A Week in Uganda

Hi Readers,

We've been still for a few months now but two weeks ago we got on a plane with a group from our bible college and flew to Uganda.

Oak Hill Bible College have been partnered with Uganda Martyrs Seminary in Namugongo for about thirty years. Twice a year we get a group of students together to go out to UMS and run a bible conference for all of the students. Their timetables are cleared for the week so they can all attend and we have a little graduation at the end. This whole partnership is made immensely easier for us by the hard work our onsite missionaries put in.

About four years ago a couple from Oak Hill moved out to UMS and now live and work there. While raising their three children, they teach and mentor students and play a huge role in how the college is run and is developing. They are an amazing family who work tirelessly for the sake of furthering the gospel.

But the story of how we came to be at UMS goes back much further than them. So the story goes...

The Past

Around 1886 Kabaka (King) Mwanga of South Uganda reigned and was a corrupt and vicious ruler. One day as he was hunting a hippo attacked him, causing him to drop his favourite gun into the river. He survived the attack but came home seething. Upon his return he found his household quiet and most of his servants at prayer. Many of them had come to faith through missionaries and, not expecting their Kabaka home for hours, were not there to greet him. This angered him and he demanded boys be brought to his bedchamber. This was refused. He then ordered all of his servants be rounded up and put to death if they did not renounce their faith. As they were wrapped and stacked together on the kindling they were offered one last chance to renounce their faith but they would not, instead they sang of God's great love for them as they we're burned alive. This and other such incidents around the time is the reason thousands of Christians walk hundreds of miles each year to commemorate the Martyrs deaths at the Uganda Martyrs Shine and at the College.

The site of the burning is on the college premises but today, instead of facing persecution, Christians gather there to train and advance the gospel of Christ.

The Present 

We set out from Oak Hill on Friday 25th June and arrived very tired, late Saturday afternoon. It was blissful to step out of the airport into warm fresh air, so much so we didn't mind waiting for our ride at all! In true Ugandan fashion, what should have been an hour and half journey took Chris and Wilson four with traffic. Fortunately for us the ride back didn't take nearly as long.

Having never been to Africa before, I really wasn't sure to expect. And the uncertainty of that prospect the day before had tempted me to stay firmly on English soil, but then what kind of traveller would I be? All I knew of Africa was from nature documentaries and BandAid songs, so basically nothing of use. As it turned out, I was caught in rapt curiosity from the moment we left the airport. So much to see and hear and smell that was different to life as we know it. The earth is so red and the roads so busy and people are just everywhere. Nothing separates the road from the ramshackle shops and the boda boda drivers fly past without helmets, weaving in and out of traffic to get their customer to their destination and fast as possible. Colourful fruits spill out of shops and hang off the back of trucks to be sold while children laugh and play in the dirt with treasures they've found, avoiding the welders sending sparks reigning down as they work.

As we beeped our way through Kampala I lost the battle with my eyelids and had to rest a while hoping Jimmy would stay conscious and be my seatbelt.

I woke to see the Shrine pass by our window and then a little way on we turned into UMS and pulled up outside of the family home. Here we were reunited as a full team with those who had travelled out early.

Our guest accommodation was on the beautiful site of the College too and, although basic, was all we needed. Outside (and sometimes inside!) we saw plenty of wildlife roaming free; chickens, goats, cows, dogs, geckos, crickets, giant snails, birds and an array of stunning butterflies. The grounds were lush and green thanks to the rainy season.

Each night we were kindly hosted for dinner and our first was at Principle Canon Henry's. His family were kind enough to make us chicken and chips to ease us into Uganda! We were all grateful not to have to face something else brand new that day. Canon Henry is a wise and friendly man who is used to us as visitors and has been to visit Oak Hill with his wife a few times.

Bed was calling us all from the moment we arrived and that night was the best I slept all week. Waking up to a stone cold shower at 4.45am, however, was not so welcoming. Jimmy, Ben and I

were the first out to attend a church service at one of the students churches which started at 7am. We didn't know until we arrived that we would be staying for three services, each getting longer and being spoken in Ugandan. At random intervals we would each get called (or at least "Joyce" got called and I went along) to read a prayer or a passage so there was no drifting through the service, we we're honoured guests, and at one point sat on the stage. I was able to visit the Sunday school children who sang me a song and Jimmy blessed a wedding for a couple who had just returned from honeymoon. And later in the service Ben even read a funeral prayer - so we had all bases covered in one day. Although it gained us the 'longest Oak Hillian church visit while visiting UMS' accolade it was a pretty amazing experience and one we'll never forget in a hurry! (oh and we finally got back to UMS at 4pm...)

That evening was planning for the start of the conference the next day, more food at Canon Henry's and sleep, sleep, sleep!

The Conference

For the rest of the week each day played out in a similar format with a big teaching session in the morning with some individual study time, followed by two sets of example sermons on the topic and group times to come together and discuss what we were learning. Each Oak Hill student was given a group of UMS students to go through the conference booklet with in our group times, I went with Jimmy in the hope of being a support to the women placed in our group. We were also encouraged to meet with individual students after we'd finished at 3.45pm to talk through sermons they were writing or questions they had.

All of the Oak Hill guys did a great job of clearly taking us on a Bible Overview through the week using different tools to teach us how to use the bible to the full when showing people Jesus. For example the Promise Progress Tool, seeing where we are in the OT along the line of the promise God made to Abraham and how it leads right up to Jesus.

Everyone listened well, volunteered for crazy illustrations and began to share openly in group times. We encountered some wonderful conversations that were able to cross cultural bourndries and aid the students in furthering the gospel. I know Jimmy and I personally felt encouraged by members of our group that we met with. Their openness to ask questions, enthusiasm to know more and exceptional insight and intelligence even though they are working with limited resources compared to the wealth we take for granted in the UK.

Along with hours of study there was time put aside for the traditional Oak Hill Vs UMS sports. It happened to be fairly competitive but all ended in love! UMS won the Volleyball (we conveniently can't remember the score...) and Oak Hill won the football 3-1. Us Mzungu have still got it apparently!

On evenings there wasn't sporting events we had no shortage of things to do. We were grateful to accept an invitation to visit a private school in the area followed by dinner at the lecturer's home, which gave us a small insight to education in the area. We also had a missionary prayer evening on Tanzania where we learnt a little Kiswahili, EG: How did you sleep? - Lala fofofo! (Like a log!) And on our last night with the students we had a cultural evening where we all ate outside together and then shared some songs and sketches from our respective cultures. I'll let the photos speak for themselves on that front...

Final musings...

Now I really have rattled on a while but please indulge me a little longer. Believe it or not there is a lot I've missed out! There was torrential rain and boiling nights, banana everything and poorly tummies, gecko hunts and terrifying wild dogs! And also endless banter and laughter within our group as we got to know each other and journeyed through the week together. For many of us it was our first ever trip to Africa, let alone the first time we'd run a conference there.

I also can't go without mentioning how incredibly grateful we all are to the staff, students and Howles family at UMS. They welcomed us instantly and were so generous and patient when we didn't understand or weren't feeling well or even when we failed to turn up on our Mzungu time and were beaten by all the punctual Ugandan students!

The Howles house became our sanctuary for the week and the kids were the cure for any homesickness or uncertainty in such a different place. We know it's painful for them when the groups leave and feel immensely blessed that they sacrifice their emotions and welcome us anyway.

Jimmy and I have learnt so much during this trip to UMS, especially of sacrifice of all kinds. We have felt challenged to ask ourselves, as we should again and again in life, how much would we give up for Christ?

Always, everything.

So closes another chapter as we put our backpacks away but our link with the work of UMS is far from over. We will pray for them as they pray for us and hope we can visit again soon.

In Him,

           J & J x

"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or death. For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain"

Philippians 1:20-21

Wedding Bells & Luggage Carousels

Song of the Day: Vocal Few - One Day Soon A time for family, reunions and lots of love!

Hey Folks,

Sorry for the delay with the finale of our American Adventures but as expected - life got busy, VERY busy.

We left you in Seattle when we still had a week or so of travel left. After a lovely treat stay in the

Hotelhotel Hostel & cheeky seagulls

Redmond Inn we ventured out to the Fremont area to stay in Hotehotel Hostel. This place has had some great reviews online. It's quite modern and in a great area, just down the road from the Fremont Troll. There was a quaint little second hand book shop just across the road and a tasty ice cream shop right below our room!

Another trip into Seattle central was also necessary for a bit more sightseeing. The Colombia Tower is a great way to get a view of the city as there is a Starbucks on the 40th Floor, if you want the full view from the top it will set you back about $12 each. Another essential experience is salmon and chips down on the pier surrounded by hundreds of seagulls! It's actually encouraged to feed them and they get pretty confident.

At our second week at Mars Hill, after much talk and media attention, Mark Driscoll came back from his holiday (which can't have been any fun for him and his family) and opened a new series for the Church in 1st John, named Love One Another. It was an excellent sermon and introduction to the series that really challenged me on how I perceive and treat my friendships. After this he paused for a moment and withdrew a statement he had written in response to recent events in the church regarding himself and his sins which have been widely speculated over in recent weeks. The announcement you see on-line is from the second service, which we also stayed for (yes we heard the apology twice). The second time time he was able to be much more composed and clearer in his delivery. People will draw their own conclusions about the situation at Mars Hill but Jimmy and I believe that we are to love him, pray for him and learn what God has to teach us through him.

So, next up we managed to fulfil a pipe dream of seeing Kings Kaleidoscope play live in Seattle! The likelihood of this was slim to none as they don't gig very often because there are so many of them and the live all over the place. They used to be a Mars Hill band a few years ago and have moved on now. But when a small lounge gig was advertised on their facebook page for a Bad Christian pod cast they were appearing on, we grabbed the opportunity with both hands and booked tickets. They only had a chance to play three songs but with eight members in quite a small room it was some of the most

Kings Kaleidoscope and free stuff!

beautiful music we've ever heard, honest and worshipful in all they do. As people, they are also really friendly and appreciate any fan support. Please give them a listen, it will be worth your time!
And just as an extra, extra treat there were another band we'd never heard of called Vocal Few, a married Christian couple who sound beautiful together. Listen listen! They even made song of the day.

Back to the outskirts of Seattle, we camped for most of our last week State-side. Lots of relaxing, writing, reading and laughing happened in the unusually hot weather. Then it was time to pack. For the last two nights we were in a Stay America hotel so were able to leave a ton of camping gear at the camp ground for people to pick up for free. Basically we dropped it and ran! But did leave a little sign to explain why it was there "We can't carry all of these goodies back to the UK so please give them a new home - FREE!!"
Two cheeky trips to the cinema may have also occurred in our last few days. We recommend The Giver and The Hundred Foot Journey.

Packing up everything we'd carried or picked up for two months was a long process and we had to

Mt Rainer & Baggage claim at Heathrow

buy a new bag to put in a few things we'd bought that would be cheaper than paying to import it later. At least fourteen books spread their weight across our three bags as well... But come the morning of September 1st we zipped up our backpacks for the last time, drove to the airport, dropped off our lovely car and prayed the volcano in Iceland wouldn't erupt while we were in the air! The view taking off from Seattle was spectacular with rolling clouds and a snow capped Mt Rainer piercing the horizon in the distance. God provided us a smooth (if tiring) journey and change over at Keflavik

Moving house - the new flat

airport and we successfully collected all three bags at Heathrow Airport on the morning of the 2nd. the last part of our journey on UK soil finally sent me off to sleep for an hour on the coach home and then it was time to find our car and head to the parents for just two nights. We devoured a roast dinner and headed to bed!

The very next day was moving day! Jimmy had the challenge of switching from two months driving a smooth automatic on the left side of the car and right side of the road to a huge manual moving van, with right hand drive up the motorway to London on the left side of the road - scary! But as usual, he did it no problem and I followed up behind in our car.

Big sisters wedding!!

We dropped everything and came home again, only to head up to Derby on Thursday for my sisters wedding. It was great to see everyone although a little rushed and the wedding day itself went really well. Everyone looked beautiful, especially the bride of course, and there was plenty of food, laughter and dancing!! And if you have never seen a Star Wars themed Minion wedding cake - you would have done there! Hehe...

By Monday 8th September we were back in London after our first night in our new flat of chaos and found ourselves walking in to Jimmy's enrolment at Theological College. For those of you following our move here closely we've sent out our first prayer letter to update you which hopefully you've received. If not, drop me and e-mail and I'll add you to our mailing list: josiehill12@hotmail.co.uk
It was an amazingly scary, overwhelming and blessed first week with lots of new people and a whole new way of life -

topped off with another quick trip home for a friends wedding

Bournemouth Wedding

and a final few goodbyes until Christmas!
That's all I can squeeze in for now. Thank you so much for reading and joining us in our travelling adventures. Not sure when or what we'll write about next so you'll just have to wait and see!

All our love,
J&J x

Books Books Books

Hi Readers,

As some of you might know, our trip to the states was planned for adventure and learning but also for a holiday, some time to relax. In these times we have found books to be a perfect way to fill the hours. Many of my books were picked up along the way in campsites where you leave a book on the shelf to take a new one – so sometimes it was slim pickings! Most of Jimmy’s books were bought or listened to online so they are much more selective around specific topics.

But enough chit chat – here are our holiday book reviews.

Josie:

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

A man after God’s own heart, Michael Hosea is farming through the Gold Rush in the California in the 1850s when he meets prostitute Angel. He falls in love with her instantly and is instructed by the Lord to marry her and save her from her life. He loves her sacrificially and unswerving through all she throws at him as her life is slowly but surely redeemed by Christ.

This book was a gift from my sister-in-law last Christmas that I had been meaning to read. Not only is it the most beautiful portrayal of how Christ died for us as sinners, once for all, it was immensely helpful to me as I attempt to write a piece of fiction myself based around the book of Ruth. Redeeming Love is inspired by the book of Hosea and is handled with great care and respect by Rivers in her writing. It’s a re-read!

The Choice by Nicholas Sparkes

Travis Parker is faced with the most difficult decision of his life regarding his wife, unfortunately I can’t tell you what that is – spoilers! The book tells of their love story from start to, well, almost finish. It’s a typical heart-wrenching Sparkes novel with a bit of cheese thrown in for good measure. I love his books, easy reads often with a serious streak.

Faithful by Kim Cash Tate

Three friends all in different places with their love lives and all wrestling with God about how to live with them. Even though it’s a typical chicklit I liked this books essence of reality and honest portrayal of how Christians still suffer the same struggles as everyone else, they just have a different go-to when things are easy or hard – God. The book is filled with high and lows and beautiful endings.

For the Brand by Ralph Compton

This old school cowboy book is an unexpected story of loyalty, love and acceptance. It’s written in quite a masculine way but is quite funny and gave me an insight to running a ranch in Wyoming that I wouldn’t have ever known about unless I’d worked there myself. A couple of gory scenes and more than one character gets bumped off without any warning so watch out for that! Just the way things were in the wild west I suppose.

Fireside by Susan Wiggs

Cheesy, cheesy chicklit with a side order of the seriousness of deportation. Old baseball player gets landed with a son he’s never met and at the same time meets a beautiful sports PR women who’s life has fallen apart and she’s had to move home from LA. Family, love story and some sports thrown in for good measure.

Four Letters of Love by Niall Williams

Two young lives, both tainted by tragedy and miracles live side by side but don’t meet until fate unites them – not even at the right time. This book has a much more sombre tone and wasn’t that easy to read. If you’re expecting a love story, you don’t get the one you’re waiting for until the last chapter, so don’t get too excited.

Confessions of an Ugly Step-Sister by Gregory Maguire

A retelling of the classic Cinderella through her step-sisters eyes. Written by the author of Wicked, it’s nothing short of brilliant, although not the easiest book I’ve ever gotten into. It’s funny, creative and original. Worth a read!

Pub across the Pond by Mary Carter

Carline Rivers’ luck finally changes in life and she wins an Irish pub in a raffle. But it isn’t quite the dream she imagined as she walks into an old local pub in the middle of nowhere with very faithful locals. It’s a fun easy read with a cheesy but fairly inconsistent love story and helped me with some Irish references for my own book.

Jimmy:

Hello, it's Jimmy. I'm not (quite) self absorbed enough to think that people care what I've been reading this summer. However, reviewing these books has been a helpful way for me to gather my own thoughts about what I've been reading. 

A Little Exercise for Young Theologians by Helmut Thielicke

A fitting subtitle for this little book might be: "how to study theology without turning into an idiot." Helmet outlines some of the perils and pitfalls for a new student of theology. Some helpful ideas that he develops include: not looking down on a younger Christian's faith because they can't frame their convictions as soundly as you and not to allow theological concepts to make your preaching so lofty and aloof that listeners struggle to grasp hold of it. This was required reading from Oak Hill and was a wonderfully helpful starting point for my studies in a few weeks. 

Screwtape Letters by C.S Lewis

I'm sure that I'm the last Christian on earth to have read this, but it really was brilliant. In the screwtape letters, we read a flurry of fictional letters from a senior tempter (Screwtape) to his junior tempter nephew whose name is Wormwood. Wormwood's job is to keep his 'patient' from becoming a Christian and, failing that, to cause him to be a weak and ineffectual follower of Christ. It's a beautiful exploration of human nature and spiritual warfare.

Erasing Hell by Francis Chan

Francis Chan is a pastor that I have admired for a long time. He comes across as remarkably humble but teaches with real authority. When Rob Bell released his book love wins a few years ago and started what some have called 'a theological firestorm', Francis Chan sent out a video that was the very best response I'd seen before or since to the Hell debate. The book was balanced and well thought through, but I do think Chan communicates much better in person than in print. The book is full of detailed exposition of the original Greek scriptures and he creates a sound case for the historic orthodox understanding of heaven and hell. However, it's worth saying that most people that were swept along with Rob Bell's train of thought didn't follow him because of his sound handling of scripture and honest exposition, they did so because of Bell's appeal to human logic and emotions and in some senses this book felt like it was fighting the war on a different battlefield. 

Love Wins by Rob Bell

Francis Chan's book was so deeply concerned with responding to Rob Bell's arguments and quoting from specific pages that I felt I really ought to hear what Bell has to say for himself. Rob Bell is incredibly influential, his preaching is like performance art and he has a huge following among young people. He is a wonderful communicator and knows exactly what he's doing on a stage. He's thought through every movement, every pause and every crescendo of energy. His writing was as readable as his sermons are listenable which makes this book all the more dangerous. His argument is based on nonsense theology and is painfully repetitive. He deliberately misses the point of entire passages and ignores all scriptures that would conflict with his liberal point of view. His consistent desire to pluck a verse out of all context and slap it down on his side of the argument is tiring and, to be frank, sinful. For Rob Bell, the highest form of truth is his own logic.

The Great Divorce by C.S Lewis

This book is life changing. I read it twice in a week and am sorely tempted to read it again. I'm not sure where people get the idea that Lewis was a universalist (the idea that everyone will eventually end up in heaven). Seriously, I don't know where people get that from - I'm a complete newbie to his writings, maybe he says it elsewhere but he sure (as hell) doesn't say it here! In fact on several occasions he makes it clear that this book is not about his understanding of the afterlife. It's not a book that seeks to persuade people that it's possible to cross the great chasm between hell and heaven after they die. If people read this book hoping for a biblical understanding of heaven, hell, ghosts, spirits and angels they will be disappointed and concerned by Lewis' understanding of the bible. Instead, this book is an investigation into the kinds of attitudes that seem innocent enough on earth but when fully grown are repulsive and end up taking people to hell. It is incredibly enlightened, incredibly insightful and incredibly thought-provoking. 

I can't do justice to it in a paragraph. If you haven't read this book, I would strongly recommend reading it. Twice. 

Seriously here's the link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Divorce-Lewis-Signature-Classic/dp/0007461232

Off you go then. Clickety click.

Fundamentalism and the Word of God by J.I Packer

J.I. Packer is a hero and he went to Oak Hill, make of that what you will. 

This book is his attempt to refute the liberalism of his day (written in the 50s). It's fascinating how exactly his situation translates to our own day. His arguments for the authority of scripture are reassuringly watertight, but it's not the kind of book that can be powered through. Every time I pick it up it knocks me for six and I've got to spend a few days processing and recovering.

Dear Son by Dave Bruskas

Dave Bruskas is one of the senior pastors of Mars Hill Church. When we first visited the church they allowed me and Josie to each take and item for free from their gift shop (Josie picked a CD and I chose a book - who'd have thought?!)

Dave's son died when he was just a few days old. This book is full of biblical wisdom and advice that he would have given to his son at major milestones had he been alive to see them - first job, first girlfriend, graduation, leaving home, getting married etc. It's a beautiful and moving premise and I'm really enjoying going through it - haven't finished yet.

 

That's it from us nerds, hope we've motivated you enough to pick up a book and have a read. Enjoy!

J&J x

A City We Could Live In

Song for the Day: Son Lux - Lost It To Trying An almighty driving tune we know thanks to the Relevant Podcast & Magazine. Get involved! 

Morning Readers,

Forest fog descending on us

Don’t worry about the post title, we’re not moving to Seattle, still just London – but I think I could actually live in Seattle if I had to pick somewhere in the States to live.

We left you last time in Port Angeles. We had a great time there and came to love it even with the fog constantly creeping in. After a full day of chilling, writing and drinking hot chocolate we headed out on a Twilight tour through Port Angeles, Forks and La Push Beach! Understandably, I know many people don’t like and/or agree with Twilight but… We've read the books, seen the movies, laughed a lot and are not impressionable teenagers who pretend to be

Twilight mania!

vampires or werewolves. So don’t worry about us visiting the place where it was set please!

We had a great time in the visitor centre discovering that since the first books were released in 2000 the tiny little town of Forks has seen its tourism increase by 600%. The town have embraced the fame and are thankful to Stephanie Meyer for their increased revenue. For you fans out there, a few of our stops included: The Cullen House (B&B), Forks Coffee House, Forks High School, The Boundary Line, Jacob Blacks House and the beautiful La Push beach. La Push is an amazing beach covered in drift wood with glorious scenery even on a dreary day. Like little kids we scaled the huge washed up trees and climbed over rocks to sit and watch the pelicans soar across the waters out to the islands.

La Push Beach

Back at our campsite for the last night we watched the (mediocre) movie Wild Hogs in the group tent with yucky salt popcorn… Next morning we headed out to Seattle where we had booked a two night stay in the University District. It’s a really nice area and still pretty quiet because all the students have gone home for the summer. The College Inn was one of the best places we’ve stayed. It was quaint and homely and wonderful! And with its great wifi we watched the whole of Forrest Gump!

As Jimmy has talked about in a previous post we also visited Mars Hill Church last weekend and will do again for the next two. In the morning we went to Bellevue which had a varied demographic and was super busy and in the evening we took a stroll up the road to the U-District campus which was a lot quieter with all the students away but we chatted to some of the staff and learnt about how the demographics of each campus vary depending on location. I do think it’s important to have a mixed congregation for growth in your walk with the Lord but I can see how it’s better to have a thriving student campus in and ideal location for them then nothing at all.

College Inn & Seattle Waterfront

Monday we checked out and went down to explore Seattle a little. All the smells of living by the sea came rushing back as we walked down to the waterfront and then through the eclectic Pike Place Market. We also stumbled across the first ever Starbucks with a huge line coming out the door. The view out across the harbour with snow-capped mountains in the background is a sight you can easily stare at for a while.  

That evening we drove back out of the city a little to a campsite with amazing facilities! Great wifi, pancake breakfast, a nice room to hide in for campers if it rains and free movies every night! So far we’ve seen Despicable Me 2 & Diary of a Wimpy Kid – both hilarious. For the next couple of days we stayed onsite for some downtime. The weather was nice, we were able to have a great skype with Hannah & Chris one day and Mummy Hill another, and I was able to write a whole new chapter for my book and Jimmy wrote a great post about Mars Hill! Yay!

And all of that really brings us up to date to us having a serious treat day by staying at a much fancier hotel for the night and not a tent or grubby hostel. We’ll be back at the campsite for most of next week.

La Push - Skyfall style 

A shorter post this time but I suppose we are winding down now. And if you’re interested, I hope to get a book review post up soon of all the books I’ve been swapping in and out of campsites to read on the road.

Much love to you all, see you in 10 days!

J&J x

Visiting Mars Hill Church

Song of the day: Dustin Kensrue - O God (We sang this on Sunday)

Hello, it's Jimmy. I've been drafted in to write this blog as Josie is otherwise engaged in writing some book reviews for the 8 books she's read this summer.

This last Sunday we visited Mars Hill church in Seattle.

Their pastor Mark Driscoll has recently (and almost always since the church's inception) been embroiled in some controversy.

A little background...

Seattle is regularly at or near the top of lists like "the most influential" or "coolest cities" in the USA and, until recently, was also the "least churched city in America."

Mars Hill Church began in 1996 meeting in the Driscolls' living room. God has blessed them and they have grown to a church of around 15,000 meeting in 15 locations in 5 states with about 60 weekend services. Mark also co-founded a church planting network (called Acts 29) which has now planted almost 500(!) churches, and a training/ resourcing website called the resurgence with millions of users every year. He also helped found the gospel coalition and churches helping churches - a disaster relief organisation.

Mars Hill designed a church based social network called 'the city' which was bought by Zondervan and is widely used by the churches we've visited all over the states. He's written or contributed to 19 books, his sermon audio is regularly at the top of the iTunes charts for religion and is downloaded by over a million listeners a month. More recently his church began a record label called Mars Hill Music which has been responsible for some of the most God honouring and sonically appealing music that I've ever heard.

Whatever you think of Mark Driscoll, he has undeniably been prolifically used by God.

I've been listening to his sermons for years and have always found him to be a world class and exemplary communicator whose preaching has been (for the most part) biblical, relevant, engaging and challenging. He and a handful of other preachers, some of whom I know personally and some of whom I listen to every week online, have been a great inspiration to me and have made me actually want to do what I believe God has called me to; pastor a church.

However, something happened recently that changes things. Or rather, something came to light recently that changes things.

The catalyst was a video that Mark Driscoll posted talking about the current season of trial and opposition that his church is going through. He lamented that he has treated some people (particularly men) harshly in the past and that he and the church has started a reconciliation process through an independent Christian organisation (Crossway resolution group) with some past members of the church. He offered anyone who has a grievance against the church or Mark himself to come forward and work towards mutual healing and forgiveness.

By the way, if you bristle and harden your heart when a church leader admits fault and says they want to genuinely pursue the healing of broken relationships and find forgiveness from people they've wronged, you need to give yourself a good talking to (if you're a Christian). 

Ephesians 4:32 - Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Mark 11:25 - And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

Matthew 6:15 - But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Matthew 18:21-22 - Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven."

James 5:16 - Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.

In a throwaway comment, he said that part of the problem is that while many people who are upset by the church are known to them, there are also many who are anonymous (criticising from behind pseudonyms and screen names) and they have no way of reconciling with them.

In response several hundred people formed a Facebook group to declare that they are not (or at least are no longer) anonymous, and started posting stories of complaint and poor treatment at the hands of Driscoll.

In a church with 15,000 current attendees and several thousand who have passed through, it's not surprising that some people will have bad experiences and complaints that they'd like to share. The alarming thing is the sheer volume of ex-elders from the church who have banded together to share their stories and publicly state that Driscoll is at present unfit to be a pastor and is largely unchecked in terms of accountability. Despite Driscoll's considerable gifting, complaints about his behind the scenes character from other elders shouldn't (and can't) be ignored.

The result of these elders' testimony has been monumental, with each devastating consequence coming hot on the heals of the last. Almost every sin from Driscoll's 20 years in ministry has been aired publicly by local and national media outlets, raising quite a stink. Current (widely known and respected) members of the church's board of advisors and accountability have resigned. There have been protests outside the church from ex-members. The current leaders of Acts 29 have removed Driscoll and Mars Hill from their membership - as founder, his reputation has been intrinsically linked with the credibility of A29. Lifeway have removed his books from their 180 stores while they assess how the saga develops. Driscoll has been removed as the keynote speaker at several upcoming events and the church has had to cancel their annual resurgence conference due to some of the billed speakers pulling out.

What a mess.

As a side note: Josie and I have been greatly encouraged to have received a couple of emails and had a few conversations with people who have heard about some of these events and have urged us caution while visiting Mars Hill. We're really grateful to have friends who will humbly raise concerns with us and look out for us spiritually - thanks guys!

An essential part of this trip for us has been to learn from the positive examples set by a range of churches across the states. We've filled 10 hour drives and notepads with ideas and inspiration from great ministries led by Godly people. It has been 100 times more helpful to see first hand how these churches operate than it would have been to read their blogs posts on how churches ought to operate. I'm brimming with enthusiasm and love for the church and we're bursting with really practical methods, structures and ideas that will (God willing) help us in our ministry for years to come.

The other, and less emphasised, side of the coin is that we also want to learn from from the pitfalls and shortcomings of the churches we have visited. In some instances we have visited a church, worshipped Jesus, chatted with some members and left saying "Let's never do church like that!" In some ways those churches have taught us almost as much in terms of practical ministry pitfalls to avoid.

Mars Hill seems to be a mix of both. There are aspects of their ministry that every pastor should want to emulate (re-read those first couple of paragraphs! God has done tremendous good through this church in a remarkably hostile part of the country. It really is hard to overstate that). However the big take home for me is that character really is more important than reputation. Who you are is more important than who people think you are and, in the end, one of those two things will catch up to the other. If your character behind the scenes is controlling, power hungry, self-seeking or immature, it largely discredits all the good you have been working towards when it comes to light.

This whole year has been a mess for Driscoll with several bad (sinful) decisions that betray some pretty deep character flaws.

I am hugely grateful for Mark's preaching over the years but, for what it's worth, I do think that he ought to step down, at least for a year. It would give him time to feel the gravity of his responsibility and the hurt he has caused by being harsh in leadership. It would give him time to be with and focus on his family. It would be a time for the other church pastors of Mars Hill to grow and step up in leading and preaching. It would cause those who attend Mars Hill because he is a 'celebrity pastor' to leave and find other churches. It would cause those who attend Mars Hill because they believe God has called them to that place, for that mission and knit them into a family to rely more on God and to lean more on each other.

If you care about these things, or you've got a lot of time on your hands here are a couple of insightful blog posts on the issue that are reasonably well balanced.

Adrian Warnock - Thoughts on the Mark Driscoll and A29 controversy (This is a long one!)
Barnabas Piper - A Fall From Grace And A Need For Grace

To close, 3 thoughts:

1. All of this came about because he tried to publicly repent and reconcile. Interesting.
2. Mark is a Christian, Jesus has forgiven his sins. We shouldn't hold sins against someone if God himself doesn't.
3. No matter how gifted and successful you are publicly, who you really are privately matters a great deal.

All of that was a roundabout way of saying: We went to Mars Hill this Sunday and we learned loads from it. The welcome was genuine, the music was incredible, the message was encouraging and we were even invited to hang out with the students on Thursday at the park - should be fun.

93 Million Miles

Song for the day: Jason Mraz – 93 Million Miles. An old favourite of ours and very appropriate!

Hi Readers,

Nice to see you again! We’ve certainly had a few more adventures since our last entry and lost count of how many miles we’ve driven and hours sat singing in the car. All of our journeys over two hours are now complete for this trip.

Our stay at Yosemite was pretty amazing as expected except for a fairly wasted first day where I felt quite ill and we couldn’t do very much. We drove in and had a look around the visitor centre, watched ‘The Spirit of Yosemite’ film and planned a few other things we wanted to see, then just went back to camp to relax and get a good night sleep. Our camp site was heaving with different treks and groups passing through so it was always very busy but apart from the occasional outburst of the Spice Girls or a Cub Scout camp fire medley they were fine.   

The morning of 7^th August dawned bright and shiny just like me after a good sleep. We dressed

Beginning, Vernal, Nevada, Oasis!

and left with our pre-packed bags full of cold water, chocolates, pop tarts, bagels and salt & vinegar Pringles - the perfect hiking picnic! The trail ahead of us was familiar to me but no less daunting, it completely wiped me out three years ago to the point that I was too tired to eat for a day and had to be marched to the shower covered in dust and old sweat. We planned to head up to Vernal and then Nevada Falls via the Mist Trail and once at the summit we were to come back via the John Muir Trail to see everything from the opposite side. John Muir was one of the first supporters to protect Yosemite and fought for its status as a National Park.

We hit the Mist Trail at 8.30am and the path gets steep nice and early so I quickly shut up and focussed on my breathing. Lots of stops, snacks and water sips along the way and six hours, seven steep miles later we were done. It’s hard to decide which parts to describe to share this snippet of the journey with you. Yosemite is beautiful everywhere. It is creation under the microscope; huge boulders that dwarf you that would be mere grains of sand to God, waterfalls so majestic but powerful you’re full of a reverent fear before them, chirps and squawks all around from cheeky creatures of the forest.

The sun beat down on us as the day wore on and we sought out shelters of shade to pause in and catch our breath while admiring our surroundings. We munched on lunch at the top of Vernal Falls after seeing the rainbows created from its spray, Jimmy had a battle with about eight squirrels who were determined to get into his bag while he sat and ate. We pressed on to Nevada Falls where an oasis is hidden just back from the falls which we took full advantage of by taking off our sweaty shoes and wading into the freezing cold fresh water. It was glorious!

There aren’t enough words to describe the joy of reaching the top and the camera just won’t capture what your eyes see so I’ll stop trying. But if you’re ever there – do the hike! It’s worth it.

Needless to say, the rest of the day consisted of food, hot tub, reading and sleeeeeeep.

Before we set out for San Francisco the following morning we drove down to the Mariposa Grove to see the Giant Sequoia trees. A two mile walk to see some trees sounds like a pointless exercise but these trees are unreal. Most of these bad boys took root around the time Jesus walked

big fat tree!!! 

the earth, that’s how old they are. It’s as though you’ve stumbled into a movie set or been caught in a shrink ray. Again, the camera doesn’t quite do them justice but we tried. They remind me of hometree in Avatar, you could literally hollow one out and comfortably live inside it. Add this place to your bucket list.

Friday evening we arrived in San Francisco and crashed out in our hostel near Union Square, connecting to civilisation again with reliable wifi. After a good sleep a dozen or so French travellers woke us up by stomping up and down the hallway at 7am, but it turned out to be a blessing because I opened up my laptop and received a call from some super special friends on Skype and got to see their little bundle of joy who is growing way to fast while we’re away. It was great to catch up. Just a few more weeks until we see you again and I get a cuddle with that cute little munchkin!

Determined to have a lie in we stayed put in the hostel until everyone had gone out and the showers were free. Our first stop for the day was at the public library to get some more forms printed that we needed to send back for Uni in September. We tried to do this as quickly as possible because

Pier 39 fun and sea lions

we had to use the fifteen minute computers with people who can’t get library cards because they don’t have addresses - and San Fran has some fairly crazy homeless people. Not the safest I’ve ever felt in my life…
Next we caught the historic F trolley up to Fisherman’s Wharf for an afternoon at Pier 39. Buskers, magicians, crazy shops and dozens of sea lions! There’s nowhere quite like Pier 39. Just a sample of the shopping opportunities on offer: Alcatraz bookstore & gift shop, Candy Baron, Chocolate Heaven, Houdinis Magic Store, Leftys and We Be Knives. Plus a piano staircase! And a Christmas store!

To finish an epic afternoon we waited a very worthwhile hour to get a sea view booth at Bubba Gump Shrimp co. While eating tasty coconut shrimp and being quizzed on Forrest Gump trivia (all answered correctly) we gazed out at Alcatraz and watched pelicans soar on the breeze – oddly looking a lot like the opening credits to Jurassic park with the ! It was a great atmosphere and the food was delicious, as was my pomegranate cocktail – Dear England, please learn how to make these.

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

To save $4 and waiting an hour in the cold for a trolley we walked off our dinner with a 22 block stroll back to the hostel and saw some real city life.

Sunday was exciting in a different way as we visited a small church plant called Redemption. They are only about a year old but well on their way. It was a simple building shared with another church with a great worship team and relevant visiting preacher. The played a couple of The SingTeams songs which we could join in with! Afterwards we caught up with a lady who we’d been put in touch with by someone at LifeWay in Nashville. Linda has been in church planting for 34 years so having lunch with her and 

Street art work

her husband (at a very tasty Indian restaurant) we had lots to talk about and advice to gain. Afterwards they gave us a little driving tour of the city and then a stroll down an amazing graffiti ally. Although it’s not exactly graffiti, its art work with a lot of meaning, usually political. We had so much to think about for the rest of the day – as well as having sweet skype catch ups with both of our lovely mummies! They miss us and we miss them J

The next morning we set out to do a big old driving tour of Jimmy’s choice to lots of inspiring stops before we headed further on up the coast. 

We visited Pixar, the garage that Steve Jobs started Apple in, Infinite Loop 1 where the Apple Offices are today, the Facebook house the Mark Zukerberg and his team first lived in as well as Facebook itself and Google HQ as seen in The Internship. Twitter, Evernote, YouTube and many more are all in this area too, it’s tech central and totally fascinating to realise how much of our generations development is created and generated here.

The afternoon/evening was a long and very foggy drive up to Eureka for the night.

The morning of Tuesday 12^th dawned with more fog and a wet tent. It was all a little gloomy and our food supply was low after being in the hostel so we went to Denny’s for a sturdy breakfast. Note to self: Minute Maid Mango Smoothies are the best you have ever experienced!

We wove along the coast for another six hours in passing fog up to Lincoln City. It was a pretty drive but quite tiresome. We were so grateful for a night in a KOA Cabin where we had enough room to empty everything out and reorganise the car and bags and do some much needed laundry – double day socks and t-shirts had begun… The kids in the next cabin screamed the house down when they went to bed and our neighbours on the other side almost set fire to their eyebrows when they put some petrol on their campfire to get it started – all highly entertaining while we cooked dinner in the dark.

Powell's City Bookstore

Our last long journey of the trip took place yesterday from Lincoln City up to Port Angeles. We broke up the journey in Portland where, on Jimmy’s sister’s recommendation, we visited Powell’s City of Books – the biggest new and used book store in the world. Amazing! I skipped all over the place and sat down in aisles to browse and smiled at all the fellow book lovers I saw. We discovered some great buys and hit the road into Washington four books better off. I’ve started reading the Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis aloud so we can read it together and discuss. It’s a must read for any Christian, baby or adult, relevant and relatable for all time.

We arrived from the remote roads of the 101 to a lively KOA that we popped up our tent in and made some tasty dinner. The wifi there is also pretty good so we watched Bear Grylls, ‘Running Wild with…’ the Channing Tatum episode from the comfort of our tent with some homemade hot water bottles – literally water bottles with boiled water in.

                        

Today we had the most almighty lie in because the phone we use to check the time and set alarms died in the night. But we must have needed it so that’s okay, we’re on holiday.

This afternoon we have found a great little café with big sinky sofas called the Bella Rosa. It has delicious hot chocolates and lush brownies (So good I assured Jimmy it was awful and I would eat his half for him.) Jimmy has been catching up on e-mails, working hard on a new project and reading another of our books from Powell’s. Tomorrow we might hit up a cheeky Twilight tour as Forks and La Push aren’t that faraway. It’s easy to see why the books were set here, the fog hovers so low over the trees that it’s always a little creepy until the sun shines through for a few minutes and reminds you the rest of the world is out there!

For now, I guess that’s all followers. Speak to you soon!

Love J&J x

P.S Thank you again to my mummy for reading my other writing work and leaving such lovely comments. If you’d like to join her, here’s the link!

“Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy’s [God’s] will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.”

C.S Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

Smell bound Josie at Powell's

Swimming with Sea Lions

Song for the day: Sleeping at Last - Sun 

Hey everyone!

A band we love and are totally unique.

Hey Blog Followers,

The last few days we’ve been covering a lot of miles and have passed through six states.

I started writing this blog on 4^th August but I'm not sure when I’ll get to post it – hopefully it’s not too out of date when it gets to you!

Last Monday we set out from Dallas for a long journey across Texas and into New Mexico. Rain clouds loomed above for much of the journey but we persevered and picked up a Christmas Tree souvenir at Pecan House rest stop, really unique but not very interesting if you don’t like pecans…

Blue Hole & NM rain clouds looming

Some of our journey was also spent on Historic Route 66, bucket list check!
Before we reached Albuquerque we stopped at the Blue Hole like my trek did last time I was in the states. It’s a natural spring about 80 feet deep that never warms up because there is always fresh water coming in from the bottom. I didn’t fancy the cold but Jimmy went in for a dip and a few jumps from the rocks.

As we neared the end of our journey for the day the heavens opened and it was a total wash out. The road looked like a river and had it not been for the barriers we wouldn’t have known where the edge was, the lanes didn’t exist anymore. Fortunately there weren’t many cars on the road and we took it slow, Mr Cautious in the drivers’ seat. Arriving safely we popped up our tent under a big tree as the rain stopped, had a quick 20p pasta then bed!

From Albuquerque we sent out North and visited the Four Corners Monument where New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona meet. Standing on four states at once doesn’t look very impressive but it’s a cool little stop and I left Jimmy in New Mexico while I went to search for a post card in Arizona and Utah. Back

Route 66 and The Four Corners Monument

in the car we drove North through Colorado then West into Utah for the most scenic route into Monument Valley. Most of you know I’m not a city girl (only the Lord’s will could have persuaded me to agree to move to London!) so being back out in the wilderness was a welcome change, but there’s something extra special about Monument Valley. We don’t believe in all the spirits and legends of the Navajo people but it’s easy to see why they think those rich red rocks are special and tell a story. It’s such a quiet and beautiful place, perfect for sunsets and sunrises - which believe it or not we did get up for at 5.30am and it was worth every second of sleep we sacrificed. We stayed in the same campsite as my trek did last time and three other trek groups were there this time. It’s such a blessing to share all of this together this time round although I do look back at Trek America with fond memories.

Monument Valley Sunrise & Glen Canyon

After the glorious sunrise it was another six hour journey to the Grand Canyon via the spectacular Horse Shoe Bend at Glen Canyon. Hot, sweaty and dusty we marched down to Horse Shoe Bend, appreciated and took a few photos then marched back up as it was just too gut churning to watch fools of tourists see how close they can get to the edge for a good selfie. There are no barriers and people are just stupid! Argh, it was sickening…

Anyway, on a few more hours and we arrived at one of the best KOA campsites yet. Great store, sweet tent site, pool, two hot tubs and a café with the best chicken burger I’ve ever eaten in my life!

Needless to say this was the best setup we could have asked for the night before a hike.

Thursday morning we drove an hour into the Grand Canyon and parked up at the visitor centre to get the shuttle down to the Kiabab Trail. This is the hike I did last time and it was so much fun so see Jimmys' expression of wonder the first time he beheld the canyon and having his support as we hiked down a mile and a half and then back up again. It doesn’t sound too difficult a climb but in the heat on a steep hill with a rubbish asthma chest it’s not easy. We took it a little at a time on the way back up and were blessed enough to see lots of cheeky squirrels, several huge yellow butterflies

Grand Canyon & its butterflies

fluttering around us and even a breath-taking little hummingbird with its beak inside a flower – which is such a marvel of creation!
Dusty, tired but quite proud of ourselves we shuttled back to the car, washed off our legs and got changed as the weather shifted and a storm rolled in. The blue line shuttle took us down to Bright Angel Lodge where we hid from the rain and had an early dinner to pass the time and hoped the storm would clear for sunset. It did! Back to car to drive ourselves over to Yavapai Point where we sat for over an hour and watched the sun descend and the sky turn from blue to yellow to orange to gold to pink as the clouds tinted and faded around it. Beautiful.

Back at the camp site a dip in the hot tub was of course necessary to sooth our aching muscles before bed!

From this amazing place we skipped a weekend over LA, walked down Long Beach, visited Hillsong LA and saw the Hollywood sign. Must confess it’s not my favourite place in the world but hey, it’s mostly because it’s a city – plus there are so many homeless people it fills you with despair to know only a few miles away is Bel Air and Beverly Hills. The contrast is bleak.

Hillsong LA was pretty different again to the churches we’ve visited. They are only a few weeks old so it’s all new and being a Hillsong Church, heavily focussed on the music. The message was

Hillsong Welcome goods

pretty good, but they need some older generations in there, a church can’t be a Christian Union, where is the wisdom?

Escaping the city limits we drove to Santa Margarita for the night to one of the most remote campsites I’ve ever known. Each site was really spread out at varying heights on the dusty tree scattered hill. Our spot for the night was right at the top of the hill with some fairly precarious turns in the road when taken at night with only headlights to guide you! The awesome view across the fields with a lush sunset made up for it though. An hour after that was spent in the laundry room, washing and on wifi, followed by two Hill heads popped out of the tent door to star gaze. It was a clear night with little light pollution and shooting stars soared over us, although not everyone was looking in the right direction to spot them; Josie – 5, Jimmy – 1.

All of yesterday was spent cruising up the coast on Highway 1, not for those with weak stomachs. The road twists and turns around the cliffs bordering the Pacific Ocean with the quaintest little café stops and souvenir shops dotted along the way (as well as extravagantly priced gas stations, there better be gold dust in that fuel) and countless viewpoints to break at and enjoy the scenery. We really enjoyed the ride even though it took longer than jumping on Highway 101.

Another great KOA was our home for the night at Santa Cruz and some sunbathing with a good book called… followed by another hot tub, but this time kids were allowed in and I got a good kick in the side and splashed in the face! Dear Parents of under 10’s, hot tubs are not for your children, stop it! The pool is big enough for everyone…

This morning we treated ourselves to a trip into Santa Cruz Bay and went paddle boarding up, down and around the wharf (pier if you’re British). We had planned on surfing but the water was

Paddleboarding - why do I discover this when we're leaving the seaside?!

as flat as a millpond. Neither of us had ever tried paddle boarding and it turned out to be really funny – especially when Jimmy kept falling off. It sounds mean but he did get the hang of it quite quickly and caught up. I think it was just easier for me because I’m so short I’m already pretty close to the water, plus, I started with little tentative strokes with the paddle and Jimmy was a bit enthusiastic and went too deep then lost balance. The one time I fell off I was trying to turn round on the board to look at the sea lions and a dry boarder paddled on by and asked me “Is the water cold?” Smug so and so.

The big fat noisy sea lions were all lazing on the decks by the wharf and occasionally one would swim in from the ocean and join them as another plopped off and went for a jolly in the shallows. I was a little nervous of them at first as I’ve no idea what you’re meant to do if a sea lions swims at you but they didn’t seem that interested in us so we got used to having them around. It will be one of my favourite memories on this trip, being in the sea felt like going home.

Now we are on the road to Yosemite National Park after filling up the tank and doing a big food shop. Over the next two days we hope to explore and get in another hike before hitting up San Francisco for the weekend.

Hoping you are all well and enjoying reading our adventures. We love you, we miss you and we’ll bore you with even more travel stories when we get home.

All our love,

J&J xx

Two Jimmys? 

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.

Psalm 19: 1-4