THE ONE ABOUT THE ENGLISH COUPLE

Let me tell you the one about the English couple who got lost!

We are now staying with our hosts for the conference at Willow Creek, Bill and Betty, and being looked after with all the legendary American hospitality you can imagine. They are a retired couple who have been at Willow for many years and exude all the generosity of people committed to God and expressing love in the Jesus kind of way. Open door, pen hearts, open fridge, they all come as standard in their home. They have hosted many people from many countries and it is a pleasure to be in their home - we're hoping the feeling is mutual. (The only thing they don't have is Wi-Fi so my posts will be a bit more intermittent)

Anyway, let me get back to my story. Yesterday we ventured into Chicago. We walked a mile to the Metra (train) station in Bartlett (the place where we are staying) to find we'd just missed one train and had 30 minutes to wait for the next one. But what should happen in that 30 minutes? As we checked the timetable a couple came up to us and asked us when the next train was - as if we knew! They weren't American so we got chatting and found out they were from Belgium, and, you'll never believe this, they were in the area for the Willow Creek conference! In all the train stations in all the world, fancy meeting them there! Perhaps God was involved? They are a couple - Jan and Karin, with their daughter Sophie, who are involved in hosting the GLS conference in Belgium later this year - only one venue for the whole country. A great couple who are sold out for serving God and about to start a new congregation in Brussels. It sounds like Belgium is a tougher place to be a Christian than the UK and where church is squeezed out of most people's minds. Thank you God that we met them, exchanged contacts, and maybe one day we will meet again. They also run Alpha so we had plenty to talk about.

Thirty minutes later the train arrived and we hopped on this bright, shiny, air-conditioned, double-decker train. An hour's journey for $5 each later we pulled into Union Street station in the heart of the City. Getting up to street level we stood on one of the bridges, overwhelmed by the view, only to be moved on because on the next bridge they were filming the new 'Transformers' movie and they didn't want anyone staring! Not a great welcome to Chicago, but we were moved on very nicely - I even said 'thank you' to the guy who shooed us along and of course he replied, 'you're welcome!'

A very tiring day followed, we walked everywhere, shops, lakeside, saw the sights without paying for anything and had a great, blister-filled day. An amazing city with noise, energy, beauty and need. And, twice we bumped into our new found Belgium buddies in different places at different times of the day. In all of Chicago fancy meeting up twice!

Time to go home, so we hopped on this bright, shiny, air-conditioned, double-decker train and headed back to Bartlett. It was beginning to get dark now and as we arrived at the station we started the mile walk back to our hosts. Suddenly everything looked different and after about 30 minutes of walking and the sun setting further, we knew we were lost! I am stubborn when it comes to this sort of problem, I want to keep trying to find my way home. Kerry just wanted to get home so accosted the only couple we saw walking and asked them if they knew where the road was we were trying to find. They were Spanish and had no idea, BUT, he had his phone with the GPS app on it. He brought up the map, we found the route and 15 minutes later, we were home! I'm so glad Kerry was less stubborn than me. I'm thankful to God that the only couple we saw just happened to have the phone and GPS download.

Isn't it great when we suddenly realise that God goes before us, is behind us and hems us in. Jan and Karin, the unknown couple on the unknown street, Bill and Betty. So many angels, all of them heroes. My prayer is that I will see them more often and recognise that God is God and that when I am lost, far from home, I won't be too stubborn to ask which way to get home.

Did I tell you the one about the English couple lost in America?