Hello again! so i dont have much time again, but here goes real quick. also, 9 days till the release of HARRY POTTER!!!!!
Day: 11... Sunday we went to church in Raphoe, very good message by the minister about listening. Then we again went back to the Stuarts to plan lessons for the week and bbq and hang out. That night we might Iris, a bible camp coordinator, and went around family neighborhoods in Convoy and invited kids to the day camp. People dont really seem to mind solicitors here like in the states.
Day 12: Monday, we started our day camp in convoy. only about 10 kids came because they have never really had a christian kids camp in convoy, so it was very new for the town. But the kids were very quiet and polite. That night we went to another night time kids bible club and helped out, only about 35 kids at this camp. It was fun to work with a bunch of new helpers from Belfast.
Day 13: Tuesday, we went around neighborhoods again in the morning with invitations and leaflets, and then did day 2 of convoy daytime kids club. It was ok, only about 9 kids though. \then again went to the nighttime kids club and their were about 40 kids. It was a good day.
Day 14: Weds, Convoy day camp again. And then we had a new event for the night. They wented out a pool hall for us to host a teen drop in event, where we had juices and tea and chips and cookies. It was good, we played pool and hung out with about 15 teens that night. We didn't expect that many so it was good to see a fair turn out.
Day 15: Convoy Day camp, and then teen event. Except this time, about 30 teens showed up to hang out. I don't know if any were christians, but we let them all know why we were there, and just provided a safe place to hang out and talk, because convoy is not the nicest place ever.
Day 16: Last day of Convoy drop-in was really fun, but i was quite tired of the game they love, King Chicken...it kills my knees. And everyone here is obsessed with soccer and gaelic football and rugby. I am horrible at all three. Then we went to this barn to help set up for a barn dance the next night, so we set up big canopies and party tents. Then we had our last teen drop in. About 40 came throughout the night, so it was pretty packed.
Day 17: 4th of JULY woooo hooo. so saturday we had to wake up early and go set up the rest of the stuff for the BARN DANCE they were throwing for us this nihgt for a 4th of July celebration. The farmer needed someone to go up and attach this tent sheet, so I volunteered, so he put me on the end of this huge tractor/forklift, and lifted me about 25 feet in the air. It was awesome. Ok so my mom and brothers went to ryan stiles big 4th of july party, so I was super sad I couldn't go and that I had to go to an irish barndance instead???? But that night we went to the barn dance, had great bbq, about 170 people showed up! and we danced for about 3 hours straight, not joking. it was like prom, but better. my calf muscles deffinately hurt today, to say the least. It was so fun. they taught us a bunch of corny dances, we did the macarena, the irish version of the electric slide, and the guy tried to play/sing Sweet Home Alabama for us americans, but wasnt too successful. overall it was a very good 4th of july, and i sang the national anthem to my teammates about 20 times, so im sure they never want to hear it again. it was great dancing with all the 70-year-old presbyterian church ladies too. everyone stayed till midnight, it was terrific.
day 18: TODAY, sunday. We went to church. Message was about Esther and the 300 Spartan battle. then we left the countryside and donegal, and went to the coast. We are now in the coolest hostel i have ever seen. it is amazing, and we are now on our 5 days of holiday/vacation. The beach here is great, and I'm loving it. ALSO, happy birthday to KARLY SAPP. I love you!
ok so, the irish hospitality has been amazing. so many presbyterian families have taken us in and feed us the most amazing meals ever. its been wonderful. also, I have been reading Mere Christianity by C.S.Lewis and it is rapidly becoming my favorite book. I recommend to all. He wrote it for atheists, but of course chrisitians are obsessed with this book. Also, HARRY POTTER comes out next week. I am currently reading the Book of Luke, and pushing through it. We are going to Scotland for the next 3 days for vacation, so I am SOOOO excited to take a train through scotland for vaca. WHOOOO HOOO! AWESOME. ok well, i am much enjoying not having a cell phone and only checking facebook once a week. it is quite nice.
love ya all, thanks for reading. miss you.
proverbs 3:5-6
kelly thoma
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
days 1-10
Hello all! I barely have been on the internet in total more than 45 minutes since I have been here, but we have a couple hours free and the ministers house this beautiful saturday evening, so they have offered us their tv and laptops for a few hours. so, since i have not really spoken to anyone since i came here, i will try to remember what i have done so far, day by day, even though it feels like i have already been here for months and i have attained a slight accent.
day 1. we arrived on thursday the 18th, and the customs and immigrations agents did not like us. so we were detained for 8 and a half hours, while they told us we would be deported for not having volunteer/work visas, since we are working for the church. they fingerprinted, searched, patted us down, and held us in limbo land for a long time. finally a minister from the presbyterian church of ireland contacted the airport, because he happened to have 4 emergency visas left, and the airport finally ok-ed it. so two wonderfully irish people from the church picked us up, took us out to tea(dinner), and we slept for 14 hours.
day 2. we were staying at a christian owned long term-hostel place for the weekend. so we met up with the church in downtown belfast, went over all the legistics of the trip, and took a red double-decker bus tour of the city. it was really interesting to learn about the political/religious conflicts of the troubles in ireland. we went to the famous Crown Bar for lunch, with delicious irish stew, and then went and toured around the city by foot with a local college student.
day 3. woke up early for 12 hours of training for a couple of the camps we will be working with later on. it was ok. most of the counselors were age 17-19, so it was a little boring. but overall it was nice to meet our future teammates. afterwards, stanley stewart, a minister at a small church in donegal, which is in the republic of ireland in the beautiful country, came and got us and we spent the night at his house.
day 4. we went to stanleys church that morning. then we went to a concert in londonderry, and they let lindsay and i and stanley's daughter and her boyfriend sit in the box seats at The Getty's concert, a famous irish christian band who raises money for 3rd world countries. and then they dropped us off at our flat(apartment) that they rented for the four of us to stay at for the next two weeks while we will be working in donegal.
day 5. kyle, a young youth working with local presbyterians picked us up and we went to a local elementary school and went to every classroom and invited the kids to come to the nightly vacation bible club. so then we went home for a while, then had a wonderful huge irish dinner with a local church old couple, and then went to teach at our first night of holy vacation bible club. this is just like VBS at my home church, but it is at night for two hours, so i made cute little necklace nametags for all the kids, and we played games, and learned memory verses, and told stories, and did arts and crafts. about 55 kids came, from age 4-11. it was fun and LOUD!
day 6. we went to a different school in the morning with Kyle, and played games with kids for a couple hours, then taught they some bible club songs. then we went to holy bible club again that night, and i got to teach the story. so i made props and told the story of the big picnic where jesus turned 2 fish and 5 bread into enough food for 5000. it was fun, and i think i kept all 50 entertained.
day 7. wednesday morning we went to another different school and played rugby and baseball with them, though they all wanted to play soccer(football) but they wouldnt let them because the boys get too rowdy. then they asked us questions about the usa, and we taught them songs, and they sang songs in gaelic to us! we again did bible club that night.
day 8. thursday, the 25th. we didnt have to go to any school today so we slept in till 2 in the afternoon. then worked on our lesson plans. tonight at the bible club, i led the quiz time, so i did jeapordy and the girls team won, of course! it is really fun to work with all the kids of this age, and to handle creating different games for kids of such varied ages, but it is a good challenge.
day 9. friday we went to the atlantic coast in the morning and played at the beach and tried playing soccer, but no one was great at it. so we tried to play volleyball, but i think i am too competitive with sports, so it is good for me to stick to theatre and singing, though my soccer and volleyball skills have bettered a little since highschool, hahaa. we had our last night of bible club and said goodbye to all the kids. i was the leader tonight, and it was so hard to quiet them in transition from and the activities. that night, Valerie, Stanley's wife, took us to the minister's gathering, so i met ab0ut 50 presbyterian ministers and their wives, and some of them were so funny. we spoke with one man, Joe Fell, about theology and C.S.Lewis and other stuff, and it really made me again fired up about the posibility of going to seminary after college, just to study theology, but not to become a minister. It was a great spirit lifting talk with all these wise ministers, and it made the trip become a mission trip, versus me just volunteering at different bible camps with kids.
so FINALLY, today is day 10. we got up early and went to this really fancy cool, private gardens place, where a train goes around the property of this mans private botanical gardens and it was very cool. then we went to the malls in londonderry, and it felt like we were in a crowded san francisco-meets-london shopping district. it was very fun. now we are back at stanley and valerie's, bar-b-que-ing and watching The Office, and resting. It has been a good energizing but not overwhelming first week. Next week we will be working with High Schoolers(oh no, i hate high school boys) so that might be a challenge. But then we get a couple free days so i convinced the group we should go to Scotland, so we are going, and i am very exciting. i am enjoying my time here.
Ireland is far to beautiful for words, and it feels like a volunteering-vacation, not a mission trip! i cant help but feeling like I am in Narnia, but most importantly...
HARRY POTTER COMES OUT IN 16 DAYS AND i am so excited. i am almost done rereading the 6th book here.
hahahaha. sorry, i love harry potter too much.
so, i need to go practice my soccer skills and watch a Manchester United game or something.
cheers, and I hope all is well in the states, though im sad michael jackson died???! super young, definately had another album left in him.
much love to all.
email me at kmthoma@u.washington.edu if you want to talk
i miss you all, but i love europe and the UK. its quite awesome over here.
cheers and prayers,
kelly thoma
day 1. we arrived on thursday the 18th, and the customs and immigrations agents did not like us. so we were detained for 8 and a half hours, while they told us we would be deported for not having volunteer/work visas, since we are working for the church. they fingerprinted, searched, patted us down, and held us in limbo land for a long time. finally a minister from the presbyterian church of ireland contacted the airport, because he happened to have 4 emergency visas left, and the airport finally ok-ed it. so two wonderfully irish people from the church picked us up, took us out to tea(dinner), and we slept for 14 hours.
day 2. we were staying at a christian owned long term-hostel place for the weekend. so we met up with the church in downtown belfast, went over all the legistics of the trip, and took a red double-decker bus tour of the city. it was really interesting to learn about the political/religious conflicts of the troubles in ireland. we went to the famous Crown Bar for lunch, with delicious irish stew, and then went and toured around the city by foot with a local college student.
day 3. woke up early for 12 hours of training for a couple of the camps we will be working with later on. it was ok. most of the counselors were age 17-19, so it was a little boring. but overall it was nice to meet our future teammates. afterwards, stanley stewart, a minister at a small church in donegal, which is in the republic of ireland in the beautiful country, came and got us and we spent the night at his house.
day 4. we went to stanleys church that morning. then we went to a concert in londonderry, and they let lindsay and i and stanley's daughter and her boyfriend sit in the box seats at The Getty's concert, a famous irish christian band who raises money for 3rd world countries. and then they dropped us off at our flat(apartment) that they rented for the four of us to stay at for the next two weeks while we will be working in donegal.
day 5. kyle, a young youth working with local presbyterians picked us up and we went to a local elementary school and went to every classroom and invited the kids to come to the nightly vacation bible club. so then we went home for a while, then had a wonderful huge irish dinner with a local church old couple, and then went to teach at our first night of holy vacation bible club. this is just like VBS at my home church, but it is at night for two hours, so i made cute little necklace nametags for all the kids, and we played games, and learned memory verses, and told stories, and did arts and crafts. about 55 kids came, from age 4-11. it was fun and LOUD!
day 6. we went to a different school in the morning with Kyle, and played games with kids for a couple hours, then taught they some bible club songs. then we went to holy bible club again that night, and i got to teach the story. so i made props and told the story of the big picnic where jesus turned 2 fish and 5 bread into enough food for 5000. it was fun, and i think i kept all 50 entertained.
day 7. wednesday morning we went to another different school and played rugby and baseball with them, though they all wanted to play soccer(football) but they wouldnt let them because the boys get too rowdy. then they asked us questions about the usa, and we taught them songs, and they sang songs in gaelic to us! we again did bible club that night.
day 8. thursday, the 25th. we didnt have to go to any school today so we slept in till 2 in the afternoon. then worked on our lesson plans. tonight at the bible club, i led the quiz time, so i did jeapordy and the girls team won, of course! it is really fun to work with all the kids of this age, and to handle creating different games for kids of such varied ages, but it is a good challenge.
day 9. friday we went to the atlantic coast in the morning and played at the beach and tried playing soccer, but no one was great at it. so we tried to play volleyball, but i think i am too competitive with sports, so it is good for me to stick to theatre and singing, though my soccer and volleyball skills have bettered a little since highschool, hahaa. we had our last night of bible club and said goodbye to all the kids. i was the leader tonight, and it was so hard to quiet them in transition from and the activities. that night, Valerie, Stanley's wife, took us to the minister's gathering, so i met ab0ut 50 presbyterian ministers and their wives, and some of them were so funny. we spoke with one man, Joe Fell, about theology and C.S.Lewis and other stuff, and it really made me again fired up about the posibility of going to seminary after college, just to study theology, but not to become a minister. It was a great spirit lifting talk with all these wise ministers, and it made the trip become a mission trip, versus me just volunteering at different bible camps with kids.
so FINALLY, today is day 10. we got up early and went to this really fancy cool, private gardens place, where a train goes around the property of this mans private botanical gardens and it was very cool. then we went to the malls in londonderry, and it felt like we were in a crowded san francisco-meets-london shopping district. it was very fun. now we are back at stanley and valerie's, bar-b-que-ing and watching The Office, and resting. It has been a good energizing but not overwhelming first week. Next week we will be working with High Schoolers(oh no, i hate high school boys) so that might be a challenge. But then we get a couple free days so i convinced the group we should go to Scotland, so we are going, and i am very exciting. i am enjoying my time here.
Ireland is far to beautiful for words, and it feels like a volunteering-vacation, not a mission trip! i cant help but feeling like I am in Narnia, but most importantly...
HARRY POTTER COMES OUT IN 16 DAYS AND i am so excited. i am almost done rereading the 6th book here.
hahahaha. sorry, i love harry potter too much.
so, i need to go practice my soccer skills and watch a Manchester United game or something.
cheers, and I hope all is well in the states, though im sad michael jackson died???! super young, definately had another album left in him.
much love to all.
email me at kmthoma@u.washington.edu if you want to talk
i miss you all, but i love europe and the UK. its quite awesome over here.
cheers and prayers,
kelly thoma
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
before departure
I will be leaving for Ireland in about 23 hours, and it should be a busy day. I don't know how often I will be able to "blog" in Europe, so hopefully once or twice a week. As far as this week goes, I will be flying to New Jersey tomorrow, then flying to Ireland. I'm going to arrive in Ireland at 9 am on Thursday, and then get started with Orientation for Thursday and Friday for the camps with Presbyterian Church of Ireland. I am very excited at this point. I am not looking forward to the very very long flights, but I am excited to leave and go somewhere new for the next 8 weeks. I am also excited to work with kids of ALL ages, and see how that tests my patience and energy. Basically this summer I will be traveling to a different city in Ireland every week, volunteering with children ages 4-18, as a "camp counselor". We will be leading arts and crafts, song and games, sports camps (mostly soccer, oh no), Vacation Bible School stuff, ect. Anyway, thanks for reading. I know it isn't that exciting yet. If you want to contact me personally, email me at kmthoma@u.washington.edu
Much love, John16:33,
Kelly Thoma
Much love, John16:33,
Kelly Thoma
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