Skipton 2012

This year, our mission to Skipton was my favourite of all our previous years.  We had an amazing team of young teenagers from Canterbury, and a few extra helpers on some days.  It was so nice to see all our friends from Skipton again, and to make some new ones!!

Our normal program included Bible Stories from John's gospel (each team member had to prepare a story to present), singing, memory verses, morning tea, activities, games and crafts.  It was always a packed full program with extra surprises like a lamb visit on one day, and a fire for making damper on another day.  We had a lot of fun meeting the children and sharing the gospel with them.  Most of the team were doing it for the first time, and I was so proud and impressed by the way they stepped up and took on their responsibilities so well!  We all had a wonderful time.

We were able to do many other things during the week to engage in the life of the community and also just have some fun!

We were taught how to play croquet and had a great time!

Enya played her violin at the Skipton Hostel, we sang and we chatted with the residents. 

Wednesday night Bible study, we shared some stories and heard from  new friends from SMBC about life at College!

Hamish took me for a ride on the back of his bike - we did wheelies!

Hamish also showed us how to shoot clay pidgeons with a shotgun!

With Belle and Stewart - we had dinner at their place on Monday night and they joined us and helped out at the program each day!  Love these guys so much!

Things I wish I could Instragram #4

While I was in Skipton, I was driving through the country on a misty Thursday afternoon and there was this amazing hill that we could see nearby.  It was green and had some large rocks jutting out and about.  The cloud had come down and was swirling around the top of the mountain.  I was later told that it was called Mount Emu, but I decided it looked more like a duck (even though Mount Duck isn't quite as schmick!)  We did try and organise a climb up there, but it just wasn't possible.  Maybe one day!

We saw the hill a bit later and I was able to snap a quick photo, but it wasn't quite as impressive as earlier.  Can you see the duck?

A good read

The best books are the ones you can't escape from - both in terms of time, and emotionally - when she cries, you cry; when she worries, you worry...etc.  And the book I'm reading at the moment sure has it all.  I've been enjoying the autobiographies of Naomi Reed, a missionary in Nepal.  After reading the first part of her story (given to me by a friend), I was lent the second book, by another friend, and now I'm half way through it.

Naomi and her husband spent some time in the nineties in Nepal working as physios in various capacities.  After being in Australia for a number of years, they then returned back to Nepal to begin work in training up new local physios.  I'm finding this second one far more intense as they have to endure war and unrest (on top of all the other day to day trials), and trying to imagine what that would feel like in a foreign country, with their little boys to look after.

Naomi does a wonderful job gently explaining the way God led her and her family through the various decisions they had to make, and the way she was able to grow through the different trials they had to endure.    She also manages to capture the little details of life in Nepal, which I really appreciate, and at the moment, I'm especially enjoying the chapter about their trek in the Himalayas.

Definitely recommend it!