Xpresso Arts Festival 2009!!!

We have been working with inner city kids a lot this week. I would be lying if I said it was easy, it's one of the hardest things I have done. These children aren't as easy to get to know, they've built up walls of aggression and toughness. They don't seem to trust anybody and like to test you. I think I have been called every name under the sun this week from kids as young as four years old! The first days were hard but as we continued to get to know these kids, they slowly began to warm up. No one ever gives them the time of day and they just

 need to know that we are going to be there, we aren't going to leave them. They're out for the summer and most of them are left to roam the streets and do as they please. At one of the community centers we volunteer with we started out with about 12 kids. At theses centers the children can  come and go as they please so they aren't forced to stay anywhere. By the third day we had been working with them thirty children showed up and most of them stayed the entire time we were there! This was amazing and inspiring to see. They may put up fronts and may challenge you but these children want to be loved like any other. The kids were even staying to help us clean up and requesting us to come back as soon as possible. 

We went for a picnic yesterday with some friends for the fourth of July at Phoenix Park. We were just enjoying the day and next thing you know a group of kids come up to us, first they tried to grab a friend's camera and then they just stood looming over us. They asked the guys who were with us to fight and had a very tough exterior. They proceeded to steal our ball and run off with it. At one point one of the boys, David, had stolen our mini American flag we had with us. He then came back and returned the flag and proceeded to spit on the flag. We did not give them any negative attention and tried to act like none of their actions were really effecting us. After he spit on the flag he realized what he had done and turned back around smoothed the flag on our blanket and said he was sorry. Throughout the afternoon they continued to come up to us and some even stayed and began to ask about America. By the end of the afternoon we had gotten to know two of the boys, they brought our ball back and even wanted to play volleyball with us! This may seem simple but to me it speaks volumes. It's amazing how children respond when you give them respect they are looking for, acknowledgment. It may be hard at first but patience is the key. 

God has really been working in my heart and I have really grown to love the inner city kids of Dublin. I am not sure where God is leading me.. Possibly teaching... Possibly more ministry but I am soooo thankful to have a God who displays his Love for me daily, who shows me where he wants me to walk, who cares for my heart with deep affection. He is like no other. 

Also, I may have the opportunity to stay in Dublin for a year under the Presbyterian Church of Ireland. I would be able to continue to work with Abbey Presbyterian and continue the ministry that has already begun! I will update when I know exactly is going to happen, but I am pretty high spirits that it will probably work out!

Pictures from the fourth:

Community Center

Yesterday started the beginning of our three week art program with kids at local communities in Dublin. Normally we have been just going to help out/play and really get to know them, so we haven't had a structured program up until yesterday. Normally the kids come in and play games, draw or play outside. At this center the children have the freedom to come and go as they please since it is located in their neighborhood. So a lot the children wont stay for the whole allotted time that we are there, they wander in and out. Yesterday every child who came stayed the entire time and then did not want to leave, they really soaked up the structure and the craft we made with them!

Here's some pictures: 

Joy

What's on my heart: I want to stay in Dublin and continue working for Abbey this next year. I am praying that this will work out, but if it does go another way I must accept it. After all God is in control and he has the best plan for me, I only want what He wants for my life. It's the uncertainty of it all that makes me feel a little shaky right now but what would my life be without those little uncertainties? Too picture perfect, to perfect for me to contemplate or challenge myself. One thing I do know about myself is I love a good challenge. 

I hope you guys enjoyed the videos previously posted. These videos are funny and should not be taken super seriously. They were both made at 1 a.m. We were scheming about the arts festival very late and the thought just popped in my head, let's make videos! I just want to say that me and the girls I work with LOVE what we are doing here, LOVE seeing God's ministry unfold before our eyes, it's beautiful. God gives us joy and we just want to see that acted out in our work. These videos were geared toward the youth culture. I know when I was young the youth workers who always affected me were the ones who were relatable, who were silly, the ones who made me laugh, they connected with me. I was afraid of the stiff adult who I could not relate to. I feel so blessed to be doing what I am doing. I want to thank God for laughter because I enjoy a good laugh. In fact if there was no laughter, I am not sure how much of person I would be. 

"For I dearly love to laugh." -Elizabeth Bennett

I have been working on the blog site for Xpresso. It features videos of the musicians who will be performing!

Update on the Xpresso Arts Festival Blog, check it out!

http://xpressoartsfestival.blogspot.com/

Hey Kids! Xpresso Arts Festival is coming up!

One of the ads we were thinking about using for our arts fest in July, this is geared toward our youth camp! This is just the mock up version!

Let's have some fun

Christy, Alex and I recorded this video late one night! It's called Cup of Cha (Irish phrase for tea). We know we are completely ridiculous but missionaries gotta entertain themselves somehow... riight?

(Our voices don't really sound like that)

moving along

Well this week has been quite eventful, super busy with the arts festival and I am getting really excited! I think every night this week we shared dinner with someone from the church, it was wonderful. Here people really spend time with each other in conversation, no one jumps up and leaves as soon as dinner is over, you may end up talking two to three more hours. It's very different from most experiences I have in America. We have our busy busy lifestyles, things to do of our own and we just may not want to spend that long of time people well unless it is our families (which is almost required). When it comes down to it, on this earth what I find is most important to me is my relationships with others. So I quite like the Irish/European attitude in this area, it's lovely! 

This week we were back at The Lighthouse, a local homeless shelter. Each Thursday we go and help feed and hang out with the people who visit this place. Probably half the people aren't homeless who come, but they just don't have enough money to buy food. We welcome anyone who walks in the door. Alex(roomie) and I were sitting amongst the people who were coming in to eat when we both had men sit next to us. I met a man from Romania, he was about 26. His name was Alex. He was very chatty and immediately proposed marriage as soon as he found out I was American.(Mom, don't worry, there's is plenty of supervision at this place and no I'm not getting married.) His eyes did light up quite a bit and then he immediately asked me about jobs over there and how much money he could make, he works in construction. He did ask me out on dates quite a bit as well, even when I said no repeatedly in the nicest way possible, he still pursued! 

My roomime, Alex, also made a friend, John at the shelter. He has actually come to Abbey Presbyterian twice since we met him. He is a very nice guy! Alex plays volleyball and so does John, well it turns out that John had been praying for 8 months for a volleyball partner and well here she is! We hope to go actually play volleyball with him in a park one day, but we will be sure to bring along some guy friends. 

My other roommie, Christy, probably has the more the serious of all the suitors from The Lighthouse. His name is also, Alex, but he is from Latvia. He is very kind and sweet, and has made the statement that he has given his heart to Christy. Now we have been having some good laughs about the guys we have met and how well I pretty much think they want green cards, but maybe I am just cynical! Even though we joke, there's some real truth in wanting to be known and wanting others to know our story in the people we have met. 

Another woman I met at The Lighthouse was named Patricia. She was probably around 65 and had several bags that she carried around with her. She seemed lonely as I stared at her from across the room so I went and sat with her. She immediately started buzzing with conversation. She was so lovely. She had a soft face, silver and gray hair with a few black strands, she had a few twigs in her hair, which made me sad for her. I wondered what her earlier years were like and how she got to this point. She was very chatty and knew a lot about the church I was working for actually. She didn't seem to be afflicted with any type of drug problem (as many of the people have who come there), she seemed pretty normal, like she could be someone's grandmother, and maybe she was. I hope I see her again. 

(I really don't want anyone to be worried about us, we are fine!)

1. I have been made very aware of several things through this venture. Wow... these guys know how to pursue a girls heart... where is this in America or Ireland. I feel like guys of my generation can be so passive and guys it's okay to pursue a girl. Step up, take your role, don't make the girl take yours! It doesn't work that way!

2. From the people I have met at The Lighthouse and from ge

neral life experience, how much do we long to be known?? We strive to be known, we strive for relationships, for someone to hear our hearts! Think of all the things we have to be known out there: reality tv, facebook, myspace, blogs! and etc. I admit I am apart of have the things I just listed, so in my heart I am striving too! 

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He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight." Luke 16:15

"When you get to your wit's end, you'll find God lives there." - Anonymous

Said to a wise man to one in deep sorrow, "I did not come to comfort you; God only can do that, but I did come to say how deeply and tenderly I feel for you..." -Tyran Edwards

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        We had dinner the other night with these lovely ladies from the church.

So little time...

Breakfast

Meeting

Brainstorming

Created Arts Festival Blog and Facebook page

Went to buy Arts supplies for the projects at Hardwick Street

Carried heavy heavy bags up O'Connell Street

Blogging

Dinner with Christy, Alex and the Boals!

For Tomorrow:

Preparing art projects tomorrow!

Mercy

"The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them." Genesis 3:21

Thinking over this tonight and feeling enlightened. We had a leadership meeting tonight and one of the speaker's spoke about this passage. I am wrapping my mind around just how graceful and merciful our God really is. Even after Adam and Eve had sinned God took care of them. They felt naked and afraid in the garden and God clothed them. How beautiful is that? We often focus on the love and mercy which occurs in the Gospels, but there's just as much in the Old Testament as well. I have to admit I forget to return to the Old Testament to hear of God's kingdom, I will commit to this more often. 

This week is going by wonderfully! I am enjoying getting to know my roommates and getting involved. God is working, I can feel it! The reign of sunshine ended and we had a very cold and rainy day but weather reports look like it will be sunny again next week! Yay!

Safe and Sound and It's Beautiful

It's my second day in Dublin and we've already got a good grip on things. I arrived yesterday at 8 a.m. Christy and Alex picked me up at the airport and we headed to our beloved home, Number 5. I was very tempted to sleep due to jet lag but I managed to pull through and stay awake the whole day, that put me at being awake 24+ hours; hopefully I am on schedule now. We live in the Northside, which has the thickest accent in Dublin. Sometimes it can be a little hard to understand. At 3 p.m. we went to Hardwick community center to volunteer. This center has a range of kids who live in the surrounding area. We will be volunteering at this center 3 - 5 days a week, it's in the heart of Northside Dublin. "Maaa daaa is a hundraa" (My dad is one hundred). A little girl was joking with Christy and I and kept repeating that and it was taking me a very long time to adjust to her accent, I think I've got it now. At the beginning of July we will be doing an art camp with the kids for three weeks. So today we have been doing a lot of planning and scheming for that! 

We even got started planning the arts festival which begins the 15th and ends on the 18th. 

Tonight we are going to the Lighthouse (a local homeless shelter) from 6:30 - 9:00. We probably will be participating with this organization as much as our schedules allow 

Prayer for this summer: 

Heal my heart and make it clean

Open up my eyes to the things unseen

Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart for what breaks yours

Everything I am for Your Kingdom's cause 

As I walk from earth into eternity

pictures to come!

Writing to you from JFK

I have a four hour layover in JFK airport. I have been thoroughly enjoying people watching the past couple of hours. I have seen an assortment of designer jeans, a group of guys pass through in all black with mohawks walking with an extreme style(maybe they were a band?), backpackers, unique couples, people who look exhausted, little children lurching away from their parents, oh the busy businessman is popular here, couples who have most likely aged together their whole lives, cage-fighters from Bulgaria and a vast variety of scarves. I love seeing how different we all are; how unique and beautiful we all are. It's something we cannot deny as people on this earth, how different we all are but in some ways vastly similar wether or not the world leaders at the time seem to agree on this. We all yearn for love, a love much greater than we can ever achieve on this Earth. 

My friend Robin gave me a book of poems for my trip, and I absolutely love it. The first poem I read was that of Emily Dickinson: 

I never saw a moor, I never saw the sea; Yet know I how the heather looks, And what a wave must be.

I never spoke with God, Nor visited in Heaven; Yet certain am I of the spot as if the chart were given.

This one is also lovely:

To believe in God for me is to feel that there is a God, Not a dead one, Or a stuffed one, But a living one, Who with irresistible force urges us towards more loving.

-Vincent Van Gogh

These poems are both so beautiful to me. 

I just feel like I need to share about this

This was my last Sunday before I leave sweet home Alabama for Ireland. I went to Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church with my friends today. I am always moved by the sermons at this church and today was another solid rock talk. You know that feeling when you're sitting in the audience and listening to someone speak and it feels like they're talking to you, feels like you've thought those exact same thoughts but have been to afraid to say it or just feel like they're reading your mind. Well I really felt Jesus speaking to me today through the sermon. I really felt it pertained to inner city Dublin a lot and increased my excitement even more. 

Pastor Bob Flayhart spoke with conviction about outreach and mission in the church. He talked about reaching out to the people everyone often forgets or are afraid to talk to about Jesus: the homeless, addicts and homosexuals.  

When we look around our churches where are these people? Have they not been reached out to? Where is the addict who lives his life for the drink or the drug; who can't get through the day without the hit. Most of the time when I look around I don't see these people. Are they so disgusting? Are they so horrible? Are they so much more worse than me? No. When I think of an addict I will always see my father's face, for which I can only cast love upon. I pray that someone is reaching out to him or there will come a day when I am strong enough to reach out to him. We should be looking for this in everyone, a family member or a loved one because after all they are someone's brother, sister, mother, father, daughter or son. 

Remember WWJD. I have to admit at one point I had one of those bracelets but I did not understand the fullness of what they meant. Let's think about the Gospel and what Jesus would do in this day and age that we live in... Jesus would not reject anyone. 

He pours His grace over us everyday. We are sinners saved by grace and that grace is only found in Christ

This is a clip from the show, Intervention. 

Just shows how addiction affects families, so next time we meet someone who may be drug user don't automatically be afraid or scared, share with them. 

Getting Ready, Getting Prepared

I am getting ready to leave, preparing myself to leave home for several months. I don't know if I can ever fully prepare myself for heading out away from family and friends because of course I will miss them. Right now I am definitely going through withdrawal; every time I leave home for a long period of time my body/mind goes through the motions. I try to make sure I haven't forgotten anyone, tried to make sure I have visited with as many people as possible but I am sure somewhere down the line I have forgotten someone. 

I have had my suitcases out for weeks, slowly throwing things in them which I know I will need. Probably over thinking the packing as well. At times I just think to myself, "Why can't I just pack one small bag throw in a few clothing items and let the rest be history." Plenty of people do it, just pick up and go. What a freeing thing that is - to just leave with only the clothes on your back. Something I would love to accomplish one day, one day. 

I am so ready to be in Dublin. I know this summer will look very different from last summer but I have no doubts about it. I am excited, excited to see the possibilities of what is to come. This summer I will live in the church owned flat, nicknamed number 5, with Christy Rodriguez (she has previously interned at Abbey for almost 2 years) and Alex Peebles (a student at Auburn University). To be honest I don't know what to expect, I just know this summer will be a lot different. Knowing this does make me a little nervous, but I know through my nervousness God is calling on me to Trust him, something I constantly struggle and he constantly challenges me with. When I trust him, there is no reason for me to be afraid because he will take care of me, I am his daughter, you are his daughter or son! Previously we thought there would be a few more girls living in the flat but things changed and even though we will be short staffed I know we can get everything we need to accomplish completed! 

What the summer holds:

*Abbey Arts Festival

*Bible study with church members, we will be reading Blue Like Jazz

*Getting active in the community; we will be volunteering at local homeless shelters and youth clubs

*Opening the church up for visitors, called Open Abbey