Mission in the Car Park of the Church

As I am writing this post from my comfy living room, the rain is drizzling down outside, scones are baking in the oven, and the Euro 2012 Republic of Ireland v. Spain football match is playing on the television (Spain is up 1-0 in the 25th minute).  Just another enjoyable evening in Belfast!

Before settling into my flat for the night, I was down at Whitehouse taking part in the church's weekly car boot sale.  During the summer months of the year, a team of about 15 volunteers run a car boot sale every Thursday evening.  At about 3:30 P.M. cars start arriving at the church and are directed into a parking space.  People then open up their boots (trunks) and set up stalls to sell anything from baked goods, used books and dvd's, clothing, and toys to their used kitchen sink (that is not a figure of speech)!  If the weather is nice, there can be up to 90 cars in the car park, but we have averaged about 50 cars per week this year. 

I say that I take part in the car boot sale because I don't do a whole lot to help out at the sale.  I usually spend my time walking around talking to various people in the car park - members of Whitehouse who are working the sale, people selling bric-a-brac out of their car boots, and members of the community shopping at all of the different stalls.  If I am not doing this, I am sitting with Anne and Betty at the church's prayer stall.  At some time during the evening I get my dinner from the kitchen volunteers inside the church.  During the sale, the church doors are open for people to come in and buy burgers, hot dogs, chips, crisps, sweets and of course tea and coffee.

The car boot sale is a valuable mission for Whitehouse for a number of reasons. Most importantly, it is a way for the church to be engaged in the community. I was speaking with a friend of mine at Whitehouse last night about churches making a difference in their community. He said a great way to gauge the church's involvement in the community is to answer the question, "If the church closed tomorrow, would anyone in the community, not members of the church, notice?" I can recall two specific instances, once at the grocery store and once at the bus stop, where I was asked what I was doing in Belfast. I told the people that I was volunteering at Whitehouse Presbyterian, and they responded with, "Is that the church that does the car boot sale?" This is proof of the church being engaged with the community in which it resides.

Another valuable aspect of the car boot sale is the different perception it gives to the church. Between the hours of 4:00 and 8:00 P.M., there is a constant flow of people moving in and out of the doors of the church. For a wide range of reasons, church can be a frightening place for people to enter, but during the car boot sale Whitehouse is a nonthreatening place where people can gather around a bit of grub and conversation. The barriers which keep people away on a Sunday morning disappear behind friendly banter and delicious smells of burgers and sausages. I would venture a guess that more people enter the church on a typical car boot Thursday evening than on a Sunday morning.

Lastly, the car boot sale is a great fundraiser for the church and local charities. Money is collected for the burgers, sausages and chips, for the cars setting up stalls and in charity buckets at the entrance to the car park.

Well, the rain has stopped, Spain is now up 4-0, and I have sampled a scone fresh from the oven. I think I will call it a night!

Kitchen crew serving up burgers

Bucket collection

Two of the men behind the madness

Belfast Tour Guide

It has been a little while since I have updated my blog...May was the month full of visitors in Belfast.  I wrote my last post the morning my parents left, and since then we have hosted three other sets of visitors: Laramie UPC, James, Marcy & Kelly (Karl's brother, sister-in-law & friend of theirs), and Rob & Jenn (friends of ours).  Karl and I feel abundantly blessed that we have had so many people come visit us here.  After this month, I can quite confidently say that I am a trained tour guide of Belfast!  I don't want to bore everyone with all of the things we did with our visitors, but I will do a quick recap of the past 3-1/2 weeks:

Laramie UPC Visit:

Sarah playing with the garage at Tots & Co.

The group from Laramie was in Belfast for five days.  Over that time, Karl and I showed them our churches and the 174 Trust and tried to give them a taste of what we do on a weekly basis.  I was particularly excited with the time they got to spend at Whitehouse Presbyterian and with the people of my church.  On the Sunday they were here, the whole group took part in leading the morning service at Whitehouse.  It was almost dreamlike having people from Laramie speaking at my church in Belfast.  On Monday a few members of Whitehouse volunteered to drive the whole group to the North Coast, and on Wednesday the group helped out at Tots & Co.  Karl kept a more detailed account of their visit here - you can read his posts at www.handinthehand.blogspot.com. 

I am so, very thankful for our church family in Laramie and for the people of the church who came to visit us.  During their visit at Whitehouse Presbyterian, Rev. Liz talked to the group about how well I transitioned into the congregation of Whitehouse and the importance of my focus on building relationships.  She thanked the people from Laramie UPC for teaching me those values and for being a church which understands the importance of building relationships.  I would like to echo Liz in that - I am exceedingly fortunate to have been part of Laramie UPC, a church filled with people who care about me and about being in relation with all of God's people. 

Richard, Marcia & Elizabeth helping at the C'mon in Cafe

Patti at the 174 Trust Disabilities Club

James, Marcy & Kelly's Visit:
These guys were here for five days too, and they brought wonderful weather with them!  One day of their visit, they took a tour bus up the North Coast and came back with sunburns - not your typical Northern Ireland experience!  We had a great time taking in the typical tourist things in Belfast:  Belfast Castle, John Hewitt's for traditional music, Titanic Museum, Botanic Gardens, Ulster Museum, Victoria's Square, etc. 

Rob & Jenn's Visit:

Rob & Jenn at Whitehouse's Jubilee Tea Party

Rob & Jenn were here for a week, and we repeated a lot of the tourist attractions we went to the week before with James & Marcy.  One new thing we did with them though was going to Holywood to play 9 holes (Rob & Jenn played, Karl and I walked with them) at Holywood Golf Club, home of Rory McIlroy.  We took the train to Holywood and were planning on walking from the train station to the golf course.  We stopped at a local pub to ask for directions, and the pub owner thought we were crazy for wanting to walk there.  He told us to jump in his car, and he gave us a lift.  On the way to the course he drove us by Rory's old house and school.  Aside from the site seeing, we spent most of our time talking and playing cards with Rob & Jenn.  It was so good to see them and catch up on the things we have missed in Laramie this past year. 

Playing pinochle in our Dublin hotel

Posing in our golf attire

Jenn putting for eagle

We had a wonderful time having so many visitors in the month of May.  Not only was it nice to see family and friends after almost 10 months of being away, but it was energizing to see Belfast through newcomers eyes.  Many things that I have become accustomed to since being here were so different to our visitors.  They asked a lot of questions about the history and current political issues of Belfast and how the church and religion play a role.  This stretched me because I had to verbally articulate my thoughts and opinions, and it allowed me to reevaluate things I have learned over my time here. 

While it was wonderful to have visitors with us, I struggled to stay connected with my church and YAV family here in Belfast as much as I would have liked over the past month.  I have eight weeks left in Belfast and want to spend that time in the presence of those whom I will miss dearly when I return home.

Many Thanks

I just came home from taking my parents to the airport and have enough time to write a quick post before going to church this morning.  As I am sitting in my living room, enjoying a cup of coffee, I can't help but think about all of the things I have to be thankful for. 

Family - I have such a wonderful, loving family who supports Karl and me in anything we set out to do.  A great example of this is our parents and siblings who have come to visit (or who are coming to visit in the near future).  When our family have come to visit us, they have been willing to go around to all of the sights and church gatherings we want to show them, as well as take part in some of our simple living choices while staying at our flat.  A good example of this is when my mom was here.  She was having a tough time acclimating to the coldness and wetness of Belfast, but instead of boosting the heat every time she was cold, we filled two hot water bottles up for her to put on her lap and feet.  She was a trooper!  So thank you to our family for being interested in what we are doing and where we are living this year.

Friends - Karl and I are truly blessed when it comes to the friends we have.  We have so many friends back home who stay in touch with us daily/weekly, and we have met so many new friends over the course of this year in Belfast.  It is comforting to know that we are connected with so many people who we can be open and true with and who we can count on.  This past Monday when I was running the marathon, I experienced more support than I could ever imagine from all of my friends.  Thank you all so much for cheering me on and giving me the encouragment to complete that goal of mine.

Church Family - Karl and I are in such an exceptional situation in which we are part of three church families.  We are blanketed by the love and support of our home church in Laramie and have now been welcomed with open arms into the churches of Whitehouse Presbyterian and Woodvale Methodist.  All three of these churches are filled with folks who strive each day to live out the teachings of the gospel.  It is wonderful to be part of these churches, and what is even more wonderful is the fact that the folks of these three churches are intertwining this week!  Right now, 7 people from our home congregation in Laramie are visiting Belfast in order to see the work that Karl and I do and to meet the people of the churches we are a part of.  I am looking forward to the days ahead in which we can make more connections between our church in Laramie and our churches in Belfast.

The beautiful thing is that all of these three categories (Family, Friends & Church Family) run together into one, blended network of people that are connected by the love of our savior, Jesus Christ.

My parents and I before the race

Running along Merville - thanks John for taking this!



Posing for one more photo before the start - with the one who supports me the most!

Feelings about the future...both near and far

For some reason, humans tend to look forward to the future.  We are always wondering what's next, how will this turn out, where will I be in (insert time frame), and the list of questions regarding our future goes on and on.  Lately I have been feeling quite anxious for some future events in my life. 

The closest one to the present time being the Belfast Marathon, which is in just 3 short days.  I have never ran a race anywhere near this distance, so naturally I am feeling quite nervous about it.  But running a marathon has been a desire of mine for a long time, so I am also very excited about doing it.  Plus, many people, including my parents (yes they will be in Belfast for it), have told me they will be out alongside the route to cheer me on.  Along with the support that I am expecting from my friends and family on the day of the race, I have received considerable support from members of Whitehouse Presbyterian and the surrounding community through sponsorship for the race.  It is common for people to get sponsors for running the marathon in Belfast, so I have chosen to run the race in support of the Whitehouse Presbyterian Mission Fund. 

[Insert sponsorship pitch here] For anyone living in the Belfast area who has not sponsored anyone for the marathon but would like to, I am gladly accepting sponsors!  For anyone who is not living in the Belfast area, say living in the United States, who would like to sponsor me in the marathon, you can give to the YAV program (more details to follow).

Which brings me to the next future event in my life that I am anxious about - a second YAV year for Karl and I.  Throughout this year in Belfast, Karl and I have been feeling a call to serve a second year with the YAV program.  For the past month or so, we have been speaking with site coordinators in Tucson, AZ and New Orleans, LA trying to discern which placement is right for us.  Both sites offer great opportunities for living in community and working with local people to do mission outreach in larger cities in the U.S.  After a lot of prayer and discussion, we finally decided on Tucson.  We are very excited for the opportunities that Tucson offers and for what the future has to offer through another year with the YAV program.

[Continuing sponsorship pitch here] For those of you in the U.S. who would like to sponsor me in the marathon by supporting our next YAV year, you can:

Make checks payable to “Tucson Borderlands YAV”
On the memo line include "Kendra & Karl Heimbuck"
Mail checks to-
YAV
ICO: Linda Marshall
716 Lucinda Drive
Tucson, AZ 85748

Although we are quite excited for what the future holds in Tucson, I am aware of the 3 months we have left in Belfast.  Three months is quite a long time, but I have a feeling it is going to go by quickly, and I can't help but think ahead to the day we leave.  That is going to be a very sad day.  I have met so many wonderful people, spent a great deal of time working alongside amazing folks, and have grown to love the youth of Whitehouse.  I am going to miss these people tremendously!

This really hit me when Karl and I found out about our placement with Tucson for next year.  When it became official that we were going to Tucson, we both posted it on our Facebook statuses.  I wrote, "Decision is finally made. Come the end of August we'll be moving to Tucson for another YAV year!"  The first person to comment on my status was a boy from youth group.  Now this boy was a kid who I could barely understand talk when I first arrived, because of his thick Belfast accent, and whom I thought I would not be able to form a significant relationship.  I still can't understand half the things he says, but over the course of this year we have formed a meaningful bond.  His comment on my Facebook status was, "No u wont, ul be stayin."  When I read his comment, it brought tears to my eyes.  To know I have impacted him enough to express wanting me to stay here means A LOT.  It makes me realize just how close I have grown to the people of Whitehouse and how difficult it will be to say goodbye.  That is why I must not look to the future, but strive to live in this moment and make the most out of the time I have left in Belfast.

Growth and Transformation through Mission

It is hard to believe that it has been eight months since Karl and I left home to embark on this year of mission in Belfast.  These past eight months have been filled with moments, happy and sad, exciting and boring, comfortable and uncomfortable, which have strengthened my faith, helped me to grow as an individual and helped me to build relationships which I will forever cherish. 

Some of these moments, the ones freshest in my memory, took place on a Whitehouse Youth mission trip.  Over Easter, I went on a mission trip with our youth group to Tremont, Illinois - a town in the states which I would never have imagined myself being in.  Never the less, the mission trip was a wonderful experience!  For ten days, I lived in community with eight youth and three youth leaders from Belfast and three young children and two youth leaders (the parents of the three children) from the United States.  By living in community, we learned how to serve one another through preparing, serving and cleaning up meals together, we gained patience as we shared two showers among the group, we learned how to go without when the hot water ran out after the first six showers, we learned to love and care for one another when we were missing home, and most importantly we used all the time we spent together to bond as brothers and sisters in Christ’s family. 

If any of you reading this have ever been part of a youth mission trip (either as a youth or a leader), you will probably agree with me in saying that the change and transformation that can happen as individuals and a youth group is amazing during a mission trip.  There is something to be said for taking a group of youth to an environment different from their home in order to allow for true growth.  Our trip was filled with awfully busy days topped off with meaningful, late night devotions.  During the course of the trip, we went Easter Caroling, prepared a Seder Meal, helped at a local food pantry, visited a women’s correctional home, cooked scones for senior citizens, took part in the local churches’ youth programs and cooked an Ulster Fry for the community…that is just the community involvement side of the trip.  We played really hard too!  We took in a baseball game, went shopping at Bass Pro Shop, had play days at the farm, visited the Abraham Lincoln Museum…the list goes on, but you get the idea.  I was extremely tired by the end of each day, but went to bed smiling about that day’s events and looking forward to tomorrow’s.  During the trip I witnessed great transformations as our eight youth grew closer to one another, served with willing hands and hearts, gained patience, explored their faith in a deeper sense than ever before and developed into young disciples. 

Not only did the youth grow and learn about themselves on the trip, I too experienced growth and learned a thing or two. A couple of days into the trip, one of the youth from Tremont loaned us his guitar for use at the cabin (our accommodation for the trip). I have been learning how to play guitar during this year, but lack the confidence to play and sing in front of people (ask Karl, I rarely play for him!). One of the other leaders on the trip is learning how to play guitar too, so he wanted to work together and try to learn some songs to play with the kids. Not long into messing around with a few songs, I found the courage to play and sing in front of the group. Another growing moment of the trip was learning how to not be in control of every situation and be OK with it. The nature of mission trips is that you have an itinerary, and the itinerary will always change – the schedule was completely out of my hands, and I had to just roll with it. Lastly, a joy of working with youth is that they are filled with contagious energy and just love to have fun. For the 10 days we were away, I had the opportunity to let my guard down and to just have fun with the group! I came home from the trip refreshed and re-energized to work with others in the church to continue nurturing our youth into disciples for the church.

Hay Ride at Farm



Clay Pigeon Shooting at Farm

Baking Scones

Lunch at Bass Pro Shop

Helping at Food Pantry

Campfire Devotion

Abraham Lincoln Museum

Mission/Nurturing Disciples

According to Google's dictionary, the word mission is defined as:

1. An important assignment carried out for political, religious, or commercial purposes, typically involving travel.
2. A group of people taking part in such an assignment

But what does mission look like?  What is classified as an important assignment?  Who is meant to take part in such assignments? 

Let's look at The Great Commission in Matthew 28:16-20. 

¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.

¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Jesus tells his disciples to to go out and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything He has commanded.  So, if Jesus wants his to disciples to go make disciples of others, then must these new disciples go out and teach as well? 

I believe that we are all called to mission of some form.  Mission can be physical work, like building homes or installing water and electrical systems for underdeveloped countries, or it can be evangelizing to groups who have not yet heard the message of Jesus Christ.  But it can also be working in your local community to make a beautiful place for others to live in.  I like the definition of mission which I read on the Diocese of Salisbury's web page, “Nurturing disciples in order to build the church and change the world.”  This is exactly what I think mission is.  It doesn't necessarily have to be building something with your hands, getting dirty, or going to a totally foreign country which doesn't have indoor plumbing.  Mission is about nurturing our mind, bodies and spirits in order to further God's kingdom on Earth! 

Tomorrow morning, I will be leaving with 8 youth and 3 other leaders from Whitehouse Presbyterian to go on a mission trip to Tremont, Illinois.  This trip isn't the typical mission trip you hear of church groups taking in which the focus of the trip is hard physical work or community service.  The focus of our trip is nurturing the youth, as well as the leaders, and growing in our faith as we engage in conversations about our beliefs with people of a different culture.  (Not quite a different culture for me, but for the mission team!)  We aren't doing mission work which produces tangible fruit or results, but just as important we are doing mission work which produces fruit of the spirit and forms us into disciples to build God's church and change the world.

Telling the Easter Story

When walking through the doors of Whitehouse Presbyterian Church during this Easter season, visitors encounter a depiction of Palm Sunday, complete with a donkey, palm branches and the words "Hopes and Dreams."  This display, which is set up in the foyer of the church, is one of six displays set up around the church which recreate the Easter story.  The stations are set up for the two weeks leading up to Easter in order to give people a chance to remember the last days of Jesus' life on Earth. 

From the Palm Sunday display, you are invited to move along to the next display which is titled "The Servant King."  It is complete with a wash basin, towels and sandals in order to remind us of the humbling and serving attitude that Christ had for his disciples and those in his presence. 

From the washing of the feet, you then proceed upstairs to the upper lounge where the Last Supper is set up.  On the table is a jug of wine, matzo bread, figs, grapes, olive oil and honey and the words "Remember Me."  At this display we are reminded of the last supper that Jesus shared with His disciples and of His instruction to eat of the bread and drink of the cup in remembrance of Him. 

After viewing the depiction of the Last Supper, you are invited to move to the display of the Garden of Gethsemane.  Here you see the word "Alone," which speaks to how Jesus felt when anticipating his arrest and crucifixion. 

From the garden, you then move into the vestibule of the church where the crucifixion is depicted.  A cross sits in the corner of the entry, decorated with a crown of thorns, a drapery of red ribbon, dice and robes, and a sponge with vinegar.

The last display of the Easter story is set up in the sanctuary, and it depicts Christ's Resurrection.  There is tomb, decorated with flowers and a butterfly, with a stone rolled away from the opening.  It is a great portrayal of the promise of new life which was given to us through Jesus Christ. 

A lot, and I mean A LOT, of work was put into setting up the portrayal of the Easter story.  Two women of the church, along with the caretaker, put hours of hard work into assembling and decorating all aspects of the displays.  This hard work is well worth it, though, because the six depictions are set up for the enjoyment of members of the church and community, but are also set up as part of an outreach to schools in the local area.  Over the course of this week, almost 150 students (aged 8-10) will visit Whitehouse Presbyterian to listen to and see the Easter story.

On Monday and Tuesday I was able to be a part of the school outreach.  Each morning, students came to the church and were split into two groups.  One group went around the six stations and heard the Easter story, while the other group stayed in the church hall to create fun Easter crafts.  The groups then came together for a cup of juice and a biscuit and switched activities.   I went around the stations with the groups and helped to tell the Easter story.  Getting to see the depictions of the parts of the story really helped to engage the students.  It was great to see the attentiveness and enthusiasm of the children.

Items handed out to the children at the stations - palm cross,
red ribbon from crucifixion & Easter eggs as a sign of new life

Easter crafts