Finally Here!!!

Sorry it's been so long since we've posted, its taken a long time to get internet access and people to log in to the blog. We'll be uploading pictures and photos from the team's iPad a little bit later on, but we wanted to let everyone know what's been going on in the UK. We arrived at Heathrow Airport on Thursday morning and were brought to Enderby Mission Church by Pastor Chris Thompson. We hung out at the church for a couple of hours and explored the nearby town for a little bit. Football is extremely popular, and we've played it a lot while at the church. After meeting with some of the regular teens and adults at the church, we had a dinner to get to know our hosts families before leaving for the night. Everyone was pretty tired out, so it was kind of a short night.
Yesterday morning, we met at the church again at 10am England time. We ran over some of the skits that we'll be performing for the Hillhouse retreat this coming week. Everyone is excited to see what an impact they will have on the over 60 teens coming on the retreat. Then, we went over to Fosse Park, which is a popular shopping center less than 10 minutes from the church. Some of the church members handed out balloons and provided information about the church. Our team performed paintboards, which are pieces of paper that have been partially painted on and then continued and finished while telling a corressponding story. Other members of the team put on puppet shows for those walking by. Even though it very cold and windy, which is typical England weather, we did see people stopping by to watch or ask about the ministry. Around 4:30, we cleaned up and came back to the church. Youth group didn't start until 7:30, so we had some time to relax, travel to the Co-operative food store, which is similar to a Wawa, and then go over some funny skits for later that night. When the teens arrived, we played football and then had some food prepared by some of the ladies of the church. We spent the rest of the night getting to know the teens by playing games and fellowshipping with them. They were anxious for Hillhouse, and looking forward to spending more time with the "crazy, loud, Americans".
This morning, we participated in a giant soccer tournament organized by the church and Tom Wheway, one of its members. There were over twenty teams in the over 18-year-old age division; but some of our team members were able to play. The girls even came in first and second place, although there were only two teams to begin with. We were able to talk to local teens and young adults about the upcoming retreat, and even about Enderby Mission church. Pastor Rick gave a short message during halftime, and shared an invitation for salvation with the crowd. We don't know how many people accepted, but it was amazing to see the seed planted in their hearts.
Currently, some of us are back at the church, while others are with their host families. We're planning on either relaxing with the British families or going to Leichester City to shop and look around. We're all excited to attend the Easter service at the church tomorrow morning.
The entire team appreciates all of your prayers for safe travel and health. Please continue to pray for the upcoming Hillhouse retreat, as there are many saved and unsaved teens attending; pray that our skits and praise and worship will be affective, and that lives will be changed in the coming week. Also, please continue to pray for the health and safety of our team, with the intense and fun soccer games, time difference, and the driving to sites of ministry. We're going to setup another account, and hopefully we'll have specific team members posting updates each night in the next 24 hours or so. The pictures and videos will take a little bit longer, because they can only be uploaded from the team's iPad since no one has a camera cord, and the wifi has been either nonexistent or sketchy. Please continue to pray for us and those we're ministering too, and check for more posts, videos, pictures to follow soon!