It's nearly May!

we are alive! haha, and two of us are back after being in the states for a week! its been a busy last wee bit, so sorry we havent written in a while, ill try to catch you up on the main stuff

lets see, first, erin and i went back to bham last week for two separate weddings and it was such an awesome time of refreshment and encouraging time with friends and family! the weddings were beautiful and it has rejuvinated us for our last 5 weeks here (4 for erin)! how crazy is that-a full year nearly gone. anyways, we are all glad to be back here together again

all of our normal clubs and bible studies and meetings have been going well. our tuesday afterschool club has been slightly crazy for the past few weeks and we are having a difficult time getting the kids to behave and pay attention, especially for the boys. John and I were really frustrated after this past week and are trying to figure out how to get them to act better and listen to the bible story, so pray for us about that.

since the nights are getting longer and brighter, everyone is out late at night more as well. this is good for hanging out, but also hard to get kids indoors for our youth clubs, etc. so this will probably be our last thursday of having youth club until after the summer. instead we will just have the time to be around the estate and hanging outdoors with everyone. Ballyloughan church is also starting a summer project where people from the church come into the estate every wednesday night and do cleanup for needy people, football clubs, door to door ministry, and just being around the estate to form relationships and help in any way. we are going to help with this as well, and are praying that it has a positive impact and that the estate accepts and is thankful for this effort.

just before going to america, i was able to go to dinner with eamonn (aymon), a friend i have made from the gym. it was a very good and encouraging time and though he is very anti-religion by his own profession, we spent a large portion of the night discussing spiritual questions he had and he learned what i believed. though it was quite intense at times, i think he was pleased with it and he said that after returning from my week home, he wanted to have me over to his house for dinner. i have been communicating with him since being back and we are trying to find a time to hang out again, so pray that the Lord provides this opportunity and that he will begin to respond to the Holy Spirit's promptings in his heart. pray also that i may have the words to say to him, because it is very intimidating to openly contradict his beliefs with my own, and to know the balance in when to speak and when to not push him.

john and i have been rock climbing with mark in the past week and are starting to go more often. we are trying to get several guys from the estate to go with us this saturday, and make it a regular thing. we even are beginning to plan an overnight climbing trip with them before we leave, so pray that all of these opportunities come together and guys will want to go.

well, im sure there is much more, but this is getting long. we will do better at updates in the next few weeks. as we sense our time beginning to draw nearer to an end, pray that we will be very intentional with our time and make the most of all of our opportunities. The Lord is teaching us so much and I am constantly reminded of his faithfulness and sovereignty! Praise Him for his love to us and you and the people here.
until next time, we love you and miss you all. dont be afraid to send us encouragement!

Dinner guests

John and I had a wee dinner party tonight.  Amy Lynn and her two and a half year old daughter Reegan came over.  We had tacos.  John gave Reegan black beans.  She did not like them.  She ate a plate of shredded cheese for dinner.  Then Reegan had her first music lesson.  It was a great night.

Downpatrick and Newcastle

Erin and Dwight are away to America for the week to be in friend's weddings.  John and I decided to take a day trip with Hayley and Paul on Monday.  We headed towards Downpatrick, the burial place of Saint Patrick and decided in Belfast to take a different route through Portaferry so we could take the ferry.  We ended up going to an aquarium and stayed for the 'hands-on' program, during which we got to pet sharks and sting rays and hold starfish, sea urchins, and clams.  We were by far the oldest ones in the group, unless you count the parents of all the wee children.

We took a very short ferry ride over to Downpatrick.  We saw the possible grave of St. Patrick and the Cathedral, which had a beautiful stained glass window.  We think the window portrayed images of 10 the the disciples.  We think they left out both Judas and Judas Iscariot and added Peter and Paul to make 12.  We went in search of a mountain with a statue of St. Patrick.  The mountain turned out to be a hill, but the view was amazing. 

Feeling spontaneous, Hayley decided she wanted to go to Newcastle and since she was driving, we all happily agreed to the adventure.  We walked along the beach and the boys taught Hayley to skip rocks.

We ended our day by going for coffee and ice cream at Maude's.  We sat outside and talked about what kind of bird we would like to be and watched the water.  It was a great day out.
This week, John and I are holding down the fort.  We had our afternoon clubs at Hillside, with the help of Paul, Louise, Brid, and Amy.  We taught the parable of the Good Samaritan.  I had the girls make cards of encouragement for someone as an example of how to show love to others.  We ended 10 minutes early because they girls were making 'kick me' signs and gluing them to each other's backs.  Obviously they listened really well today.

pictures and sister

My baby sister, Laura arrived from Spain Wednesday afternoon for a long weekend.  She is a senior at Auburn and is finishing university outside of Madrid.  I haven't seen her since Christmas and am enjoying getting to introduce her to our friends here.  Erin and I met her in Belfast on Wednesday and brought her back up to Ballymena.  We went to dinner at the Blackstone Restaurant with our friend Paul.  Erin and I have been waiting to go for ages since we heard it was the best restaurant in town and thought Laura's visit was as good excuse as any.  The food was amazing and the music was interesting.

Yesterday, we took her along on our 'prayer walk' around Millfield.  Every Thursday afternoon, we help Ballyloughan with a door to door prayer ministry.  We met a really cute little girl named Caitlin who had a bag full of bread to go feed the ducks at The People's Park.  She was very excited.  

It was a beautiful day, so we met up with Katie and went on a walk around the estate to take pictures.  The kids have all been off school for two weeks for Holy Week and Easter Week.  They are in the process of going back to school at the moment, so some were out playing while we walked.  We got to see Lizzy Carson and her girls, a family in Millfield we met on a walk last summer.  They were out in their front garden one day last July and happened to have a trampoline, so of course I introduced myself and asked if I could jump on it.  We have been friends every since.  Erin used to help Chelsea, the oldest daughter, with her homework last autumn.  We enjoyed chatting with them and some of the other kids we met along the way.

Some pictures from our walk:

One often comes across interesting things when walking around Dunclug.  I have seen a dead cat, a decapitated doll, a burnt motorbike, a dog hanging from a rope of the football goal, and now an abandoned trolley.  You can't hep but to take a picture.

On Tuesday while locking up after the afternoon art club at Hillside, I noticed a bit of graffiti on the church gate.  I have quite a fondness for this particular art form around here.  I'm not sure if the artist here was trying to communicate here.

On Monday, the boys left for France to snowboard for a few days.  The weather was perfect, so Erin and I recruited Paul for a trip to The People's Park.  The bit of water in the picture has ducks and swans.  Since we have been here, we have learned that the swan is protected by the Queen and you will serve eight years in prison for killing one.

On Easter Sunday, I went to a sunrise service at Mount Slemish.  I took this picture through the car window, so you can't see how clear this rainbow was.  I have never seen one where the green was so clear and bright.  Since I was in the car with a physics professor, I learned the scientific explanation of how rainbows work.  They are from God.

We are off to the coast for the day.  The boys get back tonight, hopefully in one piece.