Love Conquers All!

This is the last update from Northern Ireland. We leave for Nigeria tomorrow morning and arrive there on Sunday night. Our time here in Belfast has been absolutely amazing. We've been able to see God working in so many different ways and had the opportunity to work with Him in various ways in the community.

Beautiful Northern Ireland Coast

Ministry this week consisted of helping out at preschools/toddler groups, having an after school club, working in the cafe, spending time with the elderly at a daycare center, and going out to spend time with teens out on the street. Everyone had the choice to pick which ministries they wanted to be a part of either in the morning or at night, and every afternoon this week and the previous we came together and either did prep for the after school club or put on the after school club. The week was filled with amazing highlights for all of us.

Irene showing off her waitressing skills at the cafe

Cafe Menu

When the week began and we had the first day of the kids club, we were kind of like deer caught in headlights. We had no idea of the discipline problems that we were going to face. At different points in the beginning of the week we had carried one boy out of the church for getting violent with the other children and the next day that same boy (13 yrs old) was climbing on the roof and trying to steal the ladder he got up on. It was crazy! We quickly realized that many of these kids come from extremely rough families and do not get very much attention at all. Our team, however, did amazing! They were so flexible and loved on the kids no matter what. As each day progressed, the kids were able to trust us more and were absolutely responding to and obeying what we would ask them to do. It really was an act of God to get the kids to sit still for more than a minute, but it all turned out so great. About halfway through the week a couple of the children asked us what it meant to be a Christian, so we explained the gospel to them and what it entails. We asked them if it was something they were interested in, they said yes, and we prayed with them to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior. God's grace was truly upon us and love really did conquer all the struggles we had.

Snack Time

Learning the theme song

As for the team, I am continually amazed at what God is doing in and through them. Jordan is gifted in connecting with teens, and he is beginning to get a heart for possibly coming back here to work with them some more. Elijah and Irene are our team peace makers by making sure relationships are going well within the team and are always willing to go to others to see how they are doing and bring understanding between all of us. SaeWon is totally blossoming into the woman God has destined her to be and is becoming more secure in her identity in Christ. Lila is our inquisitive team member who is always asking great questions so we can accomplish our tasks in the most efficient and effective ways. Michelle totally stepped up this week in being head over the after school club, learning to delegate, and beginning to get over homesickness. Everyone's attitude has amazed me in their willingness to serve and prefer one another. It really has been a blessing to have each one on the team.

SaeWon, David(6), Elijah, Jordan, Irene, Lila, Michelle

As for myself, I am doing pretty well. I sometimes find myself a little lonely as the only leader of the team. I struggle at times because I don't really have another leader to verbal process with, but God has been meeting me where I am at and totally providing opportunities to talk with the local contact, or the team leaders of the Cameroon team about any challenges I might have. Our team as a whole, but I especially, have been really busy and have been getting more tired as the week progressed. I look forward to getting to Nigeria and recuperating at least the first week we are there as we get acquainted with the area. The after school club took a lot out of each of us, not only because of all the kids, but also because it takes place about 2 miles from where we are staying and we had to walk to and from the church everyday. But really overall, I am truly blessed and thankful for all that God is doing in and through all of us.

That's about all for now. Be praying for our safe travels and that all of our luggage will get to where it needs to be on time. Pray also for the team's health and that God would continue to transform us and give us greater revelations of who He is. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. I really can't put into words how grateful I am for each and every one of you. God bless you so much!

Love,
Janet

All is Well in Northern Ireland

It's been about two weeks since leaving the USA and it is about time to write an update. Everything is going great and quite a bit has happened since the last email, so I'll start from there.

We flew out of Kona on a Friday afternoon, expecting to catch a flight from Los Angeles to Washington, Dulles, an hour after arriving in LA. When we landed we immediately checked the boards to find that our flight to Washington had been cancelled. As you can imagine, we were quite tired of all of the delays we had already experienced, but it turned out to be an amazing blessing. After standing in line for two hours waiting to talk to a United Airlines representative, we found out we had a flight out the next morning at 9am. They put us up in the Ramada hotel, gave each of us $35 in meal vouchers, and also each a $100 travel voucher for a future flight. It was so awesome! We were originally going to land in London on Saturday night, but this flight only delayed us a night and we landed in London Sunday morning. We had a good rest in LA before flying out and the only red-eye flight we ended up taking was the one from Washington to London. We were so blessed!

After arriving to London, we took the Underground and a train to the base in Harpenden. Here we had our last week of lecture. You could basically say the topic of our last week was Reconciliation. We had three separate speakers, one from an organization called the International Justice Mission, one working in the city of Luten bringing reconciliation among the great diversity of people living there, and on Friday the national director of the UK spoke to us about reconciliation and the need to understand the history of an area and conflict before charging in and doing our own thing. It was a powerful week of lectures and we also had enough time to begin getting over jet lag and serve the base by helping with the grounds and painting windows.

Big Ben, Parliament & "The Eye"

Big Ben

Wesminster Abbey

Last Saturday we left London to fly up to Belfast Ireland. What an amazingly beautiful place! On Monday we received a tour of the area that we are in and a history lesson of the conflict and social problems affecting this place. We are staying in an area right on the peace line between the protestants and catholics. It is so interesting to see each side of the wall (they literally have a 30 ft wall separating the two sides), and begin to understand the conflict that is happening here and the similar problems that each side of the conflict has within itself with paramilitary organizations terrorizing their own people on each side. We have been going on prayer walks around the city and becoming more familiar with the area. On Thursday we worked at a cafe connected to a church that provides a place for people in the community (especially the older generation) to come and get some great food and good company. We had a blast as a team.

Belfast Murals

As for the team, they are outstanding! We had some conflict already, and I love it because the junk is coming out and people are growing. God is so at work in our team it is amazing and He continues to provide for all of our needs and is blessing us like crazy.

In being here in Northern Ireland God has been speaking to me so much about reconciliation and how we are called to be a people reconciled to God and to others. How Jesus gave his all, while we were still alienated and hostile towards Him, so that we could be rejoined in a relationship with Him. Studying this has brought me huge revelation about humility as a leader and also great awe and praise for the God who loves us so much. He has been showing me how Jesus paid the price for all of my sins and also all of the sins of both peoples involved in this conflict here in Northern Ireland and that Jesus is the one who levels the playing field between all of us because He was perfect and paid the price for all. All we can do now is come to Him for healing, there is no reason to hold grudges, or to respond in violence, the punishment has already been taken and violence only brings more pain and anger in this place.

I sit here now, it is around 9pm and I can hear fireworks going off in the streets and glass bottles being thrown in the street as people turn to alcohol to wash away their sorrows. It breaks my heart that tomorrow morning their pain will still be there and that the trouble they caused the night before may have caused others more pain. Jesus truly is the only one who can take that pain away and I thank God He has taken all of our sins and nailed them to a cross so that we can be forgiven.

That is about it for now. Next week we work in the cafe on Tuesday, will be doing service projects around the community, doing prayer walks, and putting on programs for youth groups. We're excited for what's ahead for all of us. Please be praying for good health and safety as most of us on the team are recovering from or right in the middle of a cold.

Thanks for all of your prayers and taking the time to check up on how things are going. God bless you so much. I am so grateful for you!

Love,
Janet