Apprentice

Hello! I’m still alive. Hurrah! I’ve been a bit busy, far busier than I thought I’d be this week. I imagined things would slow down after last Wednesday, which is when I handed in the last of my assignments at the IBI but I was wrong. Everything seems to be happening this week. I have books to finish reading, trips to take, policies to read, forms to fill in, an interview in Belfast to go to, a training day to attend, work to finish up, a replacement to train in… I’m going to be busy for a while.

I have some big things going on but also a lot of little things that cannot be ignored but here’s a run-down of some of the big things happening to me at the moment.

SWIM

First and foremost among the big, life-changing things is SWIM (click here for more info in a previous post). I’ve been encouraged and decided to go all out for this. Serving at MCC (the “friend’s church” mentioned in that previous post) for a year would be my dream job at the moment. The optimism of my friends and their patience with my often Eeyore-like personality has convinced me that raising the support I need is possible. Some very kind people have contributed already leaving the total amount I have left to raise at somewhere between €2,000 and €3,000. The support and encouragement I’ve already received has been amazing and I’m hopeful that I can make it. I haven’t taken any actual money from people yet because I still have to be approved by the Board of Youth and Children’s Ministry. My interview with the Board is on Wednesday in Belfast. I am nervous because I don’t really know what to expect. Also I’ve never been to Belfast before but thankfully my friend and mentor, Peter and his wonderful wife Christine will be there that day anyway and can meet me when I get off the bus. Please pray that I’ll give a good account of myself and be approved to serve at MCC. I’m hoping that the fund raising I’ve already done will show the Board that I’m serious about the programme.

Encounter

I’ll be starting my short-term mission work with World Harvest Mission Ireland. I’ll be co-leading a team of volunteers at the Anchorage in Ringsend, Dublin. The Anchorage is such an unusual and brilliant place. Basically the trustees of an old, run-down church meeting hall left it to a local man Joe because he was the only local Christian they knew. Left with a big, dilapidated hall and no idea what to do with it Joe asked God for help. This passage came to Joe’s mind and so, with no horticultural experience, Joe started growing flowers and breeding birds (and rabbits). Years later Joe’s an expert in both and sells the flowers and animals to raise money for the third world and improve his community. When I was there last year as a volunteer we planted flowers locally at the community centre, the retirement home, the women’s shelter and a few housing estates, we distributed free New Testaments door-to-door, carried out a survey to see if people would be interested in attending an Alpha course and helped out at the kids club. It’s a very exciting place to serve and I’m looking forward to doing it again this year, but I’m a bit nervous about being a leader.

Running

I think I’ve got the running bug. I started running about a month ago. I was browsing online and I read an article somewhere about some Maasai who were competing in the London Marathon. They ran in sandals made from old car tires. Back home they run everyday with their cattle and they said the marathon would be easy because there are no lions. Compared to these guys I’m like a different, more sedentary species. So, without setting my sites on a marathon or anything, I decided I’d try to run the 3/4 of a mile home from work. My first run was a crushing disappointment. I thought I could run 3/4 of a mile easy but I couldn’t even make it half of the way. I had a lot of excuses for myself - it’s up a steep hill, I didn’t warm up enough, I tried to run too fast, I had tuberculosis when I was a child, blah, blah, blah… The fact remains I was in much more need of regular exercise than I’d imagined. So next day I tried again, setting little markers for myself to keep me going but before I knew it I’d ran out of markers and had made it home without stopping. At times you could have past me walking because I was only technically running in that at one point in my gait I had both feet off the ground.

Since then I’ve been running regularly and increasing the distance steadily. I’ve mapped out a nice 5K route that starts and ends with my home and another for when I run home from work. I think I’ve made good progress and it feels great to get out and get the exercise. I’d like to aim for a race next, a 5K is certainly doable but I don’t see a lot of them around here so I might have to keep training until I can do a 10K. I’m considering blogging regularly about my running.

IBI

Wednesday is the last day of studies at the IBI but I won’t be able to make it that day because of my interview in Belfast. We have an end of year party on Tuesday, which I should be able to make it to. This is the end of an era for me since my course is finished now but I do expect they’ll see me back at IBI soon, probably for modular or evening studies.