Blessing Bells are ringing

This week has been full of excitement, anticipation, and a bit of preparation for Jen and Richie's wedding blessing. It was an honor to be a part of their special day here with family and friends to celebrate their marriage. They held their wedding in early August in Canada (where Jen is from) so they held another ceremony here in Dundrum for those who could not attend.

For those of you who don't know Richie and Jen, I'll tell a bit about them. Richie is the man who works with the youth in Dundrum. He works with Murlough House in order to schedule teams that come and work with Murlough to do outreach to the kids here in the community and nearby towns. That is how I got involved with Murlough, was coming with a team of high schoolers from Northview Christian Church in Danville last summer. He also holds kids programs and many programs for the teens as well. Jen, his wife has recently moved here from Canada and has been ministering to the girls here in Dundrum. We will be working together for the girls ministry. She has previously worked in respiratory therapy which I believe she hopes to continue here if able to do so.

The ceremony was beautiful. There was a bit of worship played by the Methodist minister in Newcastle. Also, the Newcastle Presbyterian minister did some of the speaking and message. They had three close friends who each read scripture passages; they also showed a video of pictures and video clips from the wedding in Canada. After the ceremony, everyone had food and celebrated Jen and Richie's marriage. It was an all around lovely evening.

I was able to meet some tremendous people throughout these events who were either local friends of Jen and Richie's or they had traveled from the states to see them on this special occasion. I was very lucky to have met Jane, Missy, and Michelle over this weekend event. They are all wonderful girls!

As for our work with the youth, we still held all of the usual programs for them this week. We should be able to be more in a routine now that the blessing is over too. Will update soon with all of the kids club and teen events updates!  Hope you're all well, God bless!

First Week in Northern Ireland...God is GOOD!

All,

Hello! Glad you've decided to join me in this adventure for the next ten months or so. I am excited about the work that God has planned for me here in Northern Ireland. Some of it has started already in the first few days, and other things are still in the planning stages.  I wanted to provide a bit of information regarding my travels here as well as the status of the work I've been a part of in just the first week here.

Okay, first with travel. The trip went very smoothly with minimal travel/customs issues. My mom did an amazing job driving me up to the Chicago airport despite closed exits and traffic, thank you mom! An interesting piece of God's provision came within the first minutes of the flight.  The man who sat next to me on the plane, Phillip, was supposed to sit in the seat in front of me but there was a mix up in the tickets, so he sat in the seat next to me. We struck up a conversation and I learned that he is a pastor for a Roman Presbyterian church in Belfast. I told him about the work I'd be doing at Murlough House and we just talked throughout the flight. I was also able to sleep for about four hours on the plane which is a blessing when you arrive in Northern Ireland at 7:30 a.m. and are expected to stay awake for the entire day. Alright, so I got off the plane in Dublin and got through customs with no problems, picked up my baggage and headed for the bus stop to catch a bus to Newry. When I got to the bus stop, Phillip from the plane was taking the same bus, only to Belfast. I asked him if he thought they would take U.S. dollars for the bus fair and he said no. I told him I was going to go inside to exchange some money and he pulled out 10 pounds and gave it to me! A very rare example of selfless giving and a picture of God's provision in a foreign place. Not only had he given in a monetary way, but he had provided a friendly face and conversation which definitely helped ease me into the transition of entering a new country. And all this happened with someone who wasn't even supposed to sit next to me!

Alright, so I arrived in Newry where I met up with Richie Shilliday (the man I will work with here) and rode to Murlough House in Dundrum. I arrived at the house and met the staff, most of whom I had met last summer. That afternoon I went with Richie and Bryan, my fellow intern, to Crosspoint Centre where most of our youth programs will take place. It was a Tuesday so we had the after school drop-in from 4:00 - 6:00. I was able to make good relationships with six girls in that first afternoon, and that will terrible jet lag! God is good!! The girls are so great and I already feel God working with my heart for them. Below is a listing of the youth programs we're scheduled for so far:

Mondays: Kids Club - 6 - 11 years old after school program (games, lessons, activites, crafts, etc)
Tuesdays: After school program for teens 4:00 - 6:00
Wednesdays: Boys night and bible study
Thursdays: Girls night and bible study
Friday: Teen drop in from 7:30 p.m. - 12
Saturdays: Possible work with the youth program at Newcatsle Presbyterian in the evenings

As of right now, we are planning the entire Kid's Club program (the one on Mondays)  for 13 weeks - making lesson plans with a theme of the 12 disciples and creating activity packets of word games, colouring pages and memory verses. This work has been very interesting so far, and it is a 'passion' I didn't know that I had. I'm finding a strange love of planning these types of activities!

I am looking forward to building relationships with the girls here. So far, I've met thirteen girls and have seen most of them about three nights out of the six I've been here. Again, God is good!  Well, I believe that is enough for now. I look forward to keeping you all updated and hearing how you are doing. Please let me know if there is anything I can be praying for for you.

Until next time, take care and God bless!