End of Summer...

Well this week officially marks the end of summer in the minds of many of the young adults. Why, you may ask......back to school. By this Thursday, everyone will be back to school and back into the routine of life. It actually is exciting for many, not that summer is over, but that a new year lies ahead with many things to anticipate in school, Youth fellowship, Scripture Union, mentor groups, and everything else in between.

The last two weeks have been really good. I have been working with Samuel as we pray, plan, and cast vision for the upcoming year in Youth Fellowship and Scripture Union. We are very excited about where the Lord is leading us and are eagerly anticipating the great things that He will do in and through us and the young adults. It's also been great to have a little time to just kick back, relax and hang out with some young people before everyone gets ready to go back to school.

Another highlight over the past couple of weeks has been our weekly get togethers down and Kittys Road. Every Friday for the past couple of weeks, we've continued to go down to Kittys Road to hang out and have a bit a craic with everyone, as well has having Bible discussions. It has been a really great time being able to open the Bible and see the Truths that Jesus teaches us and share that with our friends :-)

I've also been able to break in my new ride :-). I've been driving this for about a month now. It has been quite handy to get me around places and even give me more freedom to go and connect with young people. So I thank God for providing me with the means to have transportation!

As I look ahead to the next week, I ask that you would continue to pray for Samuel and myself as we finalize the plans for YF this year. We are very excited and are hoping and praying that God will do immensely more than we can ask or imagine. I continue to thank you for all your prayers and support...it doesn't go unnoticed...I am very grateful!! May we continue to keep our eyes on Christ.

Yearning for Christ,
Jason

Back from France :-)

Well my trip to France was brilliant!! I had a great time teaching through the book of Philippians and everyone on the trip seemed to be encouraged and challenged by it, so praise God for using me to make much of Him!! We did quite a bit of cycling in and around the town of Avignon and the surrounding area. All together, we cycled about 185 miles!! If you want to see some of the pictures from my trip feel free to check them out at Provence Pictures.... I hope you enjoy them :-)

So now I am back into Kilkeel. The summer holidays are nearing an end. Yet it is still quite busy! Samuel and I are fast at work preparing, planning, and praying for the upcoming year in Youth Fellowship, Scripture Union, and Kitty's Road. So please be in prayer for us as we spend time planning and preparing over these next couple of days. We are eagerly anticipating and excited about what God will do this year. Our hope is that He will do even far greater things than we can plan or imagine!!

Thanks for your continued prayers and support :-)!! May we continue to keep our eyes on Christ.

Yearning for Christ,
Jason

Off to France for 9 days!

Tomorrow I leave for Provence, France for 9 days. I have been blessed with the opportunity to be the speaker for a group of 85 people that are on holidays in France. I will be giving six talks throughout the course of the trip. My hope is to teach through the book of Philippians and point to how we should look to Christ as our Treasure. The trip is a cycling trip, so we will be doing day trips bicycling around sights in France...so it should be great craic!!

A few prayer requests while I am away...

1. Pray that I would be able to connect and get to know the people that will be in the group. I only have a short amount of time to build relationships and learn names (which I'm horrible at). But God is good and my prayer is that He will provide me with the ability to do that.

2. Pray that God would use me as His tool to speak His Trust and His Wisdom from the book of Philippians.

3. Pray that I would have traveling mercies as I fly over to London and then get on a coach bus with the rest of the group and travel down to France.

4. Pray that those coming on the trip will see the need to Treasure Jesus above all other things!!

Thanks for your continued prayers and support. May we continue to keep our eyes on Christ!

Yearning for Christ,
Jason

Take a Look!

Well, the American Team has come and gone, and so has Kittys Road Festival week. However, there is much to look forward to! God is a great God and is doing tremendous. Rather than write it all out I figured I would give you a wee taster of what God has done and continues to do in a small, but special place called Kitty's Road :-)

Kittys Road

This week we have been down at Kittys Road and it has been absolutely brilliant!! We've had the opportunity to continue old relationships that were begun last summer and even begin some new ones as many of the American Team this year was their first time. It has been great sharing the craic (fun) with everyone out there. We have been doing things from playing activities on the football pitch, having coffee mornings for the women in the community, going to the cinema, having a jazz band and rapper perform, having meals together, and even having the opportunity to open up the Bible and talk about Jesus. It has been really good and everyone has been enjoying it.

Today we are getting ready for another day full of Treasure hunters Bible club in the morning with the wee ones, a mountain hike in the afternoon with everyone, and then a camp out on the pitch tonight with all the high schoolers. It will be loads of fun and hopefully very encouraging.

I continue to thank you for your prayers and encouragement...it has been great. May we continue to keep our eyes on Christ!! :-) ..... and don't forget to check out the team blog too!!

Yearning for Christ,
Jason

The Americans are Here

Well the team from Bethlehem has arrived safely to the Kingdom of Mourne. We picked them up from the airport about about 9:30 this morning. After a fun-filled day of getting them acquainted with everyone, they are finally able to sleep and catch up on some much needed rest.

We are very excited about the next couple of weeks. Things kick off this weekend with a Youth Retreat here at Mourne Presbyterian Church with a bunch of youth from the church...it should be great craic. Then next week we jump into the Kittys Road fun week, where we will be returning to continue to build upon the relationships that were started last year. Then the week after we will be down to Annalong to connect with some of the high schoolers down there and encourage them in there faith.

I encourage you to be praying for all of these different things over the next couple of weeks. There will be many opportunities to share from the Word, and we are very excited to see what the Lord does. The team from Bethlehem has set up a blog that they will be updating while they are here, so feel free to check that out as well over the next couple of weeks. The address is http://northernireland09.wordpress.com/ so check it out!!

Thanks again for your prayers and support.......The earth is the Lord's and everything in it!!! Continue to keep your eyes on Christ,

Yearning for Christ,
Jason

Americans Around the corner

Well the past week or so has been full of preparations for the American team that is coming next week from Bethlehem Baptist Church. Everyone is eagerly anticipating there arrival. We will be doing many things with them, including going back down to hang out with our wonderful friends on Kittys Road for their fun week.

Apart from sorting those details out, there has been much tennis playing :-). The recent Wimbledon has perked the interest of many of the young people to want to play tennis. So with the beautiful weather, I've had loads of opportunities to get a few matches in with many of the lads that I've been connecting with....its been great craic.

Also, there has been another very exciting addition to the team....a SCOOTER!! Yep, that's right! I got a scooter (moped) last week. I will have pictures shortly of it. I will mainly be using it to get around the town to visit family's houses and such...anything much further and I would probably choose to take other means of transportation. The down side is that I have to get it registered first, so it will be another couple of weeks before I will be able to hit the roads with it. However, it has been good craic driving it around the church car park :-).

I hope everyone had a great fourth of July. Obviously things here were much quieter. May we continue to keep our eyes on Christ...thanks for your prayers and support!

Yearning for Christ
Jason