I apologize for the delay in writing this blog. As you can imagine, the last few weeks have been crazy with leaving the World Race and reentering home back in the United States. This blog has been a work in progress for the past few weeks. I realized, looking at my blog, that my last post probably gave the impression that my Race ended on a low note but nothing could be further than the truth so that’s one of the reasons why I wrote this.
Before starting, I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who read and commented on my last blog. The responses were absolutely incredible and I had no idea that what God was teaching me would be so impactful to others.
After looking back on my blog, I realized that though it was an accurate representation of what was going on in my life, it left out my ministry opportunities and probably gave a sense that this month has just been a time of misery and hardship.
Certainly it was a hard month – probably the hardest on the Race and one of the hardest seasons of my life. However, it’s interesting to note that some of the hardest times in our lives can be the best in retrospect. This was certainly true of my time in Ireland. It was incredibly difficult but the work I got to be a part of was so rewarding. I wanted to be able to share that with all of you to let you in on the incredibly final month of my World Race.
This month was very different than the previous months on the Race. To start off, the entire squad was in one location for the first two weeks of the month. Previously, the only time we see the entire squad is at the end of each month for travel and debriefs. Other than that, it’s usually one or two teams that are at different locations. Now, just imagine 55 World Racers living in an old gymnasium for two weeks. Sounds crazy, right? It was, but in good way. There were a lot of people on J-Squad that I hadn’t gotten to know because I hadn’t gotten the chance to work with them. It was great to be able to live with all these awesome people. At any moment during the day, there would be people playing guitar, praying, cooking meals, playing ping pong, and exercising, to name a few.
The next big factor was the church we were working with, Causeway Coast Vineyard. The first day, we got to hear their vision and what God has placed on their hearts. Though they started in 1999 with a few small families, they’ve grown incredibly since then, both in the numbers attending church along with the number and scope of their ministries. Their belief is that if they go after the lost, the Lord will look after the church. Practically, this is lived out by devoting their efforts to reaching out to the community in compassion and truth and trusting the Lord to provide the things they need for the church. This vision translates into the church they want to look like. One of the leaders I talked to put it so well. He said, “We don’t want to be the best church in the community, but the best church for the community.” Often times, churches can be so focused on building themselves up that they rarely take a chance to seek how they can build up the community around them.
This vision for Vineyard creates a dynamism and power in the ministries they have. We got a chance to help out in several of these over the two weeks we were in Coleraine. One of the biggest ministries I got to help out with was a week-long kids program. It was called Destiny Island and it was similar to a Vacation Bible School – a week where parents could send their kids. It was one of the most fun weeks of my Race. We helped with games and lessons and also came alongside the kids as big brothers and sisters, teaching them important lessons in honor, love, respect, and integrity. We didn’t just want the kids to have a fun time, but for them to walk away changed and empowered to bring healing and love to their families, schools, and communities.
After these crazy two weeks in Coleraine, my team had the privilege to head down to a different city for the remaining 10 days. Our new location was Lisburn, a suburb of Belfast. There, we worked with another Vineyard church that was only a year old. We got to do some incredible work there but first I need to give some background information.
When I was in college, I majored in History and I can now say that I’m so glad I did. It has given me a sense of perspective that has helped me to understand these different cultures and churches. To effectively minister and serve a region or people group, you must first understand their history. This was especially evident in Northern Ireland. As many of you know, Northern Ireland has been torn by sectarian strife between Catholics and Protestants for almost 400 years. It started when the predominantly Catholic region was colonized by Protestant English settlers and it created divisions that have been carried down through the generations. As we ministered in this area, we got to see the results of this history played out. For example, during the time we were in Coleraine, there was a major holiday called The Twelfth (taking place, ironically, on the 12th of July). During this time, there are parades celebrating an old Protestant victory over Catholics and burning of Catholic flags.
It can be easy to look upon acts like this with disgust but it is important to keep in mind that these people are just walking in the footsteps of their fathers before them. They are repeating the historical patterns that were set long ago.
Anyways, as Northern Ireland has been coming out of this, they have been working on bringing reform to end this sectarianism. One of the ways has been through a new model of communities called integrated neighborhoods. In the past, a neighborhood would be predominantly Catholic or Protestant. However, now new neighborhoods must have a relatively equal amount of Catholics and Protestants in order to encourage the people to live and work together.
Our role this month was to live in and work with one of the integrated communities in Lisburn. Though it was new, it was already experiencing strife from clashes between the two sides. The Vineyard Church had been involved in this particular community for a few months and was planning a Summer Festival for the week we were there. Our role during this time was not to do everything ourselves but to encourage the community to get involved, take ownership of the festival, and learn to work together. We were simply there to encourage them and model healthy community.
This is a picture of one of the community projects we did – a trash pick-up around the neighborhood.
It turned out to be one of my favorite weeks of the Race. We were kept really busy and spent a lot of time interacting with and having fun with the members of the community. It was definitely hard at times but by the end of the week we realized that it had been worth it. When we started the week of ministry there, I could feel a tension in the community and there were several families who would get in arguments and fights constantly. However, by the end of a long week of interacting and helping each other, I saw a change happen. People who normally wouldn’t have even spoken to each other began talking and finding common ground. They realized that the people who were from “the other side” weren’t actually that different from themselves and began to strike up friendships. Several people stated that they wanted to start attending church and continue the work of reconciliation and acceptance that had been demonstrated that week. It was amazing to see that when the church initiates and models loving community, people are drawn to the light of Christ.
We took the youths of the community hiking to a local mountain.
All in all, my time in Northern Ireland was incredible. I got to see the power of biblical community and practically live it out. I’ve learned that the Gospel transforms communities and brings healing to areas torn apart by generational hatred and conflict. As a follower of Christ, I carry a healing presence with me because I have been healed and set free by my Savior.
P.S. Thanks again for everyone who has followed my blog over the past year. I’m going to be posting a new blog soon about returning home to America so stay tuned.
