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| Making pizza with the Girls' Brigade |
This is also an exciting time of year for SWAT (the youth group at Whitehouse). Eight of the youth are preparing to go to Tremont, IL for a ten day mission trip around Easter. They, and their leaders, have been working very hard to raise funds for the trip. In the past month, I have had a great time attending various fundraisers - a disco night, pub quiz, Chinese buffet meal, and a movie premier of "We Bought a Zoo." Of most recent activity with the group, a leader was added to the list of people going on the trip, and that leader is me! That's right, I will be heading back to the states over Easter to take part in the mission trip. The itinerary is filled with a number of activities which will strengthen the relationships in the group and allow the youth to see God at work in an entirely different context. Those two aspects of the trip (building relationships and experiencing God in a different context) are at the core of my YAV year, so I am thrilled for the opportunity to share these experiences with people from Northern Ireland in the United States.
I have also been spending an increased amount of time at Whitehouse Primary school in these past couple of weeks. I am absolutely loving the time that I get to spend in the P4 classroom. This week, the teacher asked me if I could prepare a lesson on Martin Luther King, Jr. This was a challenge for me, as I have never planned lessons for that age of children. But in the end, I put together a pretty fun lesson for the kids. I started out by sharing about slaves in the United States and the progression to the abolition of slavery. We then talked about Jim Crow Laws and segregation in schools and public areas. I had the kids take part in a civil rights march, in which they made their own posters and marched around the classroom chanting "Jobs for all," "Equal treatment," and "Voting rights."
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| Making Civil Rights Posters |
Another new happening for me in the primary school was speaking at a school assembly on Friday. The principal approached me on Monday and asked if I would be willing to talk at the P5-P7 morning assembly. I wasn't sure about what I should speak about, and Karl told me (as he is quite experienced in doing assemblies here) that I should just tell them about who I am and the types of changes I have experienced since moving to Northern Ireland. I started the assembly by talking about differences between the United States and Northern Ireland - driving on the other side of the road, the currency, and jargon like pants/trousers and chips/crisps. I then moved on to talk about popular sports in the United States like American football, baseball and basketball. As basketball is not a very popular sport here, I thought it would be fun to talk about it in more depth, so I shared about my experiences growing up playing the sport. Through my involvement in the sport I learned many valuable life skills such as work ethic, the value of teamwork, making commitments and learning how to succeed humbly and bounce back from failure. I went to a sporting shop before the assembly and bought a basketball so that I could bring it into the assembly and show some of the skills I learned through hard work and practice as a kid. I was very happy to I receive some 'oohs' and 'aws' from the kids when I spun the ball on my finger and dribbled the ball through my legs and behind my back.
Well there is an update on life in North Belfast. As always, thank you for reading and supporting Karl and me through this year. Please continue to keep us, our work, and the communities that we are working amongst in your prayers.
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