Blog three London

It is time for more on London. We are now in our seventh week here at the Wycliffe Centre and it seems like only a short time.

Good progress is being made on the work project but it seems like time is slipping away before their first scheduled week of conference. Everybody is working hard; our biggest frustration is the lack of some much-needed tools that we keep begging the leaders to buy!
A number of us have had colds but the English weather is cooperating. Over the last two or three weeks we have had a record number of sunny days for this time of year. There is often frost on the grass in the morning but it warms up to high 40s or mid-50s. For three weekends we visited with friends in different parts of London. Not only do we see many parts of the area but it has been wonderful (a blast) to visit longtime friends in St. Albans and Luton. It was exciting to see some ruins dating back to the time of the Romans and the huge Cathedral built in honor of St. Alban, the first English martyr back in the fourth century.

Last Thursday I came down with an ear infection needing to see a doctor at a nearby medical clinic. The antibiotics and warm compressions he prescribed quickly gave me some relief. I wasn’t up and around much over the weekend, but went back to work today (Monday) feeling much improved.
On Saturday Wycliffe provided a coach to take us on a trip to Bath, the old Roman city with relics of the supposed healing baths of spring water. It was a cool, cloudy day but great to tour a bit of the old city. The two-hour drive through the countryside was very picturesque.

Some of our friends here have returned to the US and Canada the past few weeks and other people have come to replace them. We hate to see people leave but they had only committed for shorter times. Rosie and I have extended our time here; yesterday I changed our flights to Chicago to April 9. We will be here for three additional weeks. Hopefully, the project will be about wrapped up by then.

Thanks again for traveling with us; pray for us as we come to mind--for good health, freedom from accidents, good relationships with the team, etc.
We wish you well; we’d enjoy hearing from you via comments at the end of the blog or by email:
abner_bauman@wowway.com
If you have Skype you can connect to us at: abrosie

Goodbye

More On London

Hi friends:
A lot of Thames River water has gone under a dozen bridges here in London since we last communicated about our travels. Rosie and I have been in England for a little over three weeks now. It has been a great time; we have enjoyed most every minute of it (well, almost every minute!).
One of the first weekends we went to Oxford by public bus. Some of us took a walking tour in the University area; quite different from our concept of a U in the US. Oxford is made up of over 35 independent residential colleges, large and small. It was a good look around (covered market, shops, etc.) before catching a bus back to the Center.
The following Saturday we all went by coach bus to Bourton-on-the-Waters and Stratford-Upon-Avon (Shakespeare country).
Both places were beautiful, mostly sunny giving us a good time walking around to see Shakespeare’s birthplace, the church were he was buried, the theaters in town and other sights, but we didn’t have time to take in a play.
This past weekend we went to London, visiting the son and daughter-in-law of a cousin of mine and their 9-month-old boy. We got a ride down with a couple who come here to work every Friday and then take couples to their home for the weekend.
On Saturday morning our friend walked us to The Tube (Underground) and from there on we were on our own in the city. From St. James Station we walked to Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London--the big tourist sites. We walked for miles, but it was fun to see the sites again after 36 years since we were last here. From the Tower we took 3 different double-decker buses across town to within a few blocks of our friends house. On Sunday morning we walked to the nearby church with the family and then went out for a Thai dinner before coming back to the Wycliffe Center. We had a fun time together.

The work here is going well. Every day is a full one--meals, coffee breaks, devotional session, visiting with so many wonderful people. And, yes we do work too, about 7 hours a day for me on construction and about 5 for Rosie in the kitchen. Most of my time is spent putting up drywall and joint compound; and occasional sanding as a final prep for painting. Two to 4 guys work with me each day so I give some supervision of the drywall process. I am enjoying the work in spite of all the dust and mess!

Rosie and I are enjoying our time here--the friendships we have made, the camaraderie, the food, the sightseeing and the work. I’ve done the Sunday evening chapel once, and two of the morning devotions. Last night I stayed up until 1 a.m. to watch the first half of the Super Bowl game. Several guys stayed up until 3 a.m. to see the finish--they were glad they did!

Thanks for traveling with us.

Abner and Rosie