New beginnings
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 19 months since we’ve moved to Glasgow! After spending a year with Rupert working as a veterinarian, and Jen working as a church secretary and a hearing screener at a local hospital, we’ve changed things all over again to start a new phase.
It all began one Sunday afternoon having lunch with our minister and his wife. You will hopefully know of our desire to one day move to the mission field and serve God how He would choose, wherever He would choose. We decided that with this desire on our hearts, we wanted to discuss how to get the ball rolling on the many things we needed to do to equip us to serve.
Our minister’s advice was nice and straight forward - just get going! He suggested that Rupert could take a part-time position at our church - St. George’s-Tron in Glasgow - alongside studying preaching and teaching at Cornhill Scotland (a course aimed at equipping church leaders specifically for expository preaching). Working as a ministry apprentice alongside the course would mean that Rupert could get a lot more out of the course by combining it with valuable teaching and ministry experience. It also gives him more of an opportunity to work alongside our church before they would send us into the field.
So, in September, Rupert finished his job as a veterinary surgeon and began studying. The rest of the week, he runs the college and career ministry at the Tron. The central part of that work is Release the Word, a 3 year bible training program for students and young workers, aiming to teach them how to handle the Scriptures for themselves. Jen leads a table of girls at RtW, so Rupert can get plenty of honest feedback on his talks! This year, we’ve been going through a Bible Overview, showing how from Genesis to Revelation, the whole Word of God tells the clear, coherent story of the gospel of Jesus.
In addition to helping lead the studies at RtW, (and learning the new ‘language’!) Jen has been very blessed to be given a position as a staff nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Yorkhill Hospital in Glasgow. After being unable to practice for 16 months, she is excited to be back in nursing and is being challenged by the new environment. While America and Great Britain do things differently, it’s good to see that nursing is nursing wherever you go!
If you are wondering what we will be doing once Rupert is finished with Cornhill... that is a good question! At this point, we aren’t sure ourselves! But we can clearly see God using this time working with students and our local church to stretch us. And we seek to be faithful in serving Him here and now.
We pray you have a wonderful and blessed Christmas and a New Year filled with joy!
With Love,
Jen and Rupert
There are so many fun and crazy things that happen when you move to a new country. And it just wouldn’t be a true letter from us if we didn’t share some of the things that happens when you throw an American into another land. (Well, these are mostly stories from Jen!)
You’d think we speak the same language!
One of the most surprising things when moving to the UK is the reality that we do not speak the same language, even if we both technically speak ‘English.’ Instead, there is a whole new vocabulary you have to learn, just so that others can understand you (and hopefully not mock you every time you open your mouth!). So underwear becomes pants, pants become trousers; the bathroom becomes the loo and toilet paper becomes toilet roll. Cell phones become mobiles. Stews become casseroles, and casseroles are something suspiciously French! (Just as a side note while we are on the subject of food... it was not until I moved to the UK did I realize that the everyday cheddar that I would buy in the States is only that lovely orange color because it’s dyed! I had no idea until I was looking for cheddar amongst a whole plethora of white cheeses! I was so confused, until my wonderful husband finally corrected me!)
Go from everyday language and grocery shopping to working in a hospital, and that is a whole new level. I had to laugh one day when, during a conversation with a doctor, he corrected my abbreviation of the word, ‘discontinued’. When I apologized and explained that I am still learning, he laughed and said that it was nice. ‘It’s like you’re from a Canadian ER show!’ Now, that is where I had to correct him!
That has often been the case since I’ve moved here. Even though I have been determined to keep my American accent, I also have a funny way of picking up the accent and mannerisms of people around me. I blame it on my Dad, moving us all around the country every couple of years as kids (California, to Louisiana, to Boston, etc). It is because of this, that I am accused of being from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and even Northern Ireland. It’s a fun game to play with people, but can be upsetting to be reminded every time I call home that I’m losing my American accent!
Oh, and did I say that I can now drive on the wrong side of the road! Though Rupert still has to warn me not to run into the curb...
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
