Kaylee's thoughts...

Where we live..

Moving to a new place can be scary; moving to a new place on the other side of the world is terrifying. When God puts a call on your heart you have to put that terrifying feeling behind you and trust in Him. 

As someone who has never even vacationed to this side of the world, I had no idea what to expect upon moving here. Everyone said it would be different, but I couldn’t even grasp what that meant. All I ever knew was Canada. People warned me about culture shock, but again, I didn’t really understand what that meant. 

When we arrived, I quickly realized what “different” really meant. The landscape was different, the roads were different, even small things like the way the sidewalks looked, were different. 

Grocery shopping for the first time was a challenge. All the brand names are different, with the exception of a few. It look Paul and I the better part of 15 minutes just to pick out laundry soap; figuring out which one seemed better and what was the best for the price we were paying. 

It’s hard to explain what culture shock is, and how it feels. Just try to image feeling totally lost and confused by everything. Everything that you thought you knew is turned upside down. It was after about a week here that the shock set in. Paul wanted to help but wasn’t sure what he could do. One night at 2:00am I called my mom crying, very upset, telling her that we made a mistake and I wanted to come home. She helped me to relax and just take it day by day and to trust God. 

It was with the help of my wonderful husband, my loving mother, and the kindness of our new church family that I have come to settle in well in our new home. I’m really enjoying being here in England, and I’m excited for the things God has planned for us. 

On a lighter note, in one of our earlier blog posts, we showed you some things that are different from Canada, here are a few more: 

Because the building here are so old, this is what most of the keys look like:

British Money; Pounds and Pence:

Two things strange about this washing machine: 1. It's in the kitchen and 2. It's a washing machine/dryer combo; it does a wash cycle and then dries in the same system. Also, does not have a lint catcher or a vent to outside.

Dish soap, Laundry soap, and Kitchen cleaner:

Outlets; they all have a switch, not sure why:

In addition to new items and the like, we are also learning new words, and different names for things. Some you may know or have heard, others maybe not:

Canada	England
Garbage / Garbage bags	Bin / Bin liners
Fries	Chips
Chips	Crisps
Supper time	Tea time
Cookies	Biscuit
Underwear	Pants
Pants	Trousers
Pharmacist	Chemist
Doctor’s Office	Doctor’s Surgery
Elevator	Lift
Bathroom / Washroom	Loo
Line-up	Queue
1 Dollar / 1 Buck	1 Pound / 1 Quid
TV	Telly
The subway	The tube
“Hi, how are you doing?”	“Hi, alright?”
Zucchini	Courgette

Thanks your reading! I hope you enjoyed it.

God bless, 

Kaylee

P.S. Here are some other pictures of Paul and I having fun in England!

"I want to build you a garden..."

The Mustard Tree Trust was having their annual Garden Party at a beautiful English country side home. The annual  Garden Party is large fund-raising event that gathers together  supporters from across Northumberland for a relaxing afternoon of tea and cakes. Mike Willis, our Senior Pastor,  thought it would be a great idea for us to tag along to meet and greet some of the amazing people of Northumberland. 

 I (Paul) woke up early that morning to help set up everything for the event that afternoon. I helped to set up tables, tents, and chairs. It was a pretty routine morning of light labour. I was doing my best to be helpful. It was a day like any other; except that all around me was the vast open English country side. When I took a momentary break from routine tasks, I would stare in wonder of the land that God has called us too. It was all very beautiful; the estate, the sun piercing through the clouds, and the garden. 

It was sometime during the morning that a song began to play in my head.  It started as a whisper. The song grew louder with every passing moment. I soon found myself humming the song, singing the song, and praying the song as was doing my assigned tasks. It was a song I was very familiar with, by one of my favourite worship leaders: Jason Upton.

Here it is: The Gardener's Song

The Gardener's Song

"I wanna build you a garden
In a dry and desert land
I'm gonna find a river there
I'm gonna find a river there

I have seen a garden grow
In a land filled with injustice
I have heard a mother's cry
For her child to live again

I have seen a withered soul
Fall like petals on the water
I have watched a flower grow
Slowly rising toward the sun

No one knows what God has seen
As humankind destroyed this Garden
With bleeding hands we'll plant the seeds
And He'll make all things new again
God will make all things live again"

This song became my prayer for our ministry here in England. It is a song of faith. It is a song of believing in the power of resurrection. It is a song that declares that in Christ there is a whole new world, the restoration of Eden; a new creation. It is a song that knows the deep truth that, 'God will make all things live again'. This was my song I sang all morning to myself. This is the song, that I believe, God was singing over me, and with me. 

I might have kept this to myself; as an after thought; as something to smile about every time I listened again to this song. 

BUT.

The LORD works in mysterious ways. 

A few days later....Kaylee and I were at congregational prayer (which occurs every Monday at 7:30pm). We gather each week at NLCC to be formed in the practice of prayer. Towards the end of our prayer time together the group that had gathered felt led to pray over Kaylee and I. People began to pray out-loud that God would give us direction in the days ahead, a vision for the  ministry in the church.  There was soon a quiet hush in the room. It was then that I noticed that off in the corner of the room, someone was reaching in their bag for a note. It was Emily Nicole, a wonderful lady in our church. She explained that she had been praying for Kaylee and I throughout this past week and this is what God had given her to say over the past week. She passed me this note:

It hit me like a ton of bricks. 

God couldn't have spoken more clearly to me.

"Build my garden" 

(The beauty of prophetic never ceases to amaze me.) 

Removing the rubble, weeds and rubbish. 

So I am taking this experience to pray over and ask the question: 

What are the weeds//rubbish//rubble that are blocking the 'sunshine and rain from heaven'?

A few things that came to mind:

• A distorted image of God 
• Incomplete faith (any separation of heart, soul, mind, and strength in the love of the Lord)  
• The wounds and pains of life
• Misunderstandings

(Feel free to add to this list below) 

Here is one such 'weed' (un-forgiveness) that I preached about this past Sunday. (Click here to listen) 

Thanks for reading,
Paul & Kaylee Walker

One week...

Paul and Kaylee on WestJest Flight 209

Arrival

A huge double decker A380 !

Our flight landed in Edinburgh on August 21st, 2013 at 6:45pm local time. We made our way through a long corridor  to meet face to face with a customs officer. He glanced at our visas (UK ancestry) and exclaimed, "That's the best visa you could ask for. There are no restrictions on this one." He then asked what we intended to do while we were in the country. We told him that we were coming t0 work in a church. To which the immigration officer exclaimed, "I have theology training as well!" The officer then smiled, stamped our passports and said, "God bless you and welcome to United Kingdom." 

We collected our seven pieces of luggage (which all arrived at the airport with us) and crossed the door into arrivals. There we were greeted by long time friends Steve and Heather Belleguelle, Pastor Mike Willis, and our new friend Andrew Allman. It was amazing to finally see everyone face to face! 

Drive to Morpeth

We left Edinburgh International Airport and began our drive to our new home in Morpeth, Northumberland. A short drive away from the airport we spotted a large rainbow. The rainbow's shimmer of light illuminated the Scottish Highlands and lit up the cloud swept sky. It was a fitting welcome to a land of beauty. It felt right to be reminded of God's faithfulness after a long journey to a new home. 

North Berwick

On the way home, Kaylee casually mentioned to everyone that she had never seen the sea. This shocked everyone in the vehicle and caused Mike to adjust our route to drive along the North Sea. The view on the way home was absolutely stunning! We stopped in North Berwick, Scotland for 'tea' (supper) and ate fish and chips by the sea side! It was all very breath taking! 

While we were eating our fish and chips an entire brigade of Scottish bagpipers made their way through town. What a perfect serenade from some of Scotland's best! Paul managed to catch a quick clip of them: 

The Church

Things that struck us as 'different':)  

English muffins are called..... you guessed it: Muffins!

Orange juice does not have pulp... it has 'juicy bits'. ;) 

Baked Potatoes are called "Jackets". They tend to be filled with the oddest assortments of meat. (i.e. tuna and prawn cocktail)

Encountering "Canadian-isms" is always good for a laugh:

We don't spell 'gud'. 

Hot fruit = Canadian? 

Paul preached his first sermon

You can listen to it here. 

Beautiful Scenery 

Almost Gone...

Five days.... 

Five days are remaining of our time here in Canada. One hundred and twenty hours remain before our departure. Wow! It seems very surreal that we are about to board a plane for the other side of the world in a scant few days. To be on the up and up ; I am not sure that the reality of the situation has fully registered with us. What we do know for sure is that, on the morning of August 20th, the Walker's will board West Jet Flight 209 toward our new lives in the United Kingdom. 

We have for the past few week been living out of six suitcases. It is a strange experience to reduce your essential belonging to a few suitcases.  So we thought it would fun to share with you our few 'must have' items that we are taking with us into our new lives overseas. 

100% Pure Canadian Maple Syrup 

Once you've had the real thing... you can never go back! We love real maple syrup on our homemade pancakes, waffles and bacon! mmm..... It's a piece of Canadiana that will remind us of home. 






Canada Starbucks Mug(s)

To remind us of where we came from each morning as we enjoy our coffee and tea!

BOOKS! 

We sold or gave away 95% of the books we had in our vast collection. Somehow we are still talking a suitcase full of the essentials for Paul to use in his sermon preparations... etc. Here is Paul's Top 10 List of books he 'has to' take with him:

The Top 10 Books I am taking with me:

10. The Politics of Jesus, John H. Yoder

9. The NIV Application Commentaries (New Testament)

8. The End of Religion, Bruxy Cavey

7. The Moral Vision of the New Testament, Dr.Richard Hays

6. The Jesus Legend, Dr.Gregory Boyd and Paul Eddy

5. The Myth of a Christian Nation, Greg Boyd

4. The Kingdom New Testament, N.T. Wright

3. Life in the Spirit New Testament Commentary

2. The New Testament For Everybody, N.T. Wright

1. Can you hear me?, Brad Jersak 

Guitars

As you may or may not know, Paul plays a lot of guitar! Paul also loves to lead worship as a part of what God has gifted him to do. So needless to say, this is a must have item(s) to bring with us into our new lives! We have already shipped them through Fexdex a few days ago. To have all three guitars shipped cost a lot of 'dosh'. ;) 

Rain Jackets and an Umbrella 

We get the impression that it might rain a bit when we are in the UK. We thought we should come prepared. ;) 

Kaylee doesn't own this ....YET!

A Farewell BBQ

One last thing.... If you are not doing anything on Sunday night we would love if you could meet us at Meewasin Park for a "Going Away Pot-blessing". Check out this link for more details. 

We would love to see you before we leave on a jet plane!

GOD BLESS,
Paul & Kaylee Walker 

The Journey Begins...

Dear Friends and Family,

We hope that this newsletter finds you well! We are writing to you today to let you know about some wonderful things happening in our lives.  In January 2013 we were contacted by Pastor Mike Willis at New Life Christian Centre located in Morpeth, England.  You can check them out here. (affiliated with the Assemblies of God UK) They asked us to pray about accepting a Pastoral position.  Our first reaction to this possible position was a bit of shock and astonishment.  “England?”, we pondered, “That’s really far away from all our friends and family.  Why would God want us to move overseas?” Even though we were unsure about the possibilities, we decided that we needed to seriously pray about where God was leading us.  

Some of the questions we asked

We prayed...a lot! We “skyped” the church leadership for interviews and asked an unbelievable amount of questions. We had a lot to talk and pray about! We knew that moving overseas to accept a Pastoral position was a HUGE decision that we did not want to take lightly.  The whole process of prayer and contemplation took place over four months. It was on April 2, 2013 that we felt the Lord leading us to say YES! 



The position as NLCC  Youth Pastor will be filled with amazing opportunities! We are responsible for running all aspects of church youth group, which is currently small and needing leadership and development.  A big part of our ministry will be outreach and discipleship. We have the opportunity to do outreach in the local schools, charities and community functions. There is a young adult group in the community that allows us the privilege of making friends our own age and serving them as co-leaders alongside the other churches in town. We are also looking forward to a major involvement in the main Sunday services at NLCC which will include regular opportunities for music, preaching,  teaching and prayer. We really get the impression, through the conversations we have had, that we are about to join a missional loving community of believers who are committed to seeing God’s Kingdom go forward.We are excited to serve this growing faith community! 

We are absolutely thrilled by this new and exciting opportunity that we believe God is calling us too! We have already experienced so many miracles of God’s provision. One such miracle we have experienced is the approval for a UK Ancestry Visa. This means that we are free to live and work in the UK for five years without any restrictions. It also means that, if we feel after five years we are still called to the UK, we could then be fast tracked for British citizenship.  God has prepared the way for us to head over the pond!  We believe that God is birthing in us a vision and heart to see God’s Kingdom go forward in England and beyond.  This might sound strange to some, but Europe is a huge mission field! Christianity has been declining in Europe to the extent where many statisticians and historians label Europe as decidedly post-christian.  We believe this can change. You can help us in few ways:



1. Pray for us! Pray for opportunities to share the Gospel! Pray for us on all sorts of occasions with all sorts of requests. (Eph 6:18)

2. Consider helping us through financial support. The position we have accepted at New Life Christian Centre hopes that one day soon they will be able to offer us a full salary position but until that time we are both stepping out in faith and trusting God to meet our needs. They have encouraged us to reach out for support for the first year of our ministry at NLCC. If this sounds like something that might interest you, please contact us at this email and we can explain how you can support us in this endeavour. We thank you in advance for anything you are able to contribute.

 

3. Think about bringing a short-term mission team to England.  You could help us share Jesus throughout the United Kingdom and Europe. If you are interested you can always contact @ info@newlife-morpeth.org.uk or call us in the UK +44 01670 511778.



4. Come to this Garage Sale event! Click here.

Thank you,





Paul & Kaylee Walker