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