach. while we were waiting on our team at the church in Stockton, Joey walked up. after talking for a while, he hopped in the van and came with us. we chatted on the way there, we could tell he was nervous. he knew he had just gotten in a bus with a group of American Christians. he had a blast. it was all good, clean fun. probably something he hasn't experienced in a while. as we talked to him, he told us all about his dreams. i thought about how he maybe has never had someone encouraging him to pursue them until now. we are excited for him, genuinely. we want him to succeed. but more than anything, we want him to know Jesus. he heard the gospel. he saw Hannah's baptism. i think he is starting to get it. we are praying HARD for his life. as much as we want him to come to faith, the Lord wants him even more. Jesus wants him to know that even though he has been left with nothing, he is not alone. Jesus loves him.

please. i am begging you to get on your knees and pray for this boy. the Lord is faithful and he can draw him in. he, along with everyone else here in northeast England NEEDS Jesus. we are learning the power of prayer. sometimes all we can do is plead with the Lord for their salvation, ask him to bring hope and life to this area. it is dark and it is lonely. we have been shown mercy, and we want them to know it, too. these. people. need. Jesus. 

it is in faith we pray. 

the valley.

greetings from Stockton!

since we arrived yesterday morning, i have thought several times "i want to include this in the next blog i post." but now that i'm sitting here actually doing it, it's hard to think of what to say. i want you all to know what it's like here, and although i'm not sure i will be able to explain anything well enough, i will certainly try.

if you think we are in London, you're wrong. if you think we are in any place that is similar to London, you're wrong. we live in Stockton. it's not at all like i imagined it to be. even if you've seen Shelby or Hannah's pictures, it's different. we take pictures of the scenic places, but those are the every life of these people. the every day is dark and dry and hopeless. on the streets, most of the businesses are closed and many windows are boarded up. the schoolyards are lively, but homes are broken.

both nights, we have gone to a parking lot to hang out with teens. last night we set up a skate park, and tonight we hung out on the "youth bus." basically, in Stockton, there are youth workers, people who work for the city and try to keep the kids and teens out of trouble. the kids we have spent time with do poorly in school, and most won't attend past the age of 16. they smoke a lot. they drink a lot. they have a lot of piercings. they're hard. BUT, Jesus is so good. i come from a "wealthy American home" and attend university. sure, i have piercings/tattoos, but that's probably the only common thing between us. it should have been very difficult to make conversations. but, it wasn't. Jesus has been our words. all we have done is sit and talk to them, and they love it. we love it. i'll probably end up talking about this a lot, so i'll leave it there for now.

today we hiked up Roseberry Topping. i'll likely get a picture of that up soon. from the top, you can see the entirety of the Tees Valley, where we will be working. Mike read from Ezekiel 37, the valley of dry bones. as many times as my friends and i have read and talked about this passage over the semester, it has never made as much sense to me as it did today. England is so different than America. our schools and universities may seem dry, and they are. but it's not the same. people in America have the opportunity to seek Christ. our friends and neighbors have most likely heard the gospel at some point in their lives. these people haven't. people aren't not following Jesus because of social pressure. they just really don't know. it's a different kind of dark. and it's heavy.

but it is also so evident that the Lord has sent people and brought us here for a very specific and important reason. this much darkness needs a light. in the ways that Jesus has already set up friendships and conversations for us, we can see that we are here on his mission and in his timing. he is working and is ready to pour out more.

pray for our friends. pray for strength for our team.

thank you

update: here's the pics!

Part of the Tees Valley 

Roseberry Topping

Saltburn

cheers!