Long Overdue!

WOW! I cannot believe that it is been 3 months since we have written on our blog. Sorry about the lack of communication everyone. An update is long overdue. It has been so long since that I don’t even know where to begin. So in order to jog my memory of the past three months, I had to look back at my photos and thought this would be the best way to update you

Mid- February
As your probably remember, we got a puppy, Abe.
He has been growing so fast. When we got him, just a month before
this picture was taken he could barely reach the table.

Mid-February

We went to a Scottish Ceilidh with some students from the
University and the first CMF team members to arrive in Edinburgh-
Kate and Andrew. It was so fun. I dragged Nic out there to dance for
almost every song!!

February & March

For most of February and the beginning of March
both Nic and I were sick. It seemed that we kept passing our illnesses
 back and forth just as the other was getting better. But Abe kept
us company and was a great cuddler!

Early March

We had our first garden project work day! It started off rainy

and cloudy but we had a great turnout,

probably 30-40 people from the community.

And then it SNOWED! Yes those are our clothes
we left outside- OOPS :)

March
It kept snowing. This March was the coldest and snowiest in
Scotland since the 1960's.  This is me walking one mile to work
and one mile home in the snow everyday of March.
However- I cannot claim that it was uphill both ways ;)

Mid March
We went to Stirling with a few friends to see the castle! 

Mid March And here it is!!! Such an awesome castle and little city :)

Mid March

And here it is!!! Such an awesome castle and little city :)

Mid March
We attended BLINGO at Lorne Primary School! In case you are
wondering- Blingo is BINGO while wearing Bling. 

Late March
We have taken to walking, even in the snow and rain.
Surprisingly there were a few bearable days in March

Late March
We hosted our first Seder.
NIc made the traditional leg of  lamb and it was AMAZING.
We have decided this will be a ongoing tradition for us!

Late March
We invited 12 people to later realize
we only have enough seats to accomodate
12, including using the soaf and 2 lounge chairs.
Nevertheless- it was great fun and nice and cozy!

Late March- Easter Weekend!

Late March -Easter Weekend
We went on a 7.5 mile passion walk through
the city and up into Holyrood Park.
Abe even joined! It was great!

Late March- Easter Morning
Delicious food! Good Friends! and Sunshine!

Easter Weekend
Chocolate EGGS!!!!

Easter Weekend
Chocolate EGGS!!!!

Early April
Another Gardening Event!
The kids painted their own personal pots for the veggies.

Early April
Now time to fill them up! Sowing seeds!!!

Early April
Drawing out the garden plan!! It was awesome to see these
kids dream and draw out the garden as they would like to see it.
It even included a  roller coaster. Haha!

Early April
We went to Portobello Beach and it was SUNNY! 

Mid April
Mom came for a visit!!!!! Wooohooooo! So we got to be
 little tourists for a few days again!

Mid- April
Boat trip on the Firth of Forth!!! 

Mid April
Up Calton Hill to see the city-scape! And beautiful sunshine!

Mid April
LOVE!

Mid April
Nic's Birthday!!! Getting old over here! 24!!

Late April
The gates to the community garden were locked and this
sign was put up. So for now our garden project is on hold :(
We have talked to the owner and they are not opposed to
us using the space-they are just required to fix some issues. 

Late April
I hosted the first craft meeting at the Yellow Bench.
Mom taught us how to make Jewerly

Late April
Through my work we got invited to go to a Charity Ball!
All Expenses paid, plus a hotel for the night!

Late April
Isnt he handsome?

Late April
Mirror Picture 

Late April
Dancing till 1:00am at the Charity Ball

Late April
Sunshine on Leith! Gotta love it!

Early May
Ashley got a new book to read at work! Good Luck!

Early May
£6 date night! Ready to walk 4 miles in the rain!!!

Early May
On our date we went in search of a tunnel under
 Holyrood Park! Hidden Gems of Edinburgh!

Early May
Frozen Yogurt to finish it off. Delicious!

Early May
Since our community garden project has been put on hold for now,
Nic and I have taken to our back shared garden and trying to make
it a more beautiful and hospitable place for our neighbors to use.

Early May

Nic has really gotten into wood working. We found some

 wood in a bin on the street and Nic has been working away.

We has already made me a potato box, next he is making me a

herb ladder and a veg patch. He is doing so good, getting better and

better every time. 

Early May
Abe likes to help "garden" too!;) More like making
 flinging dirt everywhere and running around
 with giant balls of roots and leaving them all over the
garden! Haha!

eNews

Hey All, 

Just a short note! 

We have been and will continue to send out monthly eNews about what is happening as well as being more consistent with our blog (we promise). if you would like to receive these and have not signed up, please sign up here 

Alexander eNews Sign Up

All for now! 

Inspiring Leith

Since we have been back in Edinburgh things have been crazy! A good crazy! We have been going what seems like non-stop and getting more and more involved on our neighborhood. Specifically we have gotten involved with an organization called Inspiring Leith.

Inspiring Leith is a new & innovative community programme supporting people in the Lorne & Casselkirk areas of Leith to get to know their neighbours better.

Nic has been meeting with the person who is organizing this project for months now and to see how we can get involved. A few weeks ago, we attended a meeting where they unveiled a map of Leith that the community compiled through interviews, sharing stories and gathering information about our neighborhood.

Today we also meet up with them for a monthly park clean up, which happens to be less than one block from our flat where we take Abe to play. We were a bit apprehensive, but they were all so nice and excited for us to be a part of it. We cleaned up for a while, ok Nic helped clean up and I played with two kids and Abe ;) Just had to be honest there. Afterwards, we went to the community centre for tea, biscuits, breakfast rolls and games. We ended up really connecting with them, specifically one family with lots of kids. Abe ended up being a big hit with the kids and they all took turned walking him on the lead.

Also because of the connections we have made, inspiring Leith will be partnering with us and our garden project.  On March 9^th we will be having a clean up (and hopefully be able to plant some flowers) with our neighbours and others involved in Inspiring Leith. We are more than excited to get this rolling and continue bebuilding out realtionships with these people :)

Back in Scotland

In case you haven’t heard the wonderful news, WE ARE BACK IN SCOTLAND! We wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of our sponsors and prayer warriors (both old and new) for your commitments to us and to the ministry that God is doing through his people in Scotland. You truly are a blessing. Listen to how God provided for us through his Church!

We left Scotland for Chicago early November with just over $600 of our $2000 support goal committed. This support goal mark represented the absolute minimum support we would need to stay and work with the Mosaic Church plant (no savings or extra expenses of any kind, etc., but enough to keep us afloat for a good while). To raise about $1,400 in 7 weeks seemed at times like an insurmountable challenge, but we believed and trusted that God would provide. It turns out God did not need seven weeks, he did it in five!! I cannot thank you all enough for investing in the vision and the passion God has placed on our hearts. May you be forever blessed.

So what are we up to now? Well we have hit the ground running. 

Ashley is back at work and everyone there is so glad to have hear back. She was given the opportunity to work from the States while we were support raising which was a huge blessing. Ashley’s boss has been more than understanding in this hectic time. Please pray for the relationships Ashley has with her colleagues ane her time in the office.  It seems that a good relationship is growing between Ashley and Nic and Ashley’s boss and wife. Please pray that we would connect with them and show them Jesus through our life and actions. Also please pray a HUGE blessing over Hutchinson Networks and the business for 2013-they have been so good to us and they deserve to be blessed for it.

Nic is excited to be back and get things rolling with our ministry. He will be reconnecting with the Mosaic leadership and finding out exactly what is needed to move forward and how he can further assist them. He is also reconnecting with our Missional community members and getting caught up on life and the past two months. We are hopeful and anxious to see what God is going to do through these missional communities. Nic is also anxious to get back to work on our garden project and is hoping meeting with other community development partners to see how he can better our neighborhood and Edinburgh in general.

All in all, we are ecstatic to back and cannot wait to give you more updates on what is happening. 

Happy 12-12-12 Day!!!

What an amazing day. This will not happen until the year January 1, 2101 (01-01-01).

Some fun facts about the number 12…

1.      Twelve men have walked on the Earth’s moon

2.      There are 12 pairs of ribs in the human body-normally.

3.      In English, twelve is the largest number that has just one syllable.

4.      Under British law, when you reach the age of 12 you can buy a pet.

5.       There were 12 knights in King Arthur’s round table

6.      On Valentine Day 1990, Michael Jordan’s jersey was stolen before a game , guess what number he wore that day? That’s right, twelve!!

7.      Jesus’ first recorded speaking engagement was at the age of twelve.

8.      A group of twelve things is called a Duodecad

9.      For you who like Math: 12 a composite number, the smallest number with exactly six divisors.

10.  Frank Sinatra’s birthday is on December 12, 1915.

11.  In the book of Revelation the kingdom of God has 12 gates and is guarded by 12 angels.

12.  The Beatles released a total of 12 studio albums.

The number 12 has been a big deal all over the world on this day. However, biblically the number 12 has been significant for centuries. In fact, it is one of God’s favourite numbers -alongside 7 of course ;). It symbolizes perfection or completeness. It is the number tribes God separated his people into, the number of disciples Jesus chooses to walk the closest with him, and is a significant number in the construction of the new Jerusalem. It seems like every time the number 12 pops up in the bible, it is connected to something big God is doing in the world to advance his kingdom. Some biblical scholars even point out that 12 is the product of 3 (being the divine number) and 4 (being four corners of the earth). It is interesting that the combination of divinity and earth creates the perfection or completeness and how this is reflected in Christ’s coming to Earth.

This could just be a silly day to celebrate, but if it is an important number for God, let’s add some spiritual significance. Today marks an opportunity for you to advance God’s ministry in Scotland by partnering with us. What we are asking for is simple. We need 12 people to commit to 12 dollars for 12 months. This would secure all of the rest of the funds we need to return and make it possible to continue our work in Scotland. Don’t let this just be another day, let continue in God’s tradition of adding significance to the number 12.

 If you are interesting in being part of this, you can sign up here-  www.worldoutreach.org/donations

What a crazy three weeks! Update!

We are so blessed. Thus far our visit to the States has been great. We have been able to visit family, reconnect with old friends, meet some new ones and knock out a big chunk of our fundraising.

When we left Edinburgh we needed about $1200 a month to reach out bare minimum budget. Within the three and half weeks we have been in the States we have had about $800-900 committed. We only have about $350 a month to go in order to reach our goal.

We have been so blessed and surprised by the people God has sent to us and who are willing to support our ministry in Edinburgh. It just goes to show how much bigger the Church is than our congregations.  We are excited to see how God is going to move and who he will send our way in our last few weeks of fundraising. Thank you all for your support and prayers. It has been an incredible, crazy adventure thus far. We couldn’t do this without you backing us.

We need to raise the rest of our support before December 15^th, so we can have time to apply for our visa. We only need $350 more a month! If you can commit to a monthly gift at this time, but would still like to support us – one time gifts are a blessing as well. These gifts will go to cover the expense of our visa application – which costs about $2,500.

**If you are interested in supporting us financially please let us know. We would love to grab a coffee or meal with you and talk about what our ministry looks like in Edinburgh and how you can partner with us.

 

 

Support Update Letter

Dear Family and Friends

As you know we have been living Scotland for about 14 months now, and let me tell you it has been absolutely amazing. We love everything about Edinburgh, the culture, the people, the city itself. It is an amazing place to live, we are so blessed. This is where we have made our homeand meet so many amazing people we get to share our lives with.

We originally went to Scotland for Nic to get a Master’s degree for Edinburgh University and hopefully go straight into the PhD program. However our plans changed a bit. After Nic completed his Master’s Degree at Edinburgh University this August, we transitioned into working with a church plant called Mosaic full time. We feel like God has been preparing us for this and has called us to work with this amazing group of people.

In the beginning of September, Nic came home for a short fundraising trip; however we were a bit over-ambitious to think we could raise all of our support in two weeks. We were able to secure about 50% of our annual budget. However because our visa application was rendered invalid, the cost of applying has increased. This means that once we apply for our visa application it will drop is back to 30% of our annual budget. So after much consideration we have decided to come back to the states to fundraise for a couple of months. Once we feel comfortable that we have secured enough funds, we will reapply for our visa from the States.

Our goal is to raise $1,800 a month. As of November 20th, we have about $1,200 a month committed. We have had a few small victories while we have been back in the states, which have bumped our support back up to 65%. While we are excited by the increase in support we have seen already; we also know that if we do not raise the rest of our support, we cannot return to our Edinburgh home unless we have reached our support goal by December 15th.

Would you please consider supporting our ministry in Edinburgh? We are asking for commitments of $25, $50 or $100 on a monthly or quarterly basis. We are also accepting on time gifts. We say this with all honesty, we cannot do this without you. Your donations are the only reason we can stay in Edinburgh and do this ministry, so please let us know your decision as soon as possible if you can help!

Thanks for your prayers and support. We look forward to hearing from you.

Nic & Ashley


PS. While we are in the States you con contact us by email or phone at 1(317) 372 8644