Juniper Hill

The UCF team arrived last Monday and spent their first week in Ballykeel, an estate in Ballymena. John, Erin, Dwight and I love having them here and are really excited to have them in Dunlcug for two weeks. John, Erin, and Dwight spent last Saturday with them in Coleraine and along the coast and came back encouraged by the fellowship and slightly injured by a fierce football match. I am incredible proud of Erin for holding her own and taking out one of the boys.

I took the bus up to Coleraine yesterday in hopes of spending the day with Connie and to go with the UCF team to Juniper Hill, a caravan park in Portrush that UCF has worked for several years. Connie's flights were delayed and she ended up not arriving until 6 o'clock or so, but she is here and that is exciting!

In previous trips to Northern Ireland, I spent several weeks at Juniper Hill and jumped at the chance to spend the afternoon there. In Northern Ireland, cavarvans are similar to beach houses or condos. The wealthier families will own or rent one and spend the entire summer on the coast. In general, the "residents" change from week to week as it is a holiday destination, but over the past four years, there have been several people UCF sees every year. One of those people is a guy named James.

I met James when he was 14 and was thrilled to see him as soon as we pulled up to the park. Henry, James and I sat in the grass and talked while the kids played football. James announced to us that he was saved! (He told Henry before I sat down and then caught me up on the conversation.) He said he had been praying for about three weeks and trying to do everything right but knew there was something else that he needed to do. So he went to see his girlfriend's father, who is a pastor, and they got it all worked out! So, I am already jumping up and down with excitement. I have known this kid for four years and watch Joel and UCF share Christ with him and in one of those rare moments from the Lord was allowed to see the fruit of all those words, prayers, and time. And, he goes on to tell me that he will be going to school in Ballymena this next year and there will be days between classes and football practice that he will have some time to kill. I ma already planning on what to cook him for dinner.

So, it was a good day.