Sunday, January 29, 2006

The Beauty of Settling In...


<--Fog in the Welsh valley makes for a picturesque Sunday Drive.

Hello friends and family!

Sorry it’s been awhile since we’ve updated you all on what England life has been like, but getting settled has had us busy! But here’s the British scoop:

Jason: Has quit waiting tables, and is now working full-time as a Youth Worker in Ross, a nearby town (about 15 miles south of Hereford). He has officially started, but the kids don’t start coming to sessions until mid-Feb. He’ll be teaching the teenagers drama stuff 3 evenings a week in order to keep them out of trouble. They are from somewhat poor neighborhoods with a good chance of them getting into drugs, etc., so this program is offered for them. It is super popular and the kids love it. He’s excited to get going on it. His employer is a guy named Barry, and they hit it off right at the start. He’s a Christian, too, and got married the same year as us. They have him on full-time through March. Then in March, the fiscal year starts over and they’ll “reassess”. He may get bumped down to part-time then because of finances, in which case he has gotten certified as a life guard this past week in order to take up extra hours at the Leisure Pool.

Sarah: Still loving my job, getting more and more into it and taking on more work. My patients are all so great. I go into their homes so I really get to know them on their turf and their families, etc. It’s really personal, which I really like. And when I see that I’m making a difference, it means so much. Driving has gotten much better, no more being scared. I can drive through a narrow street with less than 6” between my side mirrors and other traffic (on both sides usually) straight up a hill going about 60 mph through a thick fog with no problems now! That’s pretty typical, actually!

Travel: Since our Christmas in Paris went so well, we’ve got a few more trips up our sleeve…we’ve just book tickets to Brussels on Eurostar (train) for February for 3 nights. We’ll probably take a day and go to Bruges. (These are both in Belgium). Then when our friend Suzy Dally comes to visit (our first visitor!! We’re SO excited!), we’ll go to Cardiff (capital of Wales) and London for sure, and probably Stonehenge. Then at the end of March, a trip to Prague in the Czech Republic. Then in April, Sarah’s parents are planning a trip over (yay!), so we’ll go wherever they want to go. Then in May, we’re hoping for a trip to Romania and Hungary with our friend Adi. Then in July, a trip to Ireland has been booked, and possibly a trip to Spain with our friend Patrick. Then we plan to go to Greece for a week in August!! So that’s the plan so far for the next months! Jason has had to plan his vacation times for his new job/boss, so we were made to actually decide on a few things.

Sunday afternoons have become our “exploring” days after church. We just take the car out to a nearby village or town and explore. So far we’ve seen almost every neighboring Hereford area. It’s really fun.

We are soon to become members of the Baptist Church here in Hereford. We are hoping to set up some sort of young adult ministry here (like in BG), although on a much smaller scale. There are no ministries like this here.

We went on our first British hike this Saturday with some friends. It was bizarre! No trees or vegetation, only snow and ice! And open fields and hills. And wild horses and sheep! It was super different than any hike we’ve ever done. We took some pictures, and are going to put them on our blogsite tonight, so take a peek when you can. It’s really beautiful.

So that’s us in a nutshell! Keep us up to date with yourselves and families. We always love to hear what you’re up to. Take care and God bless, and come visit when you can!!

Love in Christ,
Jason and Sarah Suel

PS: Be sure to click on the Pic Archive link on the menu to the right to check out new photos!!!
<--Six friends hiking up Hay Bluff on the Welsh/English border
Jamie, Jason and Jez are anxious to get down for a cup of tea.

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Pic Archive!!!

We have set up a Picture Archive to showcase many more photos. If you are interested you can visit us at http://community.webshots.com/user/suelfam, or you can click the link labeled Pic Archive under the 'Links' category on the right hand side of this page.