So about 3 weeks ago I was fortunate enough to travel with a missions team of students and staff from here at CCU to the town of Dundrum in North Ireland. Our main focus was to build relationships and work with the youth in the city of Downpatrick.
It was kind of surreal for a while that i was actually about to embark on a journey across the pond. I wasn't really sure what to expect, except that it was going to be an awesome experience that I would never forget. The flight from Cincinnati to Chicago was a breeze, even though we suffered a delayed layover in O'Hare. The flight from Chicago to Dublin was a whopping 7 hours, which was ok because it worked out to where it was an overnight flight and didn't really throw my internal clock off too much. The flight over however was probably one of the most uncomfortable experiences of my entire life. I am pretty sure I got about 2-3 hours of sleep here and there total.
Arriving in Dublin was awesome. The thought that I had just left my entire life, all my problems, all my worries, left almost 3,600 miles away was so gratifying. It was time to let loose and have the most fun I have probably ever experienced in my entire life. Customs was kind of lame to get through because there were only 3 lanes open with a lobby full of about 100+ people coming from America for St. Patty's day. After a little 30 minute stint we were in the country and were on our way to our new home for the next 2 weeks.
We had to drive probably about 2 hours to Dundrum from Dublin stopping at an old cemetery, (I'm not exactly sure where) that held some of the oldest remaining Celtic Crosses in existence. Afterwards we finished our drive to Dundrum and Murlough House where we were staying.
God really has it for these people when it comes to the scenery there. Some of the sights I was introduced to in the first 30 minutes of being in Dundrum are out of this world. There is also a castle right in the town of Dundrum which we went to the first day we were there. Normally it rains all the time in Ireland and somehow we were fortunate enough to be blessed with sunshine for almost the full two weeks. It still averaged around 40 degrees everyday but, wow we were blessed.
The first full day we attended the Downpatrick Presbyterian church in downtown Downpatrick. It's not much different that churches here in America and was very enjoyable. People there were excited to meet us and had loads of questions for us. Later on that evening we were fortunate enough to work with the youth from the Presbyterian church. Some of our best connections we made with people there came from a few of these kids.
Ok real quick this picture to the left is me standing in the middle of Dundrum Bay. Now how you may ask? The tide will come all the way into shore at one point, and an hour later it would be a half mile out to sea. it's so strange I have never seen anything like it before. The whole bay empties out. unreal.
Our basic day was to wake up to breakfast, have some time for a lesson from John Moxen, who is the founder of Murlough and is probably one of the most humble people I have met. I sometimes felt like he could be a little over the top but he is a great speaker none the less. After lessons there would be lunch and then we set off to our different areas that we worked in. There were two teams, one at a place called Knocknashina Park, and the other where I was at which was a soccer field in a development called Model Farm. First understand this, the kids at Knocknashina were a little bit more well mannered than our kids (so you can imagine). It's really different being outside of America. It took about the first 5 minutes working with these kids to see that there is a serious lack of family structure, manners and personal care. I was cussed out by a 2 year old. Yes. 2 year old. They were extremely curious to know who we were and why we were here, and tried to break us by getting us to swear or do bad things, and we simply told them that's not something we believe in.
Over the 2 weeks we were able to make some good progress by getting asked to tell bible stories, which blew some of us away. These kids knew why we were here, and they wanted us to do our jobs it seemed like which was awesome. However, due to reasons beyond my control the local Catholics didn't like our presence at Knocknashina and asked us to leave, which we did the second to last full day, after the work had already been done. Some of the parents were outraged and met up with members of Murlough and Rick to sign a petition for us to come back, and even offered to raise money to bring us back!! I can't begin to explain how that support made us feel as a group. We were loved by people that didn't even know us and wanted us to have another opportunity to do what we came to do.
We had some good stories. Good laughs. I joined in on the cow tag (there are big cows on the preservation that we play tag with) and I was able to tag 2, one in the first and only cow tag drive-by in history. I was proud of myself, however I am still behind Rick (it's his game) and I got busted eventually after a brief fall which tore me up a bit, that ruined cow tag for good I think. Sorry Rick for ruining your dreams.
Have I mentioned God makes awesome scenery?
I could go on and on with stories and pictures but I guess this is the point where I sum up my experience. Before our trip I had really felt like I was struggling with the things God wanted to show me. I was angry about things back home and confused and I wanted God to reveal himself to me and to open my eyes to a world outside our perfect "bubble" that we call America. God showed me a culture who is in desperate need of hope, peace and love. Through our work at the prayer room we created in Downpatrick for St. Patrick's day, or the time we spent with the kids at model farm, God showed me he is good, he is genuine and he has a plan for me to help others in this world other than myself. It has given me compassion and motivation to stop living in a selfish state of mind all of the time and to start reaching out to others and telling them about the recent joys I have discovered during my time in Ireland.
One last story. I have never felt more emotion than I did with this. As I sit here at 1:50 AM finishing this my eyes begin to tear. One of our girls from the Presbyterian church had become one of my favorites because we shared some common interest in music. Me being the funny sarcastic American I try to be teased her about not talking too much to us because she "hated us". It was a huge joke. Later on that night, my friend Rachel had said she was talking to her about it and she said she felt bad because she didn't talk much. It was because she didn't want to become attached because we were leaving.
I think that is the memory that has stuck with me the most. I can honestly sit here and tell you that I have never been in a position where we (and I) have brought so much excitement and joy and have this feeling that you have made such an impact in someones life like that. I am praying that God has more in store for me in a returning trip next year. To follow up on what we established and hopefully keep making an impact on the lives of the people in Northern Ireland.
If you'd like to see more pics please click the following links and if you have questions and want to hear more (which I have toms more [ going into the schools, prayer room, etc.] please comment and let me know).
Go mbeannaí Dia duit(May God bless you)
~ B
