Christmas Party!

Hello readers! This past week has been busy, and full of Christmas activities! In addition to our usual drop-ins and youth programs, Jenna and I have been planning a Christmas party for the Dundrum community hosted at R.I.O.T. The point of the party was to open up the Youth Centre’s doors to parents, children, teenagers, and any newcomers who had not yet experienced a R.I.O.T. event.

            

 Jenna and I had a blast planning this party! We got a Christmas tree, lights, ornaments, decorations, and baked an endless amount of Christmas cookies. There was even a homemade photo booth where people could come take silly pictures with Santa! Overall, the night was such a success and the party gave us a way to reach out to the community.

It was such a blessing to see everyone having such a wonderful time! Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot like Christmas

Hello readers! Right now, many of you are preparing for Thanksgiving this week. Turkey’s are being bought, families are coming together, and pie is everywhere…. Mhhmm pie is good. On the other hand, since there is no Thanksgiving in Northern Ireland, we get to start thinking about Christmas! Jenna and I have already started playing Christmas music (we’re in love with Michael Buble’s Christmas album) and we are currently planning a lovely Christmas party for the kids at R.I.O.T!

Today, our team went to the Continental Christmas Market in Belfast. This market has everything! Jenna and I decided to do some Christmas shopping for our families. As I looked around and tried to think of what they would like, I realized how hard Christmas was going to be without them. I wondered if it would feel like Christmas at all. I thought about our traditions, decorations, and food and how I was going to miss it all this year… Especially the food.

But then we went into a small shop. The shop owner made beautiful pictures and signs that all had inspirational and positive quotes. There were so many quotes. She had them in frames, small booklets, and pictures of all different sizes. Clearly a lot of hard work and design had gone into her work. I felt so inspired! We chatted for a few minutes and she was such a happy and encouraging person. I thought, what a way to spend your life by giving other people hope and encouragement. Then I realized that’s exactly why I’m here. I’m in Ireland to bring hope to people. To tell them of the love Jesus has for them, and to serve them in any way possible. Isn’t that what Christmas is about? Having hope. Serving others. And being grateful for the love Christ has for us? It may seem basic, but this basic realization hit me like a brick wall.

This year we’re getting back to the roots of what Christmas really means. Consider today an early Christmas present. How are you going to make it matter?

                      (Group photo! These are some of the other interns that we work with)

An Average Friday

Hello readers! First of all, Jenna and I would like to apologize for our lack of blogging! The Northern Irish life has been busy, and the past few weeks have flown by. God has been working mightily in our hearts and lives! So much has happened it is impossible to choose just one day or event to tell you about! Therefore, we would like to show you exactly what our day has been like.

       This was our day today…..

8:00 am: WAKEY WAKEY EGGS AND BACEY (Reader, if you happen to be my older sister, you will smile at that J)

9:20 am: Richie, our host missionary, picked us up in Dundrum and brought us to Kairos in Newcastle.

9:30 am: Walked to Savoy Café to get a hearty breakfast

10:00 am: Training/Community Development class at Kairos. During this class we  are learning how to improve and reach out to our community. Today we watched Billy Graham’s newest speech. We highly recommend it!

1:00 pm: Break for Lunch. Pancakes, American style…nice and fluffy J

2:00 pm: Walked to the post office to buy a card for my little sister’s birthday… HAPPY 12^TH BIRTHDAY JESS!! J

2:30 pm: Cappuccino time (In celebration of national cappuccino day) 

3:30 pm: Walk to Presbyterian Church to set up for Drop-Zone. Today, I got to jam out and have a spontaneous worship time with one of the girls!

6:00 pm: Dinner (Our Irish mum, Jen, keeps us full and happy) 

7:30pm: RIOT Drop in= Tonight I had some interesting conversations about religion and church. Bringing it back to the relationship, not the religion. We also played a few intense rounds of spoons! (If you have never played spoons you are missing out on life.)

12:00 am: Drop in ends/ Debrief

1:00am: Bedtime!

Life is good. It is full of laughter, crazy kids, and moments that make us want to pull our hair out! We love every bit of it. God is moving in Northern Ireland and we are grateful to be a part of it.

Thanks again to our supports for getting us here J

Danielle's 19th Birthday

Hello readers! Danielle here.

Ever feel like you are completely useless? Or frustrated because nothing you do is going right? I had one of those days, but God gave me a huge opportunity to explain my love for Jesus and why I have dedicated my life to Him. God decided to use me on one of my weakest moments to show that it is never something I say or do, it is always Him.

Friday, we had our R.I.O.T. youth drop in, which is a time for kids ages 11-18 to come and hang out, play some pool and ping pong, and be in a safe environment. At this drop in, Richie asked me to share my testimony. My first thought…. Oh boy.

I don’t like speaking in front of people to begin with, especially when it is personal. As I sat there starting to panic, I remembered John 16:33 which says, “In this world you will have many trials and tribulations, but fear not for I have overcome the world.” I knew I had no reason to fear because Jesus has ALREADY overcome the world! Along with that, the Taylor Swift song Fearless popped into my head (I believe Jesus can speak through Taylor Swift). I was ready. This public speaking thing is nothing!

A few hours later I sat in front of about 30 students and told them my story….

I told them that I grew up in a Christian home with two wonderful parents. When I was 12 years old, I understood, “It is by faith that we are saved through grace.” (Eph. 2:8)  I was a good kid. I went to school, got good grades, listened to my parents (unless you are my parents reading this, then you might beg to differ haha). But I was never going to be good ENOUGH!! I was sinful, yet Jesus loved me anyways and died on a cross to take the punishment for that sin. That is GRACEFUL. All I had to do was have faith in that.

So I had faith. But my life did not get easier, and the story continues on….

When I was 14 years old, my dad struggled with serious depression. He had a mental breakdown one night and unknowingly got in a shootout with a police officer. He spent four years in jail, and it was the hardest four years of my life. My family was torn apart, and I felt completely abandoned. I continually asked God, "What in the world are you doing?!" He simply said, trust Me. So I did.

I had to rely on God for everything! But He also provided everything. Once I truly let go and trusted Him, I found so much freedom! Trusting Christ is the greatest decision I EVER made! He seriously is the One True God who absolutely never abandons you.

Reader, I hope this made sense to you today. I hope that , just like me, you understand that Christ loves you and died for you. He took the punishment for your sin and offers salvation. Just ask him for it.

Thanks for reading J

Danielle

What are we doing?

Hello readers! The past few weeks have been crazy busy, but full of blessings! For those of you who may be confused on what exactly we are doing here and what ministries we are working with, allow me to explain our exciting new lifestyle!

Dundrum is a small town situated on the east coast of County Down, Northern Ireland just 4 miles from the popular seaside resort of Newcastle at the foot of the Mourne Mountains. In the past 10 years, Dundrum has become a ghost town with littler or no job opportunities. In recent years however, the population has been increasing proportionally with the developments and is currently around 3000.

With Dundrum growing, the numbers of young people in the area are growing as well. Therefore, the need for youth ministry and the opportunity for kids to hear about the love of Jesus is also increasing.

Right now, Danielle and I are working with a community ministry called R.I.O.T. (Revival In Our Town). RIOT’s mission is to benefit the inhabitants of Dundrum by providing a welcoming community facility for all ages. Their overall goal is to improve the life of the community, and create programs for groups like: Mums & Tots, Suicide Awareness, senior afternoon activities, smoking cessation programs, ect. Every Friday night there is a high school drop in where kids can come to hang out in a safe and accepting environment. The point is to show that Christ loves and accepts them for who they are.

We are also working at the Kairos, which is a youth ministry very similar to RIOT, but located in Newcastle. (About 10 minutes outside of Dundrum) It provides after school homework drop in time, drop in hang out times, worship nights, and many other events. Kairos and RIOT partner together to reach the youth of the area. Danielle and I have the pleasure of volunteering at both ministries.

We are having a great time here and we are staying very busy! We have met so many people in the past two weeks and we are feeling very at home now. Our theme of this trip is to build “intentional relationships.” We have already formed so many relationships and friendships, and with each new relationship our goal is to show who Jesus is.  

We will be starting an e-mail newsletter on top of this blog that will contain some more specifics on what we are doing and what we are involved in. If you are interested in being on our e-mail list, e-mail us at ymi.jenna.danielle@gmail.com, with the subject “newsletter.” We will hopefully be sending our first newsletter out in the next week. 

The Pre Trip

Hey everyone! Welcome to Danielle and Jenna's first blog!

We started our adventure to Northern Ireland Wednesday afternoon with a delayed flight to Newark and an impromptu sprint for our transfer flight. But thankfully, we arrived in Seattle on schedule and had the opportunity to spend two days with the Townshend family. Though our first day was infamous, rainy Seattle weather, we got to spend a wonderful day as tourists of Seattle. We also got to meet some teens from Rob's youth group (some of which visit in the wee hours of the morning while we are still sleeping in the front room.) It was awesome to see the Townshends again. They are doing wonderfully and we are so thankful for them putting up with us for a few nights!

Saturday morning we arrived at YMI training and met our teammate Nick Getchell and our coordinator John Stiffler and his wife Rose. Training was an awesome experience; John and YMI did a great job getting us ready for this trip and we learned a ton in a short time about mission work! We experienced two host home dinners, an early morning Liverpool Manchester United soccer game, a scavenger hunt around Tacoma, and lessons on how to be missionaries.

Early Monday morning we boarded a plane to Chicago, had a 6 hour layover, and arrived in Dublin on Tuesday. The missionary we are interning for, Richie, picked us up and drove us to our new home in Dundrum, Northern Ireland. And now the adventure begins...

We would like to thank everyone who has supported us and is still supporting us for this trip! All the prayer, encouraging words, and donations have made this trip possible. We are so excited for everything God has in store for us here and we cannot wait to get started! Financial update, Jenna has raised all of her funds and Danielle only has $3,000 more to go! So if you would still like to donate, it is greatly appreciated! 

Thanks for reading! :)