wowsers, there is a sun!

ok, so i realize it has been a whole week since anyone has blogged at all, and though the public outcry and popular vote seems to be for john, he seems to diregard this, and it has once again fallen to me to inform you all of any of the happenings lately. Ok, it has been a busy week...where should I start?

Well, the 12th went relatively well this year and seemed devoid of any major occurences, so we were very thankful to the Lord for that. The parades and marches in town on the 12th day were very interesting and though it heightened the tension, was soon over with none too worse for the wear. The kids here in Dunclug are still working on their bonfire, which will take place on the 8th of august, but seems to be characterized more this week by destruction, rather than construction. we find this humorous, for they have gathered lots of materials (wood pallets, tires, lumber, furniture, tree limbs, rubbish, etc...) and proceeded to spread it all over their football pitch in no apparent order. Then, they actually found a wee shed that they brought up onto the pitch to serve as a guard shack, to make sure no protestants come and light their material. At first, we were impressed for them to actually think of this on their own, but then realized they stopped all work and hung out in the shed all the time and griffitied it with IRA propoganda. Then, after a few days of getting bored, they tore the shed apart, breaking the 4 walls away from each other and the roof. With their guard shack destroyed at their own hands, they decided to build a new one with the pallets and lumber. Their new fort is bigger and was completed tonight, utilizing most of the substantial fire material that they had spread around the field for the bonfire. The rest of the materials they have been slowly burning in mini-American sized, normal fires each night, and actually all throughout the day too, as they get bored. I wonder if they will soon realize their stash is severely depleted and they are trashing their own estate. Oh well. It's good craic, as they say.

In other news, we have had several awesome opportunities to continue to develop the relationships with the kids. The girls have taken up baking and have had several girls over to cook, as well as making cookies for the wee kids around our house. We have also had several of the guys over to play monopoly for about 6-7 hours on a rainy day, and they want tp come back and play everyday, even though the sun has come out in the past two days and it has been beautiful outside (something we have not experienced in the month we have been here). Tonight, we had Sean (one of our closest friends here, whom the Lord has really layed on our hearts) and his girlfriend Lisa over for tea, complete with a full meal and cake made from scratch. They really enjoyed that. These opportunites are soo encouraging for us because it gives us chances to take our relationships with them past the normal, shallow level. We are beginning to get into the swing of actually living with the people now, like knowing where they live and feeling comfortable stopping by and the same for them, calling them to come play football or cook or play games on a rainy day or chill, getting to know their families, etc. All this is not only growing our friendships with them, but is providing more specific opportunities to talk directly about our faith and what we believe. As you might imagine, these times are very encouraging for us.

Let's see, what else...Colin is still hanging out with us a lot, too, which is great, but the Lord has really been stretching him to grow deeper in his relationship. Though he became a believer about 3 years ago, and even gave up a lot of the bad lifestyle things of his past at that point, the Lord is teaching him to trust him and grow in his walk. His granny is still in the hospital and on the verge of death, and he is spending all of his time with her, as she is the most important person in his life. Pray that the Lord would grant him peace and even joy in this tough time and teach him to pray and trust the Lord, even with this. Also, pray for his safety because some of his old enemies from his past lifestyle have recently been hunting him down with the intent to settle the score for good, and though he wants nothing to do with it, it is very hard to know how to respond.

John and I also just got back from talking with some boys at the bonfire tonight and feel very burdened for them. Though it started out with many guys and a lot of talk about the Bible and Christianity, a few persisted and led to some good questions and conversations. At the end, we talked with two guys, Paul and Aaron for an hour by themselves, presenting the Gospel in all of its entirety, as clear as possible. Paul is so close to believing and is clearly being pursued by the Lord, always full of questions and open to the Truth. Aaron was remarkably open and receptive tonight as well. Pray for them, as well as Michael (whom I talked with tonight clearly about the Gospel, but is not quite open yet, though he is one of our closest friends among the guys in the estate), Sean, John, Luke (Paul's younger brother), Decky, Brian, Rory, and another Brian.

On Saturday, an American group from Nashville with about 40 people will be coming to Dunclug, as they do every summer. They will be here till the next Monday, working in the estates, so please be praying for them as we help them and try to build on the work they will do with their large numbers. Then, this coming Monday, the UCF team, which comes every summer as well, will arrive in Ballykeel. They will be there for a week, then in Coleraine for a week, then here in Dunclug for two weeks. These teams help bring out a lot of kids and start relationships that we will then be able to follow up on and build on for this year, so be praying for these teams as they come and things get crazy for the next month or so. Also pray for good weather as they are here, for it is hard to get much done with rain, especially as we have been having record amounts the past month with hardly any sun. Please continue to pray for the unity of us 4 and for our personal walks, as the Lord is growing and teaching us each daily. Pray that our time in the Word and personal prayer, as well as group prayer, will be protected and a priority.

Well, sorry that this is so long, but I guess that's what happens after not posting for a busy week. We will put up more pictures of life here soon... We love you all....