Dover Rocks – England, Dover

We found rain for the first time on our trip here in Dover, England. It was a soaking drizzle more than a real rainstorm. We put on our extra jackets and hats as we left the train station hoping to stay a little more dry. The first thing we did was ask a local about directions and he told us to get on the local bus headed out of town toward our next B&B. We made it to the Farthingloe Farm bus exit and could actually see our B&B, but there was no way to access it through a fence and trees. We walked up and down the road in both directions and finally knocked on a neighbor’s door for directions. The young man was super nice and putting on his shoes took us through his backyard to the woods behind his house on a secret path leading to Farthingloe Bed & Breakfast. Once he knew we were on the right path he headed back home.

We love being in the country and Farthingloe looks like something right out of a Jane Austin novel. The owners are extremely friendly and do everything possible to make sure our visit is memorable. With it still raining we went to our room, after a cup of tea and conversation with the owners, and snuggled down to read some James Herriot stories we found in the room. After a couple hours the rain stopped and we were able to walk back into town for a pizza.

The next day was Sunday, so we went looking for a church online. We found The Ark Dover. After our experience in Stirling, Scotland in a very wonderful and welcoming church with no children, we were looking for a family church filled with kiddos. God answered again and when we got to Ark Dover it was bursting with kids. There seemed to be more children than adults, which was wonderful. The sounds that come with that many children was a type of music to our ears, we love kids. I was talking with the senior pastor Gus and he told me that children are the line blood of the church and without them the church would die. I agree completely and you could tell that Ark Dover was thriving. Talking with another guy from the church he told how they had done several church plants as well and the Lord was faithful to bring in more people to fill the gap. We love to see God moving and working and it was a privilege to worship Jesus with them. After service we left to go hike over to Dover Castle, several miles away. En-route a car pulls up to us asking where we are headed. We told her and she told us to get in. We hoped in the car with Christine and had a delightful drive over to Dover Castle. She is the mother of David, one of the pastor’s at Ark Dover. Christine was such a blessing and we thanked her for her heart to serve. Chloe was able to pray with her and we left as firm friends.

Castle Dover turned out to be enormous and exciting. There were countless passages and secret paths to explore. We loved walking the grounds and finding new things around every bend. We found a castle inside of the castle and it reminding me of C.S. Lewis talking about Aslan’s country by going further up and further in. The more we found the more there was to find! At the castle restaurant we stopped for a cream tea, which was delightful. It was so filling that we waddled away talking about how full our tummies were. We also found a gift shop that sold real armor, just like they made back in the day. I tried on a knight’s glove and was amazing at the movement that I had with it on. It was truly a marvel and a fully dressed knight would have almost a complete range of motion. I also got to hold a real sword and they told us that King Arthur’s sword Excalibur had the original artwork etched on the blade.

We stayed at the castle until closing and still being full, made our way home. We got home just before sunset. It was a very good day and we are thankful.

Chloe’s Take:
I love you and miss you. This morning we ate a wonderful breakfast. I was not able to eat much of it because we stuff ourselves on pizza the night before. I was trying to calm my stomach down. We hiked up to go see the cliffs of Dover. God had a plan and there was so much water on the path at the end that we were not able to get there. We had a beautiful very quiet hike in the hills with our on road. Then we started on the hike to Ark Dover.

The Ark Dover is a church in Dover that we chose to go to today. We hiked up a steep hill this morning to get to the church. I was a little whinnish grumpy as it was so steep (not really that steep). I made it seem like a bigger deal than it was. I prayed for God to take away my grumpiness (after daddy and I sang “We are weak, but He is strong”). God answered and changed my attitude. The church we went to was very friendly and there were TONS of kids. The singing was a bit loud when drumming, but otherwise good. The kids were restless and did not pay much attention to the music and played until they could go to a kids Sunday class. I stayed with daddy. There was a lady teacher today, one of the members of the church. She taught on not saying bad words that could hurt someone and letting go of the hurtful words you have heard in your life. The people at the beginning of service came to me and daddy and talked and were very friendly. After service a nice lady came over to me with a little baby (his name is Isaac) and she talked asked me all sorts of questions. I tried to answer all the questions as well as I could the time passed very quickly.

Then me and daddy started on our way to Dover Castle. It was a very very long way there. We had just begun it when one of the pastor’s (Pastor David) mother (Ms. Christine) drove by and asked where we were going. We told her to Castle Dover. She immediately invited us into her car and drove us all the way up to Castle Dover. She said how we could pray for her was she was very very tired and barely made it to church and it would bless her a lot if we would pray for her to have rest. I got to pray with her. She thanked us hardily (and we thanked her too). She blessed us a LOT! Then we walked up to the castle. The castle was BIG, FUN, and EXCITING. As we explored dark passages, I was thinking how like it was to some of the castles Kendall saw in Israel. We had a very wonderful cream tea after going through a tunnel experience of a WWII man who was hurt (it was an underground hospital). They had sounds and a bit of the smell, which made me and daddy hungry and feeling a little nauseous. The man who led the tour said they had put all the smell that it would normal have when they first opened to the public and so many people got sick and fainted for the smells (cooking food, cigarette smoke, and ESPECIALLY the cleaning hospital smells). When we got out of the tunnel, we immediately went to see the cliffs of Dover up some stairs to view it at the castle. Then we went and had cream tea (we were HUNGRY). The cream tea was so so so GOOD and filling.

Then me and daddy, after seeing the rest of the castle basically, we came out and went down a small hill place and asked a man if he knew how to get to the town quickly. He said he was a stranger (just visiting). He would try to help us. He showed us a way from the castle down to the town (it was hidden by the trees and quicker). So, down it we went and met another man who helped us on our way. Finally after very tired legs we got to our B&B. We are now trying to remember to leave a gospel track to all the hotels we go to. This is the first one we thought of doing this with. I pray that it will help them to learn about and fall in love with Jesus if they do not already know him and love him. I love you!