"Dad, you're going to Ireland!"

When I got back from my tip I was exhausted, but very excited about it.  I told my parents right away that I wanted to go back in 2015 and Dad was coming with me.  "What about the money?" Dad asked. "Oh, don't worry, I'll pay for both of us!"  Dad just smiled, thinking it would all blow over once I got back into the routein of home.

Well, it was a few months before I mentioned returning to  Ireland again. This time, telling Dad I was in contact with the church there and they were sending me details.  "Aren't you excited to go?!" I asked him.  He seemed surprised I was still thinking about it and patiently listened to me chatter about how much it was going to cost and all the wonderful  things we will be doing there. I kept trying to get him excited and to really believe that I was serious about going.

Since he still seemed quite skeptical that I would follow through with my plans, I decided I would just have to take the next step and contact someone who would be able to help me figure out how to buy plane tickets.  I knew this was going to be the hardest part for me since  I knew nothing about buying tickets and setting up group flights. 

After getting a price and figuring out many details, I showed Dad the travel agreement from the agency I am working through.  I asked him to read it to make sure nothing was amiss.  After reading the agreement and realizing that I actually have tickets reserved to get us to and from Ireland, he finally took me seriously! I am so excited to experience serving the Lord with my dad, with the most amazing man I have ever known!

Many times during this process I felt overwhelmed and confused, wondering why I ever got this crazy idea and am trying to follow through with it.  The only answer to that question is God. He has called me to bring a group of people back to Ireland with me. It is Him who I have turned to in prayer at each mistake I have made and wall I have come up against.  With God in charge of this trip, there is nothing to fear.  When I don't know how I will be able to make enough money to follow through with my promise of paying for both Dad and me, I just have to remember that God provides!

Last year I went with my Grandma, next year my Dad will be going!!!

Day 3

Monday was our day to get ready for Kids Week to start.  We went to Donemana, a little town way out in the country. This is the school where we would be holding our VBS for the next few days. We spent the day praying for the students that were going to join us on Tuesday and getting registration set up, gathering supplies for crafts, and figuring out the details.

 : : Donemana Primary School : :

: :  In the town of Donemana : :

Day 2 in Ireland

On Sunday we woke up and headed off to the church service.  Pastor Brian Somerville gave a sermon on our job as the body of Christ to lift up Jesus.

#1. When Jesus is lifted up, a weight is lifted off.
 "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." I John 1:7

#2. When Jesus is lifted up, defeat is lifted off.
"And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." Colossians 2:15

#3. When Jesus is lifted up, separation is lifted off.

Cornerstone Church was renting a building to hold their services in.  They had been praying for 3 years that God would provide them with their own building. That Sunday morning they announced that they had purchased a building on Duke Street, everyone was invited to go to a prayer service and tour that evening.

Photo from Cornerstone Church

As we gathered at Duke Street it was obvious that it had previously been used as a night club.  There was a DJ stand, dim lighting, broken glasses and bottles scattered everywhere.  The presence of the Lord was mighty as hundreds of Christians from both America and Ireland gathered to pray and sing praises to God, inviting Him to enter the building and make it His own.

"You are welcome in this place
You are welcome in this place
God of power love and grace
Saturate my soul"

Hillsong - Welcome In This Place

During the week we were there, a team from Ohio worked on cleaning the new building, by the next Saturday it looked totally different. 

Day 1 in Ireland, 2014

It had been a long trip, we had been traveling for over 24 hours and in the air a total of  11.  Everyone on the team was exhausted and ready and be done flying.  Then, through the clouds I saw my first glance of Ireland. After years of hoping and dreaming of going to Ireland I was finally about to land there, on a mission trip with my Grandma!  I had expected to be crazy with excitement, but after so much lack of sleep and so many altitude changes I was just dazed. I couldn't quite grasp that I was actually IN Ireland!!! Yes, I was excited, but mostly because I knew that we would be done flying soon. It wasn't until the next day when I was meeting "locals" that I actually realized my dream had come true.

 [First view of Ireland]

As the plane landed and we waited to get out, I thought over my first experience flying. They had served breakfast at 1 am Michigan time, in London I had gone sprawling into people while trying to stand in a packed trolley at 3 am, and I had attempted, but failed to sleep in the last 24 hours since leaving for the Detroit Airport.  This was quite the introduction to traveling by air!

[Irish country side on our way from the Dublin airport to Derry]

After trying to locate our luggage and waiting for our ride, we piled in a bus for the 2 hr. drive from Dublin to Derry.  Now, I got to experience my first of many drives on Irish roads! Lots of rolling hills, curvy roads, many cattle, strange road markings, and a few moments of fear as I thought fleetingly that we were driving on the wrong side of the road and were going to hit the car coming our way!

 [Each person got their own room with a sink, bed, closet, and table]

When we arrived in Derry right away they got us set up in our rooms. The housing was at a college dorm, each person had their own room and shared a kitchen, bathroom, and shower with 4 other people.  I was excited to see that they had stocked the kitchen and got some food, then went to take a nap.  Later that evening, we walked the board walk along the Foyle River.

[A view from the window of my room]

iHeart Derry 2015

Serve the Lord on a mission trip to Derry Ireland!

July 2^nd-14^th 2015

iHeart Derry is an annual event held in Derry Ireland. Up to 100 American youth and adults come together and do various physical, social, and spiritual projects in the city.  It lasts just over a week. In 2015, there will be five Kids’ Week locations, playgrounds being built, community outreach projects, street prayer, mobile medics, an extended football tournament, and more!  The event is put on by Cornerstone Church, led by Pastor Brian Somerville.  To find out more about this church, visit: www.cornerstonecity.eu

A little history behind Derry:

Derry, sometimes called Londonderry, is located in Northern Ireland. It is the second largest city in Northern Ireland and claims the only remaining completely walled city in Ireland.  On October 5^th, 1968, a civil rights march took place; this was the beginning of conflict that would last for 30 years, ending on April 10, 1998, with the Good Friday Agreement. Unionists, primarily a Protestant body of people and by far the majority, wished to remain part of the United Kingdom. The goal of the nationalists, an almost solely Catholic party, was to be free from British Reign.  During this period of trouble, over 3,000 people died as a result of the violence.  Years later, there is still evidence of tension between the political parties. 

iHeart is bringing people of the community together to help dissolve tension and show Christ’s love as the answer instead of violence.    

In 2014, a team from Mount Hope Church was taken to Derry to be part of iHeart.  I was blessed to be a part of that trip.  When I heard there would not be a group going from Mount Hope again, my dad and I decided to organize a team. This is a chance for parents to go and serve the Lord with their children, young people to experience Ireland, and an opportunity to work for the Lord in a beautiful country with their parents!

I’d be happy to talk with you about my experience there and share how the Lord worked!

Lydia Fedewa