"I" is for Ireland.
Why? You may ask. Well, I will tell you. Because I spent almost three months there and had a wonderful time. Ireland was where I figured out some things (and possibly forgot some others).
I was in Ireland from september 2000 to november 2000, while on outreach for Youth With A Mission's discipleship training school (or DTS). At the begining of our 5 month DTS, they had announced that we would be going to Ireland, which I was totally excited about, to participate in a prayer walk around Northern Ireland. (Wait. Did you just say prayer WALK AROUND Northern Ireland?!? I was NOT excited about this part).
Well....we spent the first 10 days in Ireland training for said prayer walk, and then 5 weeks literally WALKING around Northern Ireland. Those who managed to walk the whole way (some people couldn't because of injuries or health issues, and we also had alternating teams taking care of our belongings and food and stuff) walked a total of 371 miles. I was not among that group. I think I probably managed about 250-300, give or take!
(the pen marks are the route of our walk...the circles are the cities where we stopped):
After the walk, we broke up into groups and each group did a different sort of outreach for a couple weeks. My group stayed in a little town called Limavady and worked with a young man from the Salvation Army. At the end of that time, our whole team came back together and had about a weeks worth of debriefing before we all went home.I saw amazing things in Ireland, like Giants Causeway and amazing churches/cathedrals and towns like Belfast and Dublin. I also saw God work in miraculous ways, not only in how He provided for our team and those we worked with, but how He touched peoples lives and our lives in the process. Just about every day of that prayer walk, we trudged through the rain at some point, but then again, just about every day we got to see a rainbow too.
The Irish people are welcoming, friendly and just amazing people. I would go back in a heartbeat…and someday I hope to!(now go see other ABC Wednesday posts!)
6 comments:
I understand why you chose Ireland as your I. However walking for about 250-300 miles would be way out of my reach! I think that's the reason they invented buses and coaches (I'm a coachdriver)...
Ireland is beautiful and what a lovely way to see it! My son did a similar trip a number of years ago and he loved it, too. And what a perfect "I" word! Thanks for sharing the lovely photos and your words!
Great I post...I love the first line...enjoyed reading about your trip...the last shot is great enlarged...
Lucky girl! I still can't believe how far you walked with no training beforehand. You weren't exactly our athletic child. LOL!
Wow - that's a long way to walk but what gorgeous country - thanks for sharing this delightful post!
That is so cool.
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