Time Off

Hey all! Week three has met us with all sorts of challenges we didn't expect. Luong is working with a family group from North Belfast. They come from an area of intense conflict. For example, one of the mums told Luong yesterday that there were kids rioting on their street at that very moment. It gave new meaning to the idea of respite. Because they come from such a rough situation, their behavior is difficult to manage. Both the children and the parents are very demanding and disrespectful to the volunteers. We have had some volunteers spit on, cursed at, and hit. It has been beyond challenging. Luong is drained every night from the energy it takes to manage all the kids and demanding parents. Still, in reflection last night, he encouraged all of us with his new appreciation of what it means to be a servant. To always be a student and see the lesson in every encounter. He shared that, "even though these parents discipline their children very differently than I would, they still love their kids just like I do". He plans to hang a picture of their neighborhood on his wall at school so that he will always remember these families and their situation. Amazing.

I've been on arts and crafts. Right now, I have the morning off. It's been great "crack" (not the drug- it means "fun" here!). We basically provide activities for the kids along with decorating for special events. It's makes for a very fun and very hectic day! I'm working with Katie and Marcus (both from Belfast), Aisling (from Alberta, Calgary). Katie has been with us since we arrived and we have grown fairly close, so I cherish the opportunity to spend our last week together. She's a sweety.

We're done on Thursday, final celebration on the beach Thursday night, and then on to Belfast on Friday. After this week, we're looking forward to time off, but not quite ready to leave this place. Wendell Heximer said it best in his email today, after being here, home will never be the same.

God bless.

Cool pics from Vojtech

View of the "House". the main building at Corrymeela.
Our home for the last week.

Sunset over the "dell".

View above Corrymeela looking across the bay to Ballycastle.












View of Ballycastle at night (probably about 11:30 PM)














More views from the road and beach.

Week Three

Week two wound down in the same "spirit" as week one at the Central pub. Good times had by all. For the first day in a week we had some rain and the temps finally dropped below 70. I know I shouldn't complain, but it's pretty hot without shorts! Luong has played two rounds of golf in the last 24 hours. He didn't lose too many golf balls, but he did wreck his golf shoes. He'll have to get a new pair... awww, poor Luong ;-).

This week we welcome two family groups from Belfast with a total of 50 children under the age of 16- YIKES! The interesting thing is that this will be what they call a "cross-community" week. Each group come from across the peace wall and they haven't met or interacted before. We will have some programming to facilitate interaction, but the intention is not to merge the two groups. Should be interesting. I'm hoping to be on arts and crafts this week with Katie, a good friend I'm met while working here. She's a college-age student from Belfast herself. We will our have job assignments tonight.

I forget if I mentioned this before, but my IPod died. It happened when we plugged it into someone elses laptop and it erased all of my music (700 songs!). I have the library saved at home, but I could be facing two weeks without my music. For those of you who know me well, you know that losing my access to music is not good. I live on a steady diet of music. But alas, Nile came to my rescue and downloaded almost 500 new songs! With plenty of U2 to make me happy ;-).

Blogger isn't working right now to upload pictures, but when it gets back online, I'll include a post of pictures from Voteck (pronounced voy-ta). He is a forester from the Czech Republic, but should be a professional photographer.

Cheers-
Lisa
PS Could you pray for my knee? I tore my ACL 12 years ago, had surgery, but it's acting up. Not good.

80 Degrees!!!

Yes, friends, it hit 80 today! I honestly don't know where I am anymore. It hasn't rained in 6 days, the temperature has been over 75 for the last couple days, and I don't even have a pair of shorts! Amazing. Here are some pictures from today at the center and our trip to the beach.

You know what they say about a picture and 1,000 words... here are a few thousands words for ya!

PS I'm including another of myself! Check out Rathin Island behind me!

Pictures of Lisa...

There has been a request to see more pictures of Lisa... I can't understand why, but here you go! This is me during the Monster Hunt yesterday. I was "Matilda the Gorilla". I am 356 yrs. old and my favorite food is rotten bananas! It was a hoot. We had to hide the kids had to find us, ask 3 questions and get a "Monster Mark" on their hand. Mine was black. It's all part of a good days work here at Corrymeela.

Week two has Luong in the kitchen- mmmm... and Lisa working with the "House group". A group of families from Belfast called "Over the Wall Gang". They are a cross-community of moms and thier kids who decided almost 17 yrs ago to cross the peace line near their homes and play with the children from the other side. These kids have grown up together and know no other way of living. It's really amazing. The families have vacationed at Corrymeela every year for the last 11 years. It is "home" to them. Last night I heard an amazing story about a "flare up" (an intense period of violence during the troubles), when the moms didn't leave their homes for days for fear of what may happen. They received a call from Corrymeela wanting to know if they could get away and stay at the center until things died down. They loaded their cars and fled up to Ballycastle. They were here for an entire week, but they were safe. That is the kind of difference this place makes in the lives of those they serve.

In closing, I thought I would give you a bit better picture of me.. and Luong!
Enjoy!

Week Two

As we transition from our first week here to the second, there are certain cultural rituals which must be observed. The most important of which would be Kareoke night at the Central Bar. Whew, haven't had that much fun since... well, I've never had that much fun! We were sending of the Serbian, Norbert, and celebrating Barry's birthday. Honestly, we didn't need any more excuses for "another round". All were very well behaved, even though the pictures may seem the contrary.
(Luong's first Guinness in Ireland!!)

We strolled in well after 2:00 AM. Did you know it's twilight here at 2AM? The northern horizon stays light all night long. Amazing.
The moon has been full, so the surf is high and we can hear it out our window at night. Reminds me of the Heximer's place in Florida. We have also been blessed with great weather the past couple days.

Week Two starts today with the new batch of short term volunteers. Luong and I feel like pros now, so it will be fun to welcome in some new blood. Marian arrives tonight and I'm so excited to have her here! There is something divinely special about these people and this place. Yesterday we reflected on our last week together and I shared how blown away I was at the community built between complete strangers from all over the world and all different cultures in such a short time. Only God could facilitate this community.

As I close, I have been following the news online, and I must implore everyone to pray for peace in the Middle East. It almost seems like a cliche at this point, but as things intensify, so must our prayers.

Love Lisa (and Luong)

The 12th

"Tens of thousands of Orangemen and supporters have attended Northern Ireland's Twelfth of July parades.

The largest demonstration of the day was in Belfast and there were 17 main venues across six counties."

Headlines from the BBC Northern Ireland website. And the Hos were there. At the last minute, we were both able to travel to Belfast to witness the parades firsthand. While enroute we passed an Orange hall, which had burnt down the night before. I remembered seeing the hall on the way to Corrymeela last Friday when we arrived. It was a bit eerie to see it burnt down in just a matter of days. For more on that, click the link. BBC News

Many have asked "how were they?" Long... rainy... cold. Something you see and say, "Well, I've seen that". The streets were packed and the entire city really shuts down for the day. Every shop, every business, every school. Over 100 bands representing most every Orange order in the country were there. Each order consisted of a leading car with the head officials riding, a color guard mostly made of younger children, and a drum and flute band- all playing the same loyalist tunes. Luong joked after about an hour and a half, saying "Hey, hadn't heard this one yet".

We found a high ledge to sit on so we could see above the hundreds of families who lined the streets, and still be out of the way of the dozens/ hundreds of teenagers who followed the parade along the sidewalks. They start in their respected neighborhoods and march through the city center down to the sports park. The route is miles long and when they finish, they turn around and walk back. Their stamina was impressive. For more info on the parades check out BBC News

All the spectators were respectful and seemed to be having a good time. Many were drinking, even the young teenagers, yet all were well behaved (more than I can say of the campus area after the Michigan game!). My detached perspective of it all was typical of American patriotism, something we think about once a year and a good excuse to take a day off. However, if you live in these neighborhoods it can become something much more. Which is why two of the groups at Corrymeela are here. They live in either an interface community (on the boundary between Protestants and Catholics) or they are in a cross-community group. Both are seeking respite from this time of potential conflict.

All in all, the 12th is passing without much notice. According to the staff, it has been a quiet year. And even though the day started off rainy and cold, it's ending beautiful and sunny.

Tomorrow we say "goodbye" to our groups and prepare for a new batch on Saturday. I will miss our family group the most. I have become close to one of the older children, Mary Theresa. She's 10 and very quirky, she couldn't believe I was 33 (I really like her :-)

Enjoy the photos! Thanks for the prayers! Be sure and lift up Marian, our friend traveling here from Ohio. She takes off tonight and will be arriving at the center on Friday.

Lisa and Luong

PS I (Lisa) was able to go out last night to "Pirates of the Carabian" with one of the youth groups. Great film! But the strangest thing was coming out of the theater afterwards. Whenever I see a movie, I forget where I am and just assume I'm at home. Well, when we came out we walked up the narrow streets and around the corner along the Irish seaside... I knew I wasn't in Ohio anymore!

Italia wins!!

We celebrated with our Italian friends last night as we watched them win over France in penalty kicks. Luong painted his entire head in the red, green, and white colors of the Italian flag in support of his group. Crazy kid. It worked, they won, and we all rejoiced. They would have made for some very unhappy campers had they lost.

Luong is doing well. Running everyday, crazy as every, and collapsing every night into bed. He's hoping for an easier job next week. I finished early enough to walk into Ballycastle this afternoon. The view was amazing, the town was surreal. Just what you would expect from an Irish coastal community. Folks out on the boardwalk playing "football" and running in the fountains. The weather is beyond bizarre. For everyone from the Midwest who says "Just wait 5 min. and the weather will change"... well they invented the phrase here. Honestly, since I started typing this it has gone from sunny, to gale winds and rain, back to sunny again in the span of 10 min.

Got to run the battery is dying on the computer. More later!

First set of pictures

Click on photos for a larger view.
Views from Corrymeela.




Views of Ballycastle Katie- a volunteer from Belfast
Asling- a volunteer from Canada

More views...

Tea Time

Good morning... It's tea time here. Something I so enjoy, but still am not used to. We just break for a bit at 10:30 for tea, but really it's a social time. I've just gotten into the grove of working, then we break :-)... ah, the Irish.

My favorite time here thus far has to be worship. They meet twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. It's really more like a devotion/ meditation. Simple liturgy with quiet prayers and reflection. Sometimes we sing, and it sounds amazing. I love it.

As you may expect the weather has been chilly. But the staff said it has been very mild here recently. We're hoping for a nice day to walk to town on Thursday (during our time off). Luong is running everyday- crazy kid. His group arrived late last night and they are just meeting them for the first time this morning. On Wednesday, they will be traveling to Belfast for the July 12th parades. I honestly have to admit- I'm so jealous. The parades are an major part of the culture in the north. Nonetheless, it is amazing that Luong will get to witness them firsthand. I'm so excited for him.

Time has come to return to "work". Honestly, the work schedule this week is fairly light. I'm thankful for the time to adjust!

God Bless,
Lisa

The Day Terror Came to Dublin? :-)

That's what the headline said yesterday in the Dublin paper. For those of you following Irish news, it wasn't the Irish welcoming the HOS to their country... there was a bit of a bomb scare at the Dublin airport. Just in time for our arrival. Which made for a very interesting morning. But, after hours of delay we made it up to Corrymeela to meet many wonderful and amazing people. Many from the "states". A few from Germany, Sweden, Romania, England, and of course, Ireland. It will take a while to adjust to the many accents, but it will be fun!

God, in His amazing sense of humor, assigned us jobs for the week. Luong is out front and center, helping to led the Italian youth group who are here studying reconciliation. Talking about learning as you go! And I will be serving with "Fabi" from Germany in housekeeping (yes, Lee Ann, housekeeping!). It will be an amazing week.

Once our guest arrive, we will try to keep a lower profile. Meaning I may not be updating the blog daily. Just as I can get access to the internet without doing so in front of our guest.

We have the three groups this week. A family group from Northern Ireland who spending their holiday up here, mostly avoiding the chaos of the "11th night" celebrations back home. July 12th is when the British/ Loyalist celebrate the victory of the Protestant William of Orange over Catholic King James. Thus giving control of Britain and Ireland to the Protestants. On the night before (the 11th night) the "orangemen" take the streets with petrol bombs and bonefires. The families joining us are part of a "cross-community" effort of both Catholics and Protestants. They are seeking a respite from the demonstrations. Some have never taken a vacation in their lives... let me tell you, this is the place to start.

Then, we have the Italians. Who will get to see the World Cup, along with the rest of us. And another youth group from Northern Ireland who will be just having fun!

I'll fill you in as I get chance.

LOVE YOU ALL
Luong and Lisa

PS For those of you watching from Wisconsin- I met a young woman named "Megan" up here who babysat for one of my Young Life kids from Whitefish Bay. Kaitlin Jentzen. It is really a small world!

We're on the verge of a miracle...

(The Antrim Coast near Ballycastle)
It's Monday, and we leave on Thursday. Can it be true? Tyler and I were talking just yesterday reflecting on the decisions and visions that led us to this place (he is also leaving on Thursday to volunteer for a month at a Young Life camp in New York). I have forgotten the exact moment when we thought "Gee, going to Northern Ireland for a month seems like a great idea!". Don't get me wrong, I still think it's amazing, but reality is setting in. We have no idea what we're getting ourselves into.

Last night Luong was sharing his selfish dream of sitting in a place by himself for three months... just him, a ton of Chinese food, a golf course, and all the Orange County Choppers he can stand to watch! Did I mention he's an introvert? I felt so guilty... Because I realized, I am living out my selfish dream by going on this journey. I guess next summer I owe him some space :-).

When I face the realities that this journey holds, I keep repeating this prayer over and over again. "God prepare us; protect us; provide for us. And may we be a blessing to each other and everyone we meet. Amen." Please pray that prayer with us, every day if you can!

We leave Columbus on Thursday night around 7:00. We have a quick flight to Toronto, then the jump across the pond directly to Dublin. We will arrive there early Friday morning, catch a bus to Belfast and meet up with a ride to Corrymeela Friday evening. We should be there around 3 PM EST on Friday. We'll post when we get a chance. Hopefully this weekend.

We will have WIRELESS at the center and my dad is lending us his laptop, so feel free to email and we should be able to get back to you all fairly quickly.

God bless and have a great holiday!
Lisa and Luong