Day 7: Oct 25
Greetings from Dundee
Today is another sunny one here in Scotland: that makes 3 days in a row which is beyond our expectations. A few sprinkles occasionally but nothing major. (Puddleglum is having to search mightily for things to complain about….)
Last night Kilfane (the name of our group) led the worship at the Christian Union on the Dundee U. campus. Here’s the major difference with the US. Think of having the U. of Texas build and pay for a huge facility for InterVarsity. That is basically how it is done in the UK, where the church is NOT separate from the state. The CU room was packed with about 100 students who sang all the hymns with gusto, and with their sweet Scottish acents. It was like being back at IV retreats 40 years ago. In spite of the spiritual poverty of most of the population in Europe and the UK, the legacy of Knox, etc lives on in the lives of this generation of committed believers. We were very grateful for the experience of obvious dedication to the gospel and to the Lord seen in the faces of these students. And of course, Kilfane did a tremendous job. They are marvelous muscisians (particularly the bass player and the soprano….)!
The harpist, Janet, recorded a CD of Celtic songs and hymns that Susan loved the last year of her life. I told Janet how Susan played this CD over and over, and how we had come to love her voice and artistry. She shared that she had just lost her sister to colon cancer less than a year ago, and how meaningful our postings about Susan were to her. It was great meeting and sharing with her in person.
I want to say a word about the Scotch. They are extremely friendly!! Everywhere we go when they realize we are tourists they reach out to us with advice and help. I thought that they would be more reserved like the British, but they are in some sense the mirror image of US Southerners. Even with the incredible accents that roll the r’s like you’ve never heard. Cool!
Last night Kilfane managed to persuade a local pub manager to let them perform in the pub–apparently something he NEVER does. They did a great job with secular and spiritual songs, although without a PA they had to sing loud to be heard over the pub noise. Their performance led to several good conversations with pub attenders, some of whom we hope will come to the concert tonight. This, too, will be a mix of secular and spiritual with an evangelical outreach. Your prayers will be appreciated even though you might be reading this after the performance is over!!
My time is running out on this terminal so got to go. I’m having a great time, and it’s great being here and with the group. I’ll try to do another update tomorrow.
CapnDrinian