After a long but fun car ride home on Saturday, we are rested up and returned to Greenville for the rest of the semester.  We return changed, new and renewed.  As a whole group, we are all dedicated to making this trip experience last longer than just the past week.  We prayed that God would use us here, in Greenville, to make a difference and to be as bold and convicted as we were in New Orleans.  Although we each come back with different experiences and lessons learned, we are each stronger and have more wisdom on life, and a different view on people.  As we returned home, many of us have ideas of how God is going to use us in the future.  We pray, wait and will act on what God’s plan is for us in the coming semester, and beyond.  Thank you for your prayers and support as we were working, traveling, and doing God’s work.  Sincerely, the New Orleans Spring Break group 2013

Another exciting day, here in Northern Ireland! This morning we rose extra early to go to Kilcooley Primary School to lead their morning assembly. We taught the children a memory verse, led them in a spectacular rendition of Father Abraham, and listened to them sing one of their own favorite songs. We were only at Kilcooley for a short amount of time.

We spent the afternoon in Bangor near the seashore looking at shops and the mall.

After that, we went to the Kilcooley Presbyterian Church Youth Club to hang out with the kids there. We played games such as hockey, tree tag, pool, and snooker. Some of us simply talked to the kids and spent time getting to know them. Then, Rebecca Frazier shared a part of her testimony, involving her struggle as a child with cancer and her miraculous recovery.  After that, we played some more games and concluded for the evening. Many of the youth stayed for awhile to continue talking with us.

Watch this video to see the highlights from today:

Our time in Northern Ireland is quickly coming to an end. Tomorrow, we venture up to Giants Causeway and the north coast. And then all we have left to do is fly home! Come back here one last time to read about the conclusion of our trip. Until then, cheers!

Last night our group had the divine privilege of cooking hot dogs for a village of homeless New Orleans citizens. This experience was both heartbreaking and eye opening. As a group we were able to fellowship with people that lost everything as a result of hurricane Katrina. Personally, I was blessed with the opportunity of conversing with an older woman who was without a home. The woman’s name was Debra and the conversation I had with her was life altering. Debra opened up to me about her past and her life under the bridge. She informed me that sleeping on the unforgiving pavement has broken her ribs, and causes unbearable pain. Through the heart wrenching details of her life, I was remained of the purpose of my life: to serve others. Debra opened my eyes to the reality of the world of homelessness and began to break my bonds of individualism and selfishness. I’m forever thankful for Debra, and I speak for the whole team in saying this experience was life changing.

-Andy Anderson

Today our groups went to the same places we have been for most of the week. Keona, Shelby, Clay, Andy, Ryan, and Gail all went to the Tinner home and we continued to scrape paint off of the outside of the house so it can be repainted soon. We also began to clean the interior of the home. The plumber and electrician are finished in the home so we cleaned up all of the debris they left behind. We swept and vacuumed the entire house. We also moved more bricks away and pulled all of the stumps out of the yard. We also continued our “prayer walks.” We walked down the streets and talked to whomever we met and were able to pray with several people we met. Heidi, Cole, Luke, Isaac, Cody, and Dr. Watterson continued to put mud in the same house we had been working on. We had the privilege to have lunch provided by the homeowners. Once again today we were able to form relationships with community members.

Hello! And welcome back to the Northern Ireland blog! Yesterday, I decided to take a break from blogging…(you know, and try sleeping for once…), so allow me to recap yesterday and then I’ll get to today.

Yesterday morning, we were visited by a film crew making a documentary on the Northern Ireland foster child program. Desi and Pamela Fisher, the leaders of Adventure Leadership Training, are participants in the program and were being interviewed for an informational video. While this didn’t exactly appeal to everyone, I was blessed to be able to sit in on the interview and observe the professional film crew at work.

After the crew had left, we went to Scrabo Tower in Newtownards. This tower sits on the top of a very tall hill on the edge of the city. From the hill, you can see as far as Scotland, the Isle of Man, the Mourne Mountains, and more. It was a breath-taking view like none you can see in Illinois.

Eventually we ran out of time, admiring God’s amazing creation and we went to Regent House Grammar School. We were able to lead their Scripture Union (an after school time of worship/Bible study) for the younger students. We had some games, worship, a short message, and a Q&A (with a lot of questions about food!).

Later that night we went to the archery outreach (one of Adventure Leadership Training’s programs). Most of us were able to try our hands at some basic archery. We spent a couple of hours trying out archery. I have to say many of us were getting pretty good before we had to call it quits for the night!

Now for today!

After breakfast this morning, we spent some time in prayer and meditation as a group. Then we prepared for returning to Regent House to lead the older students’ Scripture Union.

This Scripture Union was very different from the first one. We led the group in worship and then Kathie Filby shared. Regent House is the school Kathie attended when she was a student in Northern Ireland. So she was able to tell some stories that were very relatable and interesting to the students and tie them back to their theme, “Light in the Darkness.” Then, a few of us shared short testimonies.

The students seemed very interested in what we had to say and many stayed afterwards to hang out and talk with us. (We gave them the address for this blog, so if any of you are reading, hello!)

Watch this video of the last two days to see some of the things we experienced:

Two more days lay ahead of us still before we return to the States, and I have found myself awake way into the wee hours of the morning! Check back here for more updates soon. Goodnight!

Day 2 has been an extremely successful day!! We got up and had breakfast at 6:30 this morning, had devotionals then collected our various supplies and headed out to our work sites. Today’s weather was nice, high of 66 degrees and sunny.  Our team was very excited to see what the day would have in store for us and the community.

One of our team(Shelby, Gail, Clay, Ryan, Keona, and Andy) went to a house that belongs to Bobby and Belinda Tinner. They felt called to come down to Louisiana after Katrina and become church planters. Their work is to try and meet people who are interested in learning more about God. They plan to use their home as a place where their ministry can develop. The ultimate goal of their ministry is to form a new church.  We spent most of our day scraping paint off of the siding on the outside of the house so that it can be repainted. When the levee broke after Katrina the house ended up about 6 feet under water. The inside has been gutted and they are finishing up electrical work and plumbing. Some of our team also helped repair some of the siding on the outside of the house and do some work that needed to be done in the yard.

The other half of our group consisting of Luke, Cole, Heidi, Dr. Watterson, Cody, and Isaac returned to the house in the lower 9th ward to continue the mudding, taping and repairs.  We were able to speak with some people in the neighboring houses and hear more of their stories and their background from the storm.  As we will continue working on this house, our hope is to make progress and further the mans home who is in need of shelter and hope.  Our team had fun, worked hard and is looking forward to another day at work tomorrow.  As well, we will be attending a block party in the city. We are looking forward to making friendships with the community members and have fellowship with them over dinner.  Please continue to pray for our team who is here at work as well as those who were affected by the storm and those who are still struggling with effects of the storm, even years later.

Blessings,New Orleans Missions Spring Break Group 2013