Elliotts Abroad – Our Family Adventures Overseas

This is a little smaller newsletter (Newsletter – 2009 – 05 – v1 – i5). As you all will read, we have had a lot to occupy us in the last couple of months. We are so grateful to have seen many of you this past month as well. Because of the finances, it will probably be over a year before we are able to visit again. But the internet enables us to correspond via email and you can also call us as well.

God has been very good to us in our finances this month. Because of the favourable exchange rate, we have received additional money from my student loan. We plan on keeping this money aside to earn interest on so that we can simply pay it right back when it’s due – however it provides a little financial security in the meantime.

We covet your prayers, particularly in these areas:

• in sharing the gospel with our non-Christian friends and the strangers we encounter on the streets
• for Colin’s upgrade this month – an essential step forward in his doctorate
• for Sadie’s teaching – that the children would be given the gospel and for her coworkers to be affected by God through her
• for increased faith
• for our friends who are having children in the next few months (and who have now just had children)
• for travel mercies as we vacation with some friends in the North and study the book of Hebrews together
• for the upcoming music projects our church has asked Colin to help with

This newsletter (newsletter-2009-03-v1-i4) has two major components – a thorough description of our church and what we are doing along with our church; and lots of photos.

We’ve had a really busy month and are glad to simply have gotten this out. My mother has come and visited us, my grandmother passed away and we have begun to prepare for our trip back to the us (April 7 – 17). Include in this a hefty teaching schedule for Sadie and a large project that I finished up just last week and you have a miracle that we were able to see this one through.

What made it easier was that we were speaking about our favourite thing in England – our church. Even if we had no purpose to be here other than just simply breathing – we would do our utmost to stay because of these believers we have met here. Of course Oregon will always be home, but if it is possible to have a second home – we believe we have found it. We miss everyone in Oregon dearly, but we are comforted in that distance by a family of believers here who have taught us and shown us so much.

We praise God for his provision. For Sadie’s job and my schooling – both of which are going well. God has blessed me in my schooling with a tremendous opportunity in Belgium to both speak at and plan part of a major conference in ancient history. This is nothing I believe I am qualified to do, or should even have the opportunity to do – but God has seen fit to put the responsibility before me and so I will do my best to honour him.

Also, thank you for praying for our church to find a larger place to meet. God has moved in this area and we may be in a new place by next month! This is not too soon – many do not have seats on a Sunday.

We covet your prayers, particularly in these areas:

• travel mercy as we fly out in April
• in sharing the gospel with our non-Christian friends and the strangers we encounter on the streets
• for our financial well-being and family budget
• for Colin’s research – the conference he is planning and other opportunities in his career
• for Sadie’s teaching – that the children would be given the gospel and for her coworkers to be affected by God through her
• for increased faith
• for our friends who are having children in the next few months

Thank you for your prayers and support. For past letters, please visit the archives.

To subscribe to future newsletters by email, please click here and sign up.

Here is an eight minute video (with annotations) of our drive from our cottage to church:

This newsletter is a couple weeks later than I intended. But this is for good reason – I put together an exhaustive piece on how to visit us. Even if you don’t think you could ever make it – please take the time to read it because it took a lot of work!

Also there is a small update about how things are going with our church here. I hope to cover more of this soon. Please see the link (newsletter-2008-12-v1-i3) for our latest newsletter.

Additionally, if you know of anyone who would like to be added to our email list, they can just send us an email or follow the subscribe link and I will be excited to add them.

We have a lot to praise God for: we have a new place to live, a better location. We also praise him for so much more: our friends and family here have been a blessing to us in so many ways.

We covet your prayers, particularly in these areas:
- for our church to find a larger place to meet
- in sharing the gospel with our non-Christian friends and the strangers we encounter on the streets
- for our financial well-being and family budget (DO NOT SEND MONEY PLEASE)
- for Colin’s research – I have applied for some new funding. Pray that God would grant it!
- for Sadie’s teaching – that the children would be given the gospel and for her coworkers to be affected by God through her
- for increased faith

Thank you for your prayers and support.

Colin and Sadie

There are a lot of cheap flights out there right now. Visiting us at the end of January or early February is around $570 if you fly out of Portland.

This is the CHEAPEST way to see other parts of the world – to just pay for tickets and food – staying over with friends and family. We are talking about visiting another continent for around $700 per person including airfare. Take advantage of this while you can.

We will be posting a guide on how to visit us for next to nothing soon, so watch for that in a few days.

We’ve learned quite a few wonderful and interesting things the last few months as we’ve adapted to our new life in England. Here’s what we’ve figured out (with help!)

1. How to hang our newly washed clothes up to dry in a rainy country.

2. How to make a “double” sink using a dishpan.

3. How to use a hot water bottle to warm a freezing cold bed at night.

4. How to program the boiler to save on heating and hot water costs.

5. How to cook frugally with leeks and bacon.

6. How to grill things in the “little oven” on top of the”big oven” (our phrases.)

7. How to play football (also known as Soccer)

8. How to wait in a queue (although, we are still impatient Americans)

9. How to cook a proper Sunday roast dinner.

10. How to eat holding both our knife and fork without ever putting them down (Sadie has yet to master this!)

We have had a busy month and have tried to capture some of the things going on in our lives in words and pictures in the following newsletter. We hope you might take the time to have a look. Please see the link (newsletter-2008-12-v1-i2) for our latest newsletter.

Additionally, if you know of anyone who would like to be added to our email list, they can just send us an email or follow the subscribe link and I will be excited to add them.

There is a large piece in the newsletter on our University flat. This was written last week. Since this time we have acquired a new cottage out in a small village which has been ideal so far. We hope to send pictures and other titbits on this experience soon. However, I left the piece on our old housing in to try and provide Americans with a picture of what things are actually like “on the ground” here in in England.

We covet your prayers, particularly in these areas:

• a quick adjustment to our new home and location
• for our church to find a larger place to meet
• in sharing the gospel with our non-Christian friends and the strangers we encounter on the streets
• for our financial well-being and family budget (DO NOT SEND MONEY PLEASE)
• for Colin’s research – that he would find favour in the academic community and continue to obtain funding for his work
• for Sadie’s teaching – that the children would be given the gospel and for her coworkers to be affected by God through her
• for increased faith

Thank you for your prayers and support.

Colin and Sadie

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your time in patiently bearing with us while we adjusted to our new country. We did not mean for such a delay in getting some information out to you, but life happens. We’ve had a lot of adjustments and surprises to deal with in our first couple of months which made writing a newsletter a low priority.

We have finished our first one, however, and we hope you find it beneficial. Please see the link (newletter-2008-09-v1-i1) for words and pictures.

Additionally, if you know of anyone who would like to be added to our email list, just subscribe to updates/newsletter.

We hope you are having a great start to the winter season. We have so much going on and God is moving in a very profound way in our lives and we hope to share all of this with you as we have moments to breathe and reflect in the next month.

Sadie and I have found a wonderful home with our new church. They welcomed us into membership last week (I realise we don’t have this mechanism at Calvary Chapel – and I hope to explain some of the differences in churches in the UK with the US in the next newsletter). We have been immensely blessed to be a part of the lives of so many genuine, God-fearing Christians who desire to pursue holiness and apply the truth of scripture to life.

We covet your prayers, particularly in these areas:

• in sharing the gospel with our non-Christian friends and the strangers we encounter on the streets
• for our financial well-being and family budget (DO NOT SEND MONEY PLEASE)
• for our friends who need jobs and are struggling financially
• for Colin’s research – that he would find favour in the academic community and continue to obtain funding for his work
• for Sadie’s teaching – that the children would be given the gospel and for her coworkers to be affected by God through her
• for patience, perseverance and hope
• for the ability to trust in God and forsake materialism and looking back at our former luxurious standard of living
• for increased faith

Thank you for your prayers and support.

Hey everyone. Sadie and I are doing well. However, we are having the toughest time getting regular internet access in this country where everything is slow and nothing works right. We will be sure to send out more information and updates as soon as we can!

I hope that we don’t post to overkill on driving over here, but it dominates our time. The traffic in Bristol is horrendous. I have heard it said in so many places that traffic is bad only to find it has not been true – in Bristol, there is constant gridlock on almost all major roads – even at odd hours.

Imagine a city the size of Boston or Seattle with no significant highway or interstate running through it. Think about all of the traffic being forced onto regular city roads and residential streets. I wonder if you can imagine the result.

yesterday, I took some time to help a friend of ours on the north side of the city build a gate for his fence. When I finished, I drove down to the south of the city ot pick up Sadie from school – that drive, of perhaps five miles, took almost two hours.

Our car looks almost exactly like this. Almost as ugly as our last car, no?

In case you weren’t aware, we’ve bought a car. It is by far the nicest one we’ve ever bought – a 2006 1/2 (they have half years here) Nissan Micra. It is supposed to get around 50mpg – although all the sitting in traffic has kept me far away from that thus far.

It’s a neat little car – an automatic – a rarity in England. It has a “big” engine for the UK – a whopping 1.2 litres. I’d be lucky to get 0 to 60 in under 20 seconds. Nevertheless, it really zips around the roundabouts and coasts on the motorways.

I’ve also taken the time to include a video of our drive to church. Sunday morning is the one time that almost no one is out and about. Hope you enjoy this little snapshot of our life in England!