Hospital

Any plans that were made to happen today kind of went out the window as we discovered that Elise, our team leader, had gone to the hospital earlier this morning. She'd woken up with severe abdominal pains and her host family had called an ambulance. Katie and I had no idea what to do, but we eventually got in touch with the Nick Cooper, the minister at Ballygawley, and got some details.

 

They still didn't know what was wrong, but in the meantime, we were to stick to the original plan. So Katie and I joined Brianna and Libby at the Coote's house, where we just kind of chilled all day and waited to hear more about Elise.

 

It wasn't too long until we found out that it was a kidney stone. But they said it's not too big, so it should pass by itself and Elise was free to go. So we're now in Kilmore (near Ballynahinch), but Elise is still not at full hit points. Hopefully she'll be back on her feet in a few days, otherwise we'll all be a little lost.

 

In Kilmore, we're all staying together in a guest cottage. It's pretty amazing. We'll try to get some pictures soon.

 

Tomorrow we will be participating in Kilmore's morning church service with dancing, speaking, and prayer, then we might take a little ramble along the countryside before the evening service.

I also just found out that the hospital didn't charge a thing for Elise's care. Mr. Paul Coote talked to them, and they didn't charge anything at all.

 

--Dexter

 

What you can pray for: Obviously, Elise. Pray for strength and relief and rest. Continue to pray for the people in Ballygawley; leaving them today was rough on us all and we'll miss them greatly. Also pray for the people here in Kilmore as we all prepare for Holiday Bible Clubs starting Monday.

Marble Arch Caves

We started off this Wednesday with a visit to Aughnacloy College (the equivalent of an American High School). We talked in a few of the classes and let them ask questions. The first class I was in with Elise and Brianna was great. They all asked lots of questions and we had some good conversations. The second class was a bit more reserved...

 

We did do a few dances in the college, and afterwards a girl came up to us and told us that she was a dancer too, and a Christian, so she really enjoyed the performance. It basically made our day.

 

In the afternoon we went to the Marble Arch Caves, a system of underground caves in Northern Ireland. Beforehand, I was kind of just like, "Meh, caves, whatever," but...

 

It was amazing. And so so beautiful. It kind of made me want to be a geologist, which is saying something.

 

I didn't even bother trying to take pictures underground. My camera/phone isn't exactly state of the art and doesn't do dark photos. Plus, it was wet and usually bumpy and curvy and I wasn't about to chance falling into the river just for a photo. But the others were more fortunate (and talented) and got some pictures.

 

There was one part where the path was kind of dug into the river (they called it Moses' Path) so you could see the water really well. But it was so still that at first it was hard to tell if it really was water at all. And then once I'd determined that it was water, I thought it was perfectly clear and there were more rocks and stalagmites beneath the surface... but it was all just a beautiful reflection.

 

There were many many little features our guide pointed out to us where rocks had formed interesting figures that strangely resembled angels, frogs, and Gandalf's beard. He also explained to us the history of the caves and how it had formed. Despite his repeated statements about millions of thousands of years, it was all very interesting.

 

We had some card trouble in the gift shop, naturally. It's kind of an annual thing I do: have trouble with my debit card in Ireland. I'd already gotten that over and done with last week in Monaghan, but now Libby and Brianna both were having trouble. Katie tried hers too just to see, and it also failed. It wasn't until after most of us had given up and wandered outside that they rebooted their system and the cards started working again. Yay! Happy ending!

 

We headed back for tea at The Manse (which was delicious) and then had Day 2 of Holiday Club! There were fewer kids this time, but that's because there's a lot going on around Ballygawley and some people just couldn't make it in. We were also a few hands shorter, but we managed pretty okay.

 

We played a few rounds of Telephone Pictionary before heading home for an "early" night. And tomorrow morning we have a slightly later morning than usual, so maybe we'll all get some much-needed rest tonight.

 

--Dexter

 

What you can pray for: Health. Some of us are starting to really feel our allergies and we're not getting quite enough rest either. Pray that we will be get plenty of rest. You can also pray for the kids in Holiday Bible Club. Sometimes it's hard to really develop a relationship with them because we're on the go. Pray also for everyone involved in the club, give us strength and love and wisdom for the kids.

Saving Crows!

This morning Katie and I went to the Presbyterian church in Ballyreagh. I can't speak for the others, but I assume their experience was similar to ours.

 

During the service, the minister, Nick Cooper, invited Katie and I up to the front to ask us a few questions and introduce us to the whole church. Normally this is scary, but it wasn't so bad. He asked us about our day-to-day lives at home, what brought us back to Ireland for our third/second time (my third, Katie's second), and what our plans were for the coming week. We talked about how great the people are and how beautiful the countryside is, and about the Holiday Clubs and going into schools and dancing. After that we were allowed to sit back down and enjoy the rest of the service.

 

One of the main differences between Irish Presbyterian churches and the churches in America is the music. Not so much the style (though they do tend to use hymns and songs that aren't quite as popular and recurring as they are in America), but the frequency. There will be at least five times during the service where the congregation stands to sing praise: right at the beginning, after prayer or Bible reading, again after the children's address, again after another prayer and an offering, and one more time after the sermon itself. It's pretty cool.

 

After church we had lunch with our host home (have I mentioned how great they are? Because they are) and then just hung our or chilled. The others said they spent most of the afternoon sleeping or journaling (totally understandable since they just got off the plane yesterday). At our place, we had a little adventure.

 

First we just went to visit Chloe's horse. Chloe is the niece of the family we're staying with, and she was hanging out for most of the weekend. So we walked over there, fed the horses some, and then went to visit Chloe's dog. While we were leaving that excursion, a bird fell out of a tree. That's right. He just fell out. We immediately decided to save him.

 

I say "we", but mostly I stood and watched and tried to contain Chloe's dog (who had hopped out of her pen and was very excited about the bird). But Katie, Chloe, Amy, Katie (two Katies!), and James fought tall grass and nettles to save that bird. We named him Nettle after the hardships we went through to save his ungrateful feathers.

 

The little guy is currently in the Hardy's garage. Poor guy can't fly, and he was very panicky in th beginning, but he's seemed to calm down. We're pretty sure he'll be okay.

 

There was an evening church service that most of us participated in as well. It was on the plagues of Egypt, and throughout the lesson we would each stand and read a passage of Exodus. Then at the end, Elise joined the praise team to sing "Still, My Soul Be Still." It was absolutely beautiful. I hope to never forget that moment.

 

After the service there was fellowship over tea (what else?) and we had a very involved conversation/lesson about USA geography with some girls named Ruth and Gillian. We then met with Nick Cooper to go over details of the week (which you will hear about as they unfold), and then went over to Donna Hall's house for pizza and hangout time!

 

There was pizza with corn on it. And very good craic (fun). We taught Daryl how to waltz, played a few rounds of dominos, and Libby ended up trying on Donna's old wedding dress, which fit her amazingly well.

 

All in all, a very fun day. Tomorrow registration starts for the holiday clubs and we'll be going into one of the schools to dance and invite them to the Holiday Club!

 

--Dexter

 

What you can pray for: Always, the health of the team. You can pray specifically for the school we'll be visiting in the morning (unfortunately I cannot remember the name and don't have our itinerary), that they'll be open to us and excited for our club. Pray that we will clearly communicate our message through our dancing and speaking.

Tayto Land!

The team is all safe and sound and complete again in Ballygawley! That's right, Elise, Mrs. Susan, Libby, and Brianna all arrived in Dublin today, early this morning. When we met them this morning I couldn't have pitied them more. I would have been absolutely miserable if I had just gotten off a plane, lost six hours of my life, and then went to a theme park.

 

Ireland is known for potatoes, so it's natural that there would be a potato-themed adventure park, right? Right!

 

Tayto Land has everything you could want: various rides including but not limited to mechanical bull riding, zipline, and a giant slide; a restaurant; a zoo; a petting zoo; and a tour of the factory itself.

 

I'm not much of an adventurer myself, but I watched the others do zipline. Unfortunately, a few of our Ballygawley friends, Jonny and David, exceeded the weight limit, but Brianna and Libby and Katie and Kerry went (later Libby and her mom went again).

 

I did go on one ride: a kind of sky-rope thing where you get harnessed in and you walk on these rope things in the sky and all this stuff and stuff. I'm honestly more of a sit-down-and-read person (which I actually ended up doing for the last three or four hours of the day).

 

By the end of the day we were all rather haggard and exhausted, but we did survive, and we did manage to talk at least a little bit with some of the Irish people. I spent a good twenty or thirty minutes talking to a nice man named Trevor, and I know the other Americans had fun catching up with their old friends as well.

 

The six of us have been divided into pairs for the week: Elise and Mrs. Susan are staying with the Campbells (I'm unfortunately not very familiar with them). Libby and Brianna are staying with the Cootes, who hosted Libby last year. They have a son named Daryl who Libby and Katy grew very close to last year, so I'm sure they've had lots of fun today. And then Katie and I are with the Hardys, who happen to own a huge home. There are three kids: Katie, Amy, and James. They're all adorable and hilarious.

 

Tomorrow we will be split again as the rest of the team go to the church in Ballygawley and Katie and I go to the church in Ballyreagh (pardon my spelling?). Chill time in the afternoon, then church again at Ballygawley and some hangout time afterwards. I will try to keep you posted!

 

--Dexter

 

What you can pray for: Pray for some rest for the other four of us who just arrived, that they would adjust quickly to the new timezone and get over jet lag. And pray for all of us that we would stay healthy throughout the next two weeks. Also for the kids we'll be ministering to, not only in the Holiday Clubs but also the schools we'll be visiting. And also the teens we'll be hanging out with as well.