Oxford

Yesterday we took a day trip to Oxford. It is only about an hour and forty minutes away and the skies were clear and blue. We woke up early and hopped on the train to make the journey. When we arrived we scouted around a bit to see what activities we wanted to fill our day with and we started with walking around the city just to see the different shops and colleges. It is a fun and vibrant place full of university students. We heard more American accents in Oxford than we have anywhere thus far.

We went to the Covered Market and shopped around before eating lunch at a famous pub called The Eagle and Child. It is the same pub where "The Inklings," a group of writers from the 1950s and 1960s used to meet to discuss life, literature, and writing. "The Inklings" included C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and a few other literary figures of the time. There is a memorial plaque and photos in the Rabbit Room where they used to meet. It was a great pub for lunch!

After lunch we visited Oxford Castle, built in 1071 and used as a prison until 1996. We went on a guided tour of the castle including the Saxon St. George's tower, the underground crypt, the castle mound, prison wing, and more. We had a nice view of Oxford from the top of tower and enjoyed the tour.

We also went to Christ Church which is one of the largest colleges in the University of Oxford as well as the Cathedral Church for the Diocese of Oxford. It was really cool to visit a piece of history that is still fully used. Christ Church is well known for being the setting of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the dining hall was used for filming scenes from the Harry Potter series. If you ever visit London, Christ Church is a must-see.

One last highlight of the day was finding a restaurant called The Mission. It is very much like Moe's or Chipotle in the States. There are only three in the UK, two of which are in Oxford. So we chowed down on burritos, chips, and salsa and it was so delicious! A fun treat to end our day!

Outside The Eagle & Child

Oxford Castle prison cell

Top of the Oxford Castle mound

Christ Church

Harry Potter Dining Hall :)

The Mission feast (yum!)

A Weekend Away in Wales

Last weekend was the first ever Canvas retreat, or weekend away as it is known to students here. We piled in cars and headed out to Wales to stay at a retreat center called Cefn Lea. The landscape was beautiful, complete with grassy meadows as far as the eye can see and rolling hills dotted with sheep.

Our retreat speaker was our newest team member and long-time friend of Canvas, Caleb Mallard. He did three talks and they were all completely wonderful. Because he is British, Caleb can relate to the students in a way that the rest of the team members cannot. And the students love him. Caleb told stories from his own life and stories from the life of Peter. Caleb helped to make the weekend spectacular and we are so thankful to have him on staff.

On Saturday night we had a dance off in which every student and staff member participated in. It was hilarious! We had a bonfire and taught the students how to make smores (which were a bit different since they don't have graham crackers and Hersheys chocolate over here). :) We sang songs around the fire and tried to stay warm! Lots of other fun activities happened such as hiking, playing games, pubs and cream teas, and so much more. It was an action-packed weekend that we wouldn't have missed for anything!

We feel that God is moving so boldly at Canvas and we are so thankful to be a part of this place. Thank you for your prayers, finances, and encouragement. Canvas is making a difference in the student community of Selly Oak relationship by relationship, one student at a time. Joy is in this place.

Canvas staff before we left.

Everyone!