Northern Ireland: Days 3 & 4

Day 3: Friday, July 3
Friday was a busy day. We began with a fuller introduction and orientation to Northern Irish history and society by Doug Baker, our primary host in Belfast. We all learned a great deal about the history of conflict in Ireland and the current situation.

In the afternoon we took a bus tour of Belfast. Highlights included sections of the peace walls, city hall, and the shipyard where the Titanic was built (it was news to most of us that the Titanic was built in Belfast). We also made visits to the three sites that, in addition to the 174 Trust, will be our places of shared service with Belfast youth: the WAVE Trauma Centre, Fortwilliam Macrory Presbyterian Church, and Whitehouse Presbyterian Church.

After the tour, we had a great discussion with Conor Maskey, a young member of the Belfast City Council. He talked about politics in Belfast as well as a trip he and other members of the BCC took to Chicago to learn about living with diversity. While some of us did not agree that Chicago is as successful at constructively living with diversity as Conor did, it was certainly fascinating to hear his reflections about the reverse version of the trip we are currently on. If Conor represents the future of politics in Belfast, I think we all left that meeting very hopeful.

After this meeting with Conor, we ventured into the city center in small groups for dinner and enjoyed some local food. After swimming and some showers at the leisure centre, Kurt bravely led us through a devotion on feet washing in which we actually washed each other's feet. That definitely took us out of our comfort zones and helped us think more concretely about being a servant to others.

Day 4: Saturday, July 4
Today we took a day trip up to the north coast to visit the Giant's Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, and a fish and chips dinner in Ballycastle. It was a wonderful day to visit some of the most beautiful sights many of us have seen. Everything was so beautiful and green, and we got rained on sufficiently to make us feel like we're in Ireland. The fish and chips were incredible.

Tonight I led a devotion on God's communal nature, the reflection of that communal nature in human communities, and reconciliation. It was inspired in part by the trinitarian knot we used on our t-shirts.

Don't forget to visit our Facebook page to see pictures and videos of our trip.

Northern Ireland: Day 1/2

Almost everyone is asleep after a great but tiring first day in Ireland. Kathi noted what an incredible sight it was to see all the youth totally passed out on their beds after our leaders meeting was done. Truly, a sight rarely seen on a youth trip!

Today was mostly about dealing with jet lag and settling in to our home for the week. Even though it is exhausting, I always love the first day of a trip: everything is an adventure as we figure things out and experience a totally new environment. The accommodations at 174 are tight and cooking will be a little more challenging than I expected, but we'll manage.

After lunch we took a walking tour of some local neighborhoods, both to get some movement after the long flight and to begin our orientation to Belfast. We saw some incredible murals. After the tour, we had some comfort food: Dominos pizza. It was a little different from what we get back home, but pretty similar.

After dinner it was off to to the leisure centre for swimming and showers. This is how we will do showers for the week. Leisure centres are public gyms, kind of like YMCAs back home.

We didn't do much after returning home to the 174 Trust. Everyone was pretty exhausted, so we postponed our devotion and meeting until the morning. Speaking of sleep, I better go get some myself...

Northern Ireland

Today 32 youth and 12 adults are flying to Dublin, en route to Belfast for what we are certain will be an incredible trip. We're going to learn about the history of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and what youth and young adults are doing now to move toward real peace and reconciliation.

We'll be posting updates on this blog and at a Facebook page for the trip: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Belfast/Fourth-Church-Youth-Senior-High-Trip-to-Northern-Ireland/222834510157?ref=mf

Please follow us on our journey!

Elevation Special Olympics 2009

At the beginning of this month, Elevation went on our annual work camp to the Special Olympics in Bloomington/Normal, IL. We had a wonderful time of service, bonding, laughter and eating!

This year the whole group worked the Bocce Ball courts measuring, scoring and assisting athletes as help was needed.

Thanks to all who supported this effort either through participation or through fundraising at the Flower Sale. We hope all of you will consider joining us for next year!

Thanks and have a great summer!

PC(USA) Youth Task Force

The PC(USA) Youth Ministries Task Force has begun its work. You can read about it here.

This task force was appointed by the Moderator at the request of the previous General Assembly to study the current state of youth ministry in our denomination, best practices, and successful models. This report on the first meeting doesn't really say much that is surprising or new. I'm pretty interested in seeing what they learn and share...and if anyone will really listen.