43 days and counting..

With just over  a month till I leave for my travels, I thought i'd fill you in on what I've been up to recently and how DTS prep is going..

In October I joined a group at Cliff College for a course in Christian Life & Mission near Sheffield. I had such an amazing week and learnt so much! There was just under 30 of us taking part, all doing a year out. A big chunk of the group were from an organisation called Time For God and there was also a number of Scripture Union interns. Was great getting to know so many new people from different walks of life! I didn't really know what to expect before the week and was slightly worried that everyone else would know someone and I wouldn't know anyone.
It turned out that there were others, like me, who knew no-one! But by the end of the first day it felt like we were already building strong relationships. A large number of the group were Americans, which was so much fun, listening to their accent and trying to copy it was hilarious...!
We were straight into lectures the afternoon that we arrived and felt like we were diving in at the deep end, looking at Jesus in the Old Testament, followed by Jesus in the New Testament. As a Christian, I'm pretty bad at reading my Bible so felt like most of the things I was hearing were new and I soon realised how little I know! But that was quickly followed by a yearning to want to learn more. Some of you may think this is a weird idea, 'getting to know the bible better and wanting to learn more' but I just find it amazing, how it all fits together and that we can learn so much through it.

Since my week at Cliff I have been working and travelling! To begin with I went to see a friend at Birmingham uni and along with another friend we went to see Kelly Clarkson in concert... It was amazing!! My first concert too, so you can imagine the excitement! I also went to London, where i met some friends and we went to a Worship Central live album recording at HTB which was just amazing! Tim Hughes, Ben Cantalon, Nikki Fletcher were some of the worship leaders. It was an amazing few hours.
Between my travels was my 19th birthday! I had a lovely day celebrating, in fact it went on for about a week, seeing various friends and family at different points. Always the best way to do it.
After my birthday I spent a week in Scotland with my family, relaxing and catching up on sleep!! Was lovely to have a week with my grandparents, who mean so so much to me. Just love how my Grandpa was as much up for going to the swimming pool with flumes and slides as my 9 year old brother!
I wasn't back in Worcester for long before I went to see some friends in Bristol for a belated birthday celebration/long awaited catch up. To finish off my travels I also went to Lancaster for a few days to see my lovely friend from school/college who is at uni and had a great time catching up and meeting her friends.
So.. when I said i'd been on my travels, I really meant it! It has been a great 5 weeks seeing lots of people who mean a lot to me but now I'm quite glad I'm not going anywhere for a while, all that travelling can be quite exhausting.
In other news, I have booked my flight to Geneva! Im travelling on the 6th of Jan from Heathrow airport!. Its going to be a challenge packing my bags to fit in everything i'll need for Switzerland in winter and possibly Africa or some other hot country for 3 months. Opposite ends of the spectrum really. So, my 'to-do' list seems to be getting bigger and bigger, needing to get travel injections for the outreach, travel/health insurance, buy things like mosquito nets and a travel mat.. But I'm loving all the preparation.. so exciting!

What my case will look like when I try and fit everything in!!!

I've been so blessed recently from people giving financial gifts towards my DTS funds. The generosity of people just blows me away, so thank you again to all those people who have helped me! I really do appreciate it all!
Its exactly a month till Christmas tomorrow, feeling festive yet?!

The countdown begins

Well hello there!!
Seems like forever since i last blogged, probably because it is! Just shows how busy i've been- a good thing i think! So I'll fill you in on what i've been up to since Paris and A level shenanigans!!

First of all, I spent 2 weeks of my summer in Perranporth, Cornwall, helping out at a Scripture Union Beach Mission, doing various activities, getting to know the locals and sharing the love of Jesus with them! Was so much fun, pretty exhausting, but amazing! Part of my responsibility this year was to help out in the morning celebrations, where we get all the children together and have songs, messy games, a talk and so on! This involved 2 of us dressing up as the 118 characters to entertain the children, although we called ourselves 360 360 (After the name of the Beach Mission- 360!) Was hilarious dressing up everyday, putting on a wig and drawing on a moustache (one that took FOREVER to take off!) I also helped in one of the age groups called Minors whilst also organising some afternoon activities.. Not much then!!

Dressed up with the Morning Celebs team!

After an amazing 2 weeks in cornwall I came home for an afternoon, before leaving for France with my family at 3am the next morning. For someone that doesn't cope that well with not having loads of sleep, i think i did pretty well considering over the past few nights i'd probably got 5/6 hours a night.. not a lot in my book!
Again, France was so good. Spent some quality time with my family and then had an awesome time with some friends that came to join us for the second week. We spent most of our days on the beach but also visited a Zoo and a place called Puy Du Fou (A themed park with re-enactments from history, definitely recommend if you're in the Vendee area.)

Dad & I on the Beach

Mum & I by the Harbour

The Harbour

Rhi & I at the Zoo

Having a traditional french meal!

Once back home I got a bit bored of doing nothing! I'm definitely not the kind of person that could sit around and do nothing and be fine with it. The day here or there, of course! We all need to relax! But I soon began putting things in the diary and before you know it I got a job! Applied and had my first shift within 2 weeks I think, pretty good going if you ask me! It's at Fat Face, I originally wondered if I wouldn't have enough hours with only a 4 hour contract but after doing a 25hour week last week due to overtime, I don't think I need to worry about that! Loving the job and all the perks (COUGH DISCOUNT!) I've also been helping out at a creche and toddler group and doing various bits and bobs at church, not to mention the amount of babysitting I've had recently, which is all great!
So, now that I'm less than 3 months away from leaving I'm so excited!! The idea that I'll be in/near the swiss alps for 3 months from january is so amazing and I can't wait! Also, its weird but I actually miss speaking French! So I'm also looking forward to brushing up on that and hopefully will keep it up for the months I'm away in preparation for uni life! 

After doing a car boot and other bits and bobs I'm getting closer to my target of £6000 for the 6 months with around £2300 still to raise! But confident that if its the right thing, which i'm sure it is, God will provide the means for the money, whether its through being able to babysit or fundraise, my part time job, or people wanting to sponsor me for the year!

Next week I'm going to Cliff College, near Sheffield to do a course in Christian Life & Ministry, looking into Luke's Gospel which I'm very much looking forward to! I'm also going to see Kelly Clarkson on Sunday... Can barely contain my excitement!!!
So, I think that's all the news for now. To summarise, I've had an amazing summer and so far the gap year is awesome, and I'm definitely not missing deadlines, coursework and the like!

It's all getting a bit real...

Well.. a lot has happened since i last blogged! I've finished exams.. WOOP! Straight after I celebrated by going to Paris with 3 friends. We had the most amazing time exploring the sights and even missing the last metro home and walking proved to be amusing! Here's my favourite pictures from the week.. (Of about 600!)

 Cheesy i know.. but it had to be done!

After we walked up the Eiffel Tower.. so worth it!

Since then I've been pottering about, working, babysitting, this week I'm helping at a french summer club for children primary school age, so so much fun! Next week I'm off to Cornwall to take part in a Beach Mission, run by Scripture Union for 2 weeks. Definitely one of the highlights of my year! A team of 50/60/70ish Christians head down to the beach and spend time chatting to locals, putting on children's clubs, organising quizzes, messy games, beach games and generally having fun! Then after that i'm off for 2 weeks for a family holiday in France which I'm very much looking forward to!


Now that I'm finished college I'm on the look out for a job in september! I did apply for one last week, yet to hear if it was successful so ill keep you posted. As much as i'd like to hunt high and low for jobs, due to my absence for the next month or so I'm not sure employers would be happy if i disappeared after applying for a job! Saying this i've been trying to be pro-active and have managed to secure a few days looking after some lovely children late august which will help DTS funds!


Anyway, my point for today was meant to be about the thought of leaving everyone for 6 months and the fact that yes.. it is getting real now! Now that i do have some money towards my DTS from some amazing, generous people, (although I still have a lot more to raise!!) i can see the idea of going away for 6 months becoming feasible and its now sat on the horizon, not just an idea somewhere in my mind! I won't lie, the thought of leaving for 6 months and not seeing anyone scares me. But then i think of the amazing things I'm going to be doing and people i'll meet along the way. A conversation with a friend the other day made me realise how much our family and friends mean to us. She and another friend will be embarking on an amazing adventure too this september and not for 6 months but a whole year. That takes guts! Even though i will miss them both, i love seeing people wanting to make a difference in the world and sacrificing so much to help others. I think more people should be going out there into the World and experiencing more cultures! Too many of us are caught up in our own little bubbles and don't see what's out there! So do it.. go explore.. i dare you..

Some good news..

So, I know you've all been waiting in anticipation to see my next post, well here it is. You can breathe a sigh of relief!

Today I heard I have been accepted onto the DTS in Burtigny! Very exciting because it means I'm actually going...! Was great to get the email earlier, in amongst all my revision, was awesome to get some good news!

So I've been thinking more and more about what sort of job I'm going to have/try and get come late August/September. The idea of being in a shop 5 days a week 9-5 is becoming less and less appealing, and although I'm happy to do anything to earn the money, id like to do something that’s actually fun, exciting and where i will be able to use my skills! Thinking outside the box is not one of my strong points! A few ideas have been suggested to me such as short-term secretarial work but if you've got any ideas, other than babysitting because I've thought of that one, then please let me know, id be very grateful!

Other than that, no news to report. I’ve got 3 exams in the next 3 weeks, pretty small compared to some, but still revising hard. Trying to maintain my social life, which is proving pretty difficult at times!

Btw, Happy Jubilee to you all! Managed to take a well earned break from revision earlier to go to a lovely tea party with some friends, pity it was raining but it seems to be a rule in Britain, Bank Holiday=Rain..

First things first

With 2 days left at college I’m beginning to get VERY excited at the prospect of having no homework/coursework/deadlines/lessons/exams for the next 15 months. As I begin to prepare for my gap year I thought it would be helpful for people if I could actually share what I’m planning to do!

So, after looking around at different organisations and options, I’ve decided to do a Discipleship Training School with YWAM (Youth With A Mission), a well known, worldwide, respected organisation who have a reputation for amazing gap year experiences. Initially, I had hoped to go to Paris for this but after hearing recently that this won't be going on next year I've began looking into one in Burtigny, Switzerland (near Geneva). So, what is a DTS? Basically it’s a 6 month school which is split into 2 phases, a lecture phase and an outreach phase. Beginning in January 2013, 3 months will be spent at the base in Burtigny where lecturers from all over the world are invited to come and teach on different aspects of discipleship. For example; *The character and ways of God *How to hear the voice of God *YWAM Foundational Values *Relationships *Personal character development *Evangelism and missions *Cross-cultural ministry. As well as this there will be community outreach and just doing life with people from all over the world. Once the first 3 months have finished, the outreach phase then begins. ‘Travelling to the nations and sharing the love of God.’

The DTS I am currently interested in is called 'Compassion' and focuses on reaching those in absolute poverty, the homeless, those struggling with life addictions, women and children at risk, and those have been sexually abused, trafficked or enslaved. With destinations such as Rwanda and Cambodia suggested on the website, there are no definite places of outreach yet but that will de decided nearer the time. This is the link to their website, the school can be found under- Get Equiped, Schools, DTS Compassion- http://ywamburtigny.com 

So what now.. I’m currently in the process of applying for this school. The costs to do 6 months with this specific school are around £6000. The lecture phase is around £2500, while the outreach is estimated between £2600 and £3400. I’m currently saving what I'm earning at my job at a gift boutique in Worcester but that won't be nearly enough to cover the costs! So I'm trusting in fundraising and the generous giving of friends and family, and of course God! 

I'd really appreciate the prayers of those of you who pray! And watch this space to see what happens next.....