Tiger Trophy trauma...

Ok so the Tiger Trophy was held last night. For those of you who are not aware, the Tiger Trophy is held every month-6 weeks with 3 friends of mine for Uni. A different person hosts the tournament each time and we generally eat pizza first and then play a league of Pro Evo Soccer 5 on the PS2. Last night i was feeling fairly confident for no particular reason at all! However i put in an absolutley shocking performance and failed to win a match all evening. As such i finished last! Unfortunatley Nigel took the trophy home which is really quite embarrassing because he isn't that good and i usually beat him!

You see i find myself at a significant disadvantage to the other competitors as i do not own a PS2 or X-Box and so therefore cannot put in the required 'training' between tournaments. The rest of the guys are practising all the time so it's little wonder i'm taken advantage of! Anyways, there's always the next time!

Check out the photo and do take note of the t-shirt and the coveted trophy!

Baptism & Beach BBQ's...

I was over in Glasgow at the weekend for my nephew Daniel's Baptism. I hadn't seen him since the end of June and he has grown soooo much (as you can see in the picture!). He's 10 months old now and so full of fun and smiles. It really will be no time until he's running round the place, then the craic will really start! I love spending time with him though because he makes everyone happy, especially Mum and Dad - they just seem to come alive when they are with him and none of the rest of us even get a chance to hold him!!!

The baptism all went off well and Daniel was a model child of course! All in all a great weekend but i was pretty wrecked by the time i got home last night! To be honest i think i still haven't recovered from my travel tiredness!

Also have to say we had a great night on Friday! Youth in church started back and we headed for a beach BBQ at Murlough. We had about 45 young people there aged from 11-18 and quite a few new faces too which was great. The food was good (big thanks to Pete and a few others) and then we lit a bit of a bonfire and shared a bit of a moment together! Feedback has been pretty good so i think people enjoyed themselves! So hopefully everyone (and even more!) will come along this Friday night as we start into out programme for this term in Fusion (aged 11-14) and 20:20 (aged 15-uni).

Rejoice...

Was down at Oxford Island again this morning for the first time since before the summer, it was really good for me. This morning i had read the following and it had stuck in my mind so it was good to reflect on it as i walked:

'Rejoice. Change your ways. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.' 2 Cor 13:11

The word rejoice got me thinking about JOY and can i really say that i am full of JOY? I think my happiness and joy is generally dependent on external factors but that isn't God's JOY, which comes from deep within and in spite of externalities. I know that if i want to be there and experience the 'God of love and peace' with me then i need to invest more time in our relationship. I've always struggled with reading the Bible regularly and i know im not alone on this one. They (don't ask me who 'they' are) say that it takes 6 weeks to develop a new habit, so I'm committing myself to the One Year Bible blog for the next 6 weeks. I'll keep you updated on my progress!

I spent some time tonight with a friend who completely inspires and challenges me with their lifestyle of unconditional love and self-sacrifice for a broken community. I feel like something broken in my own heart gets restored when i spend time with them. It's good to have friends like that.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of Windsor 2006...

So i arrived home yesterday from Bangkok after almost 24 hours of travelling and very little rest. It's nice to be back in Waringstown, not much really changes although the Road Service has obviously been busy and the village now has parking lay-bys and boasts more islands than Greece!

A few months ago my friend and i went into the Lottery for tickets for N. Ireland's home qualifiers for Euro 2008 and were lucky enough to get 2 seats. I'd never been to a N.I. game before so last night i was looking forward to the match with Spain but given the 3-0 defeat to Iceland at the weekend i wasn't too hopeful. Oh my goodness, how wrong was i.

This was one of those defining moments in life people will talk about. 'Where were you the night N. Ireland defeated Spain 3-2?' will be the question. I can't believe that i am one of the 14,500 who can say - 'I was there!'

I have been to Old Trafford to watch United play 5 times but i can honestly say that last night was the best match i have ever been to in my life! N. Ireland came from behind twice and then with only 5 minutes to go, scored the winner. Healy with his hat-trick performance truely is a local legend on the scale of Best now.

I can hardly speak today, not because of the emotion of the experience, although it was emotive but because my throat hurts. I don't think i stopped singing all night. N. Ireland fans surely are the best in the world and the chorus's of 'We're not Brazil, we're Northern Ireland', 'We're not very good', 'Healy, Healy, Healy', 'Let's all do the bouncy' and 'Are you England in disguise?' rang out with enormous volume from start to finish. When Healy's 3rd goal went in i don't know if i have ever experienced such corporate euphoria and celebration ever in my life! I hugged and danced with grown men i have never met before but yet it was completely rational in the context! I'm sure the celebrations continued long into the night and with good reason!

What a night, what a game, what a team. Give's us all something to sing about our wee country! Now all that remains for me is to e-mail my Spanish friend Simon in Barcelona! Back to work today - ahhhh!

Latest adventures...

Ok where do i start! Lots has happened in the last few days! Our flight was leaving Ko Samui island at 6am on Friday morning so rather that pay the mere 5pounds accommodation for the night we though we would just kip at the airport! So we arrive with all our bags at Samui airport just after midnight to be told the airport closes during the night and won't open until 5am! I mean what sorta airport shuts at night - although if you have been to Samui airport you might understand why - its basically a series of small bamboo huts with no walls! Its like being at a tropical island resort! Anyways, resourceful as we are, we decided to just hang around across the street so we found this market stall and just slept in it (see pic on left)! Not a great nights sleep had!

So on Friday we made our way to Sangklaburi to visit our friend Laura there. She teaches English to a group of fourteen students. Sangklaburi is a small town but 80% of its inhabitants are Burmese (Myanmar) and they have fled to Thailand because of the problems in their country. As such you get a real Burmese flavour to the area. The students Laura teaches are from the Mon tribe in Burma and all have their own colourful life stories to tell as you can imagine. Laura lives in community with her students - sharing meals and living space. She has been there for 3 months now and plans to spend another 6 months there. Laura has her own blog where she jouranls her experiences with a fantastic writing style - click here to check it out. Picture shows us sharing Mon food with Laura and her students. Following this we discovered how much the Thai and Burmese people love Westlife and Westlife karaoke - it was a sereal moment!

This was an amazing experience for us as we got to talk with real Thai and Burmese people and experience something of their culture and struggles. I'm so glad we had these couple of days were we could get off the beaten track and see no other tourists!

Whilst there we got invited to a Buddhist Monks birthday party at the temple - what a privilege - i mean this opportunity does not often present itself eh?! The pic on the left shows is the birthday boy in question! The party really just involved a sharing of food with a lot of people from the community. Then they had a time of prayer that we were able to observe also.

Yesterday we hired out 2 motorbikes and went touring around visiting some of the Mon villages. I've never been to anywhere were i have seen such poverty but at the same time the people there are very happy, they have their own little houses and they are healthy and seem to have their basic needs met - they all had running water, electric, televisions etc. We were also able to visit a Christian Childrens Home which mostly caters for orphans or children with HIV/Aids. The children were at church when we were there though so sadly we didn't get to spend time with them. We moved on to visit a similar centre for adults who have HIV/Aids, or disabilities or mental health problems. This was also interesting and the residents there weved their own products to sell so we were able to buy some stuff. The pic on the left is me beside the Burma border (we weren't allowed to cross it).

By far the funniest thing of the trip happened yesterday! Stefan was raking his motorbike in this little dirt area beside some market stalls. So i thought i'd take a picture and I'm not sure quite what happened but he was giving it full throttle and heading straight for me with the intention of braking. However i think he forgot how to brake or else he tried to brake whilst still giving it full throttle. Anyways, basically he fell off just as i was taking a picture so i managed to capture the perfect moment. I'm not joking folks, it was hilarious! Stefan came away with a few cuts and bruises but by far the worst to suffer was his pride! The bike was only a little bit damaged luckily enough and we got it fixed ok! Anyone who can remember any of the stories from last years trip will remember he did something pretty similar with a boat!

So all in all, it was a fantastic couple of days, defintely a highlight of the trip. we have just arrived in Bangkok today for 2 days. We leave here on Tuesday and arrive home on Wednesday morning and there will end the travelling for another year (well a few months anyway!).

Roast beef...

So here we are still in Ko Phangan, thought I'd include a couple of pics - one of the beach and one of a beautiful sunset. Yesterday Stefan and i got absolutely roasted unfortunately! I think because we knew we only have a couple of days here to get a tan then we got a bit carried away! So as a result we both had an uncomfortable night of sleeping! I'm a firm believer in p20 sun cream (apply once and it does you all day) but it definitley let us down yesterday! Anyways, I'm a bit less sore this morning and we both will spend the day in the shade! Its a good opportunity to get some reading done. Im reading 'Celebration of Discipline' by Richard Foster. I think it's about my third time reading this book but its so good. We are looking at the disciplines this term in youth fellowship so I'm enjoying refreshing myself!

We leave at about 3pm today to make our way back to Ko Samui to spend the evening and then we fly early in the morning back to Bangkok.

Here are some observations of Thai culture:

• all toilets a have a little hand held hose pipe thing that you use to wash yourself off. Toilet paper is only used for drying purposes!
• Its quite common to see older men spitting into bins and then clearing both their nostrils into the same bin just by blowing hard (no tissue involved). This is really gross.
• Barter for everything. The first price they quote is usually at least 3-5 times more than what they will sell it for!
• Most foods are very spicy!

Jungle pics as promised...

Elephant trekking



View from one of the villages








The children dancing


Torrential rain. This is the truck we were on the roof of!







Our trek team!

Paradise islands...

Hello there again, we arrived in Ko Samui safe and well on Monday and decided to just head straight to Ko Phangan because it is a little more unspoilt and less commercial. We flew with Bangkok Airways which was a fantastic experience! They have their own little departure lounge in Bangkok airport and everything is FREE - tea, coffee, sandwiches, drinks, even popcorn. They have daily newspapers and internet - again all FREE! They even have a classical music trio that play each day from 11am-3pm. Seriously folks if you're ever here then you have to fly with them - they are cheap too!

Last night we stayed at Hat Rin in a beach hut overlooking the sea. It's a nice beach but it's party central, lots of bars and clubs etc and really noisy and not really what we were up for so we moved on this morning to Hat Yao to probably the most beautiful beach i have ever seen. You know the sorta ones from the postcards with palm trees and beach huts and turquoise water - well you can picture me and stefan lying up catchin the rays - living the dream! We've got a pretty nice wee beach hut only 20metres from the beach and its only 5 pounds per night! So today was pretty much all about chiling out, reading and a bit of bathing. I've never been in sea that is soooo warm before ever! You know the way at Portstew you dip your toe in and it takes the breath from ya, well this is more like water at room temperature - beautiful! Again this computer wont let me put pics up or else i wouldn't have to write half as much!

So we stay here until Thursday and then head back to Ko Samui to leave for Bangkok on Friday morning. Whilst travelling we have had contact with a girl that we met last summer when travelling around europe. Her name is Laura (from USA) and she is currently teaching english in a little village in Thailand near the Myanmar border. She's invited us to go there for a couple of days and we've decided to do it cos it'll give us a fantastic local experience at a place without any tourists. We will head there on Friday (6hour bus from Bangkok) and stay until Sunday, then spend 2 days in Bangkok and fly home on Tues-Wed. Can't believe i've only got a week left - time really does fly when you're having fun!

Thai treking...

Well hello there folks, i have returned in one piece to blog once more following our 3-day trekking experience! Had an absolutely amazing time and would recommend it to anyone if you're up for roughing it a bit, well a lot actually! There were 13 people in our group from a variety of nationalities, so it was a great way to meet people. We started out with some elephant treking which i was really excited about cos i love elephants and it was good because you got to ride on their back around a bit of the jungle and cross rivers. However it was sad for me to see the elephants tied up and you know they aren't treated the best by the handlers. I guess it never really matches up to seeing elephants in the wild but im sure i will get to do that someday!

We left the elephant park to begin treking and it started to rain. Now for those of you who don't know, its rainy season here in Thailand at the moment so this was torrential rain - ive never seen anything like it, streets were quickly turned to rivers. At this stage we were just travelling to our starting point and because there was not enough room for us all inside the van, stefan and i and a couple of others were sitting in the roof rack. We quickly had to stop the van and take a bit of shelter - we were soaked through! Luckily we had bought wee ponchos before we left for about 30p and im so glad we did because we had really heavy showers everday that lasted maybe 2-3 hours. It didn't spoil it though because it wasnt cold, just wet!

Each night we wuld stay with one of the indigenous tribal villages where we would have a meal cooked for us and then a night of singing and chatting around candlelight! The next day was more trekking, some waterfalls and more rain of course. Stefan had bought some cheap sandals from the market to wear trekking so he wouldn't wreck his good trainers. We were walking through a lot of mud this day and within about 10 minutes both of his sandals ripped so that all that was left was the bit over the toes - flippin hilarious to watch him trying to go downhill!!! He had no other footwear with him so we had to laugh! That night the village children put on a little singing and dancing performance for us which was lovely. You would think that sleeping in a jungle village would be so peaceful, no traffic or city noise but lo and behold we were awoken by a chorus of rooster 'cock-a-doodle-dooing' from about 5am each day. I mean it was still dark which i couldn't understand but after about 4 hours of it you were about ready to strangle something. If it wasn't the roosters then it was dogs fighting!

On the last day we trekked to the white-water rafting place on the Mae Taeng River. We were told we had picked the best day of the year because there had been so much rain, the rapids were better. It was awesome, lots of grade 5 rapids which was so much fun - great way to finish the adventure!

Tomorrow morning we fly to Ko Samui island and we will spend until Friday horizontal on the beach! Here's hoping they aint getting the same rain we are getting in Northern Thailand!

Can't seem to get any pics up here at the moment (grrrrr) but i'll try again later!

The Thai experience!

Hello there folks so we arrived safe and well in Bangkok yesterday morning and jumped straight onto another flight to Chaing Mai in the north of Thailand. We had no accommodation sorted but thanks to the trusty Lonely Planet we managed to secure a private room at Safe House guesthose for just 3 pounds per night. It could do with a lick of paint but it's clean and we have our own bathroom with hot shower so you can't ask for more than that! After briefly settling in we had lunch which cost us approx 50p each - how much are we loving Thailand!

After getting the important things sorted out we set about our exploration of this city. Temples galore here so we thought we'd better check out a few. We quickly chartered our own tuk-tuk which is where we met Tommy the tuk-tuk driver (see picture) and with some negotiation (im really not the best at this bartering business!) we managed to secure a deal. Basically Tommy took us about the place for about 2.5hours and it cost us about 3pounds!

On our travels we went to a temple in a little forest. Around the forest there were lots of littke placards nailed to trees with Buddhist proverbs written on them like the one in the picture! Some very wise words indeed! I know the boys in WPC love their proverbs so i thought i'd include a few for you to add to your already abundant collection:

• One who can only hear but does not understand is as good as deaf.
• He who borrows on interest pays back in tears
• To shoulder sufferings a fool submits himself to the weight of sufferings at the same place. He is seated until his legs become atrophied. He is thus overloaded all his life being always enslaved by sensual delights. (rolls of the tongue doesn't it!)
• Tomorrow i shall do good! This is a fool's word, even today is a bit too late. A wise man did good yesterday.

I hope you benefited much from that! We managed to book ourselves a 3 day trek which will be Fri-Sun. This was our main reason for coming to Chaing Mai and I'm really excited because the trek package includes staying with remote indigenous tribes, elephant back riding and white-water rafting!

Last night we found the markets where we browsed counterfeit goods at ridiculously low prices, did some bartering and came away with a few bargains! Then we went for food. Both of us opted for the spicy Thai salad to start with asking for it to be mildly spicy. Well I'm not joking folks but ive never had my mouth burn from a salad before but i'll not forget it in a hurry! I started to get the sweats down my back, my lips were on fire and no amount of liquids seem to appease it! Thankfully i'd opted for a non-spicy main course which quickly brought my taste-buds back to something closer to normal!

All is good on the travelling front. So far we are lovin Thailand!

Reflections of a wanderer...

Hello there friends, as i approach the end of my Japanese experience i cannot fail to reflect on it all. As i approached this trip one thing i was really excited about was physically being at the other side of the world. It`s almost like be get to see another side of God because everything is different - the landscape, the stars, the climate, the colours, the buildings, the wildlife, the food, the culture and of course the people. All of this provides a new and greater perspective on God because its all part of His creation. Genesis 9 tells us that God has made us in His image therefore i should be able to see something of God in everyone i meet. Sometimes it seems like i don`t meet that many different people at home so it`s great to come here and meet so many Japanese people who are really different, and see something new of God!

Probably the highlight of Japan for me has been meeting the people here and being part of their family for a while. They have taught me what it means to serve others and show genuine hospitality. They have put themselves out in order to make us feel welcome. They have done more for us than we ever could begin to repay. God`s grace flows from the people we have met. This is also evident in the general kindness and gracefulness we have experienced outside of our hosts - in shops, on the streets, restaurants etc. One day Stefan and i were travelling to Kyoto and we gave up our seats so that 2 women and their kids could sit down. Later in the journey as they got up to leave the children presented us with a little folded paper box containing an origami crane and frog they had made for us - we were touched. An indiscrimanate act of kindness as Foy Vance would say (click here to hear the song). It was only later that we discovered that the paper crane is the Japanese symbol of peace & longevity - which made the moment all the more significant.

I`ve been reading The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning. In it he quotes Frederick Buechner:

"For what we need to know, of course, is not just that God exists, not just that beyond the steely brightness of the stars there is a cosmic intelligence of some kind that keeps the whole show going, but that there is a God right here in the thick of our day-by-day lives who may not be writing messages about himself in the stars but in one way or another is trying to get messages through our blindness as we move around here knee-deep in the fragmant muck and misery and marvel of the world. It is not objective proof of God`s existence that we want but the experience of God`s prescence. That is the miracle we are really after, and that is also, I think, the miracle that we really get."

So there you have it, this has been my miracle, my window to the soul. I wonder what Thailand has in store...(can`t guarantee as good internet access as Japan so not sure how often i can post!)

Hiroshima adventures!

We got back to Osaka last night after a spending a day and a half in Hiroshima. We visited the castle there and got dressed in some traditional samurai gear as you can see! Then we moved on to the A-Bomb Dome (pictured below by night) which remains in ruins as it was following the bomb as an eternal reminder of the tragedy. We walked through Peace Memorial Park and into the Museam which was fantastic. Lots of information to take in though but really informative of the facts leading up to the bombing and the devastation after. 140,000 people died in the blast and in the 3 months following. Given the nuclear nature of the bomb, the devastation continues in the lives of the Hibakusha (atomic-bomb survivors) as many suffer leukaemia and other cancers. Now Hiroshima is a city that has committed itself to world peace campaigning for an end to all nuclear weapons across the world so that no location should have to suffer similar mass devastaion.

On Sunday we visited the shrine at Miyjima which is reported to be the third most photographed site in the whole of Japan (pictured left). It is more beautiful at high tide but impressive none the less. The island is full of wild deer though that just walk around and you can pet them and feed them!

Last night on our return to Osaka we went to an Irish pub called Murphy`s to watch Man Utd v Fulham. 5-1 victory so we were all happy with that!

Finally i feel it is time to confess a new love in my life. We don`t know each other very well but there is a definite connection between us. I think it was her beautiful soft brown hair and brown eyes that attracted me at first and from then on we were hooked. If you want to see a picture of us then click here.

Only one day to go here in Japan, we leave on Tuesday around lunchtime to travel to Bangkok via Beijing. As for today, it will be back to the `onsen` (hot springs) tonight for one final blast!

Seyanara!

Takamatsu!

We arrived in Takamatsu on Wednesday to stay with Taneli and Rie - students that Stefan studied with. Taneli is Finish and Rie is Japanese and they are married and have a son called Ricku - possibly the cutest boy ever (next to my nephew Daniel of course!). Takamatsu is a city but in a much more rural location - not many tourists here at all! We visited a cool waterfall yesterday as you can see in the picture.

Today the boys (Chris, Taneli, Stefan & myself) went to the beach but the weather was not good so no suntan unfortunately! We did have a good laugh in the sea though.

Tonight we went into the city centre and had a walk around the shops then went for a lovely meal. For six of us to eat a really nice meal it cost just 15 pounds which was great!

Tomorrow we move on to Hiroshima which is most famous as the location of the atomic bomb. Its quite a big city so lots to see in a short time. We leave there to return to Osaka on Sunday. We have Monday to chill out in Osaka before catching our flight to Thailand on Tuesday!

This is a picture of me and Ricku!

Other observations about Thailand:

• Toilet paper is closer to tissue paper so make sure you fold many times!
• Technology is very advanced - much more so than home! Every machine here speaks to you!
• Sliding doors everywhere - houses, restaurants etc.

Seyanara!

One week gone!

Hello there folks! We have moved on from Osaka and are now spending a few days in Takamatsu staying with more friends of Stefan`s from college. Takamatsu is a much smaller city on a different island. Its really beautiful. Today we went to a river that had a really cool waterfall that you could stand under (although it was painful!). We are getting the edge of a typhoon at the moment which meant that it has been windy and a bit rainy which has been nice to be honest! Up until now its been 35-40 degrees everyday and really sticky during the nights. You only have to step outside and the` gravy`s running out of ya` as the saying goes!

Before we came to Takamatsu we had a day at the river with Maiko`s family - it was beautiful and i got to work on my tan a little! Then we went to this huge rope bridge which great but not for the faint hearted cos it was really shaky! Then Stefan and i went on a day trip to Kyoto. Its about 2 hours from Osaka. Its a huge city and we got to visit a couple of Budhist temples which was quite interesting. There were lots of candles to light and bells to ring and things to bow down to but we didn`t sell out to it you`ll be glad to hear! The area we visited and the buildings and shops and little streets felt a bit more like authentic Japan. We also got to see a couple of geisha`s which was interesting - again we did not embrace that part of the culture!

On Saturday we will move on to Hiroshima before returning to Osaka on Sunday. We leave Japan on Tuesday to start our Thai adventure!

I`ve put some more pictures up on Flickr so check them out using the My Pictures link to the right or click here.

Konnichiwa!

Hello again, what a great few days we have had! On Saturday we ventured into Osaka City centre with Chris and visited Osaka Castle, Minami Area which is kinda like Times Square in NYC (see pic left) and Umeda Sky building which is really tall and we got some great nightime shots of Osaka (pic below).

Today we went to Chris & Miake`s church this morning which, apart from the language difference (Maike translated for us), reminded me a lot of church back home. The people there were lovely, a few of them spoke good English and came and chatted to us. Then we spent the rest of the day on the roof of Miake`s parents apart block. It`s 15 floors high and you get a great view. We chilled out and kicked the football around and had a laugh - pretty relaxing day.

Following that Miake`s family prepared the most amazing meal ever. I think it was called Quishe Tamaka?! Basically it was lots of different raw meats, fish and vegetables on skewers. Together we lightly battered all the skewers and then on the table was a saucepan of boiling oil and we fryed it all and ate it - it was a taste sensation. They really are the kindest most hospitable family and we really have been blessed to spend time with them! To the right is a picture of us all during tonights feast!
From left: Chris, Maike, Kaeko (Maike`s Mum), Satishi (Maike`s brother), Stefan, Aki (Maike`s Dad), and me!

Other observations of Japanese culture:

• it seems to be common to provide a seat in the shower which is a great idea if you ask me!
• Japenese people are not noticeably smaller! I had expected to feel tall (for a change) but this is not so!
• There are hardly any western white people here! As such Stefan, Chris and i stand out quite a bit! For example at out first visit to the `onsen` (hot springs) within 1 minute of our arrival there were about 8 staff in reception lined up all staring at us and giggling! Now some people may find this offensive but we were rather flattered!

Tomorrow (Monday) Maike`s Dad is taking us to a more rural place about 2 hours away by car (can`t remember the name). It is supposed to be very beautiful and there is a river there to swim in and real `onsen` to enjoy! Also a top tourist attraction is a suspension bridge over the river which is over 200m long apparently - bit bigger than Carrick-a-rede then!

Sayonara, Neil

By the way...

Hey there folks, just to let you know the mobile phone doesn`t work in Japan so don`t bother texting! Only communication is really by commenting on the blog or e-mailing me to stuff4neil@hotmail.com

I`ll write more later!

Day 1 in Japan...

Hello there folks! Arrived in Japan (Osaka) at 3pm local time (8hours ahead of home) today after an epic travel of almost 24 hours which included 2 flights (via Doha). We were greated by Chris at the airport and he took us to his house where he lives with his wife Maike. There house is lovely and Stefan and i have our very own room equipped with 2 beds, air conditioning (it like 36degrees) a fridge and laptop - all is good. Then we set off to Maikes parents apartment just round the corner. Here we were treated like kings! Keiko is Maike`s mother and she cooked us a fantastic meal of noodle stir fry with pork and she even provided us with some chips! It was fantastic to sit in a Japenese home with a Japanese family and share a meal together! You just don`t get experiences like that when you travel normally, experiences that really give you a taste of the people and their culture - priceless. Here are some of the cultural differences noticeable already:

• you always take your shoes off when you go inside and leave them at the door.
• there is absolutely no litter anywhere (and zero chewing gum on the streets) and yet i haven`t seen bins at every corner.
• the latest toilets have these little jets of water that shoot up and clean your bum!!!
• Everyone is so polite and graceful. We have had a few people bowing to us already!
• Chopsticks during meal times. I really want to embrace the culture and so didn`t use a fork at all for my meal even though they had sympathetically provided us with both!

This evening Chris took us to the hot springs. These centres scattered across Japan and are quite popular. Its basically like a massive health suite with a mixture of jacuzzis, saunas, steam rooms, freezing cold pools etc. The centre is split into two sides, one for males and one for females - the reason being that everyone is naked! It was a good laugh as you can imagine and you definitely come away feeling more alive! Think the hot springs are definitely going to get a few more visits over the next couple of weeks!

Anyways, tomorrow we are going to a Sushi restaurant for lunch then going to chat with Chris`s students whom he teaches english to. After that we will probably explore a bit of Osaka!

3 Days to go...

So as most of you will be aware, i'm off on my own adventure on Tuesday. I'm backpacking for 4 weeks around Japan & Thailand with my good friend Stefan. Now that Youth Week is over i'm really getting excited about the trip, and a bit nervous too i guess! People keep asking me what are the plans so here are the 'loose' plans of the trip thus far.

On Wednesday we will fly from Manchester to Osaka in Japan (via Doha). We will arrive about 3pm on the Thursday (Japan time). Stefan has a Uni friend called Chris who married a Japanese girl called Maika. They live in Osaka and so we will be staying with them for a lot of our time in Japan. Whilst there we will go to Takamatsu which is on a different island and supposedly really beautiful. Then we will visit Hiroshima. We will also head to Tokyo for a visit and maybe Kyoto.

Chris works for a church in Osaka so we will be visiting his youth group there one night to give a bit of a testimony and then he'd like us to come along to guest at his mini football club for 4-8 year old kids one afternoon so that should be the craic!

On 22nd Aug we fly to Bangkok (via Beijing!) arriving on 23rd where we jump straight on another plane to Chang Mai (Northern Thailand). There we plan to take a 4 day jungle trek where we will get to see the real Thailand and visit indigenous tribes, go elephant back riding and do some white water rafting. I'm very excited about this trek! Then on the 28th Aug we will fly down to the South of Thailand to the islands and spend a five or six days chilling out on paradise like beaches. Finally we head back to Bangkok for a couple of days to buy some cheap clothes before arriving back on the 6th September!

I love travelling! Last summer i inter-railed round Europe for 4 weeks and fell in love with it. Everyday is a different adventure, new things to see, experiences, different cultures, food, meeting new people - it's going to be amazing! I will try to blog as much as i can whilst away and i'll even try to get some photos up as i go too so watch this space!

As promised...

Ok so Youth Week is over and i am pretty exhausted but it was amazing and i did promise i would fill you in on how things went! ! I don't know if I have ever laughed as much in 5 days as I have this week so that's always a good sign. We had a core group of about 25 young people who attended most of the week which is less than i hoped for but I'm not going to get too bothered by that!

Here's what excited me most this week! We started each day with some worship and a short devotion. I decided to take the theme of 'serving others' and started the week by looking at Luke 22:24-27 and not thinking of ourselves as better than anyone else. In talking about this I was particularly thinking about the young people from the car park who don’t go to church and whom our church young people don’t mix very well with.

In planning for youth week my hope was that it would really engage both the young people from church and the unchurched and bring them together. However the reality was that the unchurced young people appeared keen but then didn’t show up for various reasons. I was a bit disappointed at times but then a few things happened that really encouraged me and made me sure that we did make progress with this group of people. Firstly about 6 of them came along to our Quiz on Tuesday night in the Youth mobile, I sat with them and I think they had a good night. The following evening I was chatting to them briefly and they told me they felt uncomfortable in the mobile and they felt the church ones were staring at them. One girl actually said ‘why do they think they are better than us?’ This really disappointed me given what I had talked about in Monday morning devotion. So for Thursday's devotion I looked at Phil 2:3-8 reinforcing the idea of not thinking of ourselves as better than anyones else and I told them how the young people from the car park had felt on Tuesday night and what they had said. On Friday night we were back in the Youth Mobile for some funny games and a few of the unchurched ones came in and I was so pleased to see our church ones really making an effort to talk to them and make them feel welcome. This was definitely a bit of a breakthrough!

So I had set out a few hopes and prayer requests for the week in my last posting so how did they work out? Many young people definitely had a really enjoyable week. The weather was perfect for us from Mon-Thurs and then the heavens opened on Friday afternoon! Everyone got soaked to the skin as we competed in the Olympics at the cricket lawn but to be honest the rain just made things even more hilarious! Unchurched young people did come along and the church ones did make an effort to get to know them. All of the volunteers had a great time helping out and time will tell if they are keen to commit more time to the young people in or out of the church. Unfortunatley we didn't get to paint the playpark on Thursday, there was just to much red tape on the side of the council and to little time to sort it out but hopefully another time this will work out. However everyone did have a great day picking litter in the village and serving the people of this community. Now i think it might be time for an afternoon nap for me!!!

This week's mental!

This week is Youth Week in church which i have planned and organised. It starts tomorrow morning at 9am. We start each day with some worship and a short devotion, then there are activities planned for each day. Tomorrow we are going to Craigavon Watersports centre which should be fun. I was starting to panic yesterday when i only had about 15 names of young people down (i was hoping for 40) but God obviously heard my prayers and i got a few phone calls tonight from people who want to come so i'm not gonna worry anymore cos God has obviosly got things in control! So given that God does answer prayer, here's some of my hopes for this week and i'll report back here on saturday to let you know when they have been answered! I hope that many young people have a really enjoyable week. I hope the weather stays good especially for Tuesday - Friday. I hope that some of the young people from the village that don't go to church will come along. I hope that our church young people will make an effort to get to know these young people. I hope that some of my volunteers will really get excited and want to commit more of their time to investing in young people in or out of church. I hope we get to repaint the playpark on Thursday.

Thats all i can think of right now! If you pray then please pray for these things! It's gonna be a fantastic (if a little exhausting!) week!

The window of movies...

I'm reading a great book at the moment - Windows of the Soul by Ken Gire. Here is a couple of extracts from his chapter on movies:

'In an interview with The Door, Garrison Keillor said, "If you can't go to church and, for at least a moment, be given transcendence; if you can't go to church and pass briefly from this life into the next; then I can't see why anyone should go. Just a brief moment of transcendence causes you to come out of church a changed person."

I have experienced what Garrison Keillor described more in movie theatres than I have in churches.

But movies don't always tell the truth, don't always enlighten, don't always inspire. What they do on a fairly consistent basis is give you an experience of transcendence. They let you lose yourself in somebody else's story. And sometimes in losing yourself you find yourself, or at least, a part of yourself. It may be a part of yourself you didn't even know needed finding. It may be a wounded part or a calloused part that you find. It may be a very beautiful part or a very ugly part. A part that needed to grow up or maybe a part that needed to go back and become a child again. A part that needed to understand, maybe, or to forgive. Or maybe it was a part that needed to die, or maybe one that instead needed to be born.'

The chapter goes on to highlight a few movies that have windows of the soul for Gire. I love movies and can't fail to be affected by them in some way. A few key movies for me would have to be Shawshank Redemption, To End all Wars, The Thin Red Line, Good Will Hunting, Braveheart, Gladiator, Dead Poets Society to name but a few. Just realising I haven't watched a movie in ages - need to get along to the cinema soon!

I'd be interested to hear what movies have really impacted/inspired you so please leave a comment! I'm always looking for somethin good to watch!

Fun in the sun...

What a beautiful day! We don't often get days like this in our wee country but in the last few days we have been truely spoiled! Today i had the pleasure of scrambling up Bloody Bridge river with a few of the young lads from church (pic right) - it was a great days craic jumping off rocks into big pools of water and climbing up mini waterfalls! Sometimes you forget how beautiful this country really is but days like today are definitely a reminder! Anyways i had a great day so thanx for the invite lads!

Walking on the twelfth...

Hello there anyone who may read this - is there anyone out there?! So today is the apparent highlight of the Protestant social calendar in this wee country of Norn Iron! So i got up early this morning and got myself ready for a good days walking...up the Mournes that is! I think some people outside of this country really think the 12th is just a days rioting but it really isn't. In fact i drove to the Mournes and back today and managed to avoid all evidence of cultural celebrations apart from a couple of very small early morning parades.

Had a great day up the mountains though. I went with Niall and Jamie (pictured left). The weather was very overcast (no good scenic views pics this time!) and we got soaked in the mist up the mountain but it was still a good days craic. We ended up back at Niall's for a bit of a Settlers marathon - 4 games of which i won zero - raging!!! Also had a bit of a chinese takeaway thrown in there too which was all good!

Last night i joined the bonfire celebrations in Waringstown. I grew up in this village and i don't think i ever went to the bonfire here before! I had a good night just hanging out with the young people i have met round the village and i managed to meet a few new ones too.

This week is definitely all about taking it easy for me! I'm still recovering from 9 days in a tent - I'm starting to feel not as young as i used to!

Madness & Streetreach...

Ok folks, sorry for the distinct lack of bloggage in the last week but between Summer Madness and Streetreach, life has been kinda hectic!!! I really only made it back home at lunchtime today and now that I've had a bath I feel much better (I've only had 2 showers in the last 9 days!!!) So I'll fill you in on the happenings. SM was amazing! We had 37 there from WPC and on the whole i think most of them had a ball. For many it was their first SM experience and i think they seemed to enjoy it. Personally i thought the festival was fantastic, the worship times were amazing, especially with Tim Hughes. On the whole the craic was really good and the young people really were no trouble which made life easier for us as leaders! Other highlights for me definitely have to be the Saturday night intimate gig with Foy Vance - it was unbelievable! Also late night chat and banter with Chris on Sat nite until 5am and the birds were singing! It was definitely a good time for me generally to spend a bit more time getting to know the young people.

So SM finished on Tuesday and SR started on Wednesday and i was placed in Sandy Row. I had a great 4 days doing things like litter picking, sweeping streets, doing gardens, playing with kids, hanging out with teenagers at the bonfire site etc. Out of the 1000 people signed up for Streetreach there was about 35 of us in Sandy Row and it really was a great experience. The pic on the left is my team! Showing God's love to people through practical acts of service and kindness really works - people take notice and ask questions which is great. The plan for Streetreach for next year is even bigger and better and i definitely think i'll get involved again.

From what we don't do to what we do do...

Recently I've been doing some thinking and processing a thought that's been going around in my head. I've been spending a bit of time with a group of young people in this community who do not go to church. I know that if i asked them to define a 'Christian' they would tell me that a Christian is someone who doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, doesn't swear, doesn't have sex before marriage and goes to church. It really makes me sad and frustrated that we (Christians) are defined by what we DO NOT DO. I mean how rare is that? What other context do you define something by what it is not?! If i asked you to describe Bono you wouldn't say 'well he's NOT a doctor and he's NOT fat and he HASN'T got blond hair'! But yet it seems we as Christians are described by the things we supposedly do not do. Sadly the only description attached as something we DO is 'go to church'.

What does Jesus say when He describes what a follower of Christ should be like. He tells us to feed the hungry, give the thirsty a drink, give money to the poor, visit the sick and imprisoned, help the downtrodden of society, LOVE GOD AND LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR. He doesn't focus on what we shouldn't do but on the things we should be doing.

I've just finished reading a great book by Rob Bell called Velvet Elvis, I'd definitely recommend it. Do you ever read a book and feel like the author has just been reading your mind?! Here's what he has to say about being a Christian:

'It is not about what you don’t do. The point is becoming more and more the kind of people God had in mind when we were first created.'

At the end of the day people say what they see and they believe what they experience from their contact with Christians, and no amount of me or anyone else telling them they are wrong is going to change their opinions. We need as a church, as the body of Christ, as an army of Christians (that means everyone) to start doing the stuff Jesus tells us to do and impacting people's lives and our communities. Then people might really begin to experience faith in action and so change their definitions. I mean if we don't do this then are we not all just goats? I don't know about you but i'm not so keen on what happens to the goats in Matthew 25.

Children's service, 24, Settlers and Summer Madness...

Just finished the end of another busy week. Im just back in from our Children's service - it was great. The children all did fantastic and the church was packed. I was speaking at it, just a short 5-10min talk, i think it went ok, at least i hope it did!

Ive had a fun weekend! On Friday night i completed the watching of 24 Season 5 - it's an amazing finale. For any of you who haven't seen it yet i won't spoil it but you will love it!

I've also been playing lots of Settlers over the last week. For any of you who haven't a clue what i'm talking about it's a board game. Its a hard game to explain but if your interested click here. Anyway ive introduced the game to a group of lads from church and so there's already been a few late nights of competition! The sad thing is that i haven't won a game yet against them!!! My time will come! Settlers is a great relational tool also, which is what i really like about it. I definitely feel that we have bonded over late nite Settlers sessions!

Anyway, i feel ive loads to get done this week cos I'm off to Summer Madness on Friday which will be followed with Streetreach until Sunday 9th July. We've got about 35 young people going to Summer Madness so please pray for them all, that God will really move in their lives. There's also about 8 of us staying for Streetreach so please pray for that too.

Jet Pilot supported by Sonic Flood...

So we had a Formal dinner on Friday night for our Fusion group (YF aged 12-18) at Edenmore Golf and Country Club - oh what a night! As many of you may know Saturday was the Megalife gig in Moira Park which was being headlined by Sonic Flood, a worship band from the States. Anyway we are in Edenmore and we find out that Sonic Flood are having a meal in the restaurant and the next thing we know in they come serving our desserts and doing a bit of publicity for their gig! A few of our young people (aged 14-16) have formed a wee band calling themselves Jet Pilot and we had asked them to play after the meal as entertainment for the night. So because all the band gear was set-up the guys from Sonic Flood played a couple of songs for us - it was our own little private gig! Then they asked Jet Pilot to play a song so our guys rocked out a bit of Californication by the Chilli Peppers - they were awesome and i could definitely see the guys from the Flood were impressed! Anyways basically it was a cracker night's craic and Jet Pilot's claim to fame now is that they were supported by Sonic Flood in one of their first ever gigs!


Sonic Flood doing their thing.



Jet Pilot in action being appreciated by the Flood!

Naked evangelism on Wyndup beach...

This is a funny one! Emergingchurch.info site apparently posted a spoof article on April Fools day that was taken too seriously by some Aussie fundamentalists as the proof they needed to confirm the liberal tendancies of the emerging church! The article was about naked evangelism with the Rev Adam Sapple ably assisted by Eve Ennsong, and the mission happening on Wyndup Beach - there might just be a few clues in there to not take it too seriously! Click here to watch a video of a news report about the mix-up - its hilarious!

Duck diving...

This morning i took a walk down at Oxford Island, what a beautiful morning and hardly any flies too which is rare for the Lough! Was watching these ducks for a while and the larger ducks were diving (which is funny to watch!) and coming back up with food which the little ones would take from their mouths (you can see this in the pic) - it was fascinating to watch the selflessness of nature. It got me thinking about that top down Biblical principle where we as Christians have a responsibility to be feeding others. Barnabas did this for Paul who in turn did this for Timothy. I mean if we are not spiritually influencing anyone then what are we doing to build the kingdom? By spiritual influence i mean moving people forward in their spiritual journey which can be pre-faith or post-faith.

I reckon if we as Christians were doing our job right then the world would have a great need of us. People would have as much need in their lives for a Christian as they have for a good friend or a GP. What a picture that would be of people needing REAL Christians in their lives who love them and care about them, not judging them for what they do but instead offering grace & mercy. Sounds like the sorta people i need in my life.

The to-do list...

So I'm back into work tomorrow (Mondays are kinda a day off for me) after last week which was filled mostly with work with third year classes in Lurgan Junior High (it rocked!), and also a LONG LONG Wednesday at the PCI General Assembly where i slowly lost the will to live! Anyways, I'm starting to feel under pressure cos I've lots to get sorted in the next 2 weeks - Fusion Formal this Friday Night, Summer Madness planning, Summer Youth week planning, Planning for youth fellowship programmes for September, detached youth work project progression & church marketing/website progression are all on my to-do list so i really just need to get stuck in this week and get things done. On top of all that we are now in the midst of World Cup '06 which has to fit in there sometime too! Please pray that i will be effective and efficient in my use of time and that God would be clear in my decision making and planning! Thanks folks!

Paintballing...

It seems to be the season of Stag days for me as i had one yesterday and have another next Saturday. Yesterday was paintballing in Monaghan. I must admit, having heard lots about it but never having done it before i was really excited! I wasn't disappointed, it was a great days craic and if you've never done it then give it a go! It was run by a company called Escarmouche Paintball who were very professional and well organised. I took these pics of our day from their website.

It ain't too often a group of respectable adults can get away with running around a forest in camouflage gear carrying a weapon capable of firing pellets of paint at 150-200mph at people (causing serious bruising for some might i add)! You also feel no embarrassment shouting phrases like 'cover me' and 'flank left' cos they make sense!!!


Given my current climate of watching 24 season 5 (i'm on episode 9) and my recent reading of Wild at Heart by John Eldredge, this was just what i needed as an outlet to express myself and that adventurous spirit that supposedly is built into the make-up of man!

I think this pic to the right might be me but its hard to tell!

24 shaped hole...

Some of you who know me well will be surprised by the lack of 24 related material on this blog - let me explain. I'm fairly new to the 24 phenomenon as i only started watching Season 1 in January '06 and finished it within 3 days (that's approx 18 hours of viewing). Over the next 3 months i worked my way through Seasons 2-4 and watched my last episode of Season 4 on 13th April. So that's 96 episodes and 72 hours of viewing in about 3 months. Now some people might feel that is an appauling waste of time but on the contrary i feel it was definitely a worthwhile investment! The show is amazing and Jack Baur is definitely one of my heroes in life! Heard this quote recently:

Jack Baur isn't afraid of the dark, the dark is afraid of him.

For anyone who hasn't ever been introduced to the world of CTU and Jack then i have just purchased Season 1 and would be willing to lend it out to anyone who may be interested and feels they have some time on their hands.

It's been 52 days since my last episode and whilst i no longer have dreams where i am in employed by the CTU and fighting terrorism alongside Jack, i do still have a 24 shaped hole in my life that just can't be filled with anything else TV has to offer. The exciting thing is that there is a strong possibility that i may be getting my hands on most of the episodes from Season 5 tomorrow so if i'm not quite so active on the blog front for the next few days you will understand why!

Taking a walk...

I've been in this role now for 5 weeks and it has struck me recently that I have a spiritual responsibility for the young people i am engaging with. Whilst i felt a responsibility for the young people in my previous job, because they mostly did not have a faith, i guess i was often more concerned for their physical and emotional well-being than their spirituality. However, with this post I am working with a solid group of about 40 young people who are already on that spiritual journey and i am seeking to fulfill the role of a spiritual leader for them! This scares me somewhat! Part of me feels completely inadequate but i think God likes using people like that! Anyway, basically i've decided that i need to build spiritual disciplines into my week to allow me the time and space to connect with God and pray, listen and reflect.

So i headed down to Oxford Island yesterday morning for a bit of a walk with God. Brought my camera with me so hope you like the pics. If you've never been there before its a beautiful place to walk (apart from the swarms of flies that is!) and really quiet and peaceful. I spent about 2 hours walking, sitting, praying, thinking and writing. It was a beautiful sunny morning too which i guess helped! I'm gonna try to make this a weekly Wednesday morning thing for me so I've blocked it into my diary already!

Anyway, i was praying for a friend of mine and thanking God for how compassionate she is. She is one of those people who's compassion immediately moves her to action. I wish i was like that but somehow i seem to be able to ignore God's compassion when it touches or challenges me. I avoid action by thinking of what it will cost me in terms of time, money, emotion... and at the end of the day will my action really make much difference in this screwed up world??? So by this stage the moment has passed and i can move on. It makes me feel really guilty to say this but often it's reality for me. I long for God's compassion to mobilise me to make a difference, no matter how small or insignificant it might appear in the grand scale of a messed up world. What stops me is entirely my own selfishness. I thank God that He is patient with me and He is not finished with me yet!