arrgghh, me maties! I'm writing you a report from the highlands of Scotland, through the dense fog and one can spot pirates all about town (so shimber me timbers).

sorry for the delay in blogs, but i had a long one posted and the internet cafe computer crashed at the end, so i didn't have the energy to repeat it. our 2nd day of teaching in ukraine did not go as well. it became clear that palmer and i represented a different gospel than the one they were looking for. the local pastors were adamant about wanting $$ for new buildings and had enough of this house church stuff. we kept talking about being small, simple, relational and authentic followers, they wanted a magic pill to get their people to give more and getting more americans over there to do the work. i hosted a panel discussion for open questions, it turned into a train wreck. ironically, that morning at 6:15 a.m., the Spirit woke me up and had me read from Matthew 9 where Jesus said "don't worry if they hate you, they hated me first".

We then headed off to Northumbria Christian Community for 2 days. let's just say that the place is holy. we stayed in a guestroom in the tower that dates back to the 14th century, that's the 1300's folks!!!! we participated in morning prayers, evening prayers, nightly canticles and common meals. we took a day on holy island to visit the abbey of st. cuthbert and feel the unbelievalbe scenary of northern england. you can only access this place at low tide, how cool is that?

we are now in edingburgh, Scotland and it is the most amazing architecture city i have ever been in. breathtaking at all times, really, really, old and creepy-like spooky at night. we caught an interesting comdedian last night and had a couple pints of local tastes. today we will go to a live theatre re: the columbine shootings, then some souveneir shopping (the pipes are already purchased, fellas) then to another comdeic live theatre act, dinner at a pub, another comdedian later on, smoke a cuban cigar then to a club featuring music from 80's rock bands. tommorrow we get on a train and go to Manchester, England for a hostel and some used record stores. Our final few days are in oxford, london and cambridge.

i miss my family more and more everyday now. i want to hold them, badly. i'm actually hoping these next few days go quickly. i also miss my spiritual family, ordinary community. while away i realize how much of my identity is wrapped up in them. church is truly not somewhere you go, its a people you belong to.

much love,
marsh