The travel Plan:
Take a taxie to Heathrow airport, fly to Paris (exchange money there), Take a train from Paris to Poitiers From Poitiers take a taxie to Chatellerault, From there, call Stephen, the owner of the castle to come pick me up.

What actually happened:

I got a taxi with a friend to the airport. We arrived at 6:00 and my flight didn’t leave until 12:45 so I sat in a French café at the airport to have breakfast to get a bit of a feel for France. When it was time I boarded. Everything went fine, even the plain was comfortable, best flight I’ve ever had. After landing in Paris I had an hour and a half to get through the really long country entry thing to get my passport stamped, collect my guitar, get a train ticket and get to the terminal. Originally the plan was that I was going to exchange my pounds for euros at the airport but it turned out that I was too focused on getting to the terminal on time and it slipped my mind. When I remembered, I thought no problem, I’ll exchange it at my destination (which I thought was another airport) So I got on the train, sat in the wrong seat three times, and waited another two hours to get to Poitiers, which turns out, is not an airport, it’s a train station… duh! So I walked around for a bit, no idea where I was and everything was written in French. I asked around to find someone who spoke English. Eventually I found an information desk but they didn’t speak English very well either. “Where can I exchange currency?.... Change money?” I had to rub my fingers together. They just shook their head so I tried to ask around where I could find a bank.  I got to the bank and the lady that spoke English there said it was no longer possible to exchange money. So here I was in the middle of France, the wrong money, no credit card, the heaviest back pack and guitar case in the world, going on three hours of sleep and hardly any food, I couldn’t read anything and the only person who spoke my language so far couldn’t help me.  I walked outside and sat on a bench and pulled out my laptop to try and get Wi-Fi from somewhere. Since my credit card company didn’t know that I was in France yet I was going to attempt to contact someone who could pretend to be me and call them. Unfortunately all the Wi-Fi connections I could connect to needed a code to use. I matched one connection name with a building across the street. It was a hotel restaurant and bar so I walked over and asked if I could use their Wi-Fi. They didn’t speak English so I had to make gestures with my hands. “NO MONEY… (I rubbed my fingers together) NEED TO USE WIFI… COMPUTER… (Pretended to type) All they said was “it is not possible.” OK so I walked next door and asked another man who didn’t speak English. He obviously wasn’t able to help me either because he couldn’t understand a word I was saying so I walked outside again and sat at table to think. I pulled out my laptop again and kept trying to get a signal from somewhere, no luck. I had my guitar with me and was thinking I could start busking. That would have been my last resort because if I got in trouble I wouldn’t know what anyone was saying. At that point I thought it was a good time to pray. “Father, I really need you right now. I know you can get me out of this, please make a way.”  That was my simple prayer, and not even a minute later the man from the bar came out and started saying something I didn’t understand. I though he was mad that I was still trying to get Wi-Fi. “I’m sorry, should I sit somewhere else?  I’m just trying to find a signal from anywhere… ARE YOU HAPPY?” (Used my fingers to make a smile) He waved his arm at me and walked away and I thought that was the end of it. Then he came back a minute later with a mobile phone and handed it to me. “Um… Hello?” I don’t know who it was and I don’t think the person on the other end really knew what was going on either but at least they spoke broken English. I tried my best to explain my situation and gave the man back his phone then I pointed Chatellerault which I had written on a piece of paper. He wrote next to it 60km. Then I pulled out my pounds and he beckoned me back into the hotel. There was another man at the bar with a drink there while he was trying to figure out currency exchange on his computer and he was watching us for a while. Then he asked if he could buy me a drink. I said no thanks, totally not interested in anything except getting to Chatellerault. It took me a couple seconds to realise that he had asked me in English.  “You speak English! Thank goodness!” So he was our translator and the owner and I exchanged money from his till. Then I asked what the cheapest way was to get to Chatellerault and they said the train but it was getting very late and the trains were doing their last routs. The man who spoke English said he would run over to the train station for me and see if there were any left. Full of gratitude and packed up my stuff from the table. He came back and handed me a ticket and said “you’re in luck, there’s one left.” I couldn’t believe it, he bought it for me. “You can either call it a blessing or just the kindness of a stranger.” That’s what he said. Close to tears I gave him a hug and thanked him. “Ok, hold it together.” He said and walked away. I walked back to the train station. I still couldn’t read anything that was written on the ticket or anything that was written on the schedules on the walls. I could only match up numbers and names but that didn’t really help me. So I prayed again. “Father thank you for coming through for me, now don’t let me mess this up.” I walked up to a group of people. “Does anybody here speak English?!” I got the attention of a group of young guys and they were all laughing but they helped me. They told me that it isn’t a train, it’s a bus and they even escorted me to the bus stop and waited with me to make sure I got on it. My bus arrived at 8:30 and I got into Chatellerault around 9:15 where someone let me use their mobile phone to call Stephen, the owner or the chateau. He was going to meet me at 10:00 in front of the bus station so I found a nearby restaurant and ordered the only thing I could understand on the menu while I waited. Pizza.

I can't get over how good God is to me. It blows me away how much he takes care of me and it's a good thing because I tend to not think things through all the time but he knows that that is the way I was made and he looks after me. Amazing! Throughout this whole England Adventure the theme verse for me has been Philippians 4:4-7.

⁴ Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! ⁵ Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.⁶ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

It was sent to me from a member of staff at Pierrepont even before I had confirmed I was going to do NETS. It was also given to me more than once durring various ministry sessions and a couple times people have asked me "hey what's that verse that goes be anxious for nothing...?" Then I tell them because it's always in my head. Well this verse has definately been relevent and important in my life and especially yesterday when I didn't know what was going to happen to me but if you trust in the Lord, and look to him always, he will be there.

Here are some pictures of this beautiful place I am now and my own flat! Mine is the middle window in the picture on the left.