Wonder Voyage 2009 Summer Blog » Wales

Wales Final Thoughts by Laurel and Peter (J2A Leaders)

shawn — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 20:44:25 +0000

On Thursday, we left Ffald-y-Brenin and traveled towards London. We stopped for a “Scottish” breakfast at McDonalds. Afterward we visited a very remote castle called Carreg Crennen. Most of us went down to the dark caves below the castle. Later, we arrived at our bed and breakfast called “The Cottage”. We celebrated our cooking victory at a Thai restaurant across the street.

A journey that began two years ago in a classroom at our church with a group of teenagers who didn’t know each other and two new leaders completed this week on our Pilgrimage to Wales. Before our very eyes my husband Peter and I have witnessed what happens when a community that is built on a foundation of faith in God is set free to discover themselves, one another and God in a land far away from their home. The miracles and moment that unfolded have awed us, inspired us, touched our hearts and given us a strong hope for the future of our young people and our world. If I am to tell you anything, I tell you that God is present and alive in the hearts of our pilgrims. He loves and guides them, humbles and blesses them. He gives them a voice when they think they have none and ears to listen to his voice. He has kept them safe and held them close in the palm of His hand. They return changed from who they were when they left 10 days ago, and I believe all would say for the better. We are proud of the community they are and honored to have had the privilege to guide them on this journey.

Thus ends the Wales blogs…

Welsh History Lesson by Zac (a pilgrim)

shawn — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 08:24:30 +0000

Today we had an early start for our final full day in Wales. First we visited St. Brynach’s” church, a relatively new building on a extremely old churchyard. It contained some grave stones that were so old that they had markings only.

We then travelled to St. Govan’s, a chapel just a couple of hundred feet away from the ocean. This place is also known as where Sir Gwain hid in the King Arthur stories. After sitting on the rocks watching the tide come in, we left for the Pembroke Castle.

The castle was first built by the Normans in 1093 as a timber castle and then rebuilt using stone, and was held by King Henry I throughout his reign. It became the Tudor mansion in 1454 and was the birthplace of Henry VII in 1457. It remained the Tudor mansion until the break of the English civil war in 1642. In 1648, the castle was the site of a key battle toward the end of the war. It laid in ruin until the early 19th century, when restoration began and was completed by World War II.

After lunch, we went to a beach to at least touch the Atlantic Ocean and eat some ice cream. The last place we stopped was the ruins of St. Non’s Chapel, next to some cliffs around the ocean.

We walked around the chapel seven times and tradition of Celtic Christianity, and then moved to near the cliffs for some quiet and meditation. Before returning to the van, many of us went to the nearby holy well.

I believe the most spiritual part of the day involved stones. At St. Govan’s, we each grabbed a stone. Over the last few days, we have been talking about letting go of our burdens and let God help us with them. When we walked out towards the cliffs at St. Non’s, we walked out to spot to be alone and quiet. We used the rocks to represent the burdens in our lives, and we tossed the rocks in the ocean, to represent God taking these burdens from us.

Today was an important part for our pilgrimage as we got to visit many places that have historical significance. Most of the places we went were about one thousand years old. It was a very relaxing day and great for the last day in Wales.

Hill of Angels by Blake (a pilgrim)

shawn — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 08:13:51 +0000

Today was rainy to say the least. With the weather outside giving an all new meaning to the term sideways rain, it seemed our hike to the hill of angels would have to be put off. Surprisingly, when asked to vote on what we should do for the day, an overwhelming majority voted that we hike today, hoping that the ominous clouds held the rain for the few hours our trek would take. Alas, it was not so. When we started off, there was only a slight mist. Mist turned to a drizzle. Drizzle turned to rain. Rain turned to a downpour. With ”gale force” winds, as Peter called them, blew the rain in every which direction. The number of sheep was astonishing to say the least, with entire hill sides covered with white wool (although their leavings were not so majestic). During our hike, Hunter started a soldier impersonation, and in under a minute, everyone was firing their walking stick rifles at enemy sheep and calling air strikes into their water bottles. After about 3 hours into our 2 hour hike in the Welsh bog, we arrived back to Ffald-y-Brenin.

After a sitting around the fire to dry off, Elyse, Zac, Fiona, Astin, and Adam made us a wonderful dinner. The announcement of the winner of the battle of kitchens was a few. minutes later, and after much debate, we tied.

The most interesting moment of today was when we were at the middle of the hike. We were on the angle hills, and it was raining torrential. We were hiding on the dry side of the rocks, which soon was proven nonexistent. The rain was piercing through our jackets and ponchos, and the clouds were streaking past at amazing speeds. As we sat there, Shawn told us the story of the hills original name, fairy’s” hill, and the native people’s equal fear and admiration of the place. It was truly amazing

Bithday Chef by Sam (a pilgrim)

shawn — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:53:22 +0000

Todays my birthday! This morning we left Coleg Trefeca to travel to Ffald-y-Brenin (you gotta love the names). Along the way we stopped to take a hike to what appeared to be a beer waterfall, but was actually water dyed with resin from tree roots.

Surprisingly, we stopped at a grocery store for no apparent reason. We got out of the van and learned we were to divide into teams and cook dinner for the group for today and tomorrow. We had thirty minutes and fifty pounds to buy whatever we needed. The meals were to scored on taste, presentation, and welshness. We bought what we needed and when we finally made it to Ffald-y-Brenin my team was chosen to cook first. After three and a half hours we finished and ate the meal at about eleven. There wasn’t time for anything but sleep after words.

The Gift of Alan by Megan and Adam (pilgrims)

shawn — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:46:38 +0000

Today was fancy church day and we got all dressed up to go to St. Gwendolines, which is considered fairly modern at 650 years old. It was a completely different experience for us, who were all used to large services. We were surprised by the six Welsh women and one very special Scottish man, Alan Charters, in attendance. . He is an unbelievable storyteller, a master at rugby. He led us to the most magical, secretive church we have ever been to.

We also visited two other churches, Llanelieu and St. Patricio. Llanelieu is roughly 600 years old which is considered fairly modern by the natives. St. Patricio is over a thousand. What was amazing about Llanelieu was that it has not been renovated at all.

We first met Alan at St. Gwendolines after he gave a reading. After church, Alan talked with us about how wonderful it was to have visitors. One thing led to another, and he recommended St. Patricio to us. Being completely foreign to the area, we asked Alan to hop in the van and show us how to get there. He excitedly agreed, and we planned to meet later. After going to the second church, we traveled through rough terrain and rain and finally reached our destination. While there, we realized that this man was far more important and amazing then he led us to believe. Turns out he used to be a parish priest, headmaster, professor, choir master, a bomb specialist in the aftermath of world war II, and a rugby player. He is currently a fairly famous author and used to take classes at Cambridge from C.S. Lewis. It was shocking to think that this extremely humble man was such an important and accomplished person. What was even more astonishing was the fact that we probably affected him more than he affected us. He is currently going through a hard time as his wife is seriously disabled. Spending a day exploring with us, telling us all his stories, and teaching us how to play rugby brought him back to his youth and was like a breath of fresh air to him.

All in all, our day with him was so spontaneous, so miraculous that we could not help but believe this was a God given, once in a lifetime experience. Our plans to go hiking were cancelled, our efforts at figuring out rugby failed, and we thought we were all doomed to staying inside. Lucky for us, Alan fell into our hands and we have never been so grateful. After all, he was a role model to all of us. Accomplishing so many things in his life and still staying so true to his faith is not an easy task. While our group picture with him will stick with us for a long time, our memories will live longer. As Shawn said, today was the essential pilgrimage experience, however none of this could have been planed.

Ice Cream Community by Hunter (a pilgrim)

shawn — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:38:00 +0000

On Saturday we visited Hay-on-Wye, a small town in Wales that is said to have the biggest collection of used books in the world. It had a lot of little shops all over the town with books and records. One store named “The Castle” had a total of about 500,000 books!

After Hay-On-Wye we stopped in a town called Brecon. We visited Brecon Cathedral which had a beautiful architectural design. Afterward we explored the town and looked through all the shops.

One experience that was fun, was when we were all trying to find the ice cream shop in Brecon. All of us got lost trying to follow the confusing maps and we circled around the town a dozen times with no luck. We finally found the ice cream shop and had a great time with lots of laughs.

The moment in the ice cream shop made me realize that our group was growing stronger. We were already so much closer than at the beginning of our journey. At that moment, I knew that our group was only going forward from then on.

Coleg Trefeca by Fiona (a pilgrim)

shawn — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 13:48:56 +0000

Yesterday we left Canterbury in the pouring rain . After packing, and going into the van we instantly started talking and playing ‘would you rather’ questions. People’s responses were funny and some were unexpected. The comical nature made the trip go faster.

When we got to Stonehenge I was struck in awe by the precision of the engineering. The structure was surrounded by a gorgeous setting of miles of grass and apart from all the people The place felt peaceful.

After Stonehenge we piled back into the car and made our way to the Coleg Trefeca, our retreat home, for dinner.

Imagine how happy all the girls were when they found out they were getting their own rooms. After that the night went in a blur, we said our prayers and went to bed for some very good sleep.

Alone in the Crypts by Andrew (a pilrgim)

shawn — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:13:56 +0000

Today is our first actual day of pilgrimage. Our first stop, after a traditional English breakfast of eggs sausage beans ham and a tomato half, was the St. Martins Priory. After our visit to the priory we spearheaded straight to the heart of Canterbury where we were given free reign for a few hours for looting and pillaging. Then we gathered and entered the Cathedral and took part in even song and a communion. The evening wound down and we said evening prayer.
What spoke to me today was the historical elements. We learned of how Christianity had been brought to England, how England may have got its name, and the famous story of St. Thomas. St Thomas story was touching and there was a tangible feeling of connection when we were at the site of his death. The history of our church is interesting and engaging especially while we are over where it happened. You can feel where the Romans and barbarians met and see the churches they used and worshipped in.
Our pilgrimage is not just about visiting sites and places. Its also about the spiritual part. Today I learned an important lesson as I spent time alone in the crypts underneath the cathedral. I learned that silence is not the act of not speaking but the act of listening. I learned to listen to God and hear him in all places.

Loud by Elyse (a pilgrim)

shawn — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:09:33 +0000

Hello everyone• This is our first day in Europe and we are just adjusting to the atmosphere. Our first stop was an authentic English[British] pub. Although some of us were adventurous when ordering our lunches, others of us were staying on the safe side[as in food we thought we knew from home!]. Even though this probably doesn’t count as a sign from God, a McDonalds balloon floated down from the sky and came to rest in my hand.
Anyway, the entire story was to tell you that we are slowly adjusting to the European atmosphere/culture (or maybe we are just admiring their accents!).

With this gentle introduction to the local culture, we are hoping that we can focus more on finding God, and not on the different culture(though that still is important). This is our first step to becoming pilgrims and not just loud Americans.Love you guys back home.