Musings on an Autumn Day

Wispy tendrils floating effortlessly on gold beams of the gods

The colors of bright bursts of hot handfuls of hopes dying as the cold climate cuts in

A fluttering feather of orange foliage whirls into my peripheral: Magic! 

Floating high, floating low; following the whimsical winds' wishes

I discover the Magic's secret: a gossamer gliding strand from an unseen arachnid glitters in the sunlight- 

I reach out and grab the leaf with a strong, slender string attached 

Magic discovered is not always magic uncovered 

but Magic tampered with is Magic spoiled 

But, you, dear reader, can decide what my deed was. 

(Is your decision subjective or objective? - I know not the answer.) 

Sometimes in touching the Magic, we lose it

Sometimes in searching for it, we miss it altogether

For it is sometimes when we stop, pause, and are still for a moment that we discover the most enchanting Magic of all! 

Dear reader, have you discovered such Magic? 

I implore you to take a moment to breathe. 

We become robots- nothing more than mechanics in a system of computers and programs 

who don't think, but do

or don't do, but think 

We must do both, dear reader. 

But, sometimes, we must pause

and listen

This is when learning happens- 

not when we empty ourselves, 

but fill ourselves with our surroundings 

as we pause in an a tempo rhythm of life 

To be or not to be? -Is that the question? 

But, do we have so much control on the actuality of who we are 

or are we and we must discover who it is that we are? 

But, is there room to be who we decide 

or are we subjected to He who created us 

and who He created us to be? 

I don't know if I will ever know the answer. 

Do you know, dear reader? 

Will you know, dear reader? 

Some things are best left undiscovered. 

That is the Magic of it. 

Week 6: (July 21-28) Letterkenny BYE team!!! :)

Sorry it took me 2 months to get this update out! (One more to go!) 

My last full week (July 21-28) was back in Letterkenny with the Letterkenny BYE team. We were hosted by Allister and Trudy Johnston from Letterkenny Baptist Church who had hosted me before. 

(most of the BYE team!! with some of the kids)

BYE teams (Baptist Youth Evangelsim teams) are part of a department of the Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland. They are designed to train up youth to evangelize to children and youth and disciple them with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
http://www.baptistyouth.org/bye/baptist-youth-evangelism.php
http://www.baptistyouth.org/bye/baptist-youth-evangelism.php

Our team had 11 of us- smaller and closer in age than the CYIA team with no parents, just all young adults. 
-4 guys, Mark, Tim, Nathan, and JD, who were close in age- 16-18 yrs old (2 were from Raleigh, NC in the States! it was nice to have some other Americans around) 
-Daniel- 23 and Simon, our leader, 26 
-Claire and Rachel were about 17-18 
- Hannah- 22 and Ashleigh- 23

We did a Holiday Bible Club for the kids (sort of like a Vacation Bible School). 
We had three groups to split the kids into: 
- Tiny Turtles: 3-5 yr olds
- Funky Fish: 6-8 yr olds (my group that I helped with)
- Crazy/Cool Crocs: 9 yr olds and older
Our 2.5 hours with the kids from 2-4 pm was roughly structured as follows:
- crafts 
- a small game transitioning into the story 
- prayer
- story! (we went through the creation story through the story of Noah) 
- memory verses (Gen. 1:31, Rom. 5:12, Acts 16:31)
- games! (usually outside)
- the salvation colors (gold=God and His glory, black=sin, red=Jesus' blood and sacrifice, white=the significance of Jesus' sacrifice and what it means for us, green=growth in Christ through the Holy Spirit)
- quiz over the story
- prayer 

(flyer for the Holiday Bible Club)

In the evening after dinner, we would have youth club with the kids 12 and up. 
Rough agenda was as follows: 
- A game/activity with the youth
- Testimonies from some of the team members 
- Lesson through Mark 
- Pray 
- Hang out until parents arrive

(Flyer for the youth club)

Sunday morning, July 21st, one of my distant cousins drove me to Letterkenny Baptist from Mount Charles just in time for the service. I met the BYE team (there was about 11 of us altogether) and we did worship together. After the service, we prepared for the Holiday Bible Club and the youth club tomorrow. We worked up until tea/dinnertime, then continued on at Allister and Trudy's. 
Then, we had Bible Study together. We started to go through Acts. 

Monday, July 22nd, we got up and went to the church after breakfast to continue our Bible Study through Acts. Then, we did some street evangelism and preparation before lunch. After lunch, we started seeing kids in. Instead of doing a craft on the first day, we helped the kids make name badges. Most of the kids were the children of immigrants from Ghana; it felt like a collision of two cultures- Irish and Ghana all in one city. After 2.5 hours with the kids, we had a recap with the team and prepared for the youth club.

(on Monday, I did games with Tim- I'm explaining the game of fish and sharks to the kids)

(me, Claire, and Rachel going to Tescos which is similar to Target after Holiday Bible Club)

After dinner, we started seeing youth in for the youth club. We played a game of Man Hunt where the kids split up in teams and had to go find a few of the leaders who were dressed up in ridiculous outfits out in the city. Afterwards, we all came back and enjoyed Ice Cream Factory (ice cream sundaes) together. 

(Phillip, Phyllis' son and me dressed up as an old lady for the Man Hunt- they had to help me cross the street- let's just say that there were at least one or two cars waiting for us all to cross hahaha)

(The Man Hunt group! 

me: grouchy granny, Claire: Tinkerbell, Tim: Superman, Rachel: doctor, and Mark: cowboy)

Tuesday, July 23, we did Bible Study continuation through Acts together at the church after breakfast at the Johnston's house. Then, we went out and did some evangelism out in the streets of Letterkenny and some preparation for the Holiday Bible Club. I have never been that big of a fan of street evangelism but it was amazing what the Holy Spirit did in our hearts to solidify the gospel of the grace of Jesus Christ and give us boldness to speak to the people of Letterkenny. We also learned to have conversations and build relationships with people and not just hand them tracks. It was amazing to see people's reactions. 

The Holiday Bible Club was wonderful again. The children would come earlier and earlier each day to see us. 

In the evening with the youth, we had guys v. girls competitions. The girls won, of course. ;) 

(Most of the team! JD, Claire, Rachel, Tim, Mark, Ashleigh, Nathan, and I! 

missing: Daniel, Hannah, and Simon)

Wednesday, July 24th, we continued through our study of Acts in the morning at the Johnston's and then went on to the church. Many of us went out into the city to do surveys and to evangelize in the streets. And we set up a booth with coffee and tea at it for people to come by and enjoy on their way to work. It was amazing to see what the Holy Spirit does in hearts, including my own, but whenever people did not respond or were rude, it was comforting to know that it was not by our power or our words that they are saved but by the conviction of the Holy Spirit. 

That night, with the youth, we played picture scavenger hunt. We gave them a list of things to do and to take pictures of and sent them off with a few of the BYE team members in each group and a camera. It was a blast! 

(This is Favor- my little friend who decided I was his best friend and favorite American!) 

(Picture scavenger hunt with the youth club! Here we see Nathan reenacting Space Jam.)

On Thursday, July 25th, we had our Bible study and prepared for the Holiday Bible Club. That day, Daniel and I did the memory verse: Acts 16:31- "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved!" Mark and I did games together: musical chairs, which the kids loved! With the youth club that night, we played the Million Dollar Drop which is similar to the American game show, Minute to Win It! They loved it! 

On Friday, our last day with the Holiday Bible Club and the youth club, we evangelized on the streets of Letterkenny again after our morning Bible study together. This time, we were a little discouraged by the reactions or lack of reactions of the people we had conversations with, but we were determined not to lose heart. God is good all the time and His promises and His Word are always true regardless of whether or not His people know it or respond. Thankfully, His Holy Spirit will be the One to move in their heart and bring them to Himself; it is not contingent on us! The last day with the kids was wonderful and so so bittersweet. Towards the end of the day, it started to storm like crazy, which is not completely characteristic of Ireland; it always rains but it never pours like it was that day! 

For our last night with the youth club, we split the girls up to do cupcakes and the boys to go play football (soccer) and basketball. It was a blast and we were exhausted at the end of it all. 

(Day 5 at Holiday Bible Club. They all piled on top of me.)

(Sweet Roseanne.)

(Sweet Grace! She called me Miss Beautiful or Miss America!)

(Talking to the kids about why we pray)

(Shouting the memory verse)

(Leading worship with Hannah and Claire)

(Rachel and Tim with the kids during worship)

(The Americans on the team- Nathan, me, and JD)

(The team- Claire, Nathan, Simon, Rachel, Mark, me, JD, Ashleigh, Hannah, and Tim with a few of the kids!)

(These four were inseperable- Tim, JD, Mark, and Nathan)

(Mona Lisa and I!! Mona Lisa helped out the BYE team- she's a member at Letterkenny Baptist.)

(Jam seshes were often. Hannah and I singing, Mark on cornet, and Claire on guitar)

(Decorating buns with the girls from the youth club)

Saturday, July 27th, was our last full day together as a team! The girls went shopping after sleeping in for a long time. Then, Hannah, Mark, and I bladed around on Alister's rollarblades. We ate lunch together and then a few hours later we drove out to spend some time at the beach. It was such a lovely day. 

(Hannah, Mark, and I borrowed Alister's rollerblades)

(Love blading)

(the inseparables)

(COLD COLD water. But usually wetsuits are required- so this is SUPER warm for Ireland!)

(Clink!)

(Normal= Hannah and I being completely ridiculous, looking at each other and dying laughing while everyone thinks we are crazy.)

Sunday, we went to Letterkenny Baptist Church to worship together one last time. We enjoyed Chinese food and fish and chips together then said our last goodbyes. Nathan and JD left to go meet up with the team that they came with from the States, and I went home with Hannah to spend time with her for a few days. 

(Mustache you a question: must we say goodbye?)

(The team, minus Daniel
Top: Simon, JD, me
Bottom: Hannah, Claire, Rachel, Mark, Tim, Mona Lisa, Nathan, Ashleigh)

Saying goodbye to the Letterkenny Baptist Church and to this wonderful BYE team was so difficult. Working with people who you give everything because you are working toward something that is so much larger than you, but knowing that you will maybe never see each other again is so difficult. It almost seemed like because this was a once in a lifetime experience that I gave it my all. 

But, friends, while I reflect on this, I realize that everyday is a once in a lifetime experience. You will never have this day again. This one that you are living in now. These minutes you have spent, and you will not be able to retract them. Is it worth it? Did you make them count? Friends, don't wait until you have the courage tomorrow. Give this day everything you can today! Sometimes courage is being brave enough to say that you are afraid but determined enough to try anyway. Success is not in never failing but learning from when you fail and rising when you fall. And the key to learning and rising is the fear of the Lord. Make every moment count by devoting, examining,  and surrendering, your motivations to the Lord TODAY. 

I love you all because I love you because Christ first loved me. 
Be bold. 
Be strong. 
Be courageous. 
Be faithful. 
Walk in wisdom. 
Walk in love. 
Walk in the Spirit. 

In Christ, 
Love, 
Kait

P.S. Read Phil. 4:4-9, or all of Philippians 4! :) 

Advice applicable for the Anxious

** Note** I am posting this for my own sanity's sake as well as anyone else who it may be applicable to. 

What to do when: 

-you are freaking out about how much you have to do 
-you dont have time to do it all and you feel like you arent doing enough and need to work harder 


Do this: 

-take a breather and sit still for at least 5 minutes
-think about who God is 
-think about who Christ is
-think about who the Holy Spirit is 
-think about what They are doing:
through scripture
through prayer
through the church
through the world
through your friends
through your family
and through you
-pray
-read your Bible
-talk to someone about the gospel
-and also stop taking yourself so seriously
-learn to say no
-take a chill pill 
-get some more sleep

Then, get back to that elephant you have to eat, and eat it little bit by little bit. 

Week 5: (July 14-20) CYIA team in Derry and meeting the family in IRE!!! :D

(The CYIA team in Derry!)

Week 5!!!! CYIA (Children Youth In Action) with CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) in Derry/Londonderry, N. Ireland!!!! 

Richill Baptist Church hosted the team and allowed us to stay there for the week! 

Child Evangelism Fellowship- A worldwide organization in which believers evangelize to children with the gospel of Jesus Christ and disciple them in the Word of God and get them involved in local churches to spread the kingdom of God.

Children Youth In Action- A summer ministry for youth ages 14 and up to reach children for Christ. Usually there is training for youth to complete and go through to participate, but sometimes, if you are an older believer and asked by a church, (as I was) you can participate with a team. 

http://www.ceftwincities.com/directory/about/index.html

Sunday, July 14th, started with the CYIA team leading worship at Richill Baptist. Aaron and I led worship again and the other part of the CYIA team participated as well! It was wonderful! 

(Bryan, Anna, Rachel, Jennifer, Gareth, Fiona, and Deborah at Richill Baptist on Sunday)

(David Baird, the gentle and passionate pastor of Richill Baptist Church)

Later, the team went out into the neighborhoods to hand out flyers to parents, letting them know that we would be hosting 5-day holiday Bible clubs in the neighborhood for their kids to go to. We had many parents interested, if only to drop their kids off for free babysitting, but we were just excited for anyone who was interested. We split up into 5 teams that would go out into 3 neighborhoods each. I do not have any pictures of the kids for security purposes. 
In the evening, after tea, we walked out to the Derry Peace Bridge together. We sang old childhood Christian songs on the Peace Bridge as loud as we could. It was a blast! :) 

(Fiona and Rachel

Derry was the city of culture this year which is the reason for the flags.)

(Rachel, me, and Fiona)

Fiona is my sweet English friend from Wimbledon. Rachel is my sweet friend who lives in Ireland. They go to school together in Glasgow, Scotland. Fiona is studying religious studies and Rachel is studying to be a vet. Fiona came over to Ireland to stay with Rachel and her family and help with the CYIA team. She and I could understand the small differences of the Irish and marveled at the beauty of the land together!

(Fiona and Deborah skipping off to Derry Peace Bridge)

(Rachel, Christine, and I on the Peace Bridge)

(Rachel, Jennifer, and Christine on Derry Peace Bridge)

(The CYIA team singing on the Peace Bridge together)

(Pauline and Kenny Bingham- Pauline is one of the craziest and most wonderful women!)

On Monday, one of the pastors from another church, Tim from Cornerstone, came to speak to us before we went out. Then we all prayed together for a while and did some last preparations. We headed out after lunch. My team was led by Gareth McBeth, and had Christine, Deborah, and I. Another girl, Laura, was able to come with us on Tuesday and part of Friday. We had the smallest team. We spent an hour at each of the 3 neighborhoods that our team was assigned to. All were in rougher areas and had a high concentration of Catholics. 

The rough agenda of the time we spend in our hour at each of the 3 neighborhoods: 

-Start with games (usually us running around with the kids or playing football/soccer)

-Sing songs (Deborah played guitar and sang, I sang and did hand motions) 

-Memory Verse with the kids 

-Story time 

-Quiz over the story 

-More songs 

-Prayer 

-Games 

Each day we switched around roles of who led each activity. 

We had 3 kids come to the first neighborhood, 2 kids come to the second, and about 6-10 kids come to the last neighborhood (some left.) 

On Tuesday, July 16th, Tim returned to encourage and speak with us again and then we did prayer time together again, sharing and encouraging each other and asking the Holy Spirit to move in the hearts of the kids we talked with. Then, after lunch and prep, we went out back into the neighborhoods. I did the memory verse that day. We had 4 kids come to the first neighborhood, 2 kids, and then 4 kids at the last. It was not as many kids as the first day, but we were glad that kids came. It's the Holy Spirit that does the work- we are just called to be faithful and speak the Word about Jesus Christ. 

On Wednesday, July 17th, Tim spoke with us for the last time that week. We had prayer time together, and then headed out after lunch again. More kids came to the first two clubs at the first two neighborhoods, but both dwindled a little toward the end. The last group of kids started out with one little girl and then two more came after a little while. I was so excited to see how joyful they were that we came back and how enthusiastic the kids were about the songs. They soaked up all the attention we gave them. They were so hungry for love. All we could hope is that they saw that it was not us, but Christ in us that they were so attracted to. 

In the evening, after sharing and praying together, we went to the beach to leave the church open for the Richill Baptist members to have their corporate prayer time together.  

 (Rebekah, Rebecca, Mark, Jill, Matthew

Bethany, Glenda, me, 

Karina, and Allison at the BEACH!!)

(the view at the beach)

(the beach!)

  Fiona Cooper

(she and I went for a walk on the beach and talked for a while! it was wonderful!)

(so beautiful)

(Fiona, Deborah, Anna, and I- taken by Rachel)

Thursday, July 18th, started with David Baird, the pastor of Richill Baptist, coming and speaking to us. We prayed together and headed back out. The amount of kids was smaller again at the last two, but the first group was about 6-8 kids. One of the girls brought her cousins to the club. It was wonderful how attentive and excited she was. 

That night, we went to Gareth McBeth's house for a BBQ. It was good craic! ;) (if I have not said before, that means "it was good fun!") Fiona and I went for a walk and talked and I went on a tractor ride!!!! Great craic!

(David, Jennifer, Pauline, Fiona, and Heather at the McBeths)

(me, Rebekah, and Alison at the BBQ)

(the buzz at the BBQ)

Friday, July 19th, was the last day at the neighborhoods and together as a team! Pastor David came back to speak to us again. We went out after prayer and lunch. This time, I did the story. I felt a lot of weight about it, because it was about the Last Supper and the gospel story and the importance of it. I was very convicted about how usually we dumb down the gospel to kids and leave out important things. I felt as though the Holy Spirit really emboldened me to speak the full gospel with clarity and in a way that they could understand. But, even though we had the most kids we had ever had at the first group, we did not have any kids come to the last two. We were not discouraged, however, instead we talked together and prayed together. Gareth treated Deborah, Christine, and I to Starbucks after that to celebrate a great week as a team. 
We all came back to the church to clean and eat Chinese (I ate fish and chips). After dinner, we all said our goodbyes and then Stephen Wilson, the pastor of Letterkenny Baptist, came to pick me up and drop me off at his mother's house for the night. It was nice to have a full night's sleep after such a crazy and amazing week. 

(the CYIA team!)

Saturday, July 20th, was the big day for me to go to my family's get-together for the 90th birthday of my great-grand Aunt MaryAnn McBrearty. Some of my second cousins picked me up from Letterkenny Baptist to go with them to the mass at the Catholic church in Bruckless, Co. Donegal. Mass was at 5 pm. One of the cousins asked me at the end of the mass if I would get up and sing in honor of MaryAnn. I was nervous, but I got up and sang two verses of "How Great Thou Art" and it was incredible: I felt the Holy Spirit empowering me to sing on and sing out and proclaim the gospel that the song portrayed. I felt and saw all the family members who I had never met or just met stop and listen and I felt the Holy Spirit moving as I sang. It was something so beyond me. Even though it was nerve-wracking, I am so glad I sang for MaryAnn and the family. We went to Blue Haven for dinner. It was pretty posh and nice. Then, we hung around and danced and talked until late into the night. It was a wonderful time!

(the birthday lady, MaryAnn, and I after the mass)

(MaryAnn and her siblings)

(the excitement!!)

(MaryAnn and her kids)

(the grandkids and MaryAnn!)

(Blue Haven music group and one of the granddaughter's singing a song)

The CYIA team was wonderful work with, and I made friends that I will never forget. The Holy Spirit worked in incredible ways in the people on the team and in the hearts of the children that we worked with. Thank you all so much for your prayers! 

Please continue to pray for the members of the team as they go out into the world in their everyday lives- that they will continue to live and speak the gospel of Jesus Christ! 

My time with my family was wonderful, but please pray for them. They are all Catholic. I learned a lot about Catholicism during my time in Ireland: the essence of Catholicism is good-works based theology. Basically, if you are good enough and try to be a good person- through prayer, doing good things, and going to mass- you will go to heaven. 

The only way we can be saved is by realizing that we can never be good enough- we were created in God's image but we are under the curse of sin, which has a consequence: death and separation from God which is the eternal death and damnation of our souls. It is only because Jesus Christ lived a perfect life as both the Son of God and a human on earth, died in our place taking the wrath of God upon Himself, that we are freed from this punishment. But, Jesus is so awesome (in the TRUE sense of the word) that He had power over sin and death and they could not keep Him in the grave: He rose from the dead- which gives us hope! He is our Lord and Savior and worthy of being praise because He is the Son of God and ascended to be at God's right hand in heaven. But, He gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us transforming us to be more like Himself and revealing to us the Truth that is in Scripture which we could never understand without divine revelation. But, Jesus is coming back to judge the world someday- that is why we have to realize or reject that Jesus is who He says He is and saved us from ourselves. 

Friends, please pray for my family in Ireland with me. 

Pray for Ireland. 

Thank you so much!