The last day of a one week mission trip is always the most difficult. On the one hand things are wrapping up and winding down. Everyone is ready to get home and see loved ones and get back to “life.” On the other hand things are just starting to get going. Relationships are starting to become real and conversations are going deeper. It is a day to say thank you and a day to say goodbye. All of these feelings and more overwhelmed our team today. Let me share a little about the order of the day and then maybe a little about the emotions.
We woke up late after a LONG night last night. A lot of things came to a head last night and a lot of time was spent sorting through emotions and thoughts and issues and we were all up late. So the combination of a late and emotional night took their toll. As has been typical on the trip, we woke up with one idea of what the day would hold and quickly found that what lay ahead of us did not exactly follow our expectations. Our “work” for the day today included tidying up around the centre and putting things back in order. Most of the work was done after 30 minutes of “hard labor.” Throughout the morning we had more and more Irish teens show up at the centre. While we have enjoyed our time immensely with our new friends, we also realized that we needed some time as a team to bond and connect after our emotional and eye-opening night the night before. Our plans were to head out for the afternoon after our work was done and we expected that many of our Irish friends would be with us. What a great treat it would be to spend the day with them walking around Dublin. However, there was also a sense that we needed that time to just be together as a team. I was relieved when Sean suggested that we have a team afternoon so that he could spend some time talking with the students while we were gone.
With the decision made we walked down to town, purchased our bus tickets and headed back into Dublin one last time. We hopped off the bus and enjoyed walking around. It was a blast to spend a few minutes shopping and picking out items for loved ones in the souvenir shops downtown. Everyone was able to find what they wanted and off we went with our treasures in tow. We decided that we would grab a lite bite to eat and head to the park for a little rest and relaxation. We walked through the streets like we belonged there…familiar, comfortable and at ease in the midst of the hustle and bustle of everyday Dublin activity. We moved easily in and out of the crowds. The street performers who seemed new and strange at the beginning of the week had lost their novelty. We paused briefly at one point where a crowd had gathered by one particular performer but quickly moved on. Lunch was another adventure. We went to a Dublin supermarket and each grabbed something that looked enticing. There seemed to be a lot of pre-prepared food and frozen food compared to home. We all took our lunch and headed to St. Stephen’s Green to eat lunch.
As we crossed a typically busy Irish street we looked ahead at the huge iron gates that loomed above us, surrounded by sunshine, noise and bustling people. A few steps further and we entered a scene that seemed to completely contradict the previous. The traffic filled streets had given way to neatly manicured pathways. The tall buildings with their neon lights had morphed into green spaces dotted with flowers and trees. The noise of city had given way to the sounds of nature and ponds. The only thing that remained the same was the people…they were still EVERYWHERE. As we walked through the park to find a place to settle and eat our lunch we passed by every type of person imaginable. The park was filled with young and old, businessmen and school children, families, couples, single people, all enjoying the perfect weather in the midst of one of the most beautiful parks I have ever seen. There was a TON of green space of perfectly manicured grass, many rimmed with colorful flowers. Nearly every possible spot of green was covered by people. There must have been thousands of people in the park that day (and I am NOT exaggerating that fact; I have never seen that many people enjoying a park before). We finally found a large enough space for the 8 of us (our team plus Ray) to sit and enjoy lunch… To be continued…
Today has been a crazy day full of ups and downs. At this point I am too exhausted to put much about the day. Perhaps more will come tomorrow. Everyone is healthy (although Quay woke up sick this morning he is feeling better now) and having a good time. There is a lot of work being done by the spirit and I’m excited to see the outcome. Our plans have changed again and who knows what tomorrow will hold. Please keep us in prayer…pray for our emotional state, our team unity, our friendships our work ethic, our patience, and most of all that we would should these people (and each other) the love of Christ.
My head hurts. We have been laughing uncontrollably for the past 3 hours. I love this team and I love this country. There are so many things I could share about tonight but I will pick just a couple.
Last night during team time I challenged the team to engage in deep spiritual conversations with their Irish friends today. So as we embarked on our second day of work around the centre, production was probably going to take a back seat to conversation…or so we thought. We woke up, had breakfast and were ready to go at 10am. By lunchtime we had nearly completed all the original projects for the day. A bunch of the guys from team Ireland showed up today and we put their muscles to good use. First, 8 of us moved a heavy pool table from one part of the centre to another. It took all of us to maneuver the table into place, but we did it. Great teamwork! We also emptied, cleaned and organized a huge storage shed, did the same with a supply room, mowed and trimmed the entire yard, finished cleaning up the area around the bar-b-q, and removed grass from the edge of the driveway. And working wasn’t even our main focus for the day!
In addition to all of the physical work that we completed, we also had several amazing conversations throughout the day. We were able to talk to the Irish students about many deep issues, including suicide, relationships, faith and God. I had two amazing conversations today and am really looking forward to continuing both tomorrow. It was so great to pray with one student and really feel the presence of God’s Spirit while we were praying. I wish I could share so much more about our day, but one of the things that really matters to our team is honoring the relationships that we are forming here. To share more on a public setting like this would be betraying confidences and so I just can’t go into more detail. Suffice it to say that our youth are engaging in meaningful, kingdom focused conversations and I am so proud to be their youth pastor.
Another highlight of our day was lunch. Trevor came and shared pizza with us. While we were finishing up our meal he shared his story and the story of the centre and the Lucan church. What a powerful testimony to God’s goodness and calling on a man’s life. Part of what made it such a special time is that there were Irish youth there who haven’t attended the group for long and were hearing the story for the first time along with us. I have no doubt that God used Trevor’s words to impact their hearts. If you don’t know the story, let me summarize…Trevor preached a series of sermons in Northern Ireland (where he is from) about Jonah. In the midst of this he realized that HE was Jonah and God was calling him to Ninevah (Dublin). What a powerful example.
After dinner tonight we also took a walk downtown and walked along the river. The weather was great, the company was delightful and everyone had a wonderful time. Our team time tonight was filled with sharing, laughter and joy. It truly is a pleasure to be here with these young people (Carol is included as a young person because she fits right in!). Oh the additional things I could share….
Please pray for the conversations that we had today and the ones we will have going forward.
Pray specifically for the young man I had a chance to pray with tonight…that God would be real to him.
Pray for our team unity and growth…God is really doing something here and I’m excited to be a part of it.
This morning we started working around the centre. It has been a brilliant day. Although the weather has been great overall, we can definitely see where Ireland gets it’s crazy weather reputation. It was very brisk when we started this morning, warmed up and was sunny and warm in the late morning and then went to windy, gray and cold and then back to sunny and almost hot. It was great that it was fluctuating from good to great and not rainy to just overcast.
The day has been a productive one…we have accomplished a lot. We even got some work finished ;) Our focus today has been fellowship with our friends. We started a project leveling some ground outside one of the chalets. This was difficult and involved moving some dirt and digging some grass, weeds and other vegetation. We will need more work and some additional supplies to complete this task (gravel and dirt to backfill so we can complete the leveling and some tools to break up the ground). We also began a major clearing project on the other side of the retreat centre. This involves moving a LOT of underbrush, pine needles and trash to clean out an area around their bbq pit. We really enjoyed working and spending time with our friends.
Throughout the day our group grew and grew. At one point we had our team of 7 working alongside 10-12 Irish young people. After a good afternoon of working we took a break and just hung out. It was so wonderful to see how people just flowed from one group to another. We played guitar, talked, sent text messages to random people, kicked the soccer ball and just generally had a blast. Tonight many of our friends will be coming back for some more fun…we can’t wait.
Prayer Requests:
Please pray for sleep and energy for the team
Pray for continued development of our relationships
Pray for the spiritual growth of our team (both individual growth and team growth)
Pray that God would use us at impact the people here in Ireland.
*****Update*****
Tonight we had dinner and then went out to hang out with our new friends. After a time of just chillen’ around the retreat centre we all moved into the hall for a night of dancing. We started out teaching the Irish people how to swing dance. It was great to have our team and their youth mixed up and people learning to dance and having a blast. Our swing dance party eventually morphed into a full blown rave/dance party. The only things missing were the glow sticks and the strobe lights! Several hours later people left smiling and exhausted (not to mention sweaty and stinky!) It was a great time! (It was so much fun that one girl didn’t check her phone all night and her parents had to send her brother up to the centre to get her to come home J It sure is nice that people walk everywhere around here!). It is clear that we are connecting very well with the teens here and I am praying that we will have opportunities to share Christ with some of these teens…there are many who are attending the events and hanging around with us this week who don’t know Him. God is SO good…I’m really pumped about how He is moving in and through us. To HIM be the glory.
