Every year, Anvil Group go on a weekend away. This year, we chose to visit Letton Hall in Norfolk (I think the go-kart track was a major pull factor). So, on Friday 21st February we piled into the minibus, with St John's, armed with hundreds of bags, cakes, and a few people we'd somehow managed to pick up. As it was such a beautiful day (and we had to guarantee we didn't get there before Penny and Chris) Martin decided to take us on the "scenic route". Once through the tunnel we made good time, and stopped only once to watch hoards of army men fighting over a small Barney train. After several times up and down the one road in the local town (Martin apparently wasn't lost, he just liked looking at the shops. And the houses. And the churches. In the dark), we finally made it to Letton Hall.
We were welcomed into a small room with parts of dead animals, and instruments of torture hung upon the walls, and a real log fire burning merrily away (Penny felt right at home). After the usual "No jumping out of windows into bonfires" type talk we went to explore. And we were in our element... A piano, a TV, a table tennis table AND a pool table. We'd found heaven! After dinner, we had our first worship session of the weekend: "Identity" (original considering this was the theme for the weekend). And then unpacking, messing around, losing the first ball of the weekend and off to bed.
We had a lovely little rota organised for who was to prepare and clear away for each meal and coffee break, which meant that four of us had to be down in the kitchen at 7.45, after only 4 hours of sleep. After breakfast we had half an hour of 'quiet time'. Then our second worship session on the theme of "Jesus" (for details of the sessions see the worship page). After this we had some free time and then lunch. We had our third worship session on the theme of "What do we think of ourselves? What does God think of us?", and then go-karting. Around the back of Letton Hall, there is a rather large go-kart track. We were run through the "this is a brake, it slows you down" and then into the go-karts. Lizzie was named the go-kart queen, while Chris was officially the slowest driver on the track, with four others queued up behind him. After go-karting we went for a little walk. Nothing unusual save Tilly's wondering if we were going to get shot or not, and Chris getting Martin's ball stuck. We spent about three quarters of an hour standing beneath a very tall tree throwing rocks and sticks and bottles and ropes at the rugby ball in an attempt to rescue it. Unfortunately, we failed. (See page titled "Lament")
That evening after dinner we had our final worship session of the day on "Who is the Holy Spirit?", and as we broke off, anyone who wished to be prayed for requested to stay behind. Without mentioning names, several of these felt themselves filled with the Spirit. And so, it was a much happier group that arrived into the meeting room that night for the cabaret. First up we had Penny, Chris F and Toria with "Introduction", a very funny sketch in which Chris got himself rather mixed up about who Shakespeare really was. The other items of the evening were a combination of sketches and songs. Sketch one: Well, I can't really explain it other than they all cleaned their teeth. Very entertaining. Sketch two: "Is it time yet?" Again, not much can be said about it other than it was very amusing. The Hungarian Cinderella Sketch: Not far different from a normal Cinderella sketch other than none of the actors are permitted to act, smile, laugh or put any expression in. Lord of the Rings: A shortened version of the second film. Funny, but you really had to know the film. The Plagues: Hilarious. Highlight having to be Chris throwing a jug of water over himself. Telephone conversation: I think I may have to put the script up here. It was excessively entertaining. Typical talkative wife and bored husband. The songs included some dodgy one that involved Kat and Penny sitting on top of one another. I think the less said about that the better. Kat's I'm being eaten by a boa constrictor song, which was unfortunately so funny we couldn't actually sing for laughter. Shame that. Then there was the chicken song, the J-E-S-U-S song, the shark song and the crocodile song. All in all an exceedingly silly and entertaining evening. However, Becky and Jessie's duet was very preeeeety. And then the evening was rounded off nicely with the leader's singing their song (which you can find on the page titled "Song").
After breakfast and quiet time on Sunday morning, we had time to pack and then we were back to the meeting room for our morning service. An inspiring service for all present. The rest of the day was taken up with tidying up, cleaning, pool, table tennis, packing, and the usual hundred other things one has to do before leaving a place. At about 2 o'clock we assembled outside for a final group photo and then headed off home.
In all it was an amazing experience for everyone who went. Through relaxing and enjoying ourselves we found ourselves bonding more within our group, and growing much closer to God. A huge thanks to Penny, Chris, Kat, Mandy, Martin and Richard for organising the weekend and leading our worship. We look forward to next time!
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