"I Saw You..."

"I saw you..." Has become a common phrase I hear from the young people I work with.  At the end of May, I moved to Dunmurry Lane near the "rocket church" (it literally looks like a rocket) with my friend Siobhan. Even though my room is a lot smaller, I have absolutely love living there because it's so centrally located. Not only do I have two bus routes to choose from, I also get the luxury of the train into town.

I feel a new sense of independence and mobility as I can walk to the grocery store in 12 minutes (15 on the way back because of the massive hill), to the school I work at in 8 minutes, and up to the YI project centre in 20.  I live in the neighborhood that I work in and I love it.

Today while running errands I ran into several people I knew.  Walking to the grocery store, I wave "hiya" to another group of young people.  I have a brilliant conversation with a girl who I haven't talked to in weeks while riding on the bus. Then when I go into the school to teach, someone without fail will say "I saw you..." Or "remember when I saw you at..." Oh how could I forget!

Even though Belfast is a city, I often feel like it functions like a large small town.  It seems that most of West Belfast is related to one another.  Without fail whenever I go into town, I will run into someone I know (and I haven't even been here a year).  It's nice to be noticed and known in a place that can sometimes feel so foreign.

In coming to Belfast, I didn't just want to "have a job" but rather I wanted to live life here in an intentional way.  People often ask me if I am here as a missionary. Most days I don't really "feel" like a missionary because I talk so much about being a youth worker.  Doing youth work is the way I practically live out my call to be a missionary.

I often think of my friend Kayla who is a missionary in Africa.  This past year, she has just been in Africa.  She has been practicing the art of being. She has been learning about the culture, the language, the people, the village, and how life is done in this part of the world.  Often it doesn't seem like she is doing much, but actually the long term mission is being established through the relationships.  Sometimes, I wish I had the opportunity to do that here. I know that's not my call right now, and to be honest, I have a lot to learn about just being rather than doing.

It's nice to run into people in the Colin Area and around Belfast.  It allows me to live life rather than just work here.  I'm building my life here while entering into the community.  I literally get to walk alongside young people on the streets of Belfast rather than just talk about the youth work theory of coming alongside youth.  It also calls me on to greater accountability and a life of transparency because I never know who might see me.  You never know who might say, "I saw you..."

Rain and Umbrellas

I don’t own an umbrella.  This might seem to be a strange thing to blog about, but I was reminded of it while watching the rain gently come down while sitting in Starbucks.  A group of men stood under a tree seeking shelter while others held their shopping bags over their head.  Some people quickly pulled their hoods up or hid under their umbrellas.  Then you have the hard core people that just deal with it.  Their hair dampens from the water droplets falling upon it, and it looks like they just stepped out of the shower… sort of. 

Umbrellas seem to be such a hassle. You have to remember to have it with you then if you do have it with you, you have to figure out what to do with it once it gets wet. Then there is the awkward moment of walking next people with umbrellas and you get wetter from the drips off the umbrella rather than the rain itself.  Sometimes this can happen to yourself with your own umbrella.  It never seems to just rain, usually there is a “bit” of a breeze or a full out hurricane. There is an art of trying to keep the umbrella right side up rather than flipping inside out.  It’s an art that I am far from mastering. 

Instead, I just pull up my hood or just get wet.  Since moving to the land of rain and green hills, there have been few times that I have gotten poured on.  There was that one day when it was sunny one minute and literally the next minute it was raining cats and dogs.  If it weren’t for the fact that I was wearing my mates outreach jacket, I would have been completely drenched.  As one young person once said, the weather here is bipolar.  So with any bipolar situation, you prepare for the unexpected and you delight in the moment.  So far, the rain hasn’t killed me and I don’t expect it to! 

Call Ins

Something is changing.  I’m changing.  The way I do youth work is changing.  The funniest thing about it all is that I’m not meaning for it to change. It’s just doing it on its own.  Well, actually I think God is opening doors before me leading me deeper and deeper into the wilderness of Belfast. 

I’m starting to call in to (stop by) young people’s houses.  I didn’t plan for this to happen- it just happened.  Since working for Youth Initiatives, I’ve been a trainee youth worker learning loads about the world of youth work.  We often talk about “walking alongside young people,” so yesterday I literally did that ice cream in hand, walking down the street, engaging in conversations with one of the girls I have been meeting with regularly.  We walked from the ice cream shop to her house – taking the long route- (way too long for this American girl), and stopped by her house.  I went in to use her bathroom and get a drink of water.  Before I knew it, I was staying for dinner and jumping on the trampoline with her little sister. 

It was so simple yet so much fun.  After hearing so much about their family, I was able to finally properly meet them while entering into their life.  It’s such a privilege to enter into a family’s home and life.  That is where I love to be!  On their turf building trust and relationships. I get a glimpse into their reality and into their lives in a way that can’t be explained or communicated with words. 

I have been trying for months to get in contact with a girl from YI, but she never answers my calls.  While leaving the school, I ran into one of her friends and asked about her.  She pointed out her house across the street, so I decided to stop by.  Her mum answered the door and I met with her daughter in their purple living room.  It was so homey, colorful, and cute.  It was fun to just sit and chill talking about life while doing her volunteer interview.  It was so much easier to just meet at her house rather than finding a place to meet up since there are few places to meet in the Colin Area. We talked, laughed, and she invited me to call in any time.  I think I am going to take her up on that!

Dreams fill my head with what I one day long to do in the neighborhood I live and work in.  In some ways those dreams started to become realities today.  Another one of the girls I work with invited me over for dinner.  Rather than just talking about it, I now have a date in my diary to call in.  It’s easy to dream about the “one days,” but I think God sometimes desires to make those one day’s today.  Why not live out our dreams today?  And God’s dreams are so much more than we could ever imagine.  I’m starting to build relationships not only the girls I am working with, but also with their families and the community.  God is so good.  I can’t wait for this adventure to continue on.

A Monday in June

I thought June was going to be an easy month.  Programs are slowing down and students are finishing with exams.  I knew there would be some prep for the summer, but how much of that would affect me?  Today, I realized I was wrong.  As various co-workers have the week off (I always seem to take the wrong weeks off.  These veterans know something that I don’t know about when is the best time to take work off), I found my duties multiplying by the minute.  Now that my weeks to do list is overfilled, I wander how all these “tasks” and “duties” are going to be completed.  Will I even have time to do any “youth work” in the midst of everything? 

After an incredible girls volunteer meeting where we discussed real issues that affect us as girls, I had 40 minutes to plan for our lifeline program on Wednesday night.  I invited up to our project centre a few young people who have been involved with our youth prayer group called The Well to form a think tank for the sacred space night on Wednesday.  Over the past few months, I have gotten to know these guys pretty well. They are so incredible and I am blown away by how much they want to grow in character and faith. 

Again today they blew me away by their maturity and desire to share faith with their peers.  We began discussing what we thought about sacred space nights, what we want, and what we feel like people need.  We agreed that we want to help people engage with the night more while having space to share what’s going on in their lives.  We also discussed how scary life can be and how scary the Colin Area in which they live is becoming as shootings, rapes, and deaths occur more often.  Add on the stresses of family and school and life can seem pretty unmanageable at times.  Yet these young people want to know how to have the strength to persevere though it and something to believe in.  

The poster board was filling up quickly as each person shared their many ideas. I was inspired and encouraged by the ways in which they wanted to share faith with their peers without pushing it upon them.  They wanted to help them cope with situations and have opportunities to pray especially pray out loud.   They wanted to make the Colin Neighborhood in which they live a better place.  We made an agenda and gave out roles.  They also wanted to choose what topic they were going to pray about during the night.  After everything was delegated, one of the lads closed us in prayer.  Before I knew it, they were out the door (they knew I had another meeting. :)

I was so encouraged by today.  I can’t believe how much these guys are changing.  I am so blessed that I get to journey alongside them in a powerful way.  I am honored that I get to be their youth worker and maybe even their big sister.  I love being able to pray for them and hear about their lives.  Often it breaks my heart, but I also see God’s light and love piercing the darkness.  The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.  Love wins- every time!