'Which part of Africa are you from?'

This week has involved some interesting questions. Since I landed, I've been questioned constantly with regards to my origins. So far, I've had; Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France and by far the most obscure; Africa. 

That was my favourite conversation to date, it was with a 2nd grader and went a little something like this:

2nd grader: Which part of Africa are you from?

Me: I'm not from Africa, I'm from England! 

2nd grader: Oh, so is it your mom or dad who's from Africa then?

Me: Neither, both my parents are English too. 

2nd grader: Ummmm, so why do you sound like you're from there then?

Me: I don't! I've never even been to Africa! 

I still love the look of confusion on the kids faces when I start to talk and it sounds NOTHING like they expected. Sometimes, I can tell they are more fascinated by the way I say things, rather than what I'm saying but I'm sure they'll get used to me eventually. 

I think it's really great for them to experience different cultures and learn things from a real life English/German/African person as it not only stretches their horizons, but also mine as I explore a different way of living myself. A couple of days ago, I was asked if I had ever seen snow before so I like to think I taught that person a little bit about life in Yorkshire! I was also asked if everyone in England says 'pip pip' and 'cheerio.' We don't live in a time warp! 

Learning Curve

Today, I took it upon myself to ask one of the guys how I am supposed to respond to the question I am regularly greeted by:

'What's up!?'

When I say what's up, it usually indicates that the person is upset or angry so this has caused me much confusion. Apparently, I'm supposed to say 'not much!' Unless that isn't the truth, in which case I am obliged to spill all my true feelings - good or bad as I am politely greeted by a cheery American first thing in the morning. 

I think I prefer 'how are you.'

Love, S x

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What A Week!

Well, my first week in the States is up and I am SO TIRED! It's been so overwhelming but each day, it's sinking in more and more that I am actually here living this! You read about my first day, so I will update y'all on what else I have been involved with.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I will be working with a project called 'Urban Promise' which you can read about right here. I had my first day there on Thursday helping to run an after school group which was so much fun, but when I was helping out at homework club, I realised I have been out of school for too long! I was really struggling to understand the work which was a little embarrassing as I am working with grades 5-10 which is equivalent to age 5-10/years 1-6 in the UK. Oh dear. Anyway, the kids have to call me Miss Sarah which I think is cute. 

We run our drop ins at the centre which have different numbers of kids each time but I especially enjoyed today - I think it went really well and it involved a game of Monopoly which can never be a bad thing. I also went back to the prisons and played cards with the guys in there. They loved my accent and kept asking me to say the British equivalent to everything. One of the other interns got a black eye at our retreat this weekend and they asked if I gave him that! HAHA. I must look pretty tough. 

We also went on a retreat this weekend which I think I mentioned in my last post. It was such a stunning place. I really enjoyed the drive up to Pennsylvania as there was quite a big Amish community there so I saw some of the horses and buggies like I saw on 'Breaking Amish' on TLC Channel! Also, they had a mennonite school and lots of farm type places. It's so strange to see it in real life! We joined with a local Church and some of the guys from Urban Promise. Though our kids didn't respond very well to it, (which didn't surprise me,) we had a wonderful time. I managed to have a walk around the place in our free time and got some photos. 

I thought this barn was very American!

My new horse friend.

It snowed overnight and was SO COLD.

Please expect photos of everything that looks typically American.

I took a walk to take photos and a stranger stopped to ask me if I was lost and wanted a lift. I said no.

I liked this bear.

I liked this sunset too. Also - the times are wrong on these photos but I couldn't  figure out how to change it.  

Yesterday, I went to my first basketball game and surprisingly enjoyed it a lot! As they had got all the times wrong, we ended up watching about 5 games which helped me pick up the general rules! I find basketball a lot easier to understand than American Football but most of the kids who come to the centre seem more interested in basketball anyway, so that suits me! We are going to have a Superbowl party so I will do my usual and prepare the snacks and ignore the game.

The cold weather is supposed to hit here again tomorrow so we have been told to expect a few inches of snow mid-morning. I'm hoping the weathermen here are like the ones back home; always wrong.  Also, for those of you reading in the States - happy Martin Luther King Day! We talked about him in the prisons today..what an incredible man.


Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
1 John 3:18


I hope this update finds you all well!

P.s. I cuddled a baby today.

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My First 24 Hours In The US of A.

I have landed safe and sound in Delaware! My flight was pretty uneventful and I had a really nice apple crumble! The weather is nowhere near as bad as I was thinking, apart from the odd pile of snow here and there, there is little evidence of the big freeze. The whole team came to meet me at the airport in Philadelphia so that was a little overwhelming but really nice. I asked them promptly if they had a kettle in the house to which one of them replied, (this was a genuine question) ‘what’s a kettle?’ That seriously worried me. None of them drink ANY hot drinks. That also worries me. So I am thanking myself for bringing tea and I bought some coffee at the store today. We have a water cooler that also dispenses boiling water so I will be just fine. You can all stop worrying!

 My first 24 hours have been somewhat eventful and I have thrown myself in with both feet. I’m almost unpacked and living with 5 people. I’m actually sharing a room with one of the other female interns, which for those of you who know me well, you will know that this will challenge me! We live right above the youth centre which feels a little alien but I think I will grow to really like it. This morning, I attended my first team meeting which was really exciting as things are about to step up a gear. We are going to figure out how I will fit into that on Wednesday. After the meeting, we went ‘grocery’ shopping and then had my first experience of a drop in at the centre. There were quite a few kids here and I played ligretto for the first time and one of the young people made me switch cards with her because I kept winning and she thought they must be lucky! Halfway through that, I left with some of the guys to experience my first taste of their juvenile justice ministry which takes place in a prison not too far from us. At first I was a little overwhelmed and felt out of my depth but after the talk we had all planned about drugs and alcohol, we broke into groups and played a card game called Spades which I had never played before. On the first hand, I ‘wheeled’ it which meant I won all the tricks! Ha. After rubbing that in, I had some good chats with the guys and am hoping to go back there. We finished up just after 7pm and then headed to Wendy’s for tea and two of the guys filled an ENTIRE tray with a variety of burgers. Welcome to America!

This weekend, we are going on a retreat with some of the young people to a Church in Pennsylvania which means by the end of this week, I will have been in three states. We are so close to so many places and the guys said they’d like to go to Washington D.C. as they haven’t been there yet. I’m excited about that! After all this time of waiting and wanting to be here, it still feels very strange. When you’re working, especially doing something that you love and have a lot of experience of, you could really be doing it anywhere. I guess the difference is that I stand out a lot but it helps that I’m comfortable being me. I think it will take a little bit to sink in that I am living here and doing this! I think this time is going to be really exciting and I want to see how we can all work together as a team to reach more kids after what has been a bit of a crazy time for this centre. The leader here is SO passionate and so honest, it’s really refreshing to be around that again. Tomorrow, I am having a day off to get myself together and have a bit of me time. I am sat on the sofa now watching TLC programs on Netflix so not much is different!! 

I will update as often as I can! 

P.s. I’m on EST time so I am 5 hours behind England and my phone is no longer in use though I think I may be able to hook it up to WIFI and use whatsapp!  
Love, S x

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Time To Go!

Well, after approximately 6 long hours, I am finally packed up and ready for the big move. It's much different than when I moved to University, because that required all sorts of items like pans, dishes, bedding, lamps etc, whilst this is purely clothes and a couple of home comforts. I have managed to fill 2 suitcases and a holdall, hoping that I haven't forgotten anything drastically important. The Yorkshire tea was one of the first things in there and I separated the Earl Grey into another case should one happen to go missing on the journey! I have also stocked up on hats, scarves and mittens just in case the big freeze lasts any longer. If it doesn't stay cold, I will be a little bit gutted because I really want to wear my new bobble hat. 

Admittedly, I am absolutely worn out after a wonderful but busy week at the British YFC Conference. We just spent 5 days in a hotel with a jam packed schedule of great speakers, time to gather together and attend seminars about youth work. It was so nice to hear about a subject I am SO passionate about again, it really set me up to go back in to working with young people again. One thing that stood out to me was what an incredible privilege it was to spend five days amongst people who share that same passion. I was so overwhelmed to be surrounded by people who are willing to better themselves, push themselves, take risks, get up every day at 7am when they're technically off work - all for the benefit of the young people they work with, and for those they have not even met yet. It was so beautiful. 

Youth work is NOT a selfish profession. That was so clearly demonstrated amongst the YFC family this week. We do everything in order that we might reach more young people, the ones who no-one else wants to work with, the ones without a family, an education, self-esteem, self-belief, a purpose, hope. We gather together to learn more from each other about how we can do that better, to make our work wider and more relevant, to build better relationships, to make a deeper and more lasting impact and to love each other more. What better reason to get up in the morning! 

Often, people over complicate youth work. One of my favourite speakers was Mark Oestreicher. He wasn't just my favourite because he is American and has a big beard. He spoke so honestly and gave such good advice that is so applicable to my life and work. If you work with young people, I recommend that you read some of his stuff and great ready to learn some great things! In one of his talks he said this:

'The power of great Youth Work/Ministry can be summed up in these 3 points;

• Showing up
• Listening
• Words of truth'

Just by you, an adult, turning up at a youth group - you could massively impact the life of a young person without even realising it. All you have to do is BE there! Easy as pie. 

Giving a listening ear to young people today in a world where their voices are very rarely heard or taken seriously, can lead to a VITAL relationship in their live whilst they are living a 'relationally disconnected' life. 

Good words spoken into the lives of teenagers who are constantly put down. 'You're so creative, you're beautiful, you're a great friend, you'd make a great leader, you are loved just as you are, you were worth dying for' - these few words could transform a young persons life. It could impact them for y-e-a-r-s to come. You may not even recall saying it to them. 

This totally blew me away. It takes such a small step to get involved with volunteering in any form of youth work be it at your local Church, on mission, in a youth centre, reading to kids in a school or millions of other formats - we can ALL sacrifice even just an hour a week just to have the chance at giving a positive impact in the life of a young person who was worth dying for. Often, it seems like a scary thing - but young people need a whole plethora of adults in their lives to help them make sense of this ever changing world. With the rapid growth of the internet and social networking, levels of face to face communication are always dropping. But we can be the solution! We can be brave, step out and get involved. 

So, can you listen? Can you show up? Can you speak words of truth into the lives of young people? If you can - I would urge you to find out how you can get involved in something local to you that seeks to benefit youngsters. It could end up being transformational for you too! 

It is time for me to find out what life is like for American young people and to figure out how I can best help them in the 6 months that I have with them. I am SO excited to get over there and to practice what I preach! I am so grateful for all those that have supported me to get me there - this is more for them than it is for me and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Please do follow my journey as I leave the comfort of my belovéd Yorkshire hills to work with young people in YFC Delaware. 

It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,

    be compassionate and loyal in your love,

And don’t take yourself too seriously—

    take God seriously.

Micah 6:8

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