God is good! :)

Friends

Just wanted to inform you that our prayers have been answered: Randell's Visa has been approved and all five Visas are making their way to Denver as I type this up!

Sergei and Tanya of Passport Visa Express have been a huge help in the process of getting our Visas as quickly as possible and if you ever need help with Visas, please contact them.

I want to share a little story of the crazy way God works:

1 piece of Randell's information arrived at Passport Visa Express today while the rest was already at the Embassy, waiting for this 1 piece. The PVE agent carried it to the Embassy to drop it off to be added to the packet already there, which would then be processed within the next few days.

When the PVE agent arrived at the Embassy and explained the situation, the Visa person decided to go ahead and process it right then and there, bypassing the pile of other packets to be approved. Randell's Visa was approved, an email sent to him, which he forwarded to me. The Visa was picked up by the PVE agent and is now winging it's way to Denver!

God is so good! :)

I don't have the picture from Randell's Visa but here are the photos from the rest of the team's:

Struggle

Hey I have been told to write on here and so I thought I would give a little introduction about my self. My name is Tyson, and I live in Denver. I have been going to Scum of the Earth Church for a few years now and really enjoy the community that it has allowed to be involved with. I live in a house with several other people who go to Scum and through that house we are trying to do a lot of ministry. We are seeking together to serve the neighborhood that we are in and that Scum is in seeing that our house is just a few blocks away from the church. I really enjoy the idea of living in the same neighborhood as your church and being able to walk to church. Serving this neighborhood means serving everyone in it. That includes the people who own the house down the street, the people who rent the apartment across the street and the homeless person who sleeps behind your dumpster.

That’s where this trip and my life line up. In Glasgow we are going to be working a lot with the homeless and it will be an invaluable experience that will allow me to be a better servant to people who live in my neighborhood. I fully expect it to be tough and challenging. But God has been teaching me a lot about challenge lately. I used to run with the phrase “pursue something till God closes the door.” But recently it seems like God has been “closing doors” just so that I can learn to kick them in. I read a quote the other day from a Jesuit missionary named Father Lallemant who said “we must be weary when things are going too smoothly. That is the time when no progress is made.”

The build up to this trip has had a lot of struggle. We got surprised with expensive visas and have somewhat of hard time fundraising. But though it God has been constant and I feel as though I am at a place of greater reliance on Him because of the hardships and stressfulness in this time than I would have been if things had gone completely smoothly. It feels as though it’s been a testing process for what God has in store.

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us and has been supporting us in this process. I am incredibly thankful to the community that has been surrounding us and lifting us up. Please continue to do so as we go a week from tomorrow, and spend 28 days serving God in Glasgow.

Prayer team letter

Friends

Just wanted to give you an update on where we are with our trip to Scotland: We've had to get Visas to get into Scotland to do the work God is calling us to do which was not planned for. 4 of the 5 of us have our Visa and we are waiting on the fifth which should be completed Wednesday. Please join us in praying that Randell's Visa comes through with no hitch and all Visas make it into our hands in plenty of time.

We had a great meeting yesterday speaking out our doubts and fears to through which we were able to seek God, encourage each other, and build a level of unity which will be an incredible benefit to as we seek to to minister in Scotland. I believe that this unity is what Jesus talks about in John 13:35. Please pray with us that these fears and doubts would build faith and persistence in us and that this unity will grow so God can use it to glorify and draw people to Himself.

Finally, we are still raising support to be able to do all we want to while in Scotland! God is so good, having already provided so much and we trust that He will continue to provide for us! Please join us as we praise Him for His provision and generosity!

Thank you so much for your prayers and support in this!

...ben mercer

Finally!

Hey friends!

Just wanted to update this so it's got the new information:

Tyson Rasmussen, Amanda Morley, Randell Cameron, Ali Goossens, & Ben Mercer are heading to Glasgow from 6 June 'til 4 July 2011 and we're so excited! As of right now, we know we'll be working alongside Glasgow City Mission, hanging with the folk at Glasgow Mosaic church and Stuart Gilmour and the crew from To Write Love on Her Arms ~ Scotland.

This will be the place to check up on us to see more about what's happening and what we're experiencing. Please keep us in your prayers as we seek to serve God and the people of Glasgow!

Thanks!

...ben mercer

It's about time

I have a hard time getting motivated to send out letters to supporters and to write a blog about all that has happened. Most of you know that we did not make it to Scotland and if your not aware of that then please read the other post for that information I would feel like I was repeating what has been said already.

The reason for my lack motivation is to be blunt I just don't feel like thinking about it all. This was going to be my first mission trip and I was going with people I care about and to a destination I have always wanted to visit and in the past year have decided that I was going to live. It was perfect trip on so many levels. But God had different plans for me. Plans that have started to be relived but in my eyes I feel that going would have paid out more for me.

This is not to say that God has not blessed me coming back, he had made it possible for me to go to Portland to see a friend of my Girlfriends get married plus a couple of extra days to see the city. Along with a few other things that would have not been possible if we had gotten to Scotland.

I have start work again and that was probably the hardest thing to get organized since I been back since my boss went on vacation about a week after I got back so thankfully a few co-workers gave up a shift for me to work and it all worked out. I do have to wait about a week before I get a normal paycheck so for most of June I have had to be a penny pincher witch is a good thing I supposed. I’m quite amazed that I haven’t run out of money yet.

Along with getting back to a normal life during a time I wasn’t supposed to be here, I have been planning on proposing to Danae my girlfriend. Although this was planed be fore I was going to go to Scotland I did not have a set time, place or pretty much anything worked out. I’m excited for this new chapter of my life to begin. But since the plan is to become missionaries it’s a little worrisome that our first experience of the mission field together (and yes she was on the team) turned out the way it did but God is in control and I just need to trust him that he will prepare us the way we need to.

That pretty much sums up my life right now. I hope to go to Scotland with scum someday just not likely in the next year.

Reflections on Detainment and other stuff

Last week, I said good-byes and fare-thees and figured I would wrap up the responsibilities I had and just put things on hold for a month. I notifiied my bank; I shut off my phone. I gathered gifs for baby showers, birthdays, and weddings, and divied them out to messengers. I am usually not this prepared. I worked in advance at the job, and delegated to coworkers that didn't have to be so nice to me, but nonetheless were. I wrote out bills and spoke with my housemates. My room was occupied and others were given keys to use my vehicle while I was gone. Plenty of hugs, lots of love, and "see ya, see ya- in a month." Oh, and will you water those plants?

Last week, four others and I flew to London with a desitation of Scotland, and the intention to work with Glasglow City Mission and other initiatives. Many, many of you supported us in countless ways. We didn't make it. We got to Heathrow Airport and made it through: one-on-one interviews with immigation officials, a 13 hour wait in the holding rooms (complete with offerings of sandwiches and hot teas from a free "vending" machine), and rides in vans with metal bars and hard plastic walls. Our passports were taken away, our belongings locked up... and we waited. Meanwhile, others worked extremely hard to make our 'stay' as pleasureable and comforting as possible. We laughed with immigration officials, escorts and fellow detainees from England, Russia, and Australia. The urgency in our voices was met with prayer and counsel from people in the United States and Scotland. We waded through the process with anticipation. We hoped it would have been turned out differently; we were sent back to the United States. Our passports were returned to us when we reached US soil. Immigration regulations had changed in March, and we did not have the proper sponsership to be welcomed into the UK.

This week, we greeted and surprised many of those who had helped to send us. More hugs. And still, we waited. Would sponsership come? We realized it was a much longer process than originally anticipated. It would take longer to apply and to show forth results, and it would cost some money, for sure. So, my bag stayed packed, and I bought food for a day at a time. I went back to work for a couple days, and what could have been quite an awkward situation was instead a true welcoming back. We set a Thursday as the date as a team, so we would either be on a plane on Thursday or regrouping for further possibilites. Thursday night, I went grocery shopping in Denver. This time I bought food that would last more than a week; we were not on a plane. I was o.k. Friday we met as a team--not in the Scot's Highlands--but in a fabulous little coffee shop in the Highlands of Denver. ;) The team may be heading out once more for the much-awaited destination of Glasglow, Scotland; however, I will not be able to join.

Dude, I took a 48 hour trip. It was insane. It is surreal being back. My wallet is still filled with Scottish currency, and a stamp from customs marks my passport. I guess it was real, afterall. Frankly, it was frustrating and difficult. It was uncomfortable and stretching. Yet, it was an adventure. There was a lot of giving up control and persevering in hope, throughout. It was about encouraging a team, when you, yourself had no idea what was going to happen. It was not scary, but it was a stripping of our rights and status. It was a character-refining trial that reminded us that our own itineraries are mere proposals for tomorrow. I hope I managed to love on people, although the people we met were not the intended audiance. Good stuff happened, but I will probably have more insight a few months from now. :)

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. xxx

Love,
Jasmine

Enjoy this hour. "Continue on and have fun."

Why Scum is not currently in Scotland...

In March, the UK regulations for international volunteers changed & now a sponsoring business or charity is required. However, when this changed, Immigration didn't tell any UK charities or businesses, so all kinds of people have been refused entry into the UK: missions teams, students, interns, etc. Needless to say, none of our friends in Glasgow knew about this which is why I'm now in the US.

Over the course of our 12 hour detention in London-Heathrow Airport, we learned this about the new regulations:

A UK Sponsor is needed to get into the country. What this entails is a business or charity that has gone through certain steps to become a registered sponsor which takes about 6 weeks. This sponsor then requests a certain number of slots which they can fill with people who will be entering the country as unpaid workers connected in some way to their charity or business. When the sponsor finds the people to fill those spots, they input the name & are given a number. This number is then given to the person who, in turn, brings that number with them to the UK, presents it to the UK Immigration people & whisks blissfully into the glories of volunteering in the UK.

There is a .pdf with 611 pages of sponsoring organization found here: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/employersandsponsors/pointsbasedsystem/pbsregisterofsponsors
If you know of any UK businesses or charities & would be willing to see if they are on the list & contact them on behalf of us to see if they'd be willing to chat w/ me about trying to figure out a way to help us get into the UK & eventually to Glasgow, it would be so much appreciated. We would be willing to donate some time to working w/ them if that would be a help to them.

Please be praying for us as we seek to return to Glasgow & figure out what God's wanting to do w/ the us in the midst of all of this. Thanks for reading!