Amanda in Ireland: Amazing-Part 1

Friends and family, thank you so very much for your prayers and support. I cannot fully express how amazing this experience has been. I felt fully alive, knowing this was what I was meant to be doing at this exact moment. I lived in community with a team, where we balanced each other and truly worked as the body of Christ. I experienced challenges and rewards. Overall, I felt that God had created me to be doing this work and I witnessed the work he is doing in Ireland.

Here's the first of an installment of posts on the trip:

Let's start at the beginning (Lacken House and Training):
OM purchesed this old B&B and this is where we had orientation, Tuesday-Friday. The guys stayed in the main house and the girls stayed in little cabins. They had turned the old stable block into a dining hall and meeting room.

There were about 50 participants and seven staff members. Throughout the week we got to know one another and prepared for the journey ahead. We had worship, teaching and workshops. All were excellent.

The main house and the Chalet.

We had our meetings in the closest door.

The whole gang.

I, Jes, and Anne were connected over Facebook before coming.

My Dutch Boys, Leon and Pim. These guys cracked me up!

Here's my Team:
Let me introduce you to the amazing people I worked with. Our amazing guitar player Jeremy (USA). Fearless leader Riley (Canada). Our funny Dutch girl, Ilona (Holland). Kika (Erika, Brazil) our countious. My Jes (USA), the fellow photographer.

I cannot express what a blessing this team was. We became very close and I miss them terribly.

Back: Riley, Jeremy
Front: Jes, Ilona, Me, Erika

Through out the week we were given time to prepare for what we'd be doing with the churches we were partnering with. The other groups were getting detailed outlines and were able to then plan accordingly. Our outline had four items on it and had the words "Sketchy" at the bottom. Since we didn't really know what to plan for, we spent a lot of this time getting to know one another.

Cavan: Hosanna House
Our team was the first to head out on Friday. We partnered with a Nigerian, charismatic church in Cavan. This proved a challenge as many of our group had not grown up with this church background. However, the people were kind and their love for Jesus was evident.

Housanna House was above a convenience store.

Pastor John and his lovly daughter Joy.

African baby dedication our first Sunday.

I love this picture of Joy!

Ballyhaise: Home Away From Home
We stayed in Ballyhaise, 8km from Cavan. Jes and I stayed with Mary. Ilona and Erika stayed with her sister Jean. Riley and Jeremy stayed with Ed, our contact from the church. Mary and Jean had recently become Christians and Pastor John really prayed about who we should stay with. Part of the joy of this trip was talking with these two ladies. We were able to answer some of their questions and their hospitality to us was amazing. Early in our time there, the guys started staying at Mary's too. This made it nice to have everyone so close. The girls could walk to Mary's in the morning, where we would have team time.

Jean

Mary's House. Jes and I stayed in the top/far right room. The guys slept in the living room.

Team time.

Our first Saturday, after having been given no idication that the church planned on feeding us this day, we walked the 8km into Cavan for lunch. The team was all for it and we were able to bond a great deal on the two hour walk.