A Farewell ...

In the three months that Lukasz Kordas was back in Paisley it was great to have him as part of our young people's Bible study group. What a blessing to see the difference that knowing Jesus has made in his life. If you want to hear his story let me know and I'll put you in touch with him.

(from left to right, top to bottom)
Barry, Asha, Lukasz, Lynne, Dorothy, Ged
Hollie, Lena, Emma, Jo and Misha

Dinner & Lynne's

On Nov 11th Sugu & Fu Yu wanted to hold a Malaysian/Chinese evening for several of our hosts and TABLEtalk helpers.

It was a great evening and everyone enjoyed the food.

speaking of which ...

who can identify this strange vegetable??

A challenging game of TABOO added to the evening

and it was all topped off with a giant cake

for Misha's 25th birthday!

Prize Giving

Misha, Lena & myself

On October 2nd I had the privilege of being invited to a prize giving ceremony at the Business School of the the University of the West of Scotland (Paisley) to see Lena Korytova receive a medal for 'best academic achievement in post-graduate management programme.

Hopehall Church Weekend - Sept 26-28th

From September 26th to 28th Hopehall Church enjoyed a fabulous weekend away in the beautiful surroundings of Blaithwaite House. Several international students also came along for the weekend and enjoyed all the teaching and times of fun that were part of our weekend programme.

It was also great to have Jan Zwart travel up from Derby to spend the weekend with us!!

Above - Cindy (from Taiwan) enjoys a contemplative moment in the courtyard of the Blaithwaite property

Below - on Saturday morning a great time was had by all who participated in the family games session

Although we had a full programme for the weekend there was still time just to sit and chat over a cuppa ...

During the Saturday evening fun time Anna was thrilled to be swept off her feet by a handsome man from Malaysia during a game of 'Knight, Horseman & Cavaliers' - only to be put out of the game !!!

Is there no justice ...

Weddings

There have been a number of weddings this summer ...

On August 11th 2008 Alison & Derek Peakman, Jan Zwart, myself and Scott & Audrey McPhail had the privilege of being invited to the wedding of Csaba Salamon and Sandra Eineg at Comlongon Castle, here in Scotland.

Back in July 08 Hafsa Mahmood became Mrs Hafsa Shafiq in Pakistan

Day Trip: Loch Lomond Highland Games

I was really sorry to miss out on our annual trip to

the Loch Lomond Highland Games.

Many thanks to Kathleen who helped organise

the event in my absence.

Thanks to Kathleen and Sugu for driving.

Last, but not least, a BIG thanks to

David & Aileen for the Bar-B-Que

Gradutation Ceremony

Congratulations to all of you who have recently graduated from the University of the West of Scotland in Paisley!!!

For me it's always a privilege to be invited along to the graduation ceremony - thankyou!

Ke Yang and Fu Yu outside Thomas Coats Memorial Church.

With Tobi, Chang
& Chang's Mum











With Fu Yu
and Sugu











With Chen

With Ke Yang

Country Walk @ Aberfoyle

Melanie, Karen, Ania, Joyce, Chunying and Sugu all joined our country walk from the David Marshall Lodge at Aberfoyle. The weather was good, the scenery was beautiful, the company was great, and the lunch afterwards truly marvellous!!

Melanie, Nan, Janet, Ania, Joyce, Chunying & Billy


Billy, David, Sugu, Pam & Jack

Chunying tucks in to a tasty ice-cream

Student Comments

"Frankly, TABLEtalk and the International Sunday Lunches are my most impressive experience during these days in Scotland. We all appreciate it very much. This programme truly provides us with a valuable opportunity to meet new friends from many countries, to communicate with them in English, and to learn about different cultures of the world. Also, to eat in a local home gives us a chance to know the local people and the lifestyle here. We benefit a lot from this and love to participate as much as possible."

Mr Zhang from China

TABLEtalk: International Night

What a fabulous evening!

A huge thank you to everyone who brought along a dish from their nation - we had food from China, Russia, Czech Republic, Korea and UK (if I've missed your nation please let me know).

Our international feast was followed by some great entertainment and again thanks oodles to all who were brave enough to take the stage!!
Here are just a few photos ...

Eric reads a poem
(in his best Yorkshire accent)
Misha & Lena sang us several Russian songs
Gordon also sang
Tereza recites a famous Czech poem

Other took part also - Chen sang and told a great joke; several others told jokes and Lynne sang a song.

Easter Sunrise Service

Misha, Lena and Bora were brave enough to rise early and join us for the sunrise service on Easter Sunday. Our reward was a great cooked breakfast !!

Easter Passion Play in Edinburgh

Chen, Chunying and Joyce joined Lisa and I for a day in Edinburgh to watch the Easter Passion play in Princes Street Gardens. The play was excellent (as always) but the weather was so very, very cold !! We even braved a brief hailstorm whilst waiting for the play to begin.

Jesus Teaches the crowd

The Last Supper

The Crucifixion

Following the play we had a very welcome meal at Carubbers Church - homemade soup and pizza, cakes and coffee - thank you Carubbers!!

International Bible Study group

Jean and her Mum (Esther), Martin, Tereza, Karen Sos, Joyce, Arthur and Lisa

Many thanks to Jean & Esther for inviting us to their home for a wonderful meal and movie!!

TABLEtalk: Surprise! Surprise! It's party time ...

I want to say a huge

THANK YOU

to all the students and helpers

that came along to my Birthday party

on Feb 19th, 2008.

For me is was a MARVELLOUS time

with friends and I thank you for making

it such a memorable evening!!!

We played some crazy games like -

Musical Chairs ...

and Pass the Parcel ...

Misha hopes that he doesn't get a forfeit!

Lynne has to sing a song!

When you're as old as I am you need

a LOT of cake to support all those candles

- a BIG THANK YOU to Alison & Peace

for making the cakes.

Ray, Sugu, Keyur, Jessica, Pavas & Savan

Munish, Misha, Tereza, Joy, Karen & Serena

Peace, Arthur, Jack, Eric, Oliwia & FuYu

Chunying, Chen, Nancy & Florent

Ania, Sos, Gloria, Lena, Billy & Bora