We see at least 2-3 rainbows a week...

Well, life here continues, and it is still getting colder and wetter (if that is possible) each day. This past week, we did assemblies at two schools, and we did one today (our only one for this week). They all went really well and it is cool to see how excited the kids can get about us coming, and then to see some of them listening so closely to the message of Life we bring to them. It struck me this past week that many of these kids have never heard the Gospel before and many never will, except for our short little time at their school. We may never get a chance to follow up with most of them, or explain more fully the Gospel, beyond the story we tell and the songs we sing. And so the Lord really just showed me how important it is that they see something different in us, something that they want in their lives. Even if it is just the smile on my face that represents and reveals the deep, abiding joy that I have in my heart and life, I want to show them that joy and hope. As the Lord showed me how easily my heart can become hardened and apathetic by routine and familiar grace, he gave me his heart for these kids, and it changed the way I approach the simple, normal things like this.

We start our after-school tutoring this week, so pray for us to have wisdom on how to best meet the needs of these kids, and that relationships will develop and deepen, leading to opportunities to share the Good News of Jesus.

That's mostly all that has been going on this past week, as we still try to make time to see the kids after school through football or visiting houses, etc. We did get to do some really cool activities this past week that I've gotta brag about. Well, last week, we all 4 went climbing on an indoor wall with Mark, one of the HOPE directors, who is an avid and experienced climber. On Saturday, he took John and I to the Northern Coast and we climbed all morning on the cliffs there. It was so cool and the most hard-core climbing I have ever done, up to heights of about 120ft. Yesterday, on our day off, Alan (one of the elders at Hillside, the church we all go to) took us to a place called Glenariff. It is a beatiful wooded area in the mountains with tons of waterfalls. It was great hiking and cold swimming (just kidding). Well, thats about it for now. I leave tomorrow morning for York, England until Monday to go be the best man in my best friend, Jonathan Doub's wedding. Pray for safety in travel for me and that the other 3 here don't cry themselves to sleep every night with me gone. We love you all and hope to hear encouragement from you!

Here are some tight pics (don't be jealous):













Notice how small the people down below are!



Like the tongue sticking out?

It's getting colder...

OK, so we are slowly getting better at updates again. This past week was the first week of our school assemblies, so thank you to all of you who prayed for the school on Thursday. Things went well, and though we had a few kinks to work out and some fine-tuning, all went well and the headmaster loved us and invited us back. This was our first time in this school and it was the only one in the area that we didn't have a pre-existing relationship with, so praise the Lord for this new school contact! We have two more schools this week, one on Tuesday and one on Thursday, so please pray that those go well for us and that we continue to develop our relationship with these kids.

This week we will also start our after school tutoring with kids we know in the estates. We will each work one-on-one with a new kid every day this week, and then repeat that schedule for the next few weeks, giving us consistency with those specific children. We also started our Bible study of Hebrews as a HOPE team, and are continuing that, though we only meet every two weeks. This past Friday night, we went out in the estate from about 10pm-2am to try to see who hangs out where and doing what on a typical weekend, so that we can begin to try to minister to these people. We will do this "research" for the HOPE team for the next few weekends, late at night, and then as a team, we will all try to figure out the best way to reach this late-night crowd, such as bringing out tea and coffee and snacks, and then starting conversations. So pray for this developing ministry, that the Lord will guide us interns and protect us as we head out on these late-night excursions, and then also that we would know how the Spirit is leading us to reach these older kids and adults.

I don't think we have written much recently about Colin, so I wanted to give you a quick update with him. A few weeks ago, his granny finally passed away, and though it was long-coming and somewhat of a relief, it proved much harder on Colin than even he expected. Since his granny practically raised him and was certainly the most important person in his life, he took it hard and hasn't known how to handle the pain. In the past few weeks, he has acted out his hurt and anger and confusion in a lot of the same ways he has in his past, rather than allowing this to push him to the Lord. We have tried to be there for him and direct him to the Lord through this, but he recently told us that he's having doubts and trouble believing the things he believed about God before she died. He left yesterday for England, supposedly to move there for a while, and start over, which is probably one of the best ideas for him, because he has so much here from his past lifestyle that he simply cannot escape. He told us bye and how much we meant to him and that he hopes he can believe in God again, so please pray for him as often as you can, and that the Lord will redeem his broken heart and show him the depths of his love for him again.

In other good news, John and I got two new bikes this past week that actually work, which will greatly increase our travel efficiency. We are both trying to join a local gym around here, if we can work out a good price, because we will need it as it turns to winter. The days are much shorter already, as it gets darker much earlier, and the fall weather is turning colder and wetter, which means less physical activity outside. I am already about to go crazy with the prospect of that, and am looking forward to hitting the weights and running this week, hopefully.

Well, I guess that's about it for now. Please keep praying for team unity, among us 4, and also with the greater HOPE team. We look forward to hearing back from you all through comments, emails, letters, packages, messages delivered by pigeons, very very large gifts, surprise visits, and anything else the Lord lays on your heart...haha, only joking. We do love and miss you all and depend on your prayers and encouragement, so please keep them coming. Until next time,
Dwight

because i don't like being called a liar, or this one goes out to laura and lauren...

obviously, as dwight mentioned in his previous post, we need to work on updating more regularly.  sorry about that!  well, we returned from our holidays (which were fun, but honestly, we were ready to get back!) about a week ago.  the kids have all returned to school, so we've begun to plan and train for our primary school assemblies.  our first school is on thursday, and we are pumped!  basically, we will be singing songs with the kids, telling a bible story, doing a song with the puppets, and just connecting with the kids.  we're trying to be where the kids are so they are familiar with our faces, who we are, and what we believe.  hopefully, when we see them outside of school they will recognize us and we will have opportunities to build relationships and have conversations with them. 

we also met with the board of HOPE last week to discuss the plans for the following months.  plans include starting a precepts bible study for the HOPE team, after school one on one homework help (which should start in the next few weeks), guitar lessons, house visitations, the possibility of teaching a session or two in the Religious Education classes at the schools, eventually starting on secondary school assemblies, possibility of working with Scripture Unions (the school's bible club), and late night ministries (ie pub ministries).  we also brainstormed ideas about ways to get people into our house, which include cooking with or for them, craft days, game nights and other fun activities that will provide opportunities to hang out!  this past week we had nicolas (8 years old) and sean (9 years old) over for breakfast.  they are two of the biggest trouble makers in dunclug.  it went really well and was good to see the "child" side of them as opposed to the "stealing-our-stuff-and-cussing-us-out" side of them. pray for these two boys as we are trying to spend time with them and show them love.  we are all so so excited about our plans!  thanks for your prayers and thoughts!