Food is good but travelling is better!

Holy Cross Sanctuary 

So in the last post I talked a lot about food. Now I have to say this post will reflect on all the travelling I have done from YAV retreats, to all church retreats, to a trip to the monastery, and a fun time in Dublin. Travelling is one of the things I am excited to do in my time here and have been able to see some beautiful places thus far.

One of the first trips I was lucky enough to go on was one with the other YAV's to the Holy Cross Monastery. This was a little over an hour drive from where we live up into the Mourne mountains. It was a lovely trip with beautiful scenery. While at the monastery we were able to join the Benedictine Monks in their Eucharist and time of prayer. In between these services we were lucky enough to get to talk with Brother Thierry and hear about the reasons he became a monk, more about his life story, the way the monks live, his beliefs on many different topics like: reconciliation, ecumenical worship, and Christianity.

Holy Cross Monastery


Monks center their lives on three main things : work, prayer and community.  These things truly made me think about the way in which I have been living my life and how simple life can be. One of the things that Brother Thierry talked about that really stuck with me, was the idea that they treat everyone as Christ and seeing the good or Christ like  parts that people bring into relationships. Relationships are key in community and are something that the Brothers take very seriously. One can not be self sufficient in their minds because that is when we stop learning from others. Another point that he talked about was hos self sufficiency is the death of the church. This truly hit home considering that to be able to grow in spirituality and as a body of Christ we have to interact with others and learn from those who are different. 

       

 

Brother Thierry

       Throughout the day the monks work to sustain their lifestyle. They make candles and cards and many different things to earn the money to live. During the day they are very adamant about breaking for prayer times.The Brothers have scheduled times throughout the day that prayer happens. Prayer is extremely important to the monks because it allows them to come back to God and allows them to confront the challenges they are facing. Prayer is also what they do to reach out to the community is pray for others and the problems that surround them.            

 

Brother Thierry also expressed his views on reconciliation and how to go about building relationships, and diminishing the conflicts between the many different faiths. He stated that the main problem is not with the theology of the church but in learning to love one another and accepting others differences. It is only when this happens that we can open the dialogue of theology between the different faiths. This was profound and really stuck with me and made me think for the rest of the day. All in all it was an amazing way to get away from the hectic lives we live in Belfast and spend a day questioning our faith. 

           Another trip that I was lucky enough to go on was the all church retreat to Drumalis. This retreat was an overnight at a huge lovely home/ conference center that was run by nuns. It sat right on the water and had amazing scenery. We got there at tea time (dinner time) on Friday night had a meal and then had our first session. The next day we got up for a lovely breakfast and then had another session. After that Ellison (one of my house mates that joined me on this retreat) and I  got to go for a walk around the grounds and then to the coast to see the beautiful scenery surrounding Drumalis. This was a time I really was happy to get away and be able to have time for reflection. When we came back we had a communion service. Next we had our tea and headed back home. This was a wonderful way for me to get to know some of the people in my church and was a lovely weekend away. 

Regent Street Minister Allen.

Ellison in part of the house. 

                                                   

                                                       Beautiful walk on the grounds.

View of the coast.

Me by the the coast.

Tower down by the coast. 

 

Low tide at the coast, Ship docked.

Yet again I was planning on continuing  and writing about the other trips that I went on thus       far but it would be a huge post and there many      more pictures I want to show with the other trips so I will save them for the next post. Thanks for your continued love and support. :) 

Baking is good for the soul!

So to continue part two of many of this series of blog posts... FOOD! Recently, I have found out that I love to cook. I probably have spent countless hours cooking since I have been here. I have made tons and tons of baked goods everything from chocolate chip cookies, to Oreo pie, to brownies, to cake, to cup cakes, to homemade pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie. I think i have come to a realization that baking and cooking to me is relaxing and a way that I have found puts my mind at ease. Not only have I baked though... I have cooked meals for those in my household and the other Yav's. I have had baked ziti dinners, chicken dinners, and even made two different soups.                               

Baked Ziti I made

I have recently been learning to cook more and more things and just recently have not had much time to do so but hopefully I will be able to cook some more traditional dishes and might even share some recipes with everyone. Harvest is a huge deal here (will talk more about it later in this post). Well below is the picture of the harvest baking I did. I did not remember to take a picture of my lovely pumpkin pie but this is the pumpkin bread and cupcakes and soup that I made. It was quite interesting for me to find out that most Nothern Irish have not tried anythign with pumpkin in it. It is not a typical food that most would cook with.

My cupcakes, pumpkin bread, and potato and leek soup

So now that you know what I have been doing in my spare time... I should mention the main reason that I had time to do so much cooking would be the fact I was so ill. So me being the lucky one must have caught something on the plane ride over. I was trying for the longest time to just take sinus medication to hopefully get over it but that did not happen. I have made three trips to the doctor and after a sinus infection, respiratory infection, stomach infection and needing to be on 7 different medications I am back to my normal self. I think this made it very hard for me to adjust due to the fact that I was not feeling well ever. It is lovely to finally feel like myself again and be able to do my jobs to my fullest potential. 

        One of the many activities that I have been lucky enough to be involved in is ten pin bowling (our regular bowling) with one of my house mates church. Every Monday night I am lucky enough to go and bowl with around 12-15 older people at the bowling alley. This has been great fun or in Nor Irish great craic. We all bowl one game and its just a fun time to get to know others from other churches. One of the things this group does is give out the spoon (for the "loser") and the cup (for the "winner"). These are both things that I have not had the luxury to win yet but are fun to keep up with. The way it started was that the loser gets the spoon the winner gets the cup well now it has changed and it is whoever won the spoon the week before bowls and during the following game whoever gets the closest to their score wins the spoon and it works the same for the cup. 

My two house mates shaking after passing off the spoon.

 One of the recent changes that has taken place is a lady from the ten pin bowling mentioned she was a retired hair dresser that travels around to peoples house to cut hair and offered to cut mine since I had said I needed it cut. So a few days later she came and cut my hair. 

Before, Not the best but had long hair! 

After... all gone!! 

All my hair.... EEK!!! 

Oh and by the way the dates on my pictures are not right. So that was only two weeks ago. So now I will move on to the Harvest service. This was an absolutely beautiful service. Harvest is a time in the church sorta like our Thanksgiving. It was put in place to celebrate the abundance of crops and how thankful the people were because of that. In the church its a time when they all come together and decorate the entire church. There are all sorts of fruits and vegetables and bunches and bunches of beautiful flowers. This is a time when most of those who do not attend church regularly come to hear all the wonderful music, and give thanks for all they have. After the evening service where it is also packed, everyone comes together to put everything in bags and put bunches of flowers together to take to those who cannot make it to church. They bring the order of service and fruits, veggies, and flowers to those in need. This night was a lot of fun because the Youth group that night got to deliver harvest goods to those and learned what an important part of the church life it is to see those in need. So all in all this was a very amazing time in the church and I was really thankful that i got to experience something this profound. 

Window in the church at Harvest.

The vestibule decorated for Harvest

As I did in the last blog post I think I will end here for right now. I am doing well and enjoying life... I went to Dublin yesterday so that will be in a blog post to come! Miss you all!

Liz

So much happening so little time!

     So first off I have to apologize for not posting regularly.... it has been very busy and there has been so much to do! So I think over this week will will sort of do a series of blog posts to catch everyone up on my life and that way its not a long and boring rant. So since the last time I wrote I have gotten pretty much fully settled, I have started baking a lot, I have had three infections, I have learned to play bowls, I went on my first all church retreat, I went with the YAV's to a monastery, I have traveled to Carrickfergus, Harvest happened, I went on my first YAV retreat which included going to the Giants Causeway, and finally the European Music Awards were hosted in Belfast. So many things keeping me busy and I will elaborate of the first few now!

        I have finally gotten fully settled! I have a waterproof coat since that is extremely necessary. My house is lovely and I am enjoying living in an intentional community. Settling into work and a typical routine has also been something that I have done in the past month. Regent Street has been absolutely amazing. It is home away from home. The congregation has been so warm and welcoming and the craic has been wonderful. I am getting to know people a lot better and even learning most of their names... considering that there are at least a handful of Pats so if im not sure I can fall back on that.  Now that I am settled in as a part of the church there are so many amazing activities that I am doing. My typical day in the church is a Wednesday where i get to meet with the minister and associate minister... and if you thought there were a lot of people coming through the church office daily in the States... well you would be surprised. It is wonderful to be able to see so many church members come through the office on a daily basis. So I get to be in the office in the morning and in the afternoon I get to go out and do visits. This has been something that I totally love. To me this was something different, in the states the experience or knowledge I had of visiting was to those who are sick or shut-ins. This is very different, not only do you visit those who are ill or can not come to church but you have a list of everyone in the congregation and the minister and associate minister go out and visit people on those lists. Yes, this church is much smaller then Nassau or Lawrenceville, but it is just common practice for ministers to do. It has been a real time of joy for me to be welcomed into someones home and be able to sit and hear about their lives and how they are doing. It has reminded me to value the face to face conversation that is readily available but yet not taken advantage of often. These visits have also helped me to get to know the congregation and learn about the culture.

Debbie Bowling

          Another thing within the church that I participate in is Bowls. To compare this to something that someone in the states might understand I would say it is like Boccie ball but harder. This is something that happens on Thursday nights at the church and it is with many of the older but very vibrant congregation members! the way it works is your put on a team of four people and you play against another team of four. Each player has two bowls and you go in the order you are on the score card. The idea is to get your ball closest to the jack. You cannot hit the stick in the center and the bowls have a bias so they turn when you roll them. You get two bowls every hand and normally you would play anywhere from 5-9 hands. For every hand you get points depending on who was closest to the jack and if their team has more then one bowl close then the get more points if the other team has no bowls close they get no points. Whoever has the most points at the end of the number of hands your playing wins. It sounds much more complicated then it is, I promise!

Bowls on the mat at the end of a hand

Thursday nights have been a great chance to get to know the congregation and have also helped me to learn a new and challenging game that is a part of the Northern Irish culture. The craic is wonderful, they are some of the funniest people I have met in my life and I just always leave laughing and ready to go back the following week. Also, a part of the culture I am still getting used to is the fact they drink tea/coffee maybe 5 times a day. So after the second full game of bowls every Thursday everyone stops to enjoy a cup of tea and a biscuit. So next week is our first tournament against another church. I  hope by the end of this year I can be brilliant at this game.

 Sundays at the church are very busy. It starts at half ten (10:30am) in the morning where we go to the church for pre-service cuppa which is like coffee hour in the states. Then the service starts at 11. In the beginning I was sitting in the services and just getting a feel for how church is run and how things happen. Now I have begun to take part. I have sang in the choir, done a scripture reading, and more recently have been going out to help with the different Sunday school classes. I am still learning the curriculum they use and getting a feel for what it is like but I have gotten to know some of the children and hope to be much more active in the Sunday school classes as time goes on. I recently have been given the job of putting together the children's service which is December 18 (my dad's b-day) so I have been working on that and putting it all together. Should be a lovely service. After the service or Sunday school, I am usually invited into someones home for lunch which has been amazing since Sunday lunch here is a huge part of the Northern Irish culture. There is actually a sign up sheet to have me for lunch. It is wonderful. Then every other Sunday there is an evening service which if this is taking place youth fellowship takes place after. On nights of no service it happens earlier. Youth fellowship is bundles of fun and it has been great to get to know the youth. One of the main things that I and the associate minister are trying to do is recruit more youth. At the moment the largest number of youth we have had is ten. So we have been trying to increase that to build up the youth fellowship program. So far youth fellowship has been a ton of fun. Everything form laser tag, to movie night, ten pin bowling and then on nights of the evening service very good discussions. So overall the church life has been wonderful and I am  loving my time in Regent Street Presbyterian.


So I was planning on continuing this post but I did not realize this one was so long so I will start a new one and leave you with some new phrases and language differences I have come across so far!

Whataboutya  =  how are you
good craic      =  a good time/ anything enjoyable
come by you   = Pick you up
call by            =  stop by your house
wee               = an adj they use in front of everything, meaning small.
pram             = stroller
child minder   = baby sitter
hiya              = hello
crisp              = chip
chip             = french fry
jumper        = sweater
trousers       = pants
pants           = underwear
skint           = broke
bap            =roll
cheeky      = rude
foot path   = side walk
baby grows  = onesie
rubbish       = trash
solicitors    = lawyers
fortnight     = every two weeks
plait           = braid
dead on     = o.k.
gutties/ trainers = sneakers
peelers       = police
motor way   = high way
to let         = to rent


Those are just a few of the many words I am learning here... and supposedly I have heard from my parents that I am starting to talk a bit more NorIrish! :) Next post on its way! Miss you all and thanks for your continued love, support and prayers! :)

Photos

                                                           Everyone on our mini bus!

This is Scrabo Tower

                
Me Standing  with my back to the town I work in called   Newtownards.


           




This is town hall, It seems to be a very busy place and also a spot for all the teenagers to hangout. ----->

This is the mountain we climbed overlooking all of Belfast!

  

This is Queens University in Belfast

Me in the rose garden at the Botanical gardens. 

The Palm house at the Botanical Gardens. 

Pretty Flower in the Palm House

I will actually write another post soon... I am sorry to everyone for being so far behind. My placements are keeping me busy... so that's a good thing but bad for the progress of my blog. More to come soon.

My first Sunday at Regent Street Presbyterian

First, Northern Ireland does it right... now let me explain. When I was told that someone would come by me around half past ten to collect me at my residence for church on Sunday morning I thought it was a joke. As I am used to  being in the states where the majority of church services start close to 9am, so being picked up at 10:30 for the eleven service had me over joyed.  I was picked up by my Minister Allen Sleith and on the journey to the church, which is 10 miles from where I am living, we talked about what my life, and he went through the questions he was going to ask me in the pulpit. It is tradition to "quiz" or question the new YAV every year in the pulpit during the service. This not only made me nervous but was sort of scary. Once he went over the questions, like " tell us a bit about you?" and " tell us about your home church and town" he also then asked about my plans in the future and what my degree was in. So in the end it was not really a very long "quiz" and was actually quite simple. Before the service where this happened I was greeted by many of the members in the congregation which was a very nice welcome. Another language bit, when someone meets you for the first time and are being hospitable they say your welcome, which at first was hard to get used to but now has already become part of my new vocabulary.

Now for the bit about the service, one of the cultural changes here that is very different from me coming from a pretty traditional background for worship, here they have praise bands and do not typically sing traditional songs.This is a church with projector screens up so you can see the words and prayers and any part of the service which one is to take part in.  This is a change that will take some time to get used to. At the same time, one of the things that I get to do in the church is bring new or should I say old songs or more traditional hymns to the church and try to work some of them into the service. Another thing that was interesting to me during the service was my solo, this was not a planned solo but in the states most congregations say Amen after everything, here it is just done by the minister so when it came to the end of a prayer, or reading I was fortunate enough to have solo's. That will defiantly take time to get used to.

Now the service in general was very similar, yet very different the sermon was on conviction and was very well preached especially for not being off a script. Everything else ran pretty smoothly, when we got to the doxology it was interesting to see that this congregation speaks it opposed to singing it, also I had another solo during the Lord's prayer with debts when they use trespasses. In the end, this was a wonderful service and I am extremely excited about the year ahead  being able to worship in this congregation. After the service It was interesting to see that most of the congregation leaves and only a select few stay to greet one another. Their coffee hour is before the service and after the service everyone is out of the church within 5-10 minuets.

After church on Sunday's culture here is to have a big meal, so I was invited to Allen's house and had a huge meal of two types of potatoes, two meats, corn, carrots, turnip, peas, and much more. This is an important time of fellowship and a time where I got to know Allen his wife and two sons as well as the associate Johnny and his wife. This was a great meal and ended in 5 different deserts. Needless to say I am getting fed well and being taken care of.

After the lunch I was brought home and told I would be picked up again at 6:30 for the 7pm service. It is common practice that most churches have a night service. This service was a communion service and was very nice. Then after the service I was brought home and that was the end to my first day at the church.

The church is wonderful and welcoming and the people are lovely. The minister and associate are wonderful and I am happy to say that Regent Street is a wonderful fit for me thus far.

Liz

I know I am a bit behind on my blog all will be caught up soon. My apologies.

The Time Has Come!

                                                                 2011 YAV Group

Ok so I might be a few days behind on my blog but it will all be caught up by tonight (Belfast time). This post was from the last day of orientation before we left. The picture above is the entire YAV group who are going all over the world.

  Orientation was one of the best learning experiences ever. We got different sessions on cultural competency, culture shock, globalization, self-care,  community and living in community, gender and identity issues and safety. These sessions have all got me to think about the ways in which I process and have brought to the table the need to think about my fears, worries, joys, hopes, and the expectations and how I see this year turning out. I have also met some amazing people and have got to share in Fellowship, Worship, and Bible Study with them as a community.

The Orientation at Stony Point made me come to terms with the fact that I had not started to process or think about the emotions that go along with this year over seas. The sessions made me realize that I do have fears and that I was scared to leave. I was nervous about my self and my health, my relationships with family and friends and leaving them behind, whether I was gonna have worth in Belfast and how I would be perceived. These are all fears that will be brought with me to N. Ireland and will also be with me for the rest of my life. All I can do is put my trust in the Lord to and have faith that the Lord will help me through. This means that he will give me others to help me with my struggles and to make sure I know that he is always there for me and will be my strength.   

 It was difficult to say goodbye to the people that I have became close with but made me realize I will be able to spend an amazing year with 7 others and that all of us will be serving the Lord in mission around the globe.

So I leave you now with a verse that has inspired me and so far have helped me through :
 Matthew 6: 25-34

25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life^b?

28“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

It is finally here!!!

 Wow... it has been a great fun filled summer of  travels, working at a summer camp, and spending time with family and friends. I am so excited to start this new journey to Belfast, but at the same time I wish I could bring all my friends. I have officially packed (still praying that my suitcase is not over 50lbs), I have said good bye to all my family and friends, and now start this faith journey with a week long orientation at Stony Point, NY. This will be a fun packed week of learning about culture, spending time with not only the others going to N. Ireland but also the other YAV's that are traveling around the world, and preparing for this spiritual journey of service in Belfast. Now that I am saying good-byes and heading off it makes it feel real, even though I will still be in the US for another week.

I want to thank those that have made this journey possible, Nassau Presbyterian Church has been a strong foundation for me since I was young and I have great joy in calling this church home. This church fostered my love for service and mission and showed me what serving the Lord is all about. I also need to thank the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville. This church is home to my family and one that I have been a part of for a number of years. Going to their youth fellowship programs and finding a second home where I can live out my faith. This trip would not be possible if it were not for these two churches. Also, I would like to thank those who have monetarily supported me for this trip. For those of you who do not know, International YAV's have to raise 8,000 dollars. This is not an easy task nor one that people always feel comfortable doing. Luckily, I have the most amazing support from family, friends of the family, and my two church families. Thank You!

So now as my faith journey continues, and I start my year in mission I hope that everyone will follow me on here and keep up to date with my travels and what I am doing in Belfast. Also, I would love for everyone to post comments, send e-mails, and check in from time to time.It truly means a lot to have people standing behind me. Well, I should get back to packing the last minuet things, and checking everything over so I am not missing anything. So this is not good-bye but hello to a new adventure that everyone gets to have part in and share with me in faith.

<3 Liz

EEEK....24 days and counting!

 So today after reading a facebook post from a fellow YAV going to N. Ireland with me saying that she was all packed it started to sink in that I only have 24 more days until I say goodbye to my family and friends. This over the last few weeks has not been a shock but more exciting because I received my visa! Also, I received e-mails from both the minister of the church I will be working in and from the head of The Link which is the community center where I will also work. This made it all seem more clear and put into perspective the type of people I will be working with and actually made me be able to envision myself there. On Sunday,  I present and get commissioned in church, so I have been working hard on the power point for that presentation, which makes it feel even closer. From here on out I believe everything will fly by and soon enough I will be on the plane and landing in Belfast! Well I know this was a short post... but i just got in from a Phillies game and I am a bit exhausted. So more to come soon! :)

It Is becoming Reality!

Today was a very exciting day that has made this become much more realistic. Today I got an e-mail from Doug Baker which was titled " Your YAV placements for 2011-2012". This is when it began to sink in that I have a place to serve and I will be leaving in 68 days (not that i'm counting)!

After reading though this e-mail I immediately Google earthed the address where I would be living with three other YAV's. It is crazy what todays technology can do because soon enough after putting in the address I was looking at the street view of where I would be living. 

I will be serving at Regent Street Presbyterian Church ( http://www.regentstreetpc.org) and will also be working at The LINK Family and Community Centre (http://www.thelinkcentre.org). At Regent Street Presbyterian Church I will have the opportunity to work with the youth fellowship and Sunday morning Christian education programmes, and assist with some worship and pastoral duties, including with senior citizens.

Regent Street Presbyterian Church

The LINK connects local churches and the local community. The Link is a youth drop-in started by Regent Street Presbyterian Church in Netownards, Northern Ireland.  The main purpose of The Link is to be an intentional Christian presence in the community.  One of the ways The Link fulfills that purpose is by  providing a healthy environment where children and youth can have fun and be kids.  Children  and youth here have especially been affected by the long years of fighting between Protestants and Catholics (or the “Troubles” as people here refer to them).  Although there is an agreement to “peace”, many paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland are still recruiting, and youth are usually targets. I will basically be working to help with these programs and run many different youth programs and also use my degree in sociology and work with a social worker at the LINK to help these youth and families. 

The LINK