Opportunity Knocks!

Dear Friends,

It is almost unbelievable to us but we are well into our last of three years at the London Mennonite Centre. It has been an amazing experience and a great opportunity to grow spiritually as well as make many, many new friends and contribute to God's work in the UK. We still have to pinch ourselves from time to time. God has been so generous and merciful to us and our family.

However, our time here is rapidly coming to a close (Feb 2010) and the LMC and Mennonite Mission Network (MMN) are looking for a replacement couple to help continue the legacy started here in London so many years ago. If you are interested in this experience or you know of someone who might be, please get in touch with us or MMN and we will be happy to answer any questions you might have. Here is part of the job description;

• Work and live at the London Mennonite Centre located in North London, UK
• A three year commitment
• Married couple of any age who are physically in good health
• Handy-man(woman) skills required along with catering and housekeeping skills and modern communication capabilities
• An attitude of service and hospitality
• Duties include: answering the phones and the door (24-7), handling the mail, managing the official LMC calendar - including several guest rooms, meeting rooms, library, Prayer Hut, kitchen, and garden, cleaning guest rooms and public areas of the centre, catering meals for groups attending either a day seminar or five day course. (Groups are usually no more than 10 - 25 people), all general maintenance of indoor and outdoor spaces including the very large back yard/garden (the LMC is famous for the beautiful garden), maintaining the LMC vehicle, maintaining the two flats/apartments the LMC rents out - including any cleaning and redecorating when tenants move out, carpet cleaning, painting, drain unplugging, window washing, mess cleaning, and many other things.
• Most importantly, the hosts of the LMC need to maintain the long and stellar history of warm hospitality. This means welcoming short-term and long-term guests and visitors from all over the world who come to the LMC to visit, learn about Mennonites or Anabaptists or are just traveling through on mission assignments or are on sabbatical from other important jobs around the world. This includes providing coffee at 11 each morning and tea every weekday afternoon at 4 for whoever happens to be at the Centre. It means worshiping with the Mennonites at the Wood Green Mennonite Church who use the Centre for various activities throughout the month. It also means helping guests and housemates with whatever challenges they have from navigating the London Tube system, to finding a doctor or dentist.
• Hosts report to the LMC director as well as the LMC trustees and the MMN Europe director.
• Compensation - The LMC takes care of your room and board (one bedroom flat at the LMC and pays for your groceries) there is also a small stipend for incidentals. Health care is provided by the British National Health System (free!)The best part is that you get to live in community with interesting, committed Christians in a beautiful Victorian house built in 1883 in London, England. You are within 1 1/2 hours (by air) of most European cities/countries via low-cost airlines and most are connected by high-speed train. You meet many interesting and accomplished people who are on the cutting edge of the 21st century church and a front-row seat to the flourishing Anabaptist movement in UK and Europe.

If this seems like a lot of work, it is. But there are many, many benefits - not the least of which is living in London which is a beautiful and vibrant cultural center of the world.

We urge you to prayerfully consider this opportunity. At first this may seem a complete impossibility for you but that is what we thought too - at first. Please know that God has proven to be capable of managing impossible situations for those who are willing to step out in faith and offer themselves to the opportunities presented.

If you would like to discuss this with us or MMN personnel, we would be happy to accommodate you. Email us at ed55shirk@yahoo.com or hosts@menno.org.uk or we can connect you with the MMN representatives.

Thanks for supporting us in our adventure at the LMC,

Ed & Phyllis Shirk - LMC Hosts

Spectacular Springtime

Bluebells in UK are spectacular. They come up everywhere and last for several weeks. The blue is so bright it hurts your eyes and the greens of the stems and leaves are so rich. What a treat.

This is Sharon's idea of a gag birthday present. I guess this is proof that I should keep my opinions about vegetables to myself. They didn't go to waste though. I advertised then via email to my fellow staff members and they were gone in an instant. Yuk!

I have been working with this apple tree now three seasons. When I got here they told me this tree used to produce a tremendous amount of tasty Bramley apples (great for baking), but for the last number of years it was completely barren. So I pruned the tree a bit the first year and I got one blossom - but no apples. Next I pruned the tree harder taking of six or seven years growth. This spring I got FOUR blossoms. That's progress - 400% improvement! I hope it will really take off next year.

Church Weekend Away

Our church had our biannual weekend away in Kent which is in South East England. This is a retreat type place called The Friars where the buildings are from the 13th century. This is the dining hall.

We took a long walk on Saturday afternoon in between sessions. The sessions were led by Dave Nussbaum who used to be a member of our church and is presently the Chief Executive of WWF (World Wildlife Fund) He has worked with many charities and has a theology degree from Cambridge. His emphasis was titled "One World, One God". We explored through the bible different areas that refer to the relationship between nature and humans. That puts it into very simple terms but it was a very good weekend. We had a good amount of free time so there was lots of visiting, game playing and strolling around the grounds.

The is part of the Rosary walk.

On our hike we came into a large area of wild blue bells.

A view from our hike of the surrounding area.

Glastonbury

On the way home from our Cornwall & Devon getaway, we stopped at the town of Glastonbury. This town has a huge music festival every year, mostly rock musicians and such. Many of the people walking around the town then and other times of the year are hippy looking kind of people, or new age types.

This is an old Abbey that fell into disrepair during King Henry VIII reign.

And some beautiful daffodils around the Abbey.

Tintagel & King Arthur

The town of Tintagel has the ruins of a castle high on the cliffs of the sea/Bristol Channel where the legend is that the castle was that of King Arthur. It is mostly ruins but the beauty of it is that of the view from above looking out over the sea.

This bird caught our attention when in very gusty winds, he was able to hold a position just as you see him about 15 feet above the ground. He didn't move more than a few inches in any direction for several minutes at a time. Notice he is looking down which we supposed was to catch a glimpse of any four legged creatures emerging from their hiding places. Every now and then he would swoop down to apparently nab something.

One of the views from the cliffs of Tintagel.

Tintagel is on the north coast of Cornwall.

Another day in Cornwall.

We saw lots of sheep grazing in the beautiful green fields. It was lambing time as there were often little tiny ones that were barely walking.

More views of coastlines from quaint villages along the drive. Whoops! I just realised that I've already added this picture in the post previously. I must really like it!

I forget which village this is but cute all the same.

A natural harbour. The tide is out and we were able to walk quite a ways out onto the ocean bed.