Final Ireland Update

Happy New Year all,

This is my first update for 2008. Firstly I apologise for not sending updates out more regularly but I have just been so busy here with YWAM (Youth With A Mission), that I really have not had the time. So here it is:

We continued our work in Tandragee with the youth drop in centre right up until the 14th of December when the centre closed for Christmas. We had some wonderful times there getting to know the youth and helping to get the centre established. As I mentioned before, many of the young people in Northern Ireland have this tough exterior, making it very difficult at times to connect with them. It was really incredible to see God break through that and to see them open up to us.
Sadly, now that we have finished our time there we probably won’t get to see many of them again, however there is another team going in there at the end of January, when the centre opens again, to take our place. It is really hard to say goodbye to these wonderful kids when you have built up a relationship with them all, but I guess that is just part of short term mission work.


Holding a BBQ for the Youth at Tandragee

At the beginning of December we spent the week up in Belfast, in particular in the Shankill and the Falls districts. These 2 neighbouring suburbs, The Shankill, being Protestant, and the Falls, being Catholic, is where the most intense fighting went on during Northern Ireland main conflict period (late 1960’s to early 2000’s) known as “the troubles”. Whilst there, we had several lectures on Forgiveness and Reconciliation, before getting the opportunity to go into a Catholic school in the Falls district and talk to the youth and teach them some of what we had learned.


IRA Memorial & Mural on the Catholic "Falls Rd"


Shankill/Falls Peace Wall

Protestant Murals on the Shankill Rd

This was a very challenging and moving experience for us. Many of the girls had lost family members or friends during the conflict, so at first I felt very helpless and thought to myself: “What do I know, I am an Australian who always felt safe. I have never had to deal with having a family member murdered and having to live in fear. How can I come in here and talk about forgiveness when I haven’t had to deal with what these girls have had to go through.”
Strangely though, the girls responded really well and were incredibly open to us about their past experiences.
One girl in particular really touched my heart. She was explaining to us that her brother had been murdered by a protestant/loyalist extremist. She commented to me “that it was one thing to forgive a friend that hurt you, but how am I meant to forgive the man that had taken her brother from me” I was able to explain to her that to forgive did not at all mean to forget, and that this was often a common misconception of forgiveness. I explained that to forgive was not necessarily about setting the other person free from the wrong that they had done, but more about YOU being set free from the wrong that they have caused you, so that you can begin to move towards healing. I told her that she had been wronged and that she could never get back what they took from her, but she should not have to carry around the burden of an open wound, and that with forgiveness would come healing of that wound. Finally I explained that the forgiveness process is not one that would happen quickly but would take a great deal of time, but it starts with first making the choice to forgive.
After I said this she looked as though she was about to cry and said that she had never thought of it that way and that she wanted to try and make that choice.
It was funny though, I don’t think I really understood all of that myself until I had said it to her, it was almost as if in me speaking to her about forgiveness, God was somehow also speaking to me about unforgiveness issues in my own life.

This year was my first Christmas away from home and whilst there was times that I did feel quite homesick, I did have a really wonderful time. This was my first Cold Christmas as well (and Ireland was very cold around Christmas this year). I found myself often forgetting that it was nearing Christmas, because I was just not used to it being cold at Christmas time. Being a True blue Aussie, I found myself truly missing the Warm weather and the Christmas BBQ on the beach (or at least some place with water). Overall though I did have a wonderful Christmas and it was really great to spend it with all of International friends here at the YWAM base, and share our different stories of past Christmas’s and what it means to us. Many of the others from North America or Europe could not even imagine what it would be like to have a hot Aussie Christmas.
On the Friday before Christmas we had a combined Christmas lunch with another YWAM group in Belfast, where we all exchanged small gifts with one another, making for a very lovely afternoon. For most of the students on both YWAM schools, it was the first time away from home at Christmas time.
We had our main formal Christmas dinner on Christmas eve. We all took the opportunity to cook something for one another. I endeavoured to cook apple turnovers and custard (emphasis on endeavoured), which didn’t turn out too badly but next time I really think I will try to follow the recipe more or closely.
It was an incredible meal and we all ate a great deal too much, but hey that’s Christmas. Christmas day, we had a big cooked breakfast followed by more exchanging of gifts. It truly was a lovely day.

On Boxing Day I had a wonderful visitor arrive. My dear friend Alicia from Brisbane came to stay for a week. It was wonderful to have her come and visit and be able to take her around some of my favourite places around Closkelt (The village where I am living) and Belfast. We took a trip down to Dublin for the day on New Years eve before returning to Closkelt saw in the new years at a local Irish Pub. (We had initially hoped to stay in Dublin to see in the New Year, but after talking to a police officer we discovered that there would not be anything happening as Fireworks were illegal in the Republic of Ireland. We just decided to head back and celebrate at the local pub.) Alicia stayed until the 2nd of January when she had to head back to Brisbane in time for an exam.

Great Friends and Fun Times in Dublin

A few days after new years Closkelt experienced the biggest snowfall I have ever seen. Only once before (in Armidale) have I seen the snow fall and never to such a great extent.
We would easily have had about 5 inches of snow cover. It was great fun. We had a wonderful time making snowmen, snow angels and having snowball fights. I was so excited to see so much snow that I was dancing and running around yelling and screaming with enjoyment. I must have looked like a 6 year old child, experiencing their first snowfall, but then, that’s what it felt like for me. I stayed outside for about an hour just watching the snow fall. Sadly though, it only lasted about a day and a half before the typical Irish rainy weather returned and washed it all away. But then this is Ireland.

Snowing in Closkelt



Well this will be the last news letter that I will be writing regarding Ireland for a while. We left Ireland for Serbia and Bosnia on the 11th of January where we will be spending the next 2 months doing further missionary and youth work in various locations across these two nations. I will be returning to Ireland on the 15th of March.

My time here in Northern Ireland has been incredible. Closkelt (where the YWAM base is located) is the most amazing and majestic place and almost forces you to stop and think & pray about life and many things that are on your mind. It has been a place of great learning and growing for me and has enabled me to re-evaluate what is important in life. We often feel overwhelmed by the problems in the World, but if there is one thing that I have learned is that we CAN make a difference. We may not be able to change the world, but we can change SOMEBODY’s world. It may be just through a kind word, a small gift, helping someone out in some way - but overall by showing them love and that there is someone that cares. By making a difference for that one person, you ARE making a difference

Thankyou once again for all your prayers and support and I will send you out another update regarding Serbia very shortly.


God bless you all,

Tim

Email: timothydavidson@gmail.com
Mobile: +447516035647

Life in Northern Ireland

First of all, I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to write this blog. I have been so incredibly busy and things have been piling up. We are working so hard here that it is hard to find time to do anything that is not YWAM related other then sleep (and even then I'm only just getting enough of that.)

As most of you know, I am over in Northern Ireland with Youth With A Mission (or YWAM) doing my Discipleship Training School (DTS).

Life here has been incredible and often very challenging. We are living in a small country village (there is about 20 other houses in the area). It is a beautiful area with a magical view looking out over emerald valleys into the great Mourne Mountains.

We have been involved in several ministries here, mostly working with youth and young people. The main ministry that I am involved is in a small town of maybe 1500 people, called Tandragee, where we are helping a local church to establish a youth drop-in centre. The town has been through a really difficult time as over the past 8 months they have had 5 of the young people in the town commit suicide. All but 1 of them being under the age of 16. There is also an extremely high rate of underage drinking in the town. It is not uncommon to see children as young as 11 and 12 wandering the streets drunk out of their minds. So as you can see there is a real need for God to touch the youth of this place.

Through the drop-in centre we are hoping to give the youth of the town a place to hang out, so that they don't have to be out on the streets drinking. We pray that it will allow us build up relationships with them and give them somewhere that they can go when they are in need.
Already God is doing amazing things here. The drop-in centre, which is open every Friday night, has only been open a few weeks and is very much a work in progress, but already we have close to 25 regulars coming along (in the first weeks we had maybe 4). These youth are really seeking, and many of them have already been asking many deep questions about God, religion and belief. The problem with Northern Ireland, however is that religion is something that has torn apart the country for so long, that it is totally distorted and whilst nearly everyone is religious, very few people actually know what it means to have a relationship with God, and love for one another is almost non-existent. Trying to talk to someone who already thinks they are a Christian can be even more difficult then talking to someone who is an atheist.
Overall though God is really working in the lives of the youth in Tandragee and I am excited to see what he has in store for them.

I preached my first sermon the other day at another small youth group not far from here to an audience of about 25. I felt the Lord leading me to talk about Identity and self esteem. I was quite nervous, as Identity is a huge issue here, and I was a bit concerned I may be out of my depth. However I strongly felt that this was exactly what the Lord wanted me to preach on and actually it all went extremely well. The pastor was very happy with the message and wants to work a lot more with YWAM in the future.

Along with the outreach and youth work we are doing, we have also been having daily lectures & classes about God’s character and how have a deeper and more intimate relationship with him. The key to any successful mission work. The classes have been incredible with lecturers from the UK, Europe, USA and even one couple from Down Under – Perth to be precise.
God is continually blowing me away by his love and power and it seems like no matter how much I am learning about God that I am only scratching the surface. I am discovering that although in so many ways, whilst I knew a lot about God, that is very different to actually knowing him. To know him is to have so much more. In this beautiful and magnificent place the Lord is drawing me to a newer, more intimate relationship with him. It is an incredible time and He truly is an amazing God

So as you can see there has been a whole lot going on over here and in all of this I have only been able to highlight a few of many things that God is doing both in my life and the lives of those around me.

In closing, I ask that you all could continue to be holding Northern Ireland up in your prayers; please pray for healing, forgiveness and God's true peace. Pray also for the people and leaders of this nation, and for the generation that is rising up, that their hearts will be open to God and through him, a unified community in Northern Ireland.

God Bless You All.....

Ireland – My first experiences

Ireland is a nation that has been on my heart for a very long time. I remember back as far about the age of 10 having a really strange desire to visit this country, and I never really knew why. Perhaps it was because this is the land of my forefathers, (my great-grandfather was from County Galway in Ireland), or perhaps it comes from something deeper…something spiritual.

When I stepped off the plane at Dublin Airport, the feeling was something that I cannot express. After 14 years I was finally standing on Irish soil.

My first four weeks in Ireland were spent travelling around with my family, getting a feel for the land, the people and their culture; they also wanted to see the country that I will be calling home 6 months.

We spent the first few days at a small village outside of Dublin, called Swords, before heading up to stay for a few days at the Youth With A Mission (YWAM) base in Northern Ireland (40 mins from Belfast) where I will be living and working while I’m here. It was great to meet some of the staff and people that I will be sharing the next 6 months with, and to get to know them a bit before commencing my work with them when I returned on October 1^st.

Ireland is an amazing country, an ancient land whose haunting song touches me deep inside. There is something very different here that I have not felt in the other places that I have been, although I cannot pinpoint exactly what it is.

Historically, it is incredible. Never in my travels have I seen so many old castles and manors, most of which are falling down or in ruins. I have visited some of Ireland’s most ancient heritage sites and stood in the place of many historic battles.

I travelled to the fields where the Battle of the Boyne took place in 1690. This battle was between William of Orange (Protestant) and James II (Catholic) as they fought for what amounted as the throne of England and for control over Ireland. The guide showed us the weapons used, how to load the muskets and the cannons (which could fire up to 1 kilometre), and explained the reason for the battle and how it determined much of Ireland’s future. This battle is often seen the beginning of the conflict that still affects Northern Ireland today.

We also visited Newgrange, a Neolithic burial mound which is 1000 years older than Stonehenge and 500 years older than the Pyramids at Giza. Scientists have dated the mound at around 5000 BC. The tour took us inside the tomb and we were absolutely astounded. The chamber was built up by placing rock slabs in an overlapping manner angled so that the whole thing was like a pyramid, but without the point. A huge cap stone was placed on the top and then the whole mound covered with 250 tons of earth. Many of the rocks had been transported from 80 kms away. The tunnel leading to the chamber had been designed in such a way that on winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, the sunlight penetrates up the entrance of the tunnel flooding the whole burial chamber with brilliant orange rays of light.
The rocks have beautiful carved designs and Newgrange is only one of many burial mounds throughout the country. The people who built these mounds were the first farmers in Ireland. They cremated their dead and then took the ashes and placed them in stone basins on alters in the mounds. In many other places throughout this country you can also see hundreds of Dolmens, standing or balancing stones, which are also ancient burial sites for cremated dead.

In addition to these there are thousands of Celtic hill and ring forts, most of which date back to around the time of Christ. History is everywhere, in fact many of these sites are unprotected because there are just too many for the government to try and preserve them all. It is not uncommon to see cattle and sheep grazing in and around castles and forts, etc. If this ancient land could speak, it would tell some amazing stories. Ireland truly is an enchanting and mystical land.

One of the most beautiful areas of this amazing country is the county of Kerry in the south west of Ireland, in particular the Dingle peninsular. Dingle is a tiny village on the peninsular that is full of Irish culture – it is an entirely Irish Gaelic speaking village, with traditional Irish music in every pub, and you will often see people riding around in horse drawn buggies. Dingle is the most magical traditional Irish town and well worth a visit.

Probably one of the highlights of my travels in Ireland so far is discovering several castles that belonged to my family in the county of Galway (my great-grandfather came from Galway). We had about 9 castles at one point, but only about 4 or 5 are still standing. My family and I visited several of them, but most are now just ruins.

Our Castles

Northern Ireland
Whilst Ireland is a beautiful country with green hills and ancient ruins, it is also a broken and hurting land. Northern Ireland is torn apart by violence and disunity, and even though the conflict in the north has now been declared officially over, the tension has far from dissipated. As you walk through the streets of Belfast, you can feel the tension in the air. It is a community torn apart by flags and politics. Many parts of Belfast have amazing political (and often frightening) murals, which depict just a fraction of emotion and fear behind the powder keg that is Northern Ireland. It is truly a place that is impossible to understand until you visit it, and even then you can’t even scratch the surface of what is really going on here.

This is nation gripped by fear! It is not uncommon to see a razor-wire and 3 metre high walls or fences surrounding primary schools. Irish Tri-colour and Union Jack flags (as well as the various orange/white/green or red/white/blue coloured paint on the pavement or walls) let you know whether you are in a Catholic or Protestant area. The police drive around in big military-style armoured cars. Nearly everyone here has lost someone, or knows of someone who was killed as a result of the conflict. Considering the entire population of Northern Ireland is only about 1.7 million, (Northern Ireland is a separate country to the Republic of Ireland) it is incredible burden for such a small nation to bear.

Belfast

Hundreds of years of hatred, fear and violence is not an easy thing to reconcile, but there are numerous organisations here working with the community and slowly things seem to be getting a little better. YWAM Northern Ireland (the organisation I am working with) is focused on working with both sides of the community towards bringing reconciliation. It is a long and arduous task but I believe the key is with the young people of this nation.

So I ask that you all could be holding Northern Ireland up in your prayers; please pray for healing and forgiveness, for the people and leaders of this nation, and for the generation that is rising up, that their hearts will be open to God and through him, a unified community in Northern Ireland.

More Ireland Pics

Eastern Europe

We travelled into Eastern Europe not really knowing quite what to expect as we will be travelling in many areas that do not get a lot of tourists. Firstly we will be heading into Slovenia, followed by Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, then back into Austria for a few days to visit Vienna and then into Czech Republic.

SLOVENIA

Well, where do we start? Slovenia is a Beautiful little country. It was part of former Yugoslavia and under communist rule for many years and then in1991, after the fall of communism in the Eastern Block, became its own free state (republic). We loved the country and its beautiful people, and overall really enjoyed our stay here (although it wasn't long enough).

First stop was Lipica (pronounced Lipitza) where the very first Lipizzaner Horse Stud in the world was founded in1580 by an Austrian Archduke. The Lipizzaner horses are used by the world renounced Spanish riding school of Vienna. Mum (who LOVES horses) went to a presentation of their famous white stallions and a tour of the stud.

We stayed the night there and then moved on to the Skojan Caves the next day. My brother Sam and I went on a tour through them. It was absolutely facinating They were made up of an amazing system of underground chambers, rivers and waterfalls including the 'Murmuring Cave.' which is 300m long, 100m high and supposedly the world's largest subterranean canyon. It is also the only underground wetland in the world. At the end we went through the archaeological and historical museum which held many Celtic, Greek and Roman artefacts found in the area.

Skojan Caves

Onward and upward intro the mountains to visit the Predjama Castle built in the 1500's and constructed in a cave system on a mountainside. The Castle was Amazing and the scenery beautiful. We stayed the night at the Castle and met a lovely couple from Sweden who have asked me to come and stay when I go there later in the year.

Predjama Castle

We continued on and travelled to the magnificent mountain lakes of Bled and Bohinj. Forests surround the lakes and they are now being promoted as top tourist destinations for Slovenia. We didn't stop but found instead a stunning river in the forest where we spent much of the day. The water was truly amazing, emerald green in colour and so clear that you could see the fish swimming and every rock on the bottom. I have never seen water that green before and were wondering if minerals in the soil could cause this astounding colour.

Leaving the mountains, we headed east through grazing land for the town of Ptuj which is the oldest town in Slovenia. A castle overlooks this charming town and we were able to have a good walk around even though it was raining on that day.

Slovenia is busy building new road systems and are preparing themselves for an increase in the tourist trade. However at this stage much of Slovenia is unspoilt with 47% of the country being national parkland. The Slovenians were some of the friendliest people we met and we are very pleased to have been able to visit such a beautiful country.

CROATIA

We travelled from Slovenia through the north of Croatia on our way to Hungary. The western coast (Dalmatia) of Croatia is supposed to be lovely and is regarded now as one of the hot new holiday destinations but we were travelling through the north where there are few tourists which although very interesting, we decided not to stay.

Croatia is very poor, well at least in the region we were in. Many buildings show evidence of the war, many were falling down and there were slum areas through the countryside. Few people spoke any English at all and the police at the border each had two guns, one in a holster plus one in their hands and were quite abrupt, looking in the motor home etc. Even the officials at the tollways were very surly so we decided that this region was not for us and headed across the border into Hungary.

HUNGARY

Our next stop after leaving Croatia was Hungary. We really enjoyed our visit to Hungary and found both the scenery and the people delightful. We drove from the west of Hungary towards Budapest, stopping off at the beautiful lake, Balaton where we 'splurged' and had lunch at a lovely restaurant looking down on the lake. This restaurant was established 130 years ago and the food was fantastic. We have all decided that we love Hungarian food.
Hungry In Hungary

We met a very interesting German chap, (in his fifties) while we were there who has a holiday home on the Lake and is moving there permanently in a few years. He said that many Germans are moving to Hungary as the land is cheap and the lifestyle more relaxed.

Many Hungarians are still very poor and yet there is certainly a sense of pride in their homeland. The crime rate is low compared to many other European countries and we felt very safe at all times.

The countryside is lovely with many areas reminding us of the country around nothr. Crop after crop of sunflowers border the roadsides and you once again get the feeling as you pass small villages that you have gone back in time.

We journeyed on to Hezviz where some unique mineral hot spring baths were located but we were not able to try the 'therapeutic waters' as we had arrived too late in the day. Instead drove up to an old castle perched on a mountain top before we made our way to the Slovakian border.

We were thinking about going to Budapest but again time restraints prevented us. We want to spend a few days in both Vienna and Prague before returning through northern Germany to Düsseldorf where we bid farewell to the motorhome and get on a plane for Ireland.

Hungary is a great country and again, if you are planning a trip to Europe try and include both it and Slovenia in your itinerary. Their natural beauty, cultural and historical richness are well worth seeing.

Hungary Pics

SLOVAKIA

The parts of Slovakia that we travelled through were very interesting with some beautiful farming land. Lots of healthy crops cover the countryside reminding us so much of the land over the Great Divide in Australia. However that is where the similarity ended. We did not see many villages but rather towns that were on the whole an absolute eyesore. Block after block of ugly concrete flats, all on top of each other litter the horizon, a legacy of communist rule. We could not believe our eyes when we came across town after town like this. Just awful!!

We visited the capital, Bratislava situated on the Danube River. Its city centre had some beautiful buildings and the old castle that gazes down on the city is quite imposing. However the suburbs once again feature numerous drab concrete bocks of units that seem to be a feature of past town planning in Slovakia.

Left Bratislava and headed north, venturing down a back road into forested mountains which we really enjoyed seeing. Then veered west and made for Austria (once again) in order to visit Vienna. Can't wait as this has always been a city that we wanted to see!!

We did not warm to Slovakia like Slovenia or Hungary but in saying this, we were not able to journey to the east which is apparently very beautiful with the High Tatras mountain range. It was just too far for us to go at this late stage of our trip so maybe our opinion would have been different if we had ventured further a field.

Tomorrow back to Austria and Vienna and then onto Czech Republic.