Shout to the Lord: Isle of Skye

ISLE OF SKYE 


The Isle of Skye must be one of the most beautiful places in all the world.  We arrived in Skye after two weeks of sharing ourselves and our faith.  We were exhausted but the scenery was exhilarating.  It was a constant reminder of our loving Creator who created such a stunning landscape.  We were constantly aware of our Lord, everywhere we turned.  We each had a mountain top experience when we sat and marveled at His Majesty.  It was truly a memory that we will carry with us forever.

This song played over and over again in my head while in Skye:


"Shout To The Lord"

Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
Let us sing
Power and majesty, praise to the King;
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name.
I sing for joy at the work of Your hands,
Forever I'll love You, forever I'll stand,
Nothing compares to the promise I have in You.

My Jesus, My Savior,
Lord, there is none like You;
All of my days
I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love.

My comfort, my shelter,
Tower of refuge and strength;
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You.

Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
Let us sing
Power and majesty, praise to the King;
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name.
I sing for joy at the work of Your hands,
Forever I'll love You, forever I'll stand,
Nothing compares to the promise I have in You.

Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
Let us sing
Power and majesty, praise to the King;
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name.
I sing for joy at the work of Your hands,
Forever I'll love You, forever I'll stand,
Nothing compares to the promise I have in You.
Nothing compares to the promise I have
Nothing compares to the promise I have in you

Nothing compares to the LOVE of Christ ! 

God Bless, 

Corinne 

Tennis Camp

One week ago, I arrived home after two weeks in Scotland.  My life will forever be changed because my heart is so full for the people and the land.  One highlight for me was our time with the children at tennis camp.  One day, we spoke of friendship.  I asked the children, "what makes a good friend, what qualities do you like in a friend, is your friend always able to talk to you?" I talked about my friendships, our team that traveled to Scotland, my husband but then I talked about my BEST FRIEND, Jesus Christ.  Jesus is always there for me. He's never too busy.  And He even laid down his life for me because He loves me SO much so that we will be together forever.  And, HE LOVES them and all people THAT MUCH.  Jesus said, "Love each other as I loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." John 15:12-13

On another day, we handed out salvation bracelets, which were handmade by Sydney Cook (Josh and Trey's sister).  We then explained the plan of salvation through the colors on the bracelets.

• YELLOW - God loves us and desires a relationship with us.  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16 
• BLACK-   Sin is what separates us from God. We choose to disobey God. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23 
• Red - Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave, paying the price and penalty for our sin. He provided the only way to God. "But God demonstrates His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Roman 5:8
• White- When we become Christian God cleanses us from all unrighteousness and washes us whiter than snow."  But you know that He appeared so that He might take away our sins. And in Him is no sin." 1 John 3:5 "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." Isa 1:18 NKJ 
• Green We must now grow as a believer in all areas of our life. Looking at Jesus as our example.  "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen." 2 Peter 3:18 NKJ 

Join me in continuing to pray for these young folks that heard the Gospel message that they will come to know and love Jesus Christ. 

Day 14 and 15 – The Drive/The Convos/The All-nighter

We got up at 6 am Monday morning in order to pack up and be able to leave the Bed and Breakfast directly after breakfast. Then began the long, arduous trek down through Scotland. We drove about 5 hours down to Stevenston to reclaim some baggage we had left before leaving for Skye. We also got a chance to meet with Pastor Scott Cameron of the High Kirk. Besides seeing the Covenanter’s covenant in St. Gile’s Cathedral, talking with Pastor Scott was the most impacting experience I had in Scotland. It was just a phenomenal way to end the trip. In talking to Scott for 30 minutes, I felt like I had sat through about 4 sermons. This man is brilliant, he knows the Scripture, and there is a roaring fire in his soul for God. Pastor Scott encouraged me to keep the fire that the Lord had kindled on the missions trip burning on my return home. We spoke about evangelizing, living grace-filled lives, prayer, and of course, all that God had done in and through us throughout the trip. I have an immense respect for this Pastor and I envy those who get to hear him preach on a daily basis. But the day was far from over. We had a last dinner with Ian, Elaine, and Paul Lundblad. Paul is training to become a missionary to a middle of nowhere town in Sweden. As part of the training he went to Istanbul, Turkey for 5 weeks. Some of the stories he told us were totally dumbfounding: legs that were too short growing before his eyes, a person who needed crutches to walk for the rest of his life dropping the crutches and walking away, as well as countless divine appointment stories where God put him in the perfect place at the perfect time to minister to people. Not only did Pastor Scott fan the flames of passion that God had kindled in my heart during the trip, but Paul reminded me that the powerful miracles of God are still alive, still active, and still very very real. They only need to be expected. He said that if you expect God to do mighty works and create divine appointments, then throw yourself completely on God without reservation, He will come through. I can’t imagine a better way to be encouraged before leaving for home, my everyday mission field. At this point it was getting late. God blessed us with our first and last gorgeous sunset in Scotland before we left. We decided to pull an all-nighter so we could sleep on the plane-flight home. We got into Manchester, GBR around 4 am. (Only Josh had dozed off and caught some shuteye for a wee bit.) We fought doggedly on, staying awake until our 10 am flight out. (Emma died on an airport café table, but the all-nighter had been completed. We'll give her a break.) The five of us slept for the majority of the 71/2 hour flight home making it the quickest cross-Atlantic flight in history. Upon arriving home, we got to finally see our families at the airport, then went home to crash. We are finally back on U.S. time now and are prepared and inspired to continue our missions here in our own backyard with the people we come in contact with on a daily basis. Once again, thank you so much for your prayers and support during this trip. They were a huge encouragement and were felt daily!
~ Trey

Day 13 and 14: The Isle of Skye

Skye:

For the last two days of our trip we spent in reflection and in awe of God’s handiwork. We drove for hours looking out the windows of our car in absolute shock at the beauty. There were mountains with lochs and valleys with so many different shades of green; it was unreal. The first day we climbed a mountain overlooking Portree. We climbed hundreds of feet above the town and the wind was whistling through our hair. It was totally spectacular. The second day we climbed a mountain overlooking Uig which is a very rugged fishing town. We saw another spectacular view form the hillside. Once again we had great reflection time and it was special to be there as a team.-Josh

Saturday-We then journeyed up to the land of Skye. It was completely God’s country. Everything showed the majesty of the Creator and proclaimed His name. All around were rolling mountains, baaing sheep and wind that whipped through your hair. The B&B we stayed at was absolutely lovely and the lady who owned it was a Christian. At this point I could’t stay inside any longer and insisted on going outside, laying in the green grass, and journaling my thoughts that were overflowing at that moment. I just praised God for His beautiful creation which was all around me. I was so full with happiness and joy at being in Skye and with some of my favorite people, people who make me laugh, who encourage me, and who just want to be my friends. Portree was my next best highlight. The boys started running up this mountain over the town of Portree and I told myself I didn’t want to miss anything even if it would take me forever with my knee. I started trekking up this mountain and was awestruck with all that I could see. When I arrived at the top the view was breathtaking. The town of Portree was small and in the distance, I could see the start of other mountains, and the wind made it hard to hear. The 4 of us (Mrs. Higdon stayed behind) then decided to have a prayer time to thank God for the beauty that we were experiencing. It was truly one of my most favorite moments in my life.

Sunday-I was woken up by the mooing brothers and then we went to Kyle for church. The sermon we heard on Skye really touched me. It talked about how when Jesus did something for someone in the Bible like heal someone, pray with someone, give advice to someone etc. We should think of God doing that. So often God is perceived as the Father who cares for us, but sits off in the distance. Jesus is God, they are one with the Spirit and so often I don’t equate God as being the exact same as Jesus. We decided to journey to the tip of Skye and hike up there. It was a very challenging hike, but Trey piggybacked me up through the really steep parts and I made it. The view wasn’t as amazing as Portree but it came close. We could probably see 60 miles away into the Atlantic Ocean and all the other mountains. Trey and I sat on the side of the hill and journaled about what we saw which was another one of my favorite moments. Trying to put into writing what we saw was almost impossible, but thrilling to do at the same time. Once I got down the mountain with the guy’s help (I couldn’t have done it without them) we went and had the most hilarious dinner I have ever had. Five tired people who want food with one waiter who isn’t very good makes for a very interesting meal.-Emma

Skye was phenomenal!!! Literally, awesome. Words can never explain and no picture could ever capture the rugged beauty and pure richness of the landscape. God must have had a fun time when He drew up the blueprints for the Isle of Skye. The only 3 words I could find to describe the country side were: rugged, pure, and deep. The depth of the colors was so rich and vibrant. It was as if each blade of grass, each stone, and the waves of the sea were proud of where they stood and displayed their simple beauty proudly. The rugged countryside was undefiled by shopping malls, lines of traffic, high rises, etc. The only things on the hills were power lines, fences, small fluffy sheep, and the occasional hairy cow. Our literal and figurative mountaintop experiences on hills over Portree and Uig (two towns in Skye) were both top 5 highlights of my trip. The views were unreal, and knowing that it is my God, my Father, my Lord, my Savior, my King, my Master, my All in All who created what I was seeing and put me there was so very humbling. But apart from the beauty of it all, our time at Skye as a team brought us so much closer to God and each other. It also gave us time to reflect on God’s blessings throughout the trip. Looking back, all those times when God seemed to interrupt our plans, He was really just shaping our trip to look like He had planned it all along. Each time, our plans changed, we could see God’s hand as He allowed us to deepen relationships and impact people. God each taught us different things and each us were able to have time to reflect and discern the ways God was impacting us. Our time at Skye left me amazing, inspired, and totally in awe of God’s goodness, His creativity, and His epic love for me, and humanity.-Trey

Day 12: Bittersweet Last Day in Kilmarnock

This was the last day in Kilmarnock everyone had avoided talking about it. Once again we woke up early and played tennis from 8 to 10 and taught from 10 to 12. At 12 we had to say our goodbyes. We all really did not want to leave. It was so sad to drive off after we had grown so close to all of the people in Kilmarnock. We all were crying as we left. We drove up to Inverness that night and spent the night with Paul and Pauline Tuthill.-Josh

Sadly our last day, but the start of our trip to Skye. I was able to play some good tennis with one of the girls at the club and it felt so good to get out and hit again. It was very sad to have to say bye to all of the Scotland guys. They were tears shed all around. Even though we would be able to keep up with facebook, it wouldn’t be the same. With that we journeyed off the to Inverness to meet our friends. That night we were completely knackered and could barely talk with our sweet friends who let us stay with them. -Emma

It was extremely tough to leave the Boys we had invested so much time in for the last 2 weeks. Everyone was crying. I was of course sad, knowing I would go home, and never have an experience like the last 2 weeks had been. But I was also excited (and still am) when I think about how my life will be different. I am a changed person, more a son of God, and a deeper friend to both my amazing team and the Scotland Boys and my host family, the Taits. I can’t wait to see how God will use this tremendous trip in my life.-Trey

Day 11:Last Real Mission Day

We played tennis all morning long. Today we shared the Gospel with the kids during the tennis camp and we gave them all little Bibles. After the tennis camp we went on a prayer walk in Stevenston and passed out flyers for the High Kirk. Then we weeded at the tennis club. After that we went bowling with all of the teenagers and had a ball. After we finished bowling we drove to the tennis club and played a little bit of midnight tennis so we could maximize our final hours in Kilmarnock. I had so much fun serving, talking to, and playing with all of these guys these past two weeks. -Josh

Thursday-Every year when I have come, there has been a couple who have made an effort with me and treat me as their own daughter since they had no children. On Thursday I had the opportunity to go and have tea with them at their house. For 2 hours we just sat and talked about just about everything, from the state of the world now, the elections coming up, the High Kirk, and my own family. It was precious time to me as they are getting older and I don’t know when I will see them again.  It was great to be able to bring them joy in their old age though. Later in the afternoon, the 4 of us (Mum was teaching) went on a prayer walk to pass our flyers to some of the High Kirk parish. I prayed that the houses would realize that they needed something else in their life, that they will realize that there is a true purpose to their life, that they will see the light shine through us and the church, that God will lead them to go seek Him and that they will revamp their lives. It was special just being able to pray for people you don’t know and who you will probably never see again in this life, but you know that God will take care of them and maybe one day lead them to himself. That night we had a fun last fellowship time with everyone, bowling and playing midnight tennis. -Emma

Once again we were able to work, this time serving the tennis club, with the Boys. As I said before, working with the guys just allowed us to deepen our friendships with them all the more. That was the story of the day. We were able to go bowling with everyone that night. As we said in preparation for our trip, our main goal was to build relationships. We didn’t want to come over to Scotland, throw the Gospel at these people, then leave again. Our desire as a team was to grow friendships that we could continue even on our return home. Thursday solidified the relationships all the more. -Trey

Day 10: Robbie Burns

Once again we played tennis for eight until ten and then we taught the tennis camp for the little kids. At their break we were able to share with them Gospel bracelets, which my sister made, and what they mean. The five colors of the bracelets are gold, black, red, whit, and green. They mean heaven, sin, blood, purity, and growth. Following the tennis camp we went to the Burns Heritage Center. We had a fantastic time experiencing a piece of Scottish history. After the Heritage Center we went to Helen’s house and played a game with them. Then we had an xbox night which was a blast. Each event we had with the Scotland boys was a fantastic time to grow our relationships with them. For the past seven days I was able to read the Bible and Our Daily Bread with our host brother Andy. This time I thoroughly enjoyed and looked forward to every day. -Josh

We got to see the Burns Heritage center which was really cool. Later that night we spent time all together having tons of fun and playing Xbox. Roisin was also there and I was able to talk and laugh with her.-Emma

The weather on Wednesday was immaculate. It was almost like North Carolina fall weather. The sun really brought out the beautiful colors of the Robert Burns gardens and the solemnness of the Alloway Kirk.-Trey