Greetings,
I have been meaning to write my first blog post for weeks now but kept putting it off because I didn't feel like I had much to write about. So here it goes my first blog post; I have been living in Edinburgh for four weeks now and I am loving it! The weather is amazing, the views are breathtaking and the people are very welcoming.
For the first two weeks I had the opportunity to do some sight seeing and take in the various tourist attractions in Edinburgh while I was getting settled in for my year abroad. It was a lot of fun exploring the city and posted on my blog are some pictures I took over my first couple weeks.
During my time in Edinburgh I will be volunteering at Bethany Christian Trust. This organizations mission focuses on relieving the immediate suffering and meeting the long term needs of homeless and vulnerable people in Scotland. I will be placed at one of the three projects, called Bethany House. Bethany House is an Emergency Resettlement Unit and it accommodates 24 men and 4 women in 6 cluster flats (apartments). September 2nd was my first day volunteering at Bethany House. Since then, I've completed the long two weeks of training. Now, in Stirling Monday 23rd I will be working on my own for my first full 12 hour shift. I can already tell that working at the house will be very rewarding work and so far I am really enjoying my volunteer experience.
One of the things that I like best about the volunteer work so far is how the Bethany House openly identifies as a Christian Organization, meaning that your whole work day is based around religion. One example being the start of every 12 hour shift. Before you even begin working you have a devotion and group prayer to prepare you for the day. During the devotion and group prayer staff take turns opening up the bible and choosing a verse or story that they want to read for that day. Then after the devotion there is a time for prayer were the staff team as a whole prays for both the residents and staff. Both of these things were and still are very new to me because I have never been asked to open a bible or pray for people at work before. However, after completing my first day of volunteering I went back to my flat, sat down on my couch and thanked God for the opportunity to work with such an amazing group of people. When the staff around you all day at work are openly christian you can just feel the love and a calming feeling in the air. Also, just knowing that all the staff share a common goal of wanting what is absolutely best for the residents at the house is an amazing feeling and a great work environment.
The past week I have been in in Lichfield England at Whitemoor Lakes Retreat Centre. The retreat was for all Time for God volunteers I got to meet people from all over the world. People from Germany, Hungry, China, Africa and also the United States. This Retreat was an amazing experience and here are some pictures to illustrate how fun my week was.