Holiday Open House

Originally Posted January 3, 2006

We hosted an open house for the neigbors a couple of Sunday's prior to Christmas. It is pretty customary here for people to leave you alone when you move into a new neighborhood unless you make the first move. If you do not, they will figure you want your privacy and will not make much eye contact or say hello. So, we threw a big open house and invited over 38 families. It was a great success. We had over 40 people come and most stayed all afternoon rather than just dropping in. When we weren't engaged in conversation or refilling the food tables, we just watched in amazaement. We heard some neighbors telling one another that they had lived here for 7 years, or even 20 years - and had not met any neighbors yet. They were all very appreciative of the initiative we took in getting everyone together. By the end of the afternoon, some were even pondering other neighborhood gatherings that might happen in the future.

Journal Entry - Kathy

Originally posted December 1, 2005

After 6 weeks, we finally were able to move into our home. It was actually hard to leave the Allmon's place, we had grown quite comfortable there. We all enjoyed one another a lot. One nice thing is that when we go over there to visit now, Einstein (the poodle), greets us as one of his own. We get to "dog sit" Einstein next week while Charlie and Lisa are away. We want to get a dog sometime in the future, so we'll have to make sure we get a dog that Einstein will get along with.

Yesterday we got our phone, television, and internet connected. It is wonderful to be connected to the world again. We also bought a car that I just love. Its a cute little Red Ford Focus and even has CD controls on the steering wheel! I'm sure Kevin would describe the car a bit differently than I, but that's what I love about the car.

Mostly, I am amazed at what God does each and every day. Every day I could list the tangible things God has done. Sometimes it seems that all I have to do is give the Lord my request and it is met supernaturally within a day or two.

I put out a prayer request about 3 weeks ago for God's grace in the tremendous amount of building, construction, assembly, and clean up that needed to be done in order to get into our home. Just 12 hours later, Charlie (who we were still living with) sensed my weariness at the incredible mess. The next day he showed up at the house and was busy cutting boxes down from all our furniture assembling and hauling them away for us. That same day a crew of about 5 new people showed up at the house and were busy with wiring, construction, painting, you name it. This continued on for a week and we were able to get into the house. True Community in action!

Before we moved into our home Kenny was feeling very sad about leaving Allmon's home. He had grown to really love them, their home, and Einstein. I asked a few people to pray with me that the move would go well for him. Within 24 hours a wonderful young woman from the church called me and said: "With your permission I'd like to turn Kenny's room into a Lord of the Rings room." Needless to say I said a hearty "Yes". Kenny was so thrilled at his surprise and made the transition wonderfully, thanks to Mariel!

Two days ago in my Mom's In Touch prayer group (a prayer group of moms who pray for one specific school, the teachers, and their children weekly) I prayed that some nice kids would begin to reach out to Kenny. The next evening Kenny got an invitation to a sleep over with 2 other boys.

Almost daily, at least several times a week, there are stories like this. I watch God do so much around me. I can only think that at a time in my life when the "internals" are challenging that God lets his presense be known in incredible ways with the "externals".

Journal Entry - Kathy

Originally posted November 4, 2005

Last week we sent Kari back home to the states. It was very sad to say goodbye, but it is time for her to get on with her goals, get a good job, save money and get back to school in the fall. We are so thankful for the time she was here with us. Kari brought so much joy to the home, was great moral support and a wonderful resourse for so much. She painted, shopped, helped picked colors for the walls, assembled furniture, taught me how to navigate busses, trains, and trams. And mostly, she was just a joy to have with us. Next month we will say goodbye to Kristi when she starts YWAM, it is hard to think of both the girls being gone. I am savoring the rest of this month with Kristi, and I'm thankful she will be on the same continent and we will be able to see her once a month or so.

Yesterday, Sunday, December 4, we were invited to a farewell taco feast for a young couple at Lisa and Charlie's house. The group saying goodbye was the Antillian Community from chruch. We absolutely had a wonderful time meeting lots of people in our Crossroads Community that we haven't gotten to know yet. Towards the end of the afternoon, out came the keyboard, bongos, guitar, and tamborine and we had a sweet time of worship. If any of you reading this have heard Ephram Smith's sermon entitled "A Sneak Preview of Heaven" - this time of worship exemplified his sermon to be sure. For each song we sang first in English, then in Dutch, then in Spanish, and finished off in the native tongue of the Antilians - the language is called Papiamento. It's a combination of Spanish, Portuguese, French, English, Dutch, African & Indian dialects. Thankfully we had words in all the different languages typed up, and we really enjoyed attempting worship in all the languages.

Today I needed to run some errands at the store and get some groceries. Here is a typical day of errands. I got out my shed key and took out my bike. I made sure I had a jacket with a hood on, because even though it was sunny when I left, you never know when that will change. Today was no different. It started raining half the way to the mall. The weather is warmer today, though my hands were a bit cold when they got wet in the rain. I should have brought gloves.

The mall is very close, within walking distance, but I prefer biking because I have saddlebags on my bike and I don't have to carry so much home. I only take the car if I will have too much for the saddlebags or pull cart. In terms of ease of driving and finding a parking spot, it is a bit like driving around Rosedale mall, so biking or walking is much faster and easier. I leave my bike in a gated security place outside of the grocery store, as my American bike would be a target for bike theft, which is quite big here. I have another bike that I take when I want to go somewhere that does not have a secure area to leave it, but the ride is much more difficult (probably better exercise though). I have a cover for my bike seat so that I don't have to sit on a wet bike seat when I am done shopping. People bike all through the winter here, in the rain, sleet, hail, and cold.

Hope you enjoy another little taste of Holland.
Totziens (which means goodbye).

Kathy

Everything I Needed to Learn About Life in Holland

Originally posted November 1, 2005

Everything I needed to learn about Holland I learned in the first 6 weeks.
(from Kathy's perspective)

Actually, I’ve still got a lot more to learn – but it sounded like a catchy title. What I have learned so far:

I have learned that bicycles rule, over cars and pedestrians, and probably even airplanes.

I have learned not to walk on the red bricks lest I get the little “ding” from a bicycle bell.

I have learned how to make guttural sounds when pronouncing the “g” sound.

I have learned that "Doorgand Verkeer" means "the way out", which is good to know when one is lost on the road.

I have learned that even people who have lived in Holland for 10 years get lost in Den Haag.

I have learned to always have an umbrella or raincoat with a hood handy.

I have learned the difference between pink strippenkarts and blue strippenkarts.

I have learned that it is safe in this country to allow my 12 year old son take city busses to and from school and ride his bike long distances in an urban setting.

I have learned that 19 and 21 year olds are much better at figuring out how to navigate busses, trains, and trams than 40 plus year olds.

I have learned to appreciate the memory of sufficient electrical outlets, and how to get along with extension cords and buzz bars instead.

I have learned that European homes have nicer bathtubs than United States homes, and that they help to soothe a stressful day.

I have learned that small cars are easier to wiggle around the streets with than mini-vans.

I have learned to say: “May I speak English?” anytime I enter a shop or make a local business phone call.

I have learned that alstublieft means “here you are”, “your welcome”, “have a good day”, “please” as well as other meanings that I am most likely not yet aware of.

I have learned to say things like: “I had a lovely time” and the “meal was very nice”.

I have learned that “basterd suiker” means brown sugar.

I have learned to take a food dictionary with me to the market.

I have learned to take lessons from my 3 children:

From Kari – I am learning what true servant hood means. Kari is serving her family each and every day; whether it is assembling furniture, figuring out how Kenny can take a bus to school and teaching he and I, offering moral support in the low times, pitching in with any project she can bite off and do around the house, riding her bike to the market for groceries, and always putting a good spin on things that go wrong.

From Kristi – I am learning what faith and trust in God is all about. She is an inspiration to me. Read her latest website entry and you’ll see what I mean.

From Kenny – I am learning what true courage looks like. I am amazed as I watch him starting a new school in a new country with a great attitude. I am amazed as he tackles city busses when it is 7:30 am, pitch dark, rainy, and cold. He amazed me as he boarded a tour bus with a few hundred other kids for a week long field trip after being in a new school for only 4 days. He amazed me just 2 days ago when he saddled his own bike (that was just assembled the day prior) and rode quite a distance along bike paths in a new country - all alone. He amazes me as he interacts with confidence with so many new adults as well as kids.

I have learned that God reaches down in very tangible ways over and over again, through his people. (Read more about this on a future web-posting).

What I have not yet learned is how to take all of this wrapped up together and let it sink deep into my soul. I am learning that it is a lot easier to talk of giving my life away and of following Jesus when I am in the home I love, surrounded by the familiar, residing in the country that I know how to navigate, and doing life with family and the friends I have grown to know and love over many years of time.

Most of all, I have learned that God is very good, and that He definitely answers prayer.

Kristi's reflections

Originally posted on Oct 26, 2005

Sitting here at the computer, I look around and see that I’m missing a few things. I’m missing a pair of shoes. I don’t remember which pair, but I’m fairly certain I packed one more pair than I unpacked.

I’m missing Target. I miss wandering the long aisles, finding things I’ve never seen before and suddenly realizing I can’t live without them.

I’m missing my friends. I’m missing the freedom to be myself without running the risk of making some sort of impression on someone.

And I’m missing my comfy relationship with God. The one I’m experiencing right now is scary, uncertain, and at times it even seems treacherous. Back in Minnesota my life was going well, and God fit comfortably into the picture. Nowadays my life is completely turned upside down, and I’m finding that God needs to be the whole picture. I’m not used to this state of utter dependence, and I am not yet sure how I feel about it. In this time in my life I am reminded of C.S. Lewis’ “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, in which Lucy asks Mr. Tumnus about Aslan, “Is he-is he safe?” Mr. Tumnus replies, “Safe? Course he isn’t safe. But he is good.”

In my loss of my former life, and the uncertainty of my future, right now I feel anything but safe. But my God is good. The past months of me and my family’s lives are living proof that God like Aslan- he is not safe, but let me tell you- he is good!

I see his goodness when I stand and watch the support of the Crossroads community here. Support in painting, assembling furniture, and other random acts of kindness. My mother was blessed to tears the other day when a woman in the church came by with a bagful of “American” cooking items that can’t be found here- Crisco, chocolate chips, and various other things. An older lady came up to me in church a few days ago and handed me an envelope with “pocket money” in it for me, Kari, and Kenny, with the message to be happy. She simply said that she knew this had been hard for us, leaving our friends, and she wanted to give us a gift. She ran away without saying her name before my shock could wear off.

“Praise our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard: he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping. For you, O God, tested us: you refined us like silver....we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance....Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!” Psalm 66:8-12, 20.

I see his goodness simply by the fact that I have strength to remain standing, not standing in fear and defeat but standing in victory!

“For we know that in all this we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

......here’s to the goodness of God!

The Dunes

The Dunes are on the coast of the North Sea by The Hague. It is a beautiful area. We enjoyed a Sunday afternoon here with some new friends

Gone to the Dogs

First posted October 25, 2005

Have you ever sat in a room at the veterinarian clinic and looked at one of those posters of all the different dog breeds? I have. And I have wondered, in a world of Golden Retrievers, Black Labs and an occasional poodle where are all these other types of dogs? I mean the weird ones like the wiener dog with long, coarse boar bristle type hair. Or the goofy looking white thing with black spots that doesn’t really have a head. On the end of its neck is a big snout with two eyes on the side and a mouth underneath. I don’t know the breed names. I couldn’t tell you what to call the big polar bear fur rescue dog (not the Saint Bernard). Wouldn’t know what to call the midsized long haired thing with no visible eyes that the old lady walks late at night. But I have found them all. And they are doing quite well in the Netherlands.

Cats must have it rough here. Since I do not like cats don’t take that for sympathy. In fact my favorite bumper sticker over here so far is “I like cats - they taste like chicken.” But this place is pooch central. Big dogs, little dogs. Skinny little sticks and massive things held back by a cable. Hairy Chewbacca types and dainty fluff balls. If you want to make friends here, walk a dog. The Dutch love their doggies. And they will like yours too.

But, typical for Dutch culture, we’ll have no dogs out of line. When walking in The Hague Forest one notices dogs everywhere. Almost all of them off leash being well behaved. I have always been a dog lover. And I have always enjoyed that dogs can sense who likes them and that they immediately warm up to me. But here when a pooch is on the trail in the forest twenty paces ahead of its master even if we look eye to eye and I tap my leg in an invite to a rub on the head they just saunter right by like I don’t exist. They are so well behaved they don’t even chase the ducks. That’s a little disappointing. The ducks and geese here are fat and lazy.

Our good friends, the Allmons, have a very American dog. Einstein is a poodle mix with a mind of his own. Ask him to come and he looks the other way. Ignore him and he’ll jump on your lap. Basically, he does what he wants when he wants. But he is so darn cute doing it that you can’t help but love him. In the forest one time, Einstein was on leash. He’d be dead in a minute if it were otherwise. A very Dutch woman watched him for a while. When the person walking him brought him near the lady quipped, “We have schools here for dogs like that one.”

We’re thinking of getting a pooch when things settle down. I am hoping for a Dutch-American breed, one that obeys when I want it to but is a fun rascal, too. Or maybe I’ll just train it to chase the ducks. Then when I get scolded for its misbehavior I can pretend to be appalled. But the next time your sitting at the vet’s staring at the chart, they are over here. All dogs go to Holland.

A Day in Den Haag

First posted October 14, 2005

A Day in Hen Haag from Kathy's Perspective

Unlike Kevin's day, my day starts quite early. I am up by 6:30 am, not too unreasonable. I am showered and dressed by 7:00 and rouse Kenny at that time. Thirty minutes later he and I make the adventurous trek to his school. His school is located in a little village called Wassenar. Wassenar is about a 12 minute drive in the middle of the day, but in the morning the drive can range from 25 - 50 minutes long, one way. Eventually Kenny will bike in decent weather. We still have to get his bike assembled and "dutched" up. He should be able to bike to school in about 30 minutes.

On days that I don't have to be somewhere right away at 9:00, I come home and have breakfast and a cup of tea before starting my day. Every day has a different set of tasks to be done. Today the first 90 minutes were spent on the phone (the first 60 minutes I was on hold) with the internet company. We hear that everyone has a difficult time getting their internet service hooked up, and it looks as though we are not escaping this common plight.

After this accomplishing this phone call, I went to our house and took a stack of mail to a neighbor to translate for me, which then prompted another set of
business to take care of. After taking care of that business, I successfully found a "house doctor, or hoisart" to register with. Next I went to the store to buy bedding for our newly assembled beds from Ikea. After 6 hours of shopping, working at the house, and phone details - I head back to Wassenar to pick Kenny up from school.

Tonight was spent getting together with some friends and a nice dinner, and as they would say here: "we had a lovely time".

That was today, and most days are quite full with tasks helping us to move closer to living in our home. Moving into a rental property here is somewhat like being in the final stages of building your own home. You acquire the keys to your place that will have cement walls and cement floor, kitchen sink and
cupboards, and wires hanging from the ceiling for light fixtures. That is it, nothing else. We were lucky and able to purchase the carpeting from the
former renter. We did put in a kitchen floor and did some remodeling in the kitchen - projects which are still in process.

We need to buy what they call "kaasts" of various sizes and shapes in which to store our things. There are no closets here, so you need to buy your closet
space. So much of my time is spent taking measurments and shopping.

Every day also entails a daily trip to the market. I walk to the market, carrying my own shopping bag or pull cart, and buy groceries for the evening meal and whatever else we need. I must say that I enjoy being able to leave the house for the store and have dinner on the table 40 minutes later, if I choose an easy meal to fix. The small stores without so many choices are nice. No Cub Foods grocery lines to battle, though a lot of guess work goes on in the grocery
store aisles trying to figure out what products are. I look at the pictures and try and figure out the words based on the few I have learned so far. I have
learned that you need to always have 50 cents with you so you can get a shopping cart, and that you return all your bottles to the back of the grocery store and
get a slip of paper giving you $ off of your purchase.

Every day I learn new things. At the dinner table we all can ask one another: "what did you learn today"? I love to learn new things and daily life is always a learning experience, whether it is dutch customs, language, banking, trams, customer service issues, the metric system, or finding my way to a new place.

I am learning to take care of most of our "business". All the banking is on-line here, it is a paperless system. You have a little thing that looks like a toy
palm pilot that you use to interact with the computer and move your money from your own account to whoever you may owe money to. You pay all your bills on-line and all other banking business. As soon as you use your pin card (like a debit card), your balance changes on-line. The entire site is in Dutch, so a
woman from the church sat with me and taught me how to navigate the web site and I have made myself an extensive dictionary to help me each time I work with our finances.

I haven't done as much biking, busses, trams, and trains as the others, because I usually have the car. I have learned to never turn right on red (a very
strict law here), always look over my right shoulder for bikes when turning on a green, and looking 360 degrees anytime I switch lanes to make sure there are
no bikers in my path. I have played chicken with the trams, accidentally driven on a tram only street, and been lost on numerous occasions.

Directions are very interesting. No one uses street names to tell you how to get somewhere, which is because streets change their names about every 3
blocks or so. Plus the street names are typically 15 - 25 letters long. So I find my way around by looking for landmarks and signs that point me in the direction of a general area. There are no square blocks. If you miss a turn you can not simply go "around the block". Instead you weave in different directions and may or may not ever land back where you started from.

I also find time every week to schedule some fun activities. Lunch or tea out with a friend (yes, I am beginning to make some friends), a weekly prayer group
with some women from Kenny's school, and a weekly meeting for international people to teach things one needs to know about while living in this country. The other thing that has been wonderful is staying with our most gracious hosts, Charlie and Lisa. Charlie and Lisa have been putting up with our crazy family of five since we have arrived. We have become one big happy family, and I'm afraid we will all go through a bit of separation anxiety when we move out, hopefully in just a day or two now. We enjoy relaxing in the evening, many times over a meal, then in the living room. It has been wonderful to have them as we transition into life here before being all on our own.


The biggest stretch for me is probably the "urban-ness" of The Hague. I am more of a "country girl" than a "city girl". Thankfully, there are pockets of green spaces that I am able to find during the day for some "breathing" space and refreshment of my spirit.

I hope this gives you a little taste of daily life for me, here in The Hague.

Kathy

A Day in Den Haag

First Posted on Oct 12, 2005

A day in Den Haag (Dutch for The Hague) from the Perspective of Rev Kev

One of the things I like most about the start of a day here is it is later than in the States. Kenny would argue about that because he is off to school sometimes before I am even up. But I am usually the first one in the office at Crossroads. Being a night owl, that is unusual for me. I get in between 8 and 9 and no one else shows up until 9:30 or later. But I am ahead of myself.

Breakfast almost feels American. A bowl of cereal, usually a granola type thing, a piece of fruit, maybe a piece of toast and a glass of juice. I can't find my favorite cereal - Honey Bunches of Oats - but the granola is good. If we have run out of fruit, not to worry. I simply take a different route to the office. Instead of walking straight down Bezuidenhoutsweg (I won't even try to type the pronunciation), normally a five minute walk, I cruise one block over to Theresiastraat, walk by a fresh fruit stand and buy a peach, plum or banana with my pocket change and finish breakfast on the way to work.

I have to say I really enjoy the walking or biking most places. The distances are not long. The break is invigorating. And with the type of rain we have had here, you can just wait a bit and the sun pops out and then you can get to your next place.

The office is well, an office. But if we have a meeting tea or coffee is a must. One very small cup and a biscuit (cookie/cracker type thing - really more of a large crumb). And only one of those, even if you are starving because it would be rude to have two. At my last place of ministry, put a large platter of cookies out and they are gone in two minutes. Here you'd toss the leftovers after two weeks.

I get to work in a cool Dutchy building. I know nothing of its history, or whether it even has one. But it is of typical Dutch architecture. My office has a tall ceiling, one big window, another small one and a nice damp smell they can't get rid of. The big window is funky in that it opens two ways. Turn the handle half way and it swings wide open on two left hinges. Turn the handle all the way and it opens from the top about six inches as a vent. The Dutch are clever with a lot of things like that.

Last week I was sitting in my office with my associate, Jack. All of a sudden out the big window a SWAT team van pulls up and stops. Out pile a dozen decked out officers with helmets, shields, the whole nine yards. They run from the back of the van and spread across the sidewalk and street in combat ready position. Jack kinda freaked. I couldn't get him out from under my desk. And there wasn't room for both of us. Then they started walking out of view. Just then we notice several more SWAT vans pull up.

Turns out it was a training exercise. We went out the door in Jack's office and there were people everywhere. I so wanted to get a picture of me standing with my hands in the air right in front of a row of them but no camera was to be found. You'll just have to picture it in your mind's eye.

Across the street from our office is The Haagse Bos, or The Hague Forest. Think of it as Central Park. (The Queen, Beatrix, lives there which is why we speculate the SWAT training was on our side street.) It is full of trails for biking and walking. It even has a few horse trails. There are open spaces with little lakes, a canal/river or two and lots of woods. When I want to pray or clear the cobwebs from my brain, I will scoot across the street and walk for a while. Some days Kathy will join me for a walk. Then I'll take an hour or so. We are finding it very important to be intentional about our marriage. It takes more work to be a good spouse in a strange culture than in your own. So we are trying to keep it an every day priority.

For lunch I will bring in leftovers or a sandwich. Or head back to Theresiastraat for something to make a sandwich. This little shopping street has all you need - a cheese shop that wreaks of cheese we'll never eat, a butcher, several fruit and vegetable shops, flower shops of course, and a couple of small grocery stores. The groceries can be a challenge. Sometimes you have to guess what kind of meat you are getting. But it is always fresh and good quality. If the produce is being sold by weight and not unit you have to weigh it and put a ticket on before getting to the check out. I found this out the hard way. People were rather annoyed that I was holding up the line, but I was having trouble understanding that the checkout girl was telling me to go over there and weigh it and get a ticket. I had previously shopped at a big store that weighed the stuff right at the scanner, just like in the States. Fortunately, the guy behind me recognized me for the ignorant newbie that I was and helped me out. Outside the store afterward we had a nice little conversation and he gave me some more pointers. Back to lunch. If I am feeling particularly indulgent I walk to either the fish and chips stand or the loempia (Filipino egg rolls) stand.

Both are very much my grease quota for the month and very much worth it.

Back at the office I fill my days with sermon prep, digging into the details of what our team is working on and planning for the growth of this spiritual community. I love it.

These days, after work I hop on a bike and bike over to our house. Currently I am assembling a bunch of Ikea furniture. I had no idea a headboard for a bed could come in a bunch of pieces. But Kari, Kristi and I are getting good at slamming stuff together. We should be in our place by this weekend. But you have heard that before.

Biking is great. You basically rule the road. The law is simple. Hit a biker, you're at fault. The locals have gotten used to and take advantage of this policy. I question the logic. I mean, even if a car driver is at fault I see the biker as a bit more vulnerable. The one thing I have yet to see is a biker defiantly flying down the wrong side of the road. But just about anything else goes. Many streets have separate bike lanes next to the sidewalk. We about got run over several times the first days here by bikers who did not like us pedestrians being in their lane. The funny thing is all they give you is a little ding of their bell. I have come to understand, however, that it means a bit more than a quick tap of a car horn. The ding is more of a polite middle digit.

The other night Kristi and I did a very Dutch thing. After a night of assembling furniture I gave her a ride back to Allmon's (our unbelievably patient and gracious hosts) on the back of my bike. There she was sitting sideways on that little flat watchamacallit-for-hauling-stuff with her ankles crossed looking like a Dutch girl out for a ride. We were a scene.

Every Sunday I bike to the church services because I go in earlier than my family. I score big points with the locals who see me. I just find it refreshing. But then again the weather has been fabulous.

The evening meal here is much later than the States. For us back home 6:00 was late. Here 7:30 or 8:00 is more normal. We are eating well. We have figured out how to enjoy our favorites like fajitas, lasagna and even homemade kung pao chicken. TV is not really a draw. But we have enjoyed popping in a movie a few times.

I hope that gives you a snapshot of our life here. Stay tuned for more in the days ahead.

Cricket

First posted on Sept 9, 2005

Hey this is Kenny, today is Friday and I just got back from Hans and Frans a bakery that's like a 5-minute walk from the place we are staying. (And wish we were livivg there also) I don't have school today because I just got back from what they call project 6 which is like a 4 day field trip!!!!!! My arm is really sore from playing so much Cricket. what you've never heard of cricket!!! Well I'll tell you about it then. Cricket is the British version of baseball or maybe the other way around I'm not sure which one but one of them. Anyways there is a bowler, which is like a pitcher who will try to knock the wickets off of 3 poles sticking out of the ground by bouncing the ball off the ground before the batter from behind the other side of another set of wickets. There are also 2 batters, one at each set of wickets and to they'll try to hit the ball and score a run. You get 1 run for each time each batter get to the other set of wickets. To get an out you need to hit a wicket off the poles you need 3 outs to get your team up at bat. Cricket is a very, very high scoring game.

See Ya,
Kenny