N. Ireland Trip Update #1: Aug. 8-10

Email I sent to Friends of G.Hope:

Hi friends,

We have arrived safe and sound in Portadown, N. Ireland! Here are a few highlights from our trip thus far:

Sat. 8th

* The team set off from G.Hope around noon JFK airport in New York. Danny Kwon (my friend from seminary days and youth pastor at Yuong Sang Korean Presbyterian Church in Horsham, PA) drove his minivan and dropped off a portion of the team; I drove our family minivan and handed it into the care of a friend who lives in NYC, Steph Shieh.
* We went through the JFK airport security minus a few liquid gel items; Mikey (the skater of the team) got to keep his skateboard as a carry-on to our pleasant surprise.
* 7:30PM: departure from JFK on Delta Airlines. It was a 5 1/2 hour flight--a long flight for Theo who didn't sleep much, and not much sleep for the rest of the team either. It was a bit surreal seeing the sun rise after only a couple hours after dinner and being served breakfast.

Sun. 9th

* 7AM (Philly time: 2AM) Arrival in Dublin. We were picked up by Danny and his father Garfield, who drove the church bus.
* After an hour and half drive and crossing the North-South border, we arrived in the First Presbyterian Church of Portadown where we were treated to breakfast and then a big Sunday afternoon lunch, with a walk on the banks of the Bann River in between. Danny's mother, Sharon, is in charge of cooking for us--Danny got his whole family roped into this operation!
* We attended the second service at 7pm when we were formally welcomed by the congregation and when the Assistant Pastor Alastair Dunlop preached on the topic of Sabbath (the senior pastor, Stafford Carson, whom I know from his Dean of Academic Affairs days at Westminster, was away performing his Moderator responsibilities for the General Assembly of The Irish Presbyterian Church). Having got almost no sleep, most of the team couldn't help but catch some Z's during the service... everyone was very good-natured about it though! (Everyone at church has been super-friendly and welcoming to us... we are so appreciative of them.) Then we went to our respective host families for the night.

Mon. 10th

* In the morning and afternoon, the team helped lead MIMO (Miss It, Miss Out) kids' Holiday Bible Club (they call vacation holidays here--being from America, the first thing we were thinking was Christmas.) In the morning, the Club is for kids aged 4-11; in the afternoon, the activities are for teenagers.
* The team is having a great time with everything so far, especially learning about the different nuances in culture and language.

Thanks for praying for us and supporting us! I will keep the updates coming from Portadown every few days.

Shalom,

Kyuboem Lee
Germantown Hope Community Church