Gayla's Magazine

The George Hotel - Hampshire England

This was a real treat Bishop Malcolm and Margaret Wilson took us to one evening.  It's the historic George Hotel of Hampshire England!
In the year 1540 two important events took place in England.  King Henry VIII married Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard, but most importantly for thirsty travelers, The George Inn was granted its first license! And inside this Inn is a wonderful Restaurant called Cromwell's.  Yes..... you know this name in history!

 

This fireplace is said to have been taken from Basing House after the dreadful siege by Cromwell's army in 1645.

The ceilings are low and it has been carefully kept up in an amazing way!  The original wattle and daub walls are exposed to view here. Yes I took these pictures!

The history is fascinating to hear.

The proprietor herself Rachel Watt came out and talked with us about their wonderful Inn. 
The website here is www.georgehotelodiham.com 

 

The food was delicious too. But the desserts were out of this world!! 

This sounds a bit strange but it was soooo good!  It's Raspberry Cranachan Milles-Feuilles.  Layered Raspberries, Cream, Glavya and Oats.

Homemade Sticky Toffee Pudding with warm butterscotch sauce.

This is a warm and inviting restaurant that is  updated, but filled with history!

Thank you Bishop and Margaret for a real treat of an evening!  

Miracles never cease!

Turning evil to good

Don't be intimidated by you enemies.…you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him.

Philippians 1:28-29 NLT

Finding God in Russia

In the 1930s Stalin ordered a purge of all Bibles and all believers. In Stravropol, Russia, this order was carried out with a vengeance. Thousands of Bibles were confiscated, and multitudes of believers were sent to the gulags where most died for being "enemies of the state."

Years later, CoMission sent a team to Stavropol. When the team was having difficulty getting Bibles shipped from Moscow, someone mentioned the existence of a warehouse outside of town where these confiscated Bibles had been stored since Stalin's day.

After much prayer by the team, one member finally got up the courage to go to the warehouse and ask the officials if the Bibles were still there.…The answer was, "Yes!"

The next day The CoMission team returned with a truck and several Russian people to help load the Bibles. One helper was a young man—a skeptical, hostile, agnostic collegian who had come only for the day's wages. As they were loading Bibles, one team member noticed that the young man had disappeared. He had slipped away, hoping to quietly take a Bible for himself. What he found shook him to the core.

The inside page of the Bible he picked up had the handwritten signature of his own grandmother. It had been her personal Bible. Out of the thousands of Bibles still left in the warehouse, he stole the one belonging to this grandmother—a woman persecuted for her faith all her life.

He was found weeping—God was real.

English Comforts

The lush green gardens of England...... it's peaceful here and a welcome change from the hustle of Amsterdam.  This is our view from our hotel room, ahhhhhh peace......

And a proper English welcome here.  Pillows that are tagged and that say 'firm' on one side of the bed, and 'soft' tags for the other side of the bed.  Take your pick!  This appeals to the English side of my bloodline for sure!  Now for a hot cup of tea and a restful sleep and I will be ready to run again tomorrow.

Last day.....

Nothing is more precious to me than spending a quiet moment with my husband - I am so proud of him and what he is doing in the earth!  He is not one of those guys who 'talk' about doing things for God, he is one of the precious few who actually 'do' the works of Christ.  We are both happy we have accomplished what we wanted to do here in Amsterdam.  God is faithful and we are loving every minute of the ministry He has called us to!

Our last day here and this is the daytime view from our hotel room. This is the big train station and here is the canal - this is a very busy part of town day and night!

Hurry!  We HAVE to go shopping this last morning - my grandkids will enjoy something from here.  Love these shoes!

 

We might have a problem with weight at the airport..... I have stuffed and crammed everything back inside these two bags.  I hope not!

 

A short trip back to London and we all are looking forward to our weekend of services together. 

Did You Make Your Bed Today?

Here's a funny for your day!  This is the way the hotel in Amsterdam makes the bed!  This is a fluffy coverlet folded 3 ways and laid on top of the bed. What!?  It sure make the room look odd - but then maybe not to people who live here. 

I guess the American  style of really 'making up' the bed is a whole different thought process in parts of Europe!

The World's Smallest Car

I thought you might like to see a type of car that is here in Amsterdam Holland.  It's like a Smart Car - it's the car of the future already in use here in Europe.

A two seater but very nice inside as you can see.  I can see how valuable this little car could be to own.  Just think how fun this little car would be around town!

And this is how little it really is with me standing next to it!  Want one?

Meetings to solve world hunger

God is good and we have made all our connections here!  There is nothing more thrilling than walking by faith in trusting God's leading and guiding.  There are many ministry plans that are unfolding that I have not had time to share with you, but will when completion starts happening. It is a miracle time for our ministry right now.  
To all of my readers who daily check in with me to see what is happening with the Bishop and I - some very special things are happening in our ministry.  As you know he and I  travel the world preaching, singing, teaching in all sorts of avenues and directives the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the practical side of our ministry has always been feeding and clothing the poor and hurting in many nations.  And God has opened many many nations for us to work within.  

We are in the midst of taking one of our programs to another level.  And it's something that is very important to me - that is the problem of starvation in the world.  So during our stay here in Amsterdam some important meetings happened.  Christine and her husband drove down from Geneva Switzerland (8-10 hour drive) to meet with us over our project.

 

  

Just a few pictures to show you different meetings that it takes to get the ball rolling in the direction we want to go.

 

 

The doors are wide open and we have a lot to pray about, for eastern Europe, western Europe, Africa and our abilities to take care of humanity.

Sights in Amsterdam

Holland is world renowned for its floral beauty - but this time of year this is the only flower shop with flowers in the market we went to.

Old building and towers abound in this old city.




Everywhere we went, we saw bicycles- there are eve parking garages just created for bikes!  This is a way of life here, this form of travel works here because of how the city is created. Too bad this would never work in Texas - it truly is too big!

I could choose to tell you of the terrible side of Amsterdam and the thousands of young people that are here.  But let it suffice to say - Amsterdam desperately needs God! I spent my time walking and looking into the faces of the many young men and women passing by and praying for the trouble I saw in each ones eyes.

  
 

A great cuppa in the afternoon

Stopping at the American Hotel at the suggestion of the Canal boat tour guide on the loud speaker, we stopped in for  a little cup  of hot chocolate and tea.  These are the biggest mugs ever!

I think Amsterdam must have the best hot chocolate in the world!  It tasted so very rich!

This dining room is exquisite to look at, what a treat to get to set here by the fireplace and warm up.

I believe we were told this place was built in the 1920's, I really want to bring our husbands back here for dinner if possible.

Outside is a lovely fountain I am sure is wonderful in the summer time here.

The Amsterdam Canals

The view from our room!  The train station is across the road and canal.

The Day is here, and the two Bishops leave for a miracle day!

And Margaret and I are headed out to ride the Canal boats and see Amsterdam by water. I didn't bring a coat on this trip so I hope I am dressed warm enough to not get sick! It's 40 degrees outside. 

True quality friendship time for the two of us!  I will treasure this time in my memories! We are riding the 'Hop on Hop off' boats, so we can get on and off all over the city and simply jump back on another boat and keep going.  It's a really good way to see the city.

The boats are heated and it feels so good to get back on another on and get warmed back up!

Wish I had more time and could visit some of these beautiful art museums, the buildings look so interesting! Look at the top of this building through the glass - see the clock?  Right below the clock is two statues that have some sort of hammers in their hands like they are going to strike the block that is between them.  It  looks like maybe they do something when the clock tolls out the time.  Hmmmmm I wonder.....