My two and a half months in Scotland have FLOWN by!  It's crazy to think that tomorrow I'll be starting my week 10 of the lecture phase and we leave for our Scotland outreach in 12 days, April 15th!

My team: Me, Katie, Brooke, Angela, Joseph, and Alora

This past week the theme for lecture was "Missions" and we got to go into Glasgow everyday and actually start to tangibly put into practice what we've been learning.  The mornings still consisted of a class time in an old church in a section of Glasgow called "Queen's Park", and then in the afternoons we would go out into the area and just love on the area, which took on many different forms.  Some groups picked up trash, others made cards for mothers (as Mother's Day is actually today here in the UK) and handed them out to mom's they saw on the streets along with some flowers, others just prayed for the area as they wandered the streets, and others simply engaged in conversations with people as they waited at bus stops or on street corners.  They sound like such simple things to do, and they are, but we were just amazed at the difference that those simple acts made in individual's attitudes and lives, both our own and those we interacted with.

My Scotland outreach team making sure
we knew how to put up out new home!

This week was also a really good time of team bonding for our individual outreach teams.  It was really the first time that we got to do anything together besides just outreach planning meetings.  It definitely made me more excited for my upcoming time in an old rusty 12 passenger box mini bus (whom we named Marv) with my team travelling all over the northwest coast of Scotland.  Bring it on!!!

Brooke and I wearing our scarves out of respect

Another thing we got to do this past week was visit a Muslim Masque in Glasgow.  It was a pretty eye-opening experience.  I learned quite a bit about the Muslim faith, both of the history of the people and why they have some of the customs they do.  I think what really struck me the most though was that they are so close to the truth, yet missing the most important key...Jesus Christ as Messiah!  They believe that Jesus was a great man, in fact that he was the only man to never sin, but that he was just a prophet.  Overall, I think that experience definitely gave me a new understanding and heart for Muslims.

Glasgow Central Masque

The Koran

One of the most exciting things that happened this past week though was that I found out for sure where I'll be going for the final two weeks of the outreach phase.  They originally told us that we'd all be going to Turkey, but there have been some new developments as of late.  We now have 4 different teams going to 4 different places.  There will be two going to Turkey, one to Istanbul and another to Antakya (know as Antioch in the Bible), one team going to Sierra Leon, and the final team going to Morocco.  I will be spending those final two weeks in Morocco!  And I am so excited about it!  The details of what we will be doing are not set as of yet, but there is a good chance that we'll be hiking into the mountains and living in a village with natives for at least a few days of our journey...how amazing will that be!!!

I do have a few prayer requests that I would love for you all to join me in.  I still need money for outreach, of which I have to have before I leave in 12 days.  I need $886 by the 15th, so please be praying for that number specifically.  Also, during our outreach, I will be the only driver on our team.  Me and Marv (the mini bus) will become extremely close, so pray that we get along well!

Portencross Castle on a beautiful sunny day!

Angela, Meredith, and Spencer at Portencross Castle