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.

What really surprised me that day was how simple it can be to ask for sleeping in a house. How simple it is, just to ask. I thought "why do we hesitate too much when we really need it ? If we don't ask we don't get."For me the cherry on the top was that Owen and Yechen felt to go there while we were paying for lead !

Cambridge sunny day, but not nice day...Cambridge was a place that I received from God before starting our trip. That day I was in a bad mood (don't know why) and didn't feel like doing a faith alive. It wasn't the walk because I was okay. Tired but okay. Maybe it was because I still don't know how to do a faith alive. Probably because I make things to complicated in my mind (as usual). Seungae asked us to do it by ourselves but I didn't want to because I didn't have confidence enough to do it alone. I did it though, because I wanted to step out for God. I was like "okay God. I'll try and we'll see. Kathy told me it's practicing. If I don't start, I'll never be able to do it. So I had some words of knowledge : ginger hair, glasses, Kathy, cancer (in family). But I knew it wasn't enough because when I asked my "supposed" treasures, they all said they correspond to the description only. There were to students who were almost laughing at me. I thought I looked like a fool trying to talk about God. Nice image for him... I decided to stop doing it. I said to God "Okay God, I stepped out. Now I'm done. I don't want to look like a fool."I was really discouraged. I care too much about what people would think about me (maybe that's normal at my age?). But I want to do like the others. Just don't care and go go AJ ! Just like them !

York Shabbat day, sweet day.We decided to stay in Viven and Geof's house because they invited us. And I think we did very well. Maybe some of us thought we was kind of "cheating" to go to her house. But I think God was okay with that. Since the first day of our trip, I personally didn't have time to worship God. Vivien brought us to the Hollybush churchn Singing songs and praying strongly ! That was EXACTLY what I needed. I felt really peaceful after the celebration because realized how present was God, how close He was. That particular day, there was two invited men who did a long whorship time.We had the luxurious privileged to take a bath which relaxed all of my muscles, from head to toe. A physical Shabbat. I could start the next week refreshed. And I think I wasn't the only one ;)

Edinburgh wandering day, not lost day.First wandering day for me. To be honest, I was pretty excited about it because I wanted to do it from the beginning. I knew it would be hard because of our heavy backpacks. But I really wanted to see and experience God's lead. There was a moment, we thought we were lost. But when we looked up, in a corner, on a wall, we saw "not all those who wander are lost". It turned out we were heading to the Parliament ! Merci Seigneur ! (Thank you Lord)

Aberdeen unexpected day.From the beginning we didn't think about going further north in Scotland. I don't know how but we wanted to go to Aberdeen. It turned out this town was a sad town. They lost their oil company. A lot of people have been fired. That day, I saw and felt it was more difficult for us to receive a lead from God. But after sharing our meditation we decided to go to the biggest church of Aberdeen : King's community, 700-800 people (yep...4 services for the pastor. He's not human, I agree lol). We talked a lot about our background. We led us to the worship room (almost all blue). We prayed and sang together for this church and for this town. And then we had a nice lunch together : indian (spicy!!!) food. The pastor treated us ! How lucky!

Glasgow rainy day, hard day.I discovered I didn't do my job properly. I only wrote how much we spent and not how much is left which is apparently called "balance"... It was my first time doing it and I think I should have asked before the trip, how it works... And I faced again my not logic brain in maths... Because of me, I made Seungae very worried...I saw she was complaining in her mind.I hated myself so much that day. I didn't pray at all. I was too angry against myself because I felt so stupid, just like in my school years. I was angry against myself because I saw I haven't overcome about it...I'm still don't accepting my weaknesses. End of the story.

Belfast tiring dayBecause we didn't have money enough, we couldn't buy bus tickets... so in one day we walked 4h to go to the parliament. But there, we could have a little tour and some explanations about the Irish people. That day I was psychologically tired haha.

Cardiff on our way back, there was an angel.We stayed in Cardiff 2h to take an other bus fo Swansea. And in Swansea we had a train, 20min after our arrival. But the bus was late and even though we arrived 5min later than what we planned, we couldn't get the train... so I was in hurry and desperate. I asked God "Please God!!!! Please send someone, a taxi... I don't know... just something! An angel !" And just a few seconds later, there's a man coming to us. We finally could arrive at the train station, 5min before the departure ! That man ran with us so we could take our train. He was our angel. (I think he was a Muslim) 

It reminded me of that time, when we went to Cardigan. I was walking with Seungae and Brenda on the right hand side of a road. The cars were going very fast just right next to us. I knew it wasn't the right way and that it was very dangerous for us. And I was very desperate and asked "God please send us an angel or just something that can save us. We can't continue like that and you know it " and then just right after my prayer we saw Dig and Gladys' car! And they stopped to pick us up.I guess God has more. He can provide more. For example financially, physically, psychologically etc...What I learnt and thought about-being a treasurer is not as easy as I thought;-building my own life by myself, without the strength and help from my parents;-how to live with people that are very different than me;-listening to God;-prayers are stronger than I imagined, because God is so real;-God is so close to us;-miracles and angles exist.

YOUN Ai-Jee