Where we go to love

For those of you who are following our journey that one day will lead to the Luse family living in Scotland, I thought I would pass along some what I have learned of our future home. Hopefully, you will read this, and be lead to support us monthly!! Just kidding…sort of. We still need about 25 people willing to help out at $100/mo. (Just in case you found yourself asking….”I wonder what they need?”)

Alright, here we go: This will be a multi-part blog touching on interesting, saddening, and disturbing facets of life in Glasgow.

Let’s start with Glasgow:

Glasgow (Glaschu in Gaelic) could have a number of different meanings, my favorite is “fair green place” It is the largest city in Scotland and the third most populous in the UK.

It is situated on the river Clyde and was originally recognized as a city in midevil times for the fact that it had its own bishop. Below is the city coat of arms.

It has been a center for trade in the earliest days, dealing in herring, salmon, tobacco, and cotton. And in 1690, the people were still greatly concerned for a day of rest as mentioned in February of that year which made a proclamation against debauchery throughout town, prohibiting any inhabitant or temporary resident from drinking in any tavern after 10pm on weekdays “or in tyme of sermon, or thereafter on Sabbath dayes,under penalty of forty schilling Scots to be paid by the furnisher of the drink and twenty schilling by the drinker, half of the money to go to the informer.”

Today it is one of Europe’s top twenty financial centers and is home to many of Scotland’s leading businesses.

It is also known as the Knife capital of the world (Four people are stabbed every day) and it has the distinction of most dangerous city, with the second highest murder rate in Western Europe. The average life expectancy in the poorer areas of the city is 54.

The city has around 600,000 people, the metro area having 1.7 million. Recently, the ship yards in Govan won a government contract to help build the largest aircraft carrier the UK has ever had. It will provide hundreds of jobs and give the area a number of years of economic boost.

Gas costs somewhere around $9 a gallon….think about that next time you fill up here for $4.50/gal!

So there you go, just a little something to give you a small taste of our new home! Let me know if you want to come….we’re always looking for team members who love the opportunity to take Christ’s love to a pretty dark place!