Ionan Thoughts (an iconoclast's perspective)

by Mike Sares

I'd like to be a Christian mystic, but I am not.

We arrived Tuesday afternoon, the 14th of July, onto the Isle of Iona. This is where St. Columba started his monastery. Born in Ireland in AD 521, he came to Iona in 563 AD with twelve other monks. By the time of his death in 597, Columban monks began to spread the word of Christianity all over what is now Scotland. At the community’s zenith, the monks on Iona produced The Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript of the four Gospels known as a masterpiece of the Middle Ages.

There are stories about St. Columba’s miracles and visions. I figure that some of them are true. Jesus is supposed to have told the saint about his impending death days in advance, and Columba is reported to have seen the angels coming for him. As a result, this island has been known for centuries as a "thin place” — somewhere where the boundaries between heaven and earth are paper-thin. I doubt that this island is more holy than anyplace else on the earth; but then, I am no mystic.

As I toured the Abbey and listened to the pre-recorded tour guide, what struck me the most was how superstitious people became after St. Columba’s death. Warriors and kings wanted to be buried on the Isle of Iona because it was deemed “holy ground.” Columba’s bones became relics and were used as good luck charms by armies going into battle. I don't get it. Jesus goes with his people wherever they go. Whether he is with Mother Teresa in the slums of Calcutta or the staff at the Glasgow City Mission, or with St. Columba on the island of Iona – it is Jesus who makes a place or a task holy. It is His presence in his followers— “his temple, or his Body" (1Corinthians 3:16, 12:27) which causes something to be set apart for His righteous purposes.

Iona has become the home of the Iona Community which appears, from its literature, to be more concerned about social justice and world peace than faith in Jesus Christ. The island has also become rather touristy. I have seen people from several different countries walking about the island, going from the Abbey to the museum to the shops which sell everything from religious jewelry to sweatshirts. Still, Iona is a stunningly beautiful place and we’ve had two glorious days of clear weather with plenty of sunshine – a rarity during our time in Scotland. The beauty of this island is not lost on me. Inside the hotel as I write this, I praise God as I look out my bedroom window at the blue-green ocean and the hills of the Isle of Mull across the small channel which separates it from Iona. Even sailboats and ships fill me with wonder as I watch them gracefully move, their white foamy wakes fanning out behind them.

I am grateful for the time of rest away from our taxing schedule at the Glasgow City Mission. I am grateful for the loveliness that is this part of Scotland. I long for closeness with Jesus in both places. May my expectations match his will for me in both places. May I see him in the disheveled faces of the clients at the mission as much as in the rugged allure of this Scottish island.

13 July 2015

Hello everyone! I'm on blog duty today, and I'm just a wee bit early (normally we send the blog out that night, but I'm not sure when I'll be at a computer today). I'm very thankful for Kerry at the Caffe Nero just down the street, cause she loaned me her library card so I can get on the internet at the Hillhead Library! She's awesome!
Well, yesterday (Sunday 12 July) was a jam-packed day. Amy and I left the flat at 8:15 to go with Steven Green and Sara Christie to Sara's church in Kilmarnock. Sara is music director there. We enjoyed meeting the locals and hanging out for breakfast at The Coffee Press in Kilmarnock. There is also a cool graveyard with some headstones of Covenanters (people who brought Protestantism to Scotland).
Then we went home to rest, and back to church again, this time at Glasgow Mosaic (3 pm service). I led worship, and Danae played drums and sang, and Mike Sares played guitar and sang backup! It was so awesome to play with these 2! God was definitely present!
That evening, the rest of the team went with Stuart and Lynsey back to the flat and I met up with Rachel Peebles, an old friend from Glasgow 2 years ago. Rachel is a long-term missionary in Bolivia (she just got back from a year-long trip) and it was awesome to hear what she does over there, with women and children, different age groups.
Today is a beautiful rainy day in Glasgow. Sure glad I bought that raincoat! We have today off to connect with people, and then tonight we do the evening meal. I bought lots of snacks and food for the trip to Iona tomorrow (6 hour journey by train - ferry - bus - ferry). I know it will be a restful time on the island for the three days that we are there!
That's it for now. I'm about to get booted from my session at the library. We love you all! Thank you for your prayers! - Matt Kingham

A scene from a night at the Glasgow City Mission

by Mary Sares

I am a bit concerned by a client who is crying and looks like she is under the influence of drugs as she is escorted into the room. As she settles in a corner, I look her way.

I am under the influence of God's compassion. I can go to her. As I sit by her, she begins moving into me. Before long her head is on my shoulder. As we talk, she struggles to relate how she came from Dundee a couple days ago. She does not want to return because her family is there. She does not want to be with the man she was with last night. Her head slumps on my lap. Within seconds she is asleep.

We are moved into an office. A dispatch comes to interview her for an appointment for the morning. There are no spots at the shelter tonight.
Her face shows disappointment. She says she does not want to be alone.

Trying to eat a sandwich and drink soup out of a cup, she hears the news that seems difficult to me, let alone her in her condition. She should make an eight o'clock appointment at the agency.

It is then that her eyes land on a wooden cross which is leaning against the wall. She stares at it. Her eyes are fixed. "What is that cross for?" The others leave. "What is that cross for?"

"For us to see. Would you like to see it close up?"

"Yes."

Then I am a witness to one of the most beautiful scenes I have ever seen.
She puts her arms around the horizontal beam so that her face is exactly at the "crux" of the cross. She is hugging the wooden cross. With tears and cries she utters, "I haf nuhin'. I need ya." She is staring at the wood as if Jesus is really there.

It was heartbreaking to watch her head off into the night with a sleeping bag, raincoat, and toiletries - and with prayer for her well-being.

Are we home yet?

(by Amy Lien)

Last night all the different body parts on my body said, "Stop! No more! We want sleep!" (Namely my the pounding in my head) So, I found myself walking back to the flat (apartment) and speeding past the women and men, some of them clients of the mission, who were asking for money. I felt weary and tired and spent.
After falling into bed, I realized that my body was getting sick and needed a solid rest. I called Mike and told him that I could not make it for the evening meal.
I am glad that God translates our feeble whimpers. Here, unable to turn my longings into words, I knew I was talking with my God.

"How long, Lord?
"It sure does feel like plodding along.
I'm tired.
I know you redeem ALL things.
This hurts.
These memories poke and prod at me.
Are you enough?
HOME. I want. I need.
Hold me.
Where is this taking us?"

I can't begin to tell you all the thoughts I had. Yet, here in the jumbly mess of these thoughts, He remained and spoke. It came in the form of me checking my Instagram account and finding that a friend (she is also the daughter of a close friend of mine) had posted a picture of me and her father, Alex, who recently died. In the photo we had re-united after not seeing each other for a long while; he had grabbed me into a big hug, his eyes closed with a face of such love and peace and knowing that it said that we were "home." Alex was someone who "got me." When I was at university (college) in Tennessee, he drove his family and me back there from Mississippi to help me set up my apartment which was off-campus. He turned it into a family vacation. I had no furniture and no tools to set up my apartment—and he had both. He rented a U-haul and got a couch and chairs and a kitchen table and lastly a tool box (which he filled up) and told me that "Every woman needs a full set of tools." He single-handedly set up my apartment and set up a "home" for me.

Since then, I have had many peoples' help in setting up places of refuge or "homes" for me. They have come in the form of people opening up their own homes to me for a time. I have always longed for home. Even when I have had a place with four walls and a roof. Consistently, in every place, God has told me that He alone IS home. Over time, the revelation God has given to me about home has traveled the longest distance that any human can travel—the twelve inches it takes to get from my head to my heart.

Many people will say that we are not home yet. Our home is when we "fall asleep" or die and see our Saviour face-to-face. That is true (as Hebrews talks about that) and yet we have been given a home that far outweighs anything on this earth. It is now. It is in Jesus. He is our bread and our living water. He is alive and well and we can daily come to Him for real bread. Real water. In contrast, we can KNOW in our knower how good He really is. "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good." When I come to this table and eat, I am home. I am in this world but not of it. I am home now. My source is not the world, but in something that remains even after I die—Jesus.

We have a home, that has not been set up by human hands, but rather by the maker and giver of all things that are good and right.
Let us set our eyes on things above and not on earthly things, beloved; let us grab hold of what has been set before us and not lose hope. Home is guiding us. And even though we may stumble, we will never hurl headlong, for He holds our right hand.
Alex is home now with the Father and yet he was home even when we embraced back when that photo was taken. Jesus was and IS so near. That picture and expression spoke about what I felt when I was near Alex—when I was near anyone who was or is eating from the Source. It was a recognition of what IS. Home is among us, for He is the head and we are His body.

Crazy Times

(by Mike Sares)

Thursdays seem to be interesting in lots of weird ways.

I'll mention the most boring part first. This morning was time for me to nail down logistical details for the whole team. Next week, we take a retreat to an island called Iona, off the coast of Scotland. More on that later. I had to make reservations and confirm where we were staying. I also made travel arrangements for the team after we are done here in Glasgow. A couple of us are going to London – that would be the Lammers, who are checking out missionary opportunities with Greater Europe Mission agency – and then the rest of us are heading to Cambridge. Believe it or not, the least expensive method of travel is by airplane.

As soon as I was finished with this, I went to help a young man from the Ivory Coast sign up for an English as a second language class at Kelvin University here in Glasgow. We had some problems with the college's website. There were several failed attempts—and when you're working with a guy who speaks very few English words, each step is a slow one. Tried to save his work as best I could and we will try again tomorrow.

For some team-building, I took the team to a Greek restaurant that I found off of George Square. The food was excellent, except twice during the meal the fire alarm went off and everyone in the whole building had to be cleared out. Fire trucks arrived. Firemen came into the building. Twice. Our half-eaten food was graciously removed by the restaurant and then replaced with whole new plates of food. It was like getting one and a half meals for the price of one. Our waiter was from a village in Crete near to where my grandparents came from.

As soon as we went back to the mission, things began happening there as well. There was a client sitting outside on the sidewalk with a cut on his very bloody head and across his nose. It was obvious he had been in some kind of a fight. I entreated him to go to the hospital, but he would not (since he was drinking and probably drugging, he thought that he shouldn't go in). I told one of the GCM staff workers, Simon (on his first night as the guy in charge) who then called Glasgow City "street workers." Two men came and interviewed the man, getting his information. While they did that, they asked me to have a staff member call for an ambulance. When I went back to talk with the client and the street workers, I was directed to get a bag of ice for the man's head per instructions from the ambulance which was going to be dispatched. I walked back over to the mission and looked on a few floors for ice – but could not find any. I ended up grabbing a bag of frozen brussel sprouts, wrapping it in a towel, and then taking that back down to the injured client. Soon after, the ambulance arrived and the EMTs were able to convince the bloody client to go into the ambulance. After a while, they then they left for the hospital.

To top it off tonight, one of the older male clients (a regular) complained to me about being "bullied" by another client—a younger, muscular foreigner—during the meal. He left, angry that this had happened. Maybe it did. Maybe it didn't. I don't know because I was outside attending to this other situation. Mary says that there are some women clients who will not come into the women's portion of the evening meal because they are not getting along with some of the other women clients who are at the mission as well. So, there you go. We are all the same. It could be a country club, a church, or a rescue mission.

Pictures from the Greek Fire Drill

The GCM staff and volunteers meet before the evening meal.

The day that a great man was born j/k

Hello all,

This is Michael Lammers today and I'm glad to give you the blog today because today is my birthday. I'm 29 years old today, still wearing the wallet chain like I was 28. (points to people that know where that quote is from).

I usually don't make a huge deal about my birthday but everyone here have been wishing me a happy birthday since I gotten here in the morning. As far as what I'm doing for the day of my birth. well its been what we came here to do. that is to help out with clubs and in the evening the meal at GMC. I was helping out with the club called Urban. It is mostly just a drop in activity time where clients can hop on the computers, work out in the gym, or just hang out. Danae was with me and we had a good chat with a couple of clients about our culture and theirs here in the Scotland. I couldn't think of a better way of spending my birthday.

We have some time off before we start preparing for the evening meal. So the team is out getting odds and ends sorted most of it is just little things but Danae and Amy are getting what they need to lead a cooking class. They will be making a Mac-'n'-cheese. As Mike would say the Scots love carbs and cheese so if they don't have Mac-'n'- cheese they will love it.

I'm looking forward to finishing off the week strong with GMC.

Thanks for reading
Michael Lammers

p.s. Amy even brought with her some decorations and the GMC staff put up a little banner all for my birthday. I feel so blessed today.

7 July 2015

Hey everyone, Matt here. We've been in Glasgow for one week already! Amazing! Today we were off all day until the evening meal. Amy and I visited our local Caffè Nero (coffee shop ) right up the block (which we've done every day, and we know all the employees by name). We chatted with Lorraine and Kerry, employees, and Kerry loaned me her library card so I could access the computers at the library! So generous!
After that, Amy and I parted Ways, and I took the underground to Stereo for lunch. They have a cool eco-friendly vibe, and great healthy food!
Then I went over to the mission to post the prayer requests, and chatted with the staff. Then we met with our mentors. Joe Campbell is my mentor. He's a great guy who I connected with in 2013, and he is such an encouragement to me, as we struggle with similar temptations and we can encourage each other in our Christian walk. I love Joe! Then we headed back to the mission and had devotions and debriefing with the team before the evening service.
The evening service was packed! Around 134 men and 25+ women! We ran out of soup, and seats! I was so happy to see 2 clients I remembered from 2 years ago, and they were so happy I remembered their Names! We had a great team, with Joe Campbell leading, and I chatted with a bunch of folks. My job was "runner" for the door (to-go) orders. Boy that kept me on my toes! But I was glad for the fast pace.
Afterwards, Amy and I relaxed at a beautiful pub called Stravaigin. I'm attaching some photos of our lovely day!





7/8/15
3 photos
Scumkids In Scotland's photos
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