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