Brimham Rocks & Pateley Bridge

A day between groups gave us time to venture out to unknown parts.  Quite accidently we landed in Brimham Rocks...a weird and wonderful national park filled with unusual shaped rocks that are remininisent of Stonehenge, except that they are a freak of nature, as opposed to man made.

Geologists have confirmed that the rocks have been made by entirely natural processes, over mllions of years.

Truly like walking through a land invaded by hobbits! 

The birds get a "bird's eye view" from the top!

During the last ice age the ice cap covered what were then mountains.  At times, part of the rock bed stood out above the ice, and were exposed to fierce winds blowing off the ice cap and shaping these creatures.  The result:  a great place for exploring, climbing and imagining!

And if you stare long enough and let your imagination take over the rocks will take shapes and you will begin to see, people, animals, and wonderful castles, knights and all that goes with it.

On our return trip we made a quick stop at Pateley's Bridge where we met this interesting woman -- taught her the first discussion, got her information and sent it to the missionaries.
Gotta luv it!

Furthermore, this place is the home of the oldest sweet shop in Britain -- 200 years(or thereabouts) to be exact. 
Yes, we did buy sweets -- why not!

The sights here never end and we never tire of seeing them!

Group after group!

The groups roll in and out of here and each one is unique.  

We have just received a new group and it is very small -- just 17.  If feels so manageable and so homey after the larger groups we have had through the summer.  Afterall, what is 17 children compared to 60!  And now.....with the new announcement -- the anticipation is that this place will be bursting at the seams......

 

But for right now, we will love what we have.

I did a quick assessment of these 17 and find that 50% of them come from broken homes, many of them very dysfunctional homes -- some that do not even know who their father is and some who have left angry parents because they have chosen to serve a mission.

 

41% are converts

41% are over the age of 19 (and 21) and it is not the same 41%.

 

and an inaccurate estimate of those who have gone through a period of inactivity and rough living would be about 80%

 

Although this is a small sample, it is indicative of what we generally see.

 

There are always a handful in every group who are dealing with belated confessions or experiences of the past that continue to haunt them. Between that and emotional meltdowns, Richard is busy most of every day just helping missionaries resolve issues  (and I might say, he is a master at it).

. 

Speaking of emotional meltdowns.

......I have raised 4 daughters so I know something of the emotional makeup of young women but put them the under this kind of pressure and in a place where they are making so many adjustments and emotions come to the surface.  Don't get me wrong......most of them LOVE each other and do so well, but there are times when the cat fights take over......and oh.....do they know how to fight.  We had two this week that we had to separate into separate rooms and let them cry it out before we could begin to reason with them..... (and sisters don't just cry, they scream!)

But....it happened  as they began to put emotion aside and take counsel and since then they cannot say enough good about each other! 

(When the sisters begin to outnumber the elders, they might need to issue boxing gloves.)

 

I am continually astounded at their circumstances.

For example:

A young man from Nigeria has waited 8 months for his passport and visa.  His father and grandfather are pentecostal pastors and are not one bit happy about him being here, but he has this remarkable faith and has hung in there against all odds.

Another young man has MS.  He takes medication and does well.  But he comes from a little branch of 20 people in Slovenia.  He met the missionaries on the street and immediately embraced the truth they were teaching.

These young people are amazing.  They are teaching a gospel they have barely learned.  But the spirit is powerful and their simple testimonies penetrate hearts. 

 

One of the challenges we always have is learning all their names.  So many of them are foreign and are very difficult to pronounce. We have just been reviewing the names of the next group.  Ask me how we will ever learn these names:

Ekenobaye

Hoxha

Kinikini

Nikitin

Toeta

Tsai

Pledade

Chaprontere

Maljanen

Maffumo

Nebesnii

Nkosi

Pjetri

Riekies

Watebohr

Albanese

and finally one we will master...

Brown-Cunningham

There were be 32 in all from 18 different countries.  Talk about diversity. 

This work is hastening.  Of that there is no doubt!  And it is exciting to be a part of it.

 

 

 

 

 



Hebden Bridge & Heptonstall

Another Preparation Day, another outing....
Last week when we were street contacting with the missionaries we met a woman from Hebden Bridge.  We had never been there.  Actually, we had never heard of it, but Monday we found a walking map that began in this little town and  we decided we would try it.
The weather report was light rain which is so doable.

The trip across the moors included this beautiful site.  These windmills are  owned and operated by Scottish Power and are  an effective way of providing power.

When we arrived at Hebden Bridge we found it was located in the bottom of a ravine.  The drive off the moors and down to the village was beautiful, winding through the forest of trees and ending in this wonderful little town.



The bridge itself is the anchor landmark.  It is 100 years old.

The village has the usual charm of an English town



From Hebden Bridge we walked up the very steep cobblestone road (path) to the tiny settlement of Heptonstall.

The centerfold of the  tiny village is the church.  We just happened on to a little historic ceremony.
The bells pictured below have hung in the church town for 100 years and were wearing out so months ago they took them down and had them all repaired.

The day, in fact the very hour, we showed up they had just unloaded the refurbished bells and were having a little ceremony prior to hanging them in the tower. 

This is the picture that was taken 100 years ago when the bells were first hung.  They reinacted that scene with new people and took more pictures.  There were a smattering of photographers, a group of school children, a few church members and us.  A little bit of history -- and we were there!



You can see that the crowd was not overwhelming.  Perhaps more will show up when they actually lift them into the tower and they begin to ring!!!

This graveyard, located on the church grounds, is home to 15,000 - 18,000 graves.  It is what you call "wall to wall" burials and who knows how many share the same grave.  I hope no one gets trampled on resurrection morning.

Yep, this is Heptonstall!  A church and a postoffice.  Can't buy a quart of milk in the town, but who needs it!

The view of Hebden Bridge in the valley below!

We were stiff and sore for the walking and climbing but it was worth it.  What a day!