Pictured above is the Open Door staff I worked with every Wednesday at the Church. Open Door is a ministry serving people in the Colchester community and it provides a welcoming environment for people to come for coffee and find company. From left to right-- this is Rob, Diane, and Andrew... They have such big hearts for God and serving people. They provided me with so much encouragement, wisdom, and guidance in these few short months. I am really, really going to miss them.
This week we also had a Christmas lunch for the people who come to Open Door. The event included a delicious meal with all sorts of meats, peas, mash, and gravy to feed about 70 people. At the end of the meal, we had Christmas pudding with custard, which was a first for me. It was such a fun time to share a meal with people I have gotten to know fairly well these past few months.
On Thursday night, we had our last meal together as an eMi family. Prior to the meal we all went to a Pantomime--which is a theatrical musical-comedy traditionally performed during Christmas time in the United Kingdom. We went to one on the popular Disney movie Aladdin and it was very entertaining mostly because there were hundreds (if not more) screaming children in the audience who were all singing along and booing the bad guy character throughout the show.. oh to be young again.. haha I kid. Ohh-- so the picture above, you'll see that people are wearing paper crowns. These crowns came from Christmas crackers--which are very popular and traditional in the UK for all Christmas celebrations. The cracker is pulled apart by two people and makes a nice 'POP' sound. Inside, there is usually a small toy, a joke or riddle, and a paper crown to wear. I hope to fit as many of these as I can in my suitcase to share with others when I'm HOME :)
On top of all of these festivities, we were also very busy in the office since it was our last week to finish up everything that we were working on. I am happy to share that we finished THREE design reports this last week: landscaping and toilet facilities for two village slums, a missionary rest home, and a girls orphanage home. So we have been printing, folding, and binding like crazy and now the reports are ready to be sent off to the ministries and clients we served in India. Please pray that the needed funds would come through so that the completion of these projects would bless people and further the work of God's kingdom.
So as you can see a lot has been going on and it is difficult to believe that my time here is coming to an end. As excited as I am to be reunited with my family and friends back home, it will be hard to leave here and incredibly hard to say goodbye to people that have become like family.
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