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!
Monday, May 2, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Spring is officially here...
March is over and April is fast on its way. It’s hard to believe that Easter is just over two weeks away. I must say I’m looking forward to that. There is so much to give praise for this month so let me start by telling you about probably my biggest highlight for March… our “Ladies Night”
To put it simply it was an amazing night. We had 14 girls in total, 12 of them were brand new to the centre, and even some of our breakfast club girls came along which was brilliant. We had a pamper room upstairs which included makeup, nails, and foot massages along with facial steamers. After the girls got pampered they were able to get a photo taken with their mates (which we then got printed for them later) and downstairs with yours truly was cupcake design and chocolate fondue. The girls loved it. Do to the success of “ladies Night” we launched Girl’s a week and half later. It’s now every Wednesday night. We had a total of 9 girls the first night, and 7 the next time, and were having it again tonight. The amazing thing is that new girls have come each and every time, and they have also started come along to the likes of drop-in as well. In total now we have over 30 girls involved in different programmes held at the centre. A vast increase from a month ago when we there was just 7. So praise God for that. Please keep Nadine, Helen, and I in your prayers as we build relationships with these girls. There are two girls in particular who are from breakfast club, that have been coming to both girls group and drop-in. Be praying in particular for these two girls, my heart breaks to hear the stories they tell me, both girls are involved with drugs and sex. That sad thing is that this is very much the norm, girls as young as 11 are known to be having sex.
My knowledge of drugs and alcohol and all things related has been broadened quite a lot over the course of the past couple weeks. It honestly blows my mind, really pray that God will keep these kids safe, that He would give us the words to say when we’re talking with them, and that He would open up their eyes so they can see what they are doing to themselves.
Another highlight for me again is Wednesday afternoon drop-in. All the craic and banter that happens has a way of perking your spirits from whatever mid week slump you happen to find yourself in. Even though with the likes of breakfast club, afternoon drop-in, and both guys and girls group now on a Wednesday it can make for a long day, but it is still probably my favorite day.
School programmes have been running well. The three of us did another set of RE lessons in another of the local primary schools, and are trying again to set something up for yet another school. SU’s and Assemblies, as usual are going really well. We have started to send out emails for a P7 transition programme that we do towards end of April, May, June time. We go to the different primary schools and try to inform and prepare the kids who will be transitioning to a big school, and the big school environment. Pray for that would be appreciated as we start to sign up different schools.
Over Easter we are doing a programme called “Zone 67” it is specifically for P6, and P7 grades (9-11 year olds) We will be doing it over 4 days, and two hours each afternoon. There will be different things like crafts, games, and a possible trip on the last day.
Unfortunately we haven’t been able to launch the likes of Friday Night drop-in yet, as we have not been able to gather enough volunteers, and it has now been pushed back to start at the beginning of May, Lord willing. Pray that God will provide us with enough volunteers for this.
Planning and preparation for a lot of our summer programmes is fast under way it’s scary to see just how fast everything is coming up. We have 10 signed up for summer camp, which was our goal, and still possibly a few more that seem keen to go. All forms need to be in by the end of this week, so pray that forms would come back to us soon. I’m really looking forward to both summer camp and project 32 this year. It will be good to spend some quality time with our young people, I pray that God would really work, and prepare hearts especially for the likes of Summer Camp.
Thank you all again for your prayers and support, I know God is moving in this town, and I’m so excited to see what He has done over the course of the past month.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Another Month Come and Gone
Well where to begin. February was probably our busiest month yet there were/are so many things in progress and currently happening around GBYFC. Time is moving far too quickly, but it is really encouraging to see what God is doing in this small town.
School work was/is still incredibly busy. Our 3 week SU outreach programme finished off on the 18th of February. We were in three consecutive Fridays teaching and interacting with the kids. Our theme was Incredible and true. Our talks were on three of Jesus miracles, Water into wine, Calming the storm, and finally the raising of Lazarus. We had 15 extra kids sign up, which was really encouraging. I think I can vouch for the rest of the team that Friday afternoons finishing off with the SU was the best way to end a work week. Jonny and Nadine were in another one of the primary schools doing RE Lessons for 4 weeks as well. They finished that up and are now currently doing the same programme in another school. Amongst all this, we still have Assemblies in 7 of the different primary schools once a month, as well as our regular SU’s in Doagh, and the Secondary school. Many of the schools are also starting to sign up for our P7 transition programme which will take place towards the summer. Give praise for all that opportunities that we have and thanks that the schools have been so welcoming and wanting us to come in.
Towards the middle of February the schools were off for half term. Since all the schools were off, we decided to take full advantage of this, and got out of the office and touched up the centre. We re-painted the entrance now complete with the GBYFC logo. It definitely brings new life to the place, and although three full days were spent painting it was a nice break from the usual routines.
Art’s and craft’s unfortunately didn’t go well, and we have decided to drop the programme as no one was showing up. We are currently looking at re-vamping the programme and doing something similar at the centre on Thursday afternoon instead. If all goes well we would like to see it up and running mid March.
Drop-in still on Monday & Tuesday night’s are going really well. We have recently started introducing the idea of a “hot seat” and guest speaker once a month at the centre. So far it is going really well. We had Steve McCready this last Tuesday night, sharing his story, and I think we were all a little nervous as to how a talk would go down with our young people, but it went really well, and Steve did a great job. Canada night was a blast, hot seat went really well, the whole centre was decorated with maple leaves, and Nad’s even made some Nanaimo bars, which were really good. All the kids and volunteers signed a card for me, which meant more than words can say. It was a great day! Afterschool drop-in on Wednesday afternoon’s is probably my personal favourite of the week. A lot of good conversations and load’s of laughter. Although it’s a smaller group that come in, it provides the opportunity to really build those relationships. For example this last Wednesday (drop-in usually runs 3-5) was 3-5 and then Jonny took off and Nad’s and I were there till ¼ to 7 with three of our guys. Really good conversations, how be it rather amusing at times. I love it. On the 26th we had a bag pack fundraiser in ASDA, which went really well. Praise God that the community is starting to recognize us more and more and are becoming quite supportive of our work. Also give thanks that so many people came to support us and volunteered to give up a couple hours of their Saturday to pack grocery bags.
Praise God that 6 boys have signed up for summer camp, and a couple of the girls seems to be showing genuine interest as well now. The next deadline for the last discounted price is March 7th, so pray that they sign up! Preparations for Project 32 are starting to get well under way as well, time is flying by and before we know it summer will be here!
Girl’s group will hopefully be kicking off next week. We had a big girl’s night March the 4th (last night) at the centre and we were all so encouraged to see 15 girls that the majority of them have never stepped foot into the centre come and were so excited about the idea of girls group. It was really encouraging for all involved but especially I think for Nadine, Helen and I. A lot of work had gone into it, and were so thankful for all the ladies that gave up their Friday night to help us out. I fully enjoyed myself, there was one point where there were 7 girls around the coffee bar decorating cupcakes and it was me behind the coffee bar and they were peppering me with loads of questions, everything from self image, to Canada and the States, to pretty much you name it. It was a younger crowd them what would normally come to the centre, the girl’s ranged from 11-14. I’m looking forward to the start of a girls group with these girls. A couple of our girls from breakfast club showed up and for both Nads and I that was really encouraging to see. Continued prayers for this would also be really welcome, that Nadine, Helen, and I will be able to come up with creative ideas for girls group and continue to invest in and build relationships with these girls.
Jonny’s Wednesday night football programme is also going really well. On average there are about 12 of our boys that go. Continue to pray for Jonny, Rick, and Michael as they interact with these boys and are building on the relationships already formed.
Another highlight of the month for me was going up to the North coast for a part of a day, sometimes I have to pinch myself at the fact that I'm living in Northern Ireland-such a beautiful country.
As you can see it was a very busy month, and March is looking to be very busy as well. Continue to pray that God would provide opportunities for conversations, and that amongst the busyness we would all still remain refreshed and not become burnt out. Thanks again for all your prayer support, it is appreciated more than word’s can say. I’m looking forward to see all of what God has in store for March!Friday, February 4, 2011
February? Where did January go?
And before you know it...it’s February. Ahh where to start. January was a busy month, a slow start to getting programs off the ground, but everything seems to be back in swing now! It was a really good month; it’s been encouraging to see progress being made.
Over the past month I have had several young people open up to me. It’s so neat to see God at work, and just how comfortable they are now, when they voluntarily come up to me, telling me their life story or something difficult that they are going through in their life. Then they go on to ask me questions about my faith and my life story. They also notice when you’re not there on any of the given nights and will proceed to give you the hardest time, the next time they see you. They make me smile though and I can tell that I’m going to be utterly broken when my internship is up. I made the comment the other day when some of our volunteers were talking about one of our kids who can be a bit challenging, “oh, but I like him, but then again I can’t really say that there is anyone of them that I don’t like.” Which is so true. Makes me sound like a bit of a sap but I really don’t care. It’s the truth.
Our Fairview Outreach program started up last Friday, we are in again today, and then next Friday will be our last one. We have had 15 extra kids that don’t normally come to SU sign-up which is great. My hope is that they will sign-up for SU when they enter big school next year! Doagh SU is going well as per usual. It’s our most regular as we are in and out every other week. Assemblies are also going well in the 7 different primary schools that we are involved in so give praise for that!
Arts & Craft Club started up three weeks ago. It was designed for girls, however our first day brought in 7 young boys and no girls. I’m really glad we weren’t able to do the homemade lip gloss the first week, and instead went with picture frames lol! However the next couple of week there has been no one, it can be a bit discouraging but not all that unusual in the estates were in. Pray that the girls will come, and that God will give me and Nadine inspiration as to how we can encourage them to come.
My YF back at church has started up again, and I’m in full confidence that the new leaders will do an amazing job! Pray for our upcoming “wow” night which will be held on Feb 20th in hopes to get more kids off of the street and to YF on Sunday night.
We're slowly trying to figure out girl’s group stuff. Nadine and I had a meeting last week with one of our other female volunteers Helen, who will be helping us out with girls stuff. We’re trying to figure out ways to attract more girls, but at the same time not losing and trying to encourage our girls that do come. We’re hoping to take a group of our girls out on Feb 14th for dessert as an anti- Valentines day thing. Pray that the girls would be interested in coming, and that we would be able to have a wee chat about what they would like to do with girls group. Also we’re having a Girl’s Bonanza Night as Nadz has dubbed it on March 4th. Were hoping to start advertising this mid February, going to the different schools with posters, handing out flyers and chatting with the girls after school. Pray that God will lead all three of us in going about anything to do with the girls, and that girls would come and see the genuineness in all of us, and desire to come back.
Jonny has all started up this past week on Wednesday afternoon a football program with our older boys. (similar to midnight street soccer) but here in Ballyclare. He’s working alongside one of our new volunteers Rick. Please pray for both of them as they interact and have conversations with the boys.
Praise God as six of our young people have signed up for summer camp! A couple more that are showing definite interest! We’re already starting fundraising for many of our different summer programs as well. Pray that God will bring in all the funding that we need in order to do the different programs. July will be a very busy month as we have summer camp the first week, football camp the next week, project 32 the week after that, and then another potential program for the week after. It will be good though, and has me already looking forward to the summer!
On Feb 22 is Canada Day at drop-in and... I’m in the hot seat. Pray that God will give me wisdom in knowing how to answer each question that the kids ask me, especially the final one as to why I gave up a year to come over and work here.
It’s going to be a really busy month as there is tons of stuff going on, and loads of meetings, and training nights happening. Pray for strength for all of us, as well as continued energy and enthusiasm! Thanks for all your prayers, it’s a huge encouragement to me knowing that I’m being backed by so many people praying for not only me, but the work of GBYFC.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
A New Year...FULL of oppertunities.
It’s hard to believe that it’s 2011, and that January is almost half way over as well. I had a really amazing Christmas, and feel quite blessed. I spent Christmas day with my host family, and their extended family. They all made me feel really welcome and I was extremely grateful that they let me spend Christmas day with them. New years, was spent at Jonny and Laura’s house, with a host of other people, all in all a good wee night. The break was much needed, as now the long haul begins until Easter arrives.
I started back at work last Monday, soon joined by Nadz on Tuesday and then Jonny on Wednesday. There were numerous jokes about how great our Christmas celebration service was. When in reality the one day the school closed because of the snow, was the day of the Christmas celebration service. All of us were a bit disappointed, because it was a great opportunity, and a lot of prep had gone into it. However, we know that God is in control in, and who knows what might have happened if we had gone in that day. Along with that after Christmas break our first assembly in a nearby primary school was cancelled after we arrived, and the same thing happened in a different school a couple days later with our first SU since Christmas. All of us have found it a bit frustrating but also amusing. Hopefully in February the schools will be better organized.
This Monday was our first official drop-in back after the break, and it was good to see the youth again. Both Monday and Tuesday were long days for me, as we had our YFCNI staff meeting in Belfast on Tuesday and drop-in both nights. Tuesday night all the girls that regularly participate in drop in were there, which was encouraging for me to see. We are hoping to start a Girl’s group the first week in February, Lord willing if we can get the girls on board. It is looking like it will be on a Thursday night now.
Wednesday after school drop-in is probably my favourite part of the week. I had a good conversation with one of our young guys, who accepted Christ last summer at Summer Camp. He pretty much told me his life story, and in return I was able to share the majority of my testimony. Please be praying for him though, as he is going through a really rough patch. Wednesday are great because it’s a really relaxed drop-in, the younger kids are generally quite hyper which makes for many entertaining moments. I would love to see more girls come though, Nadz and I are trying to encourage the girls from breakfast club to come, but so far none of them have showed up.
Our Arts and Crafts program is to start up next Thursday and go through until Easter for two hours every Thursday. The program is specifically for the girls of one of the estates in town. The first hour will be juniors Ages 5-8 probably and then seniors 8-11ish for the second hour. Nadine and I have developed a 7 week program to start off with, but are fast running out of craft ideas. If any of you have any, feel free to send them my way J were also hoping to apply for some money for the program, so pray that goes through!
The next big thing is our three week SU program that I have been working on, this will be starting soon, so prayer for that is appreciated. If it goes well at the first school we will try and take it in to the 6 other primary schools were involved in.
Prayer for my YF at church would also be appreciated. Before Christmas our two main leaders stepped down, and leaving it in the hopes that the young leaders they have been training up, will take charge. We had a meeting last Sunday night, and I think they are feeling a bit more relaxed and less apprehensive. I really think it will be good for them, challenging them in their faith and ministry. Most of them are about 18, with the oldest two being near my age in the early twenties. We are suppose to have another meeting this Sunday as well, and then start on the following Sunday. Some changes will be made, as like most of the YF’s in churches are finding it hard to keep the young people coming. I’m really enjoying YF and rather excited about the opportunity to be involved in all these decisions. Apart of my job will be coming up with a two week program, involving workshops, that Jonny and I can take around to the different YF churches, to help encourage them. Pray that God would really work, direct, and encourage the leaders in all of the churches.
This Sunday our whole team will be speaking at one of our board members church, prayer for that would also be appreciated. This New Year provides for many new opportunities which has me really quite excited. It will be a busy, long haul up until Easter, and then only busier after Easter, with the likes of all our summer programs, such as summer camp, and project 32. I’m excited to see all of what the Lord has in store and the ways he will provide and direct. He has really been encouraging me as, I have been preparing lessons and talks, forcing me to dig deeper into His word.
I’m including a few prayer points for our recent January prayer letter for GBYFC. Thanks so much for all your prayers and encouragement!
Here are a few things that we would really value your prayers for as we
enter into another big year at the centre!
Please pray for:
- A good start to the year ahead, that the kids will readily come along to drop-in
and breakfast club again after the break.
- An interest in girls group, that the girls will come and that Mandy and Nadine
would build good relationships with them through this.
- Guys group as we start to work with a new group of boys, and as we explore
issues relevant to them.
- That the young people would be interested in the two big summer trips we are
planning, that they will be able to go, and for fundraising ideas and opportunities
to help subsidise the costs of these.
- Volunteers that are willing to help out with Friday night drop-in and that this new
venture would benefit the kids also.
- The new 4 week Primary SU outreach programme that we are developing.
- More opportunities to run RE lessons in both primary and secondary schools.
- Thanks for all the opportunities we have had to be in schools to date.
- Thanks for the relationships that have been built with young people already, for
their individual personalities and journeys.
- Thanks for each of the boys involved in midnight street soccer and the
encouragement it was for them to receive the fair play trophy.
- Thanks for all the new opportunities that we have to start new programmes.
Once again thank you, on behalf of everyone involved, for your prayerful support of
the work of GBYFC!
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Finally, another update!
Merry Christmas Everyone!
I finally have time to fill you in on the past month of my life, however how i'm going to condense four weeks of life into one blog post remains to be seen. It's crazy and scary to think I have been here for almost two months! Time is flying...
Friday, Nov 26th, 2010. It was suppose to be "Girl's Night In" and "Guy's Night Out". Well the guy's night out turned out to be a good night, it was a rather unusual bunch of boys. However they had a blast at the giants game, which I was incredible glad to hear. The girl's however, well to put it simply none of them showed up. Myself, along with Nadine, and one of the other volunteers, ended up just eating the pizza which we had ordered and decided to just stick around until the boys got back. It was a good bonding time none the less with these girls. Praise God for that. It's amusing watching Leap Year with two Northern Irish girls, I’ll just put it that way. To be honest I knew it was going to be a small group if the girls did show, but I was rather disappointed when none of them showed at all. You just have to keep trying though; I know it's going to take time with them, a lot of time. Pray that God will give both Nadz and I patience, and just a genuineness about us, that we can build these relationships with the girls.
Midnight Soccer came to an end on Nov 27th, 2010. We had fairly good weather seven out of the eight nights the boys played. However the last night the boys were playing on a snow covered pitch and it was FREEZING. They did well though, even with the snow. One of our teams made it to the finals in Dundalk, and the most exciting and thrilling thing especially for Jonny was seeing the boys take home "The 2010 Fairplay Trophy." Which proudly sit's on our tuck shop shelf in the centre. I must admit I miss the midnight street soccer nights, it gave me a really good opportunity to start building relationships with these boys, and to see the acceptance come a bit quicker was really encouraging. Not to mention the KFC and McDonald's meals afterwards. Mmm popcorn chicken...
Nadz started at work on Nov 29th, 2010. She is the new full time staff member. The two have become three. Poor Jonny, outnumbered by the females. I'm really glad Nadz is on board, it will be good for the girls to know there is a permanent girl there. Really pray that in the time that Nadz and I have to work together that we would start to get a good girl's group going. Were making plans for the new year and hoping to start up one on Monday nights. Pray that God will give us wisdom, fresh ideas, and discernment on what would be the best way to go about starting one up.
On Sunday December 5th, both Nadz and I were invited to speak at one of our supporting churches. We tried to give the congregation a bit of an idea of what we do, along with a short speal about ourselves and our hopes for the coming year. I must admit public speaking is not my favourite thing, but I’m sure by the end of this year, that will definitely be an area I’ll have grown in.
During the first week that Nadz started the three of us took a day to divide up and organize the different areas we would all be working on, and the different areas we would all be taking leads on, and what stuff we would do as a team. I'll give you a bit of an idea of what I’ll be doing and in charge of starting mostly in January.
- At the centre; drop-in nights and organizing Tuesday night drop in programs. We’re also looking to switch our Monday night drop in to a Friday night, and have juniors on one of the nights and the other night do seniors. Than our girls group will hopefully be starting in January on a Monday night.
-Schools; I will be partnering with Nadz, doing assemblies with the primary schools. Generally about a 10 minute program once a month with about 7 different schools. Then I'm to be taking the lead on Scripture Union program in the same schools, but this is usually every other week and about a 45 minute program. Generally about a 10 minute bible lesson, songs, a quiz, and a memory verse. We’re going to be a doing a trial run in one of the schools putting together a four week program on” ‘Jesus' Miracles" and than telling the kids to invite friends for the last week. This will Lord willing be taking place in February so if you could be praying about that, as it's a fair bit of work, and like I mentioned before teaching and public speaking are not my best talents :S. Along with SU, and Assemblies, Nadz will taking the lead on Religious education lessons with in the schools, and then all three of us will be working with the P7 transition program from the primary schools into the secondary schools. Almost everything that Nadz and I are doing in the primary schools, Jonny will be doing in the Secondary schools. Prayer all around for the three of us is most welcome :)
-Community-were hoping to start up an arts and crafts program within one of the lower class group of estates with girls, on one afternoon a week. During the same time that this will be happening, Jonny will be doing a football group with the boys from the same estates. Any suggestions on cheap, cost efficient craft ideas for ages 4-11? We will be providing all the materials so the more cost efficient the better. All three of us will also be involved with doing fundraising within the community. Than Nadz and I are hoping to start up a "Mom's and Tot's" group for teenage moms as well.
-Local and supporting churches. I'm working on developing a program for YF to take to a few of the different churches, getting Jonny, Nadz and myself to come in maybe once a month and take their YF program to help the surrounding churches. Along with that were also hoping to develop a young leaders program, in which the young adults that are doing YF's in the local churches can do a small internship with us for a year to grow their experience in working in and among their peers. Pray that God will give us ideas, and wisdom with this, as the local churches are really struggling in their YF's. Really pray for the local churches and the leaders that they have in place as it's not an easy thing to develop a program that can change over time and benefit the seniors as well as the juniors.
-summer time. Nadz will be taking the lead on getting stuff organized and prepped for summer camp, and I will be organizing and prepping stuff for Project 32 this year. (Side note, although there are different areas in which all of us are taking leads on, the majority of it will be very much all three of us doing, it's more so just to have someone to go to if looking for information on something) I also get to organize different trips for the drop in kids, so pretty much anywhere I want to go in Ireland, I can be like "Hey, we should do a trip there." Works for me :)
This is just a small idea of what we will be doing starting in January, there is so many different areas that each one of us is involved in, I didn't even get around to mentioning all the different office work jobs :)
This past Tuesday was our last drop-in for about 3 weeks, as come next Tuesday it's two weeks of holidays for Jonny, Nadine, and me. We decided to have a Christmas party, and it was a really fun night, it's amazing the different kids that you get over announcing that were having a Christmas party. We did Chalenja for most of the night. Pretty much we had five teams and they had to complete different challenges like ( how many times can you lick your teammates sock, how many marshmallows can you stick to your face with jam, can you drink a whole cup of water without closing your mouth? ) I'm sure you get the picture. One of the boys managed to smear my whole arm in jam, and Nadz face. Hey, at least you know were accepted :)
The Tuesday before last was "Drop-in Christmas Movie Night." It was actually one of the best nights. I had some really good conversations with some of the kids about Christmas and life. It was just really amazing to see questions that got sparked over watching Elf. It been encouraging to see the youth feel more comfortable in approaching and being able to ask questions or just coming up to one of us and talking and seeing how relaxed they feel in doing that. I can see that progress is being made, I might not see it all the time, and there are challenges to be sure, but it's very much taking one day at a time, and continuing to pray and thank God for the opportunities we do get.
This past week was the YFCNI staff Christmas party. It was a murder mystery night, and loads of fun. I was an undercover CIA agent working as a news reporter for the New York Times. However as the night wore one and most of my goals were completed I was shot once, than healed. Then shot a second time, and died all because I was getting to close to the truth. It was blast none the less! A good chance to better get to know the rest of the YFCNI team.
Pray for this coming Monday, as we will be taking the Christmas Celebration Service at the Secondary School, it's about an hour long program, that we have been working on for the past couple weeks. We will be speaking in front of about 300 to 400 students, teachers, and parents. Pray that God would use his Holy Spirit to prepare hearts. Were really blessed with this oppertunity, GBYFC has done it 4 out of the past 5 years, so we know that they enjoy having us in to do it. It's a tremendous oppertunity which we are incredible excited and thankful for!
Well I hope that this isn't too long of a read, and I apologize once again for the delay in the update. Thanks so much for your prayers and encouragement. I'm excited to see what God has in store for the coming year, and all the different programs and groups were hoping to get started. I'm really blessed with this opportunity, and pray that God would continue to keep me humble and ever willing to do His work, no matter the cost!
1 John 3:16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
I finally have time to fill you in on the past month of my life, however how i'm going to condense four weeks of life into one blog post remains to be seen. It's crazy and scary to think I have been here for almost two months! Time is flying...
Friday, Nov 26th, 2010. It was suppose to be "Girl's Night In" and "Guy's Night Out". Well the guy's night out turned out to be a good night, it was a rather unusual bunch of boys. However they had a blast at the giants game, which I was incredible glad to hear. The girl's however, well to put it simply none of them showed up. Myself, along with Nadine, and one of the other volunteers, ended up just eating the pizza which we had ordered and decided to just stick around until the boys got back. It was a good bonding time none the less with these girls. Praise God for that. It's amusing watching Leap Year with two Northern Irish girls, I’ll just put it that way. To be honest I knew it was going to be a small group if the girls did show, but I was rather disappointed when none of them showed at all. You just have to keep trying though; I know it's going to take time with them, a lot of time. Pray that God will give both Nadz and I patience, and just a genuineness about us, that we can build these relationships with the girls.
Midnight Soccer came to an end on Nov 27th, 2010. We had fairly good weather seven out of the eight nights the boys played. However the last night the boys were playing on a snow covered pitch and it was FREEZING. They did well though, even with the snow. One of our teams made it to the finals in Dundalk, and the most exciting and thrilling thing especially for Jonny was seeing the boys take home "The 2010 Fairplay Trophy." Which proudly sit's on our tuck shop shelf in the centre. I must admit I miss the midnight street soccer nights, it gave me a really good opportunity to start building relationships with these boys, and to see the acceptance come a bit quicker was really encouraging. Not to mention the KFC and McDonald's meals afterwards. Mmm popcorn chicken...
Nadz started at work on Nov 29th, 2010. She is the new full time staff member. The two have become three. Poor Jonny, outnumbered by the females. I'm really glad Nadz is on board, it will be good for the girls to know there is a permanent girl there. Really pray that in the time that Nadz and I have to work together that we would start to get a good girl's group going. Were making plans for the new year and hoping to start up one on Monday nights. Pray that God will give us wisdom, fresh ideas, and discernment on what would be the best way to go about starting one up.
On Sunday December 5th, both Nadz and I were invited to speak at one of our supporting churches. We tried to give the congregation a bit of an idea of what we do, along with a short speal about ourselves and our hopes for the coming year. I must admit public speaking is not my favourite thing, but I’m sure by the end of this year, that will definitely be an area I’ll have grown in.
During the first week that Nadz started the three of us took a day to divide up and organize the different areas we would all be working on, and the different areas we would all be taking leads on, and what stuff we would do as a team. I'll give you a bit of an idea of what I’ll be doing and in charge of starting mostly in January.
- At the centre; drop-in nights and organizing Tuesday night drop in programs. We’re also looking to switch our Monday night drop in to a Friday night, and have juniors on one of the nights and the other night do seniors. Than our girls group will hopefully be starting in January on a Monday night.
-Schools; I will be partnering with Nadz, doing assemblies with the primary schools. Generally about a 10 minute program once a month with about 7 different schools. Then I'm to be taking the lead on Scripture Union program in the same schools, but this is usually every other week and about a 45 minute program. Generally about a 10 minute bible lesson, songs, a quiz, and a memory verse. We’re going to be a doing a trial run in one of the schools putting together a four week program on” ‘Jesus' Miracles" and than telling the kids to invite friends for the last week. This will Lord willing be taking place in February so if you could be praying about that, as it's a fair bit of work, and like I mentioned before teaching and public speaking are not my best talents :S. Along with SU, and Assemblies, Nadz will taking the lead on Religious education lessons with in the schools, and then all three of us will be working with the P7 transition program from the primary schools into the secondary schools. Almost everything that Nadz and I are doing in the primary schools, Jonny will be doing in the Secondary schools. Prayer all around for the three of us is most welcome :)
-Community-were hoping to start up an arts and crafts program within one of the lower class group of estates with girls, on one afternoon a week. During the same time that this will be happening, Jonny will be doing a football group with the boys from the same estates. Any suggestions on cheap, cost efficient craft ideas for ages 4-11? We will be providing all the materials so the more cost efficient the better. All three of us will also be involved with doing fundraising within the community. Than Nadz and I are hoping to start up a "Mom's and Tot's" group for teenage moms as well.
-Local and supporting churches. I'm working on developing a program for YF to take to a few of the different churches, getting Jonny, Nadz and myself to come in maybe once a month and take their YF program to help the surrounding churches. Along with that were also hoping to develop a young leaders program, in which the young adults that are doing YF's in the local churches can do a small internship with us for a year to grow their experience in working in and among their peers. Pray that God will give us ideas, and wisdom with this, as the local churches are really struggling in their YF's. Really pray for the local churches and the leaders that they have in place as it's not an easy thing to develop a program that can change over time and benefit the seniors as well as the juniors.
-summer time. Nadz will be taking the lead on getting stuff organized and prepped for summer camp, and I will be organizing and prepping stuff for Project 32 this year. (Side note, although there are different areas in which all of us are taking leads on, the majority of it will be very much all three of us doing, it's more so just to have someone to go to if looking for information on something) I also get to organize different trips for the drop in kids, so pretty much anywhere I want to go in Ireland, I can be like "Hey, we should do a trip there." Works for me :)
This is just a small idea of what we will be doing starting in January, there is so many different areas that each one of us is involved in, I didn't even get around to mentioning all the different office work jobs :)
This past Tuesday was our last drop-in for about 3 weeks, as come next Tuesday it's two weeks of holidays for Jonny, Nadine, and me. We decided to have a Christmas party, and it was a really fun night, it's amazing the different kids that you get over announcing that were having a Christmas party. We did Chalenja for most of the night. Pretty much we had five teams and they had to complete different challenges like ( how many times can you lick your teammates sock, how many marshmallows can you stick to your face with jam, can you drink a whole cup of water without closing your mouth? ) I'm sure you get the picture. One of the boys managed to smear my whole arm in jam, and Nadz face. Hey, at least you know were accepted :)
The Tuesday before last was "Drop-in Christmas Movie Night." It was actually one of the best nights. I had some really good conversations with some of the kids about Christmas and life. It was just really amazing to see questions that got sparked over watching Elf. It been encouraging to see the youth feel more comfortable in approaching and being able to ask questions or just coming up to one of us and talking and seeing how relaxed they feel in doing that. I can see that progress is being made, I might not see it all the time, and there are challenges to be sure, but it's very much taking one day at a time, and continuing to pray and thank God for the opportunities we do get.
This past week was the YFCNI staff Christmas party. It was a murder mystery night, and loads of fun. I was an undercover CIA agent working as a news reporter for the New York Times. However as the night wore one and most of my goals were completed I was shot once, than healed. Then shot a second time, and died all because I was getting to close to the truth. It was blast none the less! A good chance to better get to know the rest of the YFCNI team.
Pray for this coming Monday, as we will be taking the Christmas Celebration Service at the Secondary School, it's about an hour long program, that we have been working on for the past couple weeks. We will be speaking in front of about 300 to 400 students, teachers, and parents. Pray that God would use his Holy Spirit to prepare hearts. Were really blessed with this oppertunity, GBYFC has done it 4 out of the past 5 years, so we know that they enjoy having us in to do it. It's a tremendous oppertunity which we are incredible excited and thankful for!
Well I hope that this isn't too long of a read, and I apologize once again for the delay in the update. Thanks so much for your prayers and encouragement. I'm excited to see what God has in store for the coming year, and all the different programs and groups were hoping to get started. I'm really blessed with this opportunity, and pray that God would continue to keep me humble and ever willing to do His work, no matter the cost!
1 John 3:16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
Friday, December 17, 2010
New blog soon to come!
Hey everyone, sorry that I havn't updated this in a few weeks. It's been a bit hectic, to say the least. I'm hoping that I will have time to sit down and write in the next few days. Stay tuned for more news from snowy Northern Ireland coming soon!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)