Overview of Outreach on the Isle of Seil (Thanks Luke Bishop!)

Hello friends, family and supporters

We just finished a weeklong midterm outreach to The Isle of Seil. We left on a Sunday morning and came back on a Saturday night.

We started our outreach at 10:30am on Sunday the 4th of March, after loading up and taking the group photo we were off!

After a very scenic drive (aka: long due to Avery sopping many times to take pictures) we arrived at Oban. Oban is the nearest shopping centre to Clachan-Seil (the town we were staying in). To get to The Isle of Seil you have to cross a small bridge as The Atlantic Ocean splits the island from mainland Scotland. This bridge gets the designation of being the only bridge to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

Upon arriving in Clachan-Seil we met our host, Robert Rae and his wife Maura. They are elders of a church in the area named Kilbrandon Church (Brandon being St. Columba's uncle). They live in and own a sort of duplex and allowed us to stay in the adjoining house that they do not use. Stephanie and Avery got a room together; Luke, Mael, Joon and Lance were in another room; while Arleigh, Karen, Erika and Johanna were in the living room. Robert and Maura also provided a room in their own house for Taryon, Angelica and Jacqueline.

This is Robert on the right with the red jacket and his friend Mike smith who is the greatest Scottish gentlemen ever and Yes he did smoke a pipe :) He took us on a walk one day and he did not get a drop of mud on him while the rest of us were covered.

We started of each day with "quiet time" and "team time." Quiet time is exactly how it sounds, quiet; while team time was a chance for all of us to get together and have a biblical devotion, pray, discuss the days events and worship God.

For the first two days in Seil we had Robert come in and give us a lecture on the history of Christianity in Scotland. Mostly focusing on St. Columba and his uncle St. Brandon; while also covering some of the earlier religions that pre-dated Christianity. Robert also shared his backyard with us. His backyard being a mountain that you could see most of the island, as well as other nearby islands, from. Upon Robert's request we also imitated a tradition dating back to St. Columba in which we would take some time out three times a day for three worship songs and a prayer, the worship that we had was incredible. Avery, Jacqueline and Joon did an awesome job leading worship.

Most days we had some free-time which is always fun when you cram 13 people into a small living room. The evenings were spent with Uno, Monopoly or licking wounds from the devastating blows we took from Johanna's point system. On the ride up to Seil those of us in the minivan (Taryon, Arleigh, Jacqueline, Joon, Johanna, Luke and Angelica) discovered that Johanna keeps a secret tally of the good and bad things we all do. Upon finding out about the system Jacqueline found herself at -10 points while Luke was at -35! Others were not hit as badly as those two proving the injustice in the system. By the way all those who feel mistreated by the point system or even those who are doing well and yet recognise the injustice are welcome to join Team Minus (led by Jacqueline and Luke). Team Minus is directly involved in the plot to overthrow Johanna and the resulting revolution that will occur. Viva La Team Minus!

The next two afternoons were spent doing some questionnaires in the area. We went around, door-to-door, asking people in the area about their religious beliefs and what they think of Christianity. All of us had vastly different responses, and if you ask one of us you can get their perspective on their experience. This was our main outreach. We would split into pairs with one group of three that would spend the time interceding for the other groups. The people we questioned provided us with a consistent desire to see unity in the church, rather than the church spending all its time refining its technicalities. Overall the questionnaires provided a good basis to what people in the area are thinking.

On the Tuesday Vicki (our leader) and Deborah (who we will be working with in Aberdeen) arrived for a pastoral visit. They spent some time with us while we were all together and figured out a bit of how we work as a team. They left on Friday, soon after arriving, but not before leaving us with lively discussion (aka: Lance proving through scripture that vegetables are evil while Vicki sat on in exasperation) and some awkwardness (aka: Deborah praying).

On the Friday morning we packed up and headed to The Isle of Mull, which is just northwest of Seil. To get to Mull you have to drive through Oban. We spent most of the day in Oban. The Healing Rooms was in Oban that day. We spent that session with them, interceding with them and also prayer-walking. We had a great time there, we were very encouraged by them as well as them being encouraged by us.

Towards the evening we boarded a ferry for Mull. After arriving on Mull we proceeded to a small town called Bunessan. The Mull Baptist Church is in Bunnessan and they let us stay the night at their church. After a delicious meal and then figuring out where the fuses to the lights that got knocked out during a game of baseball were we settled down to sleep.

The next morning we packed up again and headed to Iona. Iona is where St. Columba founded a church and spent a lot of his time. There was a thriving Christian community here that brought Christianity to all of Scotland. We had to take a short ferry over to Iona, it was short but awesome (depending on who you ask). The ferry was almost cancelled due to bad weather, so you know that it is going to be a fun ride. The storm was also on Iona, we spent most of the time being cold or being outside in the wind and rain. After four hour in Iona we headed back to Seamill! We then discovered that the nine hours it took us to get to Oban only, actually, take four without all the detours.

One thing that really sticks out when we look back on the trip was all of the things that we blessed. We blessed a coat rack, plate, serving dish, glass, two sets of lights, bathroom shades, and more. When one thinks about all the things that were blessed one can't help but think of the possibilities in Aberdeen. In this paragraph (and only this paragraph) blessed means broken.

Also on the positive side we did prove (by way of a police-officer administered breathalizer) that Lance does not drive while intoxicated (good thing for someone who drove everywhere and led the way).All in all a good time was had by everyone, and we feel confidant that God will be glorified and will continue to work in the lives of the people we came in contact with.

January DTS '07 done with much joy by the tuck shop man, Luke Bishop!

*Check out Flickr for more pictures of Iona Abbey and this trip. Avery took over 800 pictures on this trip and guess what some of them were of people :)

This is a favorite one that I took--->

Avery and Lance FLYING in Glencoe!