It's so hard to believe that it's May! Yet looking outside my window it's quite easy to believe, as flowers are blooming, and each source of vegetation is clothed in a different shade of green, not to mention the weather. It's been beautiful, and proof that summer is on it's way.
As far as work goes it's been a very short month, but busy as per usual. I want to start off by sharing one of the most exciting things that happened this month. One of the wee boys that I had mentioned in my blog put his faith in Christ in the beginning of the month. We're all very excited and it's been so encouraging to see him learning, wanting to learn more and seeing the change thats come over him. Continue to pray for CH as he learns and grows, pray for Jonny as well as he disciples him.
SU's for the most part have come to a close as the end of the school year is approaching. However we are still going to be involved in the schools as the P7 Transition program soon begins and all three of us will be rather busy with that until July. It's a program that's aimed at helping the P7 class (10-11year olds) make the transition into big school in the fall. We are still doing Assemblies as well in each of the 7 different primary schools we are involved in. Pray for us that we will retain our enthusiasm as the P7 program can get quite repetitive doing it week after week and it's always the same, except in a different school.
April's been a good month for building relationships. A couple of highlights for me were the go-karting trip that we took about 13 of our boys on. A couple days before, the boys were giving me all this smack talk about how girls can't drive (as I was the only girl going) So I was giving it right back. Well it was a fun night, and lo and behold guess who came in second? Thats right, me. I beat the one guy that was giving me the most ribbing as he came in third. The boys we're all raging and declaring that something went wrong with the clock and all that. In the end they accepted it and even congratulated me on my time. It was such a fun night. Another highlight was being able to catch up with a couple of my girls after the easter holidays were over, i took them out for coffee, and it was a good time to catch up and continue to build that relationship. Please pray for these two girls in particular, Demi & Leonie. I've developed a close bond with the two of them, and over the past few days this was put to the test. We had our girls group sleepover this past friday/saturday and I won't go over the details but those two along with two others were caught doing a form of substance abuse. Not all the girls participated but in the end we had to call all four girls parents at 1:30 in the morning. It gave me an opportunity to pray with one of the girls (Leonie) but none of the girls were excited about their parents being called as you can imagine. Pray that they will see it as us trying to protect them and only looking out for them because we care.
Our Easter program Zone 67, went well although not in the way we had hoped. In the end only three kids signed up, but we had a number of older kids helping from a local church which kept the lighthearted banter of the week. I enjoyed the week even though it wasn't what we were hoping for, but you try, you learn from it, and find ways to change it for next year.
Preparation continues for our summer programs and I for one am looking forward to them with much anticipation. Pray that God will prepare the hearts of all the kids going to summer camp. We have 11 signed up from our centre which is 8 more than last year which is really exciting. Pray that this group will bond before we go, as we are doing a couple fundraising events. Were doing a hike up Slieve Donard on the 14th of May, and a carwash on the 28th of May. Pray that all of the young people will be able to raise all the money they need for summer camp. That it will also be an opportunity to continue to build stronger relationships with these young people.
On a personal note, I would appreciate prayer as I have only three months left in my internship, and am currently applying for full-time youth work positions back in Canada. There are a couple of places that seem keen to have me come on board. Pray that God will direct me to the right one, where it will be a right fit for all involved. Prayer would be appreciated as well when a decision has been made that as I begin to start my fundraising for my salary that it would come in quickly so that Lord willing I'm able to start work soon after returning to Canada. I'm excited about this opportunity, but at the same time saddened as I will be leaving my kids who have been such a huge part of my life for the past year. Pray that God will guide and direct in everything, and bring the right person to replace me in the fall and to carry on the torch here in Ballyclare.
Once again thank you all for your continued support for me and for the work in Ballyclare. I couldn't do it with out your constant prayers. God bless!
