Day 1.5

We arrived this morning at 7:00-ish a.m. local time in Glasgow. Our bodies still felt like it was 2:00 a.m. or worse depending on how little we slept. When we arrived, we proceeded like sheep to the UK Border Agents. This is always an interesting process because it's a little like playing roulette. If you get the right agent, there's some brief chit-chat and the SHRUMP ... SHRUMP of approval as the agent stamps your passport for entry. But as we all know, the roulette ball doesn't always land on the number you want. Six of our group spun that roulette wheel this morning.

We didn't need visas to enter the country for this trip, but we did secure letters from the church with which we're working to explain what we were doing, that we had raised our own financial support for the duration of our trip and that we were definitely leaving on a fixed date some 11 days after our arrival to return to the colonies. The letter should've answered the questions for the border agent regarding our intent and the absence of any potential threat posed by our groggy crew. Always vigilant ... or just bored ... the agent took a skeptical view of the church sponsoring us for this journey and asked them to wait in the chairs in front of everyone else waiting in line. (Kind of like being sent out of class to sit in the hallway while the kids in another class march by to go to lunch. Half are giggling at your obvious inability to convince a government employee of your harmlessness and the other half looking on anxiously thinking "what do I have to say not to meet that guy's fate?") After making them wait for about 10 minutes, the agent -- having confirmed that the church indeed was a registered charity -- emerged from the back room and passed the "Glasgow 6" through.

We then proceeded to baggage claim where we were happy to find all of our luggage and the supply bins riding the belts awaiting us. One bag looked like it'd hung onto the landing gear the whole ride and helped brake the plane upon landing. But it was there with everything else.

One of our team did have a bit of a rough night on the flight. Revisiting her in-flight meal at one point. But with some great care from a nurse on our team, she made it through the flight and has been improving throughout the day.

After arriving at camp this morning, we fought the urge to sleep by setting up various aspects of camp in preparation for the students' arrival. We enjoyed a great lunch prepared by some women at the Potter's House Church and then ventured into Paisley to exchange money and visit ASDA to get some camp supplies. We returned home to another meal for dinner prepared by a woman from the church. Two hearty meals and a nice shower made the rest of the day go a lot easier.

Tomorrow is a day of sightseeing in Glasgow before a dinner out at one of our host's favorite restaurants and then a night of worship in preparation for camp with our friends from Potter's House.

It's been a long day, but we should all sleep like babies tonight. (The kind of babies who sleep through the night and have to be woken in the morning. Not the kind that have their sleep cycles destroyed by a seven-hour overnight flight and share their displeasure with a plane full of people.)

Pictures to follow later (uploading issues -- too tired to troubleshoot -- must sleep -- good ni......)

The Journey Has Begun

We are sitting in the Philadelphia airport waiting for leg two of our trip to Scotland. Leg one went well -- which means everyone was on the flight and no one needed to use their air sickness bag. It's the little victories.

For everyone who is following us on the blog, we wanted to share our prayer needs and foci (yea, I took Latin in high school).

Dear Friends & Family,

Thank you for your faithfulness to pray for our team and youth camp in Scotland! God has done a lot to prepare us and we are expectant that He has GREAT things in store!

Some things to know:

-camp begins 18 July and ends 23 July

-to see what's happening on a daily basis and throughout our trip, please visit our blog: www.scotlandteam2010.blogspot.com.

-we will be live streaming from Scotland (pretty cool, huh?) and we will give information on the blog as to how to access the live feed. (we are five hours ahead of Atlanta)

-Scotland has a RICH history of revival. Currently most of Scotland is very dark spiritually, but over the last 10 or so years there have been MANY words and visions about revival breaking out.

-our theme is "Awakening" and our prayer is that the youth of Scotland would be awakened and revival would come!

Ways to pray for us:

-safe travel and great favor as we move our entire team through passport control in Glasgow

-that the 28+ campers coming would encounter Jesus and grow in love for Him

-unity among our U.S. team and unity with the Scottish counselors

-protection from sickness, injury, spiritual attacks

-that the Holy Spirit would fill the camp at Lapwing Lodge

-specifically for Justin leading worship and Ernie preaching

-Kristin/Elizabeth will be teaching in the mornings

-there are lots of small group times. Please pray God would anoint our team's time with the kids -- not just during those times, but during meals, and all aspects of camp

-wisdom and revelation for everyone at camp (Ephesians 1:17)

Thank you so very much for your prayers! We truly depend on them.

Car Wash Was a Success!

In an effort to raise some money for the costs of this year's trip, the team got together early last Saturday morning to provide "free" car washes. Cars trickled in initially, but the team endured a three-hour stretch of non-stop washes in the middle of the day. We set up at the Chick-Fil-A at the corner of Barrett Parkway and Dallas Highway, and the manager was incredibly generous with his store's water and with some coupons for free chicken biscuits and Chick-Fil-A sandwiches to hand out to people who supported our efforts. We were blessed by the generosity of those who came through the line offering donations for the team in exchange for their free car wash. At the end of the day, the manager of the store was impressed with our organization and the total we were able to raise. He also seemed appreciative for the number of people we were able to steer inside his business throughout the day. Many went inside to grab some food while their vehicle was being de-pollenized!

The other great part of the day was sharing the hours working with the team. It was a great occasion to learn more about each other and our personalities. It will go a long way towards building the bonds required to work as one moving forward. And no one got hurt in the process! Although Liz and Justin did battle it out with the hoses trying to see who would walk away more soaked! We'll call it a draw.

This weekend, we will be at RiverStone Church on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. for a yard sale. We'll have a variety of items for sale, including kid's clothes and a queen-size mattress and box spring. A couple of team members will also be selling hand-crafted journals and head bands to raise support for their costs of the trip. Come by and rummage through our assortment and find that hidden treasure! And support a worthy cause.

Here are a couple of shots from the car wash:

David is watching to make sure Justin doesn't miss that spot ... again.

Camille looks on approvingly.

It was billed as a car wash, but that didn't stop the team from tackling this boat! Amelia was so dedicated, she even washed the inside of the boat. Or was she looking for a place to take a nap?