The Latest

Here in YWAM Belfast we’ve had a busy few weeks. I realise that I’ve been pretty lax over the last month and a half at updating this blog, funny how when internet is scarce in Burundi I manage to do it pretty regularly, and when it’s plentiful here, I don’t do it!

I suppose I should just backtrack and catch you up…

Summer madness hit us at the end of June/start of July. This year at Summer Madness, YWAM had a big venue to operate from, whereas in the past we’ve only had a small stand, so it was a bit of a step up.



We ran a venue that we called “the Sacred and the Secular”, and in it we tried to address the issue of compartmentalisation that we see in Christianity sometimes today. How we see some things as “holy” and other things as “worldly”. We believe that everything is of God, and we aren’t to put God in a box, allowing him out at our leisure or pleasure. So, our venue had both things that seemed “secular” and “sacred” alongside one another. We had pool tables, playstation, a prayer tent, the stations of the cross, an art station and table tennis.
We also ran two evening shows called “Around the World in 80 Minutes” where we sought to inspire attendees at Summer Madness for the nations and show them a bit of the richness of culture that is outside their own.

(I realised as I was reading through this entry again that it looks like the above picture was one taken at the events we were running...they were well attended, but not THAT well... :) this is a picture from one of the main stage worships at the festival.)

I also had the privilege of helping Fitzroy Presbyterian take their youth group to the event, which included camping there on site….no fancy bed for me! I love Summer Madness and I first started going as a teenager, so I love being able to be a part of other young people’s journey there.

Following Summer Madness, I took part in an event called FWD (“Forward”, or Faith With Deeds). During this time, we served the area of Highfield in the Greater Shankill Area, cleaning gardens, cutting hedges, playing with kids and having a big community barbeque and open air concert. Something that I love about living here on the Shankill is when people come here on mission and seeing the difference that visiting teams make in the community. Streetreach (the model on which FWD was based on) has made a powerful impact on this community in the past 5 years, and so it was an honour to be able to be a part of this continuing on. God is at work on the Shankill, and it’s amazing to watch it happening, and exciting to see how it’s going to unfold…

During our time on FWD, I found myself doing a lot of reminiscing! Lots of the things that we did, funnily enough took me back to Burundi, and to some of the things that we did while we were there. It was a blessed time for me, and a wonderful time of looking back. Below are a few pictures and their contrasting ones… Interesting to see the differences!

Grass cutting: The Northern Irish way and the Burundian…you’d be surprised which one was quicker and more effective!



Carrying bricks…unfortunately the same in any country… Brute force!


So, that was a bit of a catch up for you...hopefully it's answered a few questions and maybe created a few more!

There’s some stuff rolling around in my head at the minute…so hopefully there’ll be somewhat of a more contemplative entry for you in the next while…watch this space!