Journey in the U.K. : 7th May - 21st June 2016 (Forge Trip: Owen Ladd)
Forge Trip in the United Kingdom
(Owen Ladd)
At the start of the Journey, we prepared as lightweight as possible deciding not to take camping equipment and rather rely on faith to provide accommodation despite a low budget for the U.K. of £1400 for 4 people. The main costs of the Journey was transport and accommodation and at the end of the journey, there remained £ 10 in the budget.
The 4 of us AiJee, SeungAe, Yechan and me (Owen) travelled to Cardiff first of all. At Cardiff we acquired tourist maps and decided to each mark on the map anywhere we felt led to go to. I and Yechan both felt to go to an area on the map which had an embankment and a cycle track. When we arrived SeungAe signalled to an elderly lady through the window if we could stay at her house and she nodded. Her name was Tien, she was Vietnamese and she could not speak English. She lived alone and we discovered more about her by SeungAe and her sign language.
She had a son who possibly was a businessman nearby and she was visited by carers who I doubt could speak English. She tried to give us clothes and money but we kept refusing however in the end we accepted £5 each and an extra £5 for me and SeungAe’s future child. She seemed very lonely but she had a picture of Jesus on the wall that she seemed to think the world of. So we encouraged her and left the next day. During our stay in Cardiff, we visited various buildings which all seemed to be half closed such as museum and welsh government. The welsh government brought allot of hope to me about Wales being a very open building designed around a tree of knowledge with glass walls and the assembly meetings underneath at the roots of the tree which could be viewed from above and walked into when nothing was being held. There was a café in the building and we were encouraged to meet friends there for coffee as the building was designed to be open and clear.
Ai-Jee's Testimony from the Journey of Faith
Cardiff, first day, discovering day. I was kind of lost. I didn't really know what the trip was based on. I mean I knew but didn't experienced it in real life. To me that first day was so special. First day, special day!We started by sitting down on a bench in the middle of a commercial street.
It was pretty busy. We opened our map and started to pray in order to receive a lead from God. I really didn't know where to go. I was worried about our heavy backpacks and the place we'll sleep to this night. That first day I discovered and learnt how to pray for a city and a country.
I saw how powerful could be our prayers. It was very simple and we prayed with all our heart. That first day, I saw how cheeky we could be! We met Tien, a Vietnamese who can't speak very well in English. It was a bit hard to communicate with her but I was so touched by her kind and lovely heart. She was surprisingly tough and strong compared to her physical body : smaller than me and thin. It was pretty sad because she seemed to have no friends and to live by her own in a room.
She showed us little medical bags in a box. She wanted (we think) to say she has a carer (kind of nurse?) that comes to her house daily. She wanted to give us almost everything she had. She gave me shoes. We had a "girly fashion time" and wore some of her clothes she brought so quickly. We also saw her photo album and saw her family pictures. She had a husband and her son works in a nail shop not really far from her.
6 Ladies' 10 Days Journey through the Jewish History in Europe (Korean)
이번 10일간의 런던, 네덜란드, 폴란드, 독일의 여정은 반 유대주의로 유럽역사에서 대거 죽음을 당한 유대인의 발자취를 밟아보고 유럽 땅을 밟고 예배하면서 주시는 마음의 하나님 나라 생기를 대언하는 중보의 여정이었다.
출발하기 전부터 묵상하던(창 20,21장) 그랄땅의 아비멜렉이 오누이라고 속인 사라와 이브라함의 관계와 정체성을 회복시켜주고 보상해주며 세워주는 과정과 우리의 여정이 함께 갔다. 하나님과 언약을 맺고 관계 중심의 동행을 한 장자로서의 이스라엘, 유대인의 정체성을 유럽의 각 나라가 아비멜렉과 같이 보호해주고 정체성을 세워 줬는지 말살했는지 과거 역사와 이후 현시대의 반응을 볼수 있었다.
네덜란드는 처음엔 우크레인과 독일에서 도망온 유대인들을 받아 피난캠프를 만들어 유대인들을 보호했다. 그러나 독일 치하에 들어서며 폴란드 수용소로 보내지는 중간 수용소로 바뀌어야 했다. 안네 프랑크도 일기를 쓰며 일년여간 숨어있다가 수용소로 보내지고 폴란드 아우슈비츠에서 죽게된다. 이런 와중에 메시아닉 유대인들과 친밀한 관계를 갖던 코리텐붐 가족은 자신의 집에 은신처를 만들어 유대인을 숨겨주다 함께 수용소로 보내져서 수감생활을 하다 풀려나 세계에 주님의 용서와 사랑을 나누는 삶을 살기도한다. 이런 역사를 가지고 있는 더치 기독교인들은 이스라엘편에 서며 유대인들을 계속 축복하고 사랑하는 편에 서있었다.
Life of trusting in God (Testimony : The 4th Forge School)
Life of trusting in God (Trip to the Middle East)
Our plan was to start from Middle East country A and then make our way into Middle East country B. The journey ended up being Middle East A, Middle East B Embassy, and Middle East C. Things may not always happen according to our plans and thoughts. Our plans may be even completely destroyed, but we trust in Him because we know God created good plans for us before the creation of this world. Because of our weakness we constantly limit ourselves and God. We can often find ourselves complaining and grumbling instead of looking to God to guide us. This journey was a time of learning what it means to trust in God.
I was confused with the difference between extreme positivity and trusting in God. Often times I hear Christians say, “It will all go well. All we have to do is submit everything to God and trust in Him.” To me these words sounded irresponsible; it seemed like a façade. During the journey each day God spoke clarity into this confusion. I believe this is all a preparation for my future walk with the Lord. Let me share how God led me to know and experience this “trust”.
Joseph Nightingale’s Testimony from The Forge School of Faith IV
How can a man from Blackburn, experiencing blackouts over a six month period end up in the Forge?
Living alone and blacking out at any moment is a lonely, vulnerable place to be whilst waiting for a scan six months later. But the Forge is a place of healing as well as faith so Joseph stepped out in faith and made the journey to Wales with a friend from the Forge, excited but aware of his limitations, in writing and reading. Because since the age of 2 he had been both deaf and dumb and during surgery part of his brain was touched which left him with a pronounced stammer.
Joseph begins his story from this point.....
Vivien, asked because of the Blackouts do you still want to come to the Forge. I said Yes I do and so she contacted the leader of the Forge who felt it was right for me to have the opportunity to come. I was excited and looking forward to it.
One wet and windy day at the Forge I was taken to a very special place with a group of other people who were participating the Forge. It was a farm just outside of Llanelli called The Cross. Vivien asked if I had read the book called Pilgrims Progress because Bob the tenant farmer who had not been a Christian long had made a journey to the Cross on his farm which started off with a wide gate which got narrower as it lead to the Cross. Along the way were signs giving lots of scriptures on them but it was so wet and windy a car took us directly to the Prayer Room opposite the Cross. Everyone went into the prayer room and I decided to go for a walk to the Cross. At first I just stood alone at the cross and then felt I needed to kneel down. I started to cry and could not stop and remained on my knees in the pouring rain and sensed something lifting off me so I felt lighter and happier as I came back to meet everyone else.
Moses' Testimony from the Forge youth
[ Moses' Testimony ]
I want to share my experience through the Youth Forge.
When I arrived here 3 months ago, my right wrist was hurt when I was in Israel. So I decided to go hospital in the UK. I asked Qday where the hospital was. Qday didn't say anything about the hospital but he prayed for me. So I could not do anything, and I was just going to wait until prayer finished. After praying, Qday said to me. "How is your hand?". Actually, I didn't feel any changes in my hand. But I answered him, "My hand has got better a little bit." Qday said two things to me: first, even my appearance looks very mild, but inside of me there is anger. Second, I'd like to show off myself. God wants to say something to me through my hand, so I have to listen to him carefully. I thought' "I've only hurt my wrist! Why does God want to say something through this?" I was surprised with the first reason about anger in myself. Even I felt guilty about that.
Actually, when I hurt my wrist I had an argument with Youngae, my teacher, in Israel. So after returning to my room, I hit a wall in my room with anger. So my right hand was more hurt. I thought that I didn't have any anger, but it was left inside me and was accumulating. Finally, I was overwhelmed with my emotion, this anger was expressed in that argument. Now I am really ashamed about it. Yes, I could agree with the first thing Qday said, but I could not agree with the second.