Hello and welcome to the first installment of the Black Sock Journal.

My reason for calling my monthly news letter the Black Sock Journal, is that in an effort to avoid dealing with bleach loads when doing laundry, I brought no white clothes to England and I bought black socks specifically for that reason.

Though I arrived in King’s Lynn a month ago, as of yesterday I am officially in King’s Lynn. More specifically… I fell into the historic Ouse River, which is appropriately pronounced “ooze” and runs along the edge of town. Where I fell wasn’t really the actual Ouse, but an old abandoned inlet that is now a muck of stagnant water and silt, so perhaps my plunge was worse than actually falling into the Ouse. What happened was that myself, Madi, Mac, and their friend Jake, whom I just met, were exploring an old rotted out boat in the inlet. As I dismounted the boat I lost my footing in the mud. To sum up a rather spectacular fall it included three individual collisions. An incremental plummet of about six feet and a full inversion. The whole thing ended with the top of my head dipped in the muck and half of my body caked with silt the consistency of which resembles the paste that many ate in preschool. By the grace and mercy of God I didn’t get any in my mouth.

In my efforts to come to England, Vince and I agreed that we would not take any shortcuts or back doors and after nearly two years of waiting for my visa to come through God made it happen in two weeks. The true miracle is that my visa is good for two full years while other missionaries are struggling to get any visa at all. It will also permit me to leave and re-enter the country if I have need to travel outside the UK. Mighty is the God that I serve! The two weeks before I left the states were crazy with all the packing, planning and farewells. I miss you all, already. But God said, “Go now!” (add finger snap for effect) So I went and now I’m finally here. I arrived with Tony, from CC Phelan and Sherry from CC Costa Mesa who came to help with the CC King’s Lynn’s first service in the church building. Without any planning on our part, we all flew in on different flights and different airlines into London airport, yet we all landed within three hours of each other. We were able to meet up and travel together by train to King’s Lynn. The Proffits were waiting with open arms at the end of our very long journey and it was great to see them again after so long.

My first month has been a fury of activity. We had an outreach on the Saturday preceding the first church service where dozens of people came in out of the rain for pastries, tea and coffee. Then we had the first Sunday service in the building and that was particularly meaningful for me. I checked my journal and it was more than a year ago on January 19th of 2009 that God laid it on my heart that I would not be leaving to King’s Lynn until the church had a building. Though the church got the building in October, by the Lord’s hand and timing alone, I arrived three days before the first service in that building. Blessed is the Lord who presses His truth on our hearts. We have had three subsequent Sundays and on each of the four myself and Mark, my new friend and brother in the Lord, pick up a gentleman from the local nursing home and push him to and from the service in his wheelchair. His quiet heart is such a blessing to me.

During the last week we had four guys from the CC bible college in York, including Tony’s son Alex. They were such an encouragement. We had another outreach while they were here, and once again several people came in out of the rain to eat hotdogs, drink some tea, and warm up. The weather has been beautiful since I’ve been here, however it always seems to rain on our outreaches. I think God does that to drive people into the church and it works. Each person is met with smiling faces, worship music in the background and most importantly the love of Jesus. Ministry here is slow because the people have been so hurt by religion and are now extremely resistant to the things of God. I am certain this is the reason I felt God tell me I needed to be here for two years. Reaching people requires relationship and that cannot be accomplished on a short-term basis. It has been really cool though, about a week ago Madi and I had the chance to talk about God for nearly an hour with a guy I met when I first arrived. I didn’t expect that to happen for quite some time and was blessed to have the opportunity. The conversation was more academic and less spiritual because he’s kind of intellectual, but it’s a start.

Currently my days are filled with, as Vince puts it, preparing for rain, so that when opportunities present themselves I am “always ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you.” –I Peter 3:15 I am enjoying spending huge amounts of time in the word and practicing the guitar and bass for worship. I also am visiting the nursing home during the week. And as silly as it sounds I spend a couple nights a week playing board games with local youth and young adults to build those relationships that will hopefully one day lead to an opportunity to share the gospel.

It is clear that in King’s Lynn the Lord has a work planned and the need for Him is great. I cannot thank you enough for your prayers and support , they have been felt. Please continue to pray for the souls of the people of King’s Lynn and pray for me as the Lord leads.

In His Name,
Jerry Dayton

If you would like to read a more in depth account of the outreach and first service or would like to find out more about what is happening in King’s Lynn check out our blog at www.calvarykingslynn.blogspot.com.

Thus says the LORD: "Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way is, And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls…” – Jeremiah 6:16