Emmett and Wanda Pillault's trip to Scotland in 2002

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In November 2002, Emmett and Wanda Pillault spent 10 days ministering in Scotland. Here are reports Wanda e-mailed from the road:

Friday, November 1

From David Grant, Emmett and Wanda's Webmaster: Wanda called me tonight to say that the flight from Gulfport to Memphis was delayed - which means they will miss the connection to tonight's flight to Amsterdam - which means they will leave for Amsterdam tomorrow night. They will therefore also return one day later than planned, on Tuesday, November 12.

Sunday, November 3

We don't have much time to get everything said. We took off from Gulfport yesterday at 3 pm, went to Memphis, from Memphis to Detroit, then to Amsterdam. We sat next to a couple from Nigeria. The lady's name was Rosalie, and she had problems with her knee. We prayed for her. Before we got on the the plane in Gulfport, Emmett had to run to Wal-Mart and to the bank - so he had to use a taxicab - which was just for Emmett to minister to the taxi driver!

We are so tired that we can hardly keep our eyes open. Tomorrow begins our ministry here at Overtoun House in Scotland. It is very old and very beautiful. It needs a bunch of work. Our heart is to do all of our part of fixing it up as fast as we can, so we can get to the street and minister.

Emmett misunderstood some of the instructions about money - and our finances for the trip are a mess. We need $200 to give to the cook here for our part of the food. We do not have it. We have money to get a drink if we go out on the town, something to eat and drink when we are going back home, and gas to get home with. We need a miracle. Not begging - just asking for you guys to pray that God works this out. It is an embarrassment to us not to have the cash to give for our part. (Webmaster's note: I have e-mailed Wanda asking whether there is a way that someone so led by the Holy Spirit can wire them money. If she responds, I will post information here.)

Monday, November 4

Today has been great. A girl from New York named Tabitha is here for 6 months, on a mission trip sponsored by Teen Mania. She is so precious. She took Wanda on a tour of the grounds, and Wanda got some great pictures of the whole castle. Emmett and the men have been working all day on the castle - making a place for us to sleep! Will send more tomorrow. Thank you, God bless, and don't forget to keep us in your prayers!

Tuesday, November 5

Tabitha and Wanda took a long walk down a new trail today. Wanda took more pictures of the old farm houses around the castle. It is so beautiful here! It would take your breath away. Even the long walks up those hills! :) The food here is really good. We are getting 3 meals a day plus all the tea time you can stand.

Today was a real full day here in Glasgow, Scotland. We started with devotion time at 6-ish, then breakfast, then ready to begin work. The beams in the kitchen floor are almost finished - that is where Em has been working with a team this whole time. The top floor - what you would walk on - will be next. The beams were so rotten. The men are sleeping on the floor on the main floor, and the ladies are sleeping on the floor on the second floor. It is very warm on the floor so we don't mind. The men have two space heaters they have to share.

Today Tabitha and I gave a tour to some people from Scotland. They were impressed at how much two Yankees knew about their own castle. We gave the tour from the bottom floor to the top of the tower. If anyone at home would like to take a personal tour, you can go to their Web site and see what we are doing here.

If anyone would like to help us out financially on this trip: I found a way that we can use our bank card while we are here, because it is like a Visa card. (Webmaster's note: Wanda went on to explain how people can deposit money for her and Emmett to use, but for security reasons I am omitting this information. If you would like to assist, e-mail me.)

Today we are still working at the castle, and this will go on until Friday. We will take a day off then and act like tourists. Thank you all for your prayers and support.

One more thing: A man named D had one of the old type steam pipes fall on his head, and we had to get him to the hospital to get stitches in his head. (No concussion.) His arm got banged up too!! So please keep in prayer for D, and pray that there are no more mishaps here.

Wednesday, November 6

Hello from Scotland...we have had a very rainy day! The guys are almost finished with the kitchen floor, then they will begin the floor right above the kitchen floor. The room on the other end of the castle is almost complete. We tried to go outside in between the rain to get pictures. What a day. I opened Wanda's Beauty Parlor and had cutting hair and setting hair time. We are taking some pictures tonight and everyone wants to look beautiful.

Gotta go! Haven't seen much since we have been here, except the castle, but there is so much to see! We're going to take a walk.

Thursday, November 7

Time is just flying by. We are so busy here getting our goals completed. As I am writing to you all, I am looking over the mountains, watching the sheep and cattle grazing on the beautiful rolling hills. Everything is so colorful right now here. So green and the colors of the trees are so wonderful. It is breathtaking.

Yesterday, we took a little time off together for the first time - in the rain, to walk around the roads of the castle. We found a beautiful waterfall coming through some rocks, never seeing where the water comes from and where it goes. Too beautiful. We took pictures of all of this. We are praying I can get some on a disk and put some on our web site when we get home.

Last night, we went - along with Bou and Miriam, a precious minister couple we have met from the Mississippi delta - to a home fellowship in another part of town. We were supposed to be there for just one hour, but the Holy Spirit showed up, and we had church. Bou had an old time footwashing for one of the ladies named Jean. Emmett prayed for a young girl who lived in the house, and the Holy Spirit touched this little girl so quick, it was awesome - this small child just stood and shook for a long time.

I have been battling with wheezing since we have been here every night except for the first night. There is so much mold and ash, and dampness everywhere. I am taking about 4 Benadryl everyday. But God is sustaining me.

It rains everyday here. The grounds stay very wet. Just like the yard at home!

One of the hard things for me is sleeping on the floor. It takes so long for me to get up and down. I need everyone's prayers that this strengthens my back and legs more. I am praising God that all of this is for the good of the Kingdom.

We are very excited about our day off tomorrow. We are going for a sight seeing tour.

God has us here to learn a lot of things - and God is in control.

Please keep us in your prayers. There are several levels in this castle, and I know I have climbed every stairway - all the way to the tower and all the way to the basement.

Friday, November 8

Today was a day off! God is good! We went to Edinburgh, to the castle there, and took a tour of the town. God allowed for us to minister to people on street corners. We sang with a young man who was playing a violin. We sang several songs with him. Em wanted to pray for him - but he said "Don't touch me - I have had charismatics touch me before and when that happens, I don't have any control"! We prayed for God to touch him. His name is jess. Please pray for him.

We planted seed everywhere we went. On the train from Edinburgh back to Glasgow, God used us to touch three people - Stewart, Robin, and Mike - but they didn't come to the Lord. Pray that Jesus makes Himself real to them today.

Yesterday Wanda fell down a few steps in Overtoun House. So she walked very slowly today, and that gave Emmett time to scope out people to talk to. Of course you know Emmett - it doesn't take much for him to drum up a conversation with anyone. We can't remember how many people we talked to about Jesus. We know that there were people all around us who we didn't even talk to but who heard the word of God from the songs we sing. So we are believing that many will come to the Lord.

Saturday, November 9

Today was another work day. We have lost a couple of people on our crew who had to leave early. We had more work today. Some of the crew are working on into the night, probably until midnight. We are all very tired, but we know that we have to finish. Tomorrow is another rest day since it is Sunday. But some crews, like the electricians, are getting up early to try to get the rooms set up with electricity before we leave on Tuesday.

Tonight, we were invited to go to the church and rehearse with the Hill family - Melissa, Esther, and Joshua - then Miriam, from the Mississippi Delta is singing along with Wanda. We do not have enough microphones for Emmett to use one during the Sunday morning service, so he is playing the guitar along with Joshua on the bass guitar. Esther is playing the drums.

I think I must have shoveled 2 or 3 wheelbarrows full of trash, and about 6 of those big plastic tubs full of wood and rocks, out of the room that Emmett and a crew are working in. My body is so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open.

We have not heard from anyone who may want to drop us a love offering to help us with this trip. They are asking us to come back soon, to bring us around to some of the churches here. We did not get much chance to minister in the churches here. Without your support we will not have that opportunity. We love you all and appreciate you prayer and support.

It is about 30 degrees here at night. My feet are frozen. Sleeping on the floor is a fun thing - it feels like we are at a big slumber party - the girls upstairs and the boys downstairs. We laugh and talk till 10 pm, then crash.

We believe we are going to do a concert here in Overtoun House Sunday evening about 6 pm. All of Scotland has been invited. The Angel Room is very big so who knows who will show up. Maybe the royal family will show up - you never know!

Emmett and some of the people are upstairs singing Christmas carols. Sounds so good I am going to join them now. God bless ya!

Sunday, November 10

It was an awesome day! We had a great morning service at the Hills Church. We had a full house for the service. The children sang and danced and read Scripture for us. Melissa Hill, the praise and worship leader, invited us to sing on the praise team. Of course, Emmett played his guitar, too. Miriam and Bou brought forth the word. The Holy Spirit fell in an awesome way. We had tea after the service.

We got to eat some of the famous fish-and-chips of Scotland for lunch.

Then Bob brought his kilt out, for Bill Hood, one of the men on our team, to wear. We got a bunch of pictures of him in it. Then Emmett had to have it on, so Bob dressed him up in the Scottish get up. Wanda put his new hat on with the red hair so he would look really Scottish. His new name is now Emmett McBoudreaux! We will try to get these pictures added to the Web site soon.

We invited almost all of Scotland over to the castle for 6 pm, to hear us in concert. We had a blast singing, praising the Lord, and giving testimony. We gave away a bunch of CDs. We could have given out more if we had had them.

We believe we have gained weight on this trip. Ms. Deaner from Escatawpa, Mississippi has been cooking up a storm.

We miss everyone at home. We won't have much time to rest. Christmas City USA in Biloxi, Mississippi is Friday, Saturday, and Sunday this coming weekend. We will be throwing our suitcases in the front door at home and off we go again. Check out our schedule to see where else we will be for the rest of this year.

We are praying that God works it out for us to come back next year to Scotland. Bob wants us to get booked in some more churches here.

We have had a wonderful crew this trip out. There is so much more work to be done here. But we are sure that the Lord has the timing all planned out!

Monday, November 11

The guys are still working very hard trying to meet their goals before bedtime. We are leaving for the airport at 8:30 tomorrow morning.

We have had some great times of devotion and praise here in Scotland. There have not been too many mishaps - only D with a pipe and me falling down a couple of steps. Oh, one of the guys, Gary, fell from one floor to the basement. He is so tall he didn't hurt himself!

After lunch Melissa took Rachael, Deaner, and Wanda shopping to a coast town named Luss. It was so quaint. We had tea in a great little shop. The owner can out with his outfit on - kilt and the whole get up - and we took some great pictures with him.

The ASDA here is like Wal-Mart at home - as a matter of fact, it is owned by Walmart. But it is all Scottish, candy and all!

There is another fellowship tonight, with more of the neighbors and friends to meet us before we leave. So we will probably have wait until we get home to tell you about our last night here.

Thank you all for your prayers and support for our Scotland trip. We are believing that God is going to bring us back here soon. So please pray and ask God if He wants you to support us for the next trip.

Wednesday, November 13

Our trip back from Scotland went pretty smooth as could be expected, moving about from one country to another. Security is really busy checking everyone out with a fine tooth comb. We had to take all of our jewelry off, belts, shoes, everything, and put them through an X-ray machine and walk through a metal detector. Of course, Em, with his shaving kit and all of his collection of stuff he keeps in his backpack, gets stopped every time. Perhaps God wanted Emmett to stop to be a witness to all of the security people. Most of the time, he would end up singing to all them at least one song if not more! I don't think there was a place we went on this trip where Emmett did not sing at least one song!

On the plane from Glasgow, Scotland to Amsterdam, we sat next to a young man from Scotland, named Andy, who was very upset! He was afraid he had lost his job in Amsterdam because the Scotland airport had bumped him twice. When he finally got on the plane, he was just about in tears. We prayed for him that he would not lose his job. He had never known anyone who would take time to pray for him before. When this happened, he began to cry from deep within. He knows there is a God, but when we prayed, he felt something he had never felt before. He said men don't cry - well, he never saw Emmett full of the Holy Ghost! we gave him a tract about the devil's tricks to deceive people. Wanda gave him her favorite purse Bible, and we gave him some cash, because he has a new baby coming and he only bought the ticket to go to the job. Of course, Emmett gave him one of our "Songs from the Real King" CDs. He kept telling us he had never met anyone like us before. We are looking forward to seeing Andy in heaven - because on that plane between Scotland and Amsterdam yesterday, he received Jesus into his heart. Praise the Lord!

Walking around Amsterdam airport is worse than the Miami airport. You can really get a workout just walking from one gate to another.

We all had a great time in the Lord, there in Scotland, and met a bunch of wonderful people. We learned what is a good word here in USA is sometimes not a good word there in Scotland! Scotland is a friendly country. We had a great time singing in restaurants, and on street corners, including with Jess, the violin player, on the streets in Edinburgh where we went sightseeing and saw the Edinburgh Castle and the crown jewels. We tried our best to remember every detail of our trip. When we get the time we will try to sit and read over our reports and see if we left anything out.

So good to be home. Pray for Emmett - we didn't get to bed until after 1 this morning and Emmett got up at 4ish to go to work. He rested a little on the plane, but it is hard resting with all of the noise and movement about. Wanda doesn't sleep at all on planes. Anyway, we are trying to get back in the swing of things.