I wrote a blog last night catching up on the whole week and then it got deleted! :( So I'm going to try that again this morning...
~Thursday we went into Downpatrick for the afternoon to participate in 'Trojan Horse' (a ministry for non-church going teens). It's fun by 'Johnny' who gets together with these teens a couple nights a week to not only keep them from getting bored and getting into trouble, but most importantly sharing God's love in a gentle and non-forceful way.
~on Friday we walked to the city bus and took it to the bottom of Cave Hills which is a 1204 feet above sea level. It was a gorgeous day with the sun poking through the clouds! Halfway we reached the cave which doesn't go too deep but is a cool sight to see and we meandered up the grassy slopes to the cliff edge at the top where we got an amazing view of Belfast! Definitely a highlight of our trip! It was very windy but we found a little crevice in the grass where we ate our lunch!
~on Saturday we moved to Downpatrick and got a tour of Downpatrick Presbyterian Church by Harry (the minister and Jenny's husband)! Then we spread out into various homes where we'd be staying for the week (members of the church offered to host)!
~Sunday we had breakfast with the youth of Downpatrick church, learned about them and shared a bit about ourselves (their group is called 'Wakey Wakey'). After the service we went to our host homes for lunch and the afternoon with our host families! In the evening we participated in the youth group's 'Murder Mystery' by dressing up in costumes and hiding around the main street of Downpatrick for them to find us! In our costumes we got alot of funny looks by the passersby!
~Monday we spent the day planning for the upcoming week, starting the day with a longer time in prayer which was very refreshing and encouraging! John and Alicia arrived in the afternoon and we all went for a walk along the water! It was another beautiful, sunny day! (Most of our days have been!)
~Tuesday we headed to Friendship House for the last day and it was packed full with breakfast in the morning with the men's hostel, playing with the younger children followed by the older children after school and then youth alpha in the evening which the team worked hard to plan. We made it like 'Survivor' with teams (we each painted our faces) and competition! They got really into it! The hardest part that day was saying 'Goodbye' to all of them. We had a good time of debrief and sharing with the staff of Friendship House and tears were flowing!
~Wednesday we split the team in half (half with Kev and half with me) to participate in two primary school assemblies. We shared two camp-style songs with actions and a skit which the kids loved! Then we spent the afternoon touring Down Cathedral (which overlooks Downpatrick and is said to be where St. Patrick is buried and there is a rock there dedicated to him), the jail where people were tried and hung and a huge estate known as Castleward built in the 1700's and decorated just as it would have been! The husband and wife disagreed on design so the house is literally split in half where one side is Gothic style and the other side is Victorian (all the way to the windows on the outside!)! The most impressive part was the secret door in the library hidden in the bookshelf! We had time to eat some pizza before heading back to Belfast for 'Lifeline'where non-church teens hang out and often have games planned and once a week bible sharing. We did 'Survivor' again with them and hung out. The leader Tony shared with us about fourteen young people who have committed suicide in the past year and asked for prayer for these young people that he ministers to. We ask that you pray for them too as there seems to be a huge issue with suicide in Belfast amongst young people.
~Today we're hosting an assembly and Trojan Horse again!
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