Wales Mission Trip Wednesday

Today I awoke to the sound of rain outside my window the rest of the group woke up to the sound of rain on their tents, and some had been awakened several times in the middle of the night by the wind. Cassie's tent had somehow inverted itself but she was still dry. John and Shari Baxter's tent partially collapsed but luckily only Shari's shoes got wet. Melissa didn't sleep well but made up for it later by taking a nap in one of the buses. As Benji was leaving the shower he mentioned to the caretaker of the campground that they were experiencing some high wind. The "chap" looked at him and said, "What wind?" Apparently things can be worse and hopefully they don't get there.
Despite the wind and rain, the group has very high spirits. We had breakfast at the Sketty Park Community Center and separated for VBS. The Sketty crowd was a lot smaller, we went from 18 kids down to 7. Most of the kids had walked the day before so we think the rain kept them at home. The Port Talbot crowd, however, grew from 3 to 4.
The kids who are coming are wonderful, though. One little guy, Callum, did every "daily challenge" that we had sent home with him the day before. He listed 10 things that God made. Our craft today was a prayer journal. After he had decorated it he told me that he was going to write down all the things that God had made in it. He is the reason we are here!
After lunch the kids separated into three different groups. Some went to a school and did face painting, some went to a nursing home and pulled weeds and painted, and some picked up "rubbish" around the community. They had a great time bonding with each other and the kids from Wales. I knew immediately who had done face painting when they returned. Marvin's face was completely covered with black and white paint. I couldn't tell who he was at first. Keila was covered with glitter and Barb had pretty red stars on her cheek.
When they returned from that they went on an outing to Tesco's, the Target of the United Kingdom. The kids had a great time looking around at the different foods and trinkets. Not much was purchased, though, since every pound is worth two dollars. I did see Corbin with a new Rugby ball.
After a wonderful dinner of pasta, salad and garlic bread the group headed down to the beach to play some games. It's awesome to be so close to the ocean. We're looking forward to more time down there.
The best part of the day for me was trying a bunch of new chocolate bars. If you didn't know this, the chocolate is way better over here. I've heard it's because there isn't as much wax in it. Whatever it is, I enjoyed it and I'll bet that most of the others did too.
Dylan has been taking everything in stride. He is as happy as ever. Maybe just a bit more tired but still smiling at everyone he sees.
We're having a "fab" time so far so keep checking to find out more about what's going on over here in the UK. Eloise Ravell will be writing the blog tomorrow.

Stephanie Ferguson