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This photo was taken on the beach in Newcastle, near the YMCA camp we went to.

Well, today marks the end of my first week here in Northern Ireland and what a week it has been! With so much activity and such a great amount of information to absorb that it feels like much longer.

The week started out with orientation, where we went over a lot of the “nuts and bolts” of life here on the base at YWAM Closkelt. From what our “work duties” (chores) will be to American/English words not to say. For example, “pants” means “underwear” here, so we need to say “trousers” instead. All of the guidelines are designed to make the community living as uplifting and beneficial as possible for all of us.

After orientation we piled into some buses with a few days worth of supplies and went to a YMCA camp in a neighboring town for some team-building activities including ropes courses and trust games. I think my favorite team activity was when we had to build a raft and race across a lake. It was freezing cold, but we had lots of fun. We were able to have some times of worship together and we even got to explore the town of Newcastle a little bit. (I splurged and got an artery-clogging popcorn chicken from KFC. It was delicious!)

Here I am outside KFC!

On Thursday we were presented with three outreach options which include Ireland (Northern and/or The Republic of), Serbia and Asia. After the lecture phase our DTS will split into three teams and each one will go to a different location for the outreach phase. Each location offers unique ministry opportunities and each team will be performing different tasks. There are things I could learn at each location and certain parts of each appeal more to me than others but in the end it’s up to God. Please pray for me as I seek God’s direction in deciding where to go.

Near the end of the week we returned to the YWAM Base and enjoyed two wonderful lectures: Hearing the Voice of God, and Irish History. One of the speakers, Mike Oman, said something really simple but I think in a nutshell it says what this DTS is about for me. Talking about Hearing the Voice of God, he said: “Sheep know their Master’s voice,” and “When we know our Master, we will know his will.” My goal for this DTS is not simply to know more of God but to know God better so I can follow his will for my life.

More photos from my first week at DTS.

I want to say “thank you” to all of you who prayed for me and my flight situation. I ended up on the very next available flight and arrived at the YWAM base safe and sound around 11pm.

I’ve not had much free time, and I don’t think that I’m going to have much but I will do my best to keep this blog up-to-date. I’ve posted some pictures from my first two days that you can check out. We’re about to leave for a couple days of team-bilding camp so I’ve got to run, but I wanted to thank all of you and let you know I’m here safely and loving it so far!

Photos from my first week at DTS.

Today God reminded me that he is faithful in all he does. After sending out my last update, in which I mentioned my need for a pair or two of jeans, I received an email from some friends asking for my size. As I was beginning a reply my dad said “Hey, Greg! Look at these” as he entered the room with a pair of jeans in hand. Lo and behold they were the pair believed to have been lost! As it turns out I didn’t lose them during our trip to the States. Dad accidentally packed them in a box that we shipped back to Ukraine!

Now a month and a half later, as I’m replying to someone offering me jeans, the boxes arrive and dad happens to pull out the missing pair. God’s timing is awesome! I know the provision of jeans isn’t very impressive but this little incident encouraged me and reminded me that God will take care of me… even in the “little things” that don’t seems so important. If God can take care of things as insignificant as my pants, I know he’ll provide for the “significant” things. One of my favorite passages of scripture is the end Matthew 6 where Jesus says:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”Matthew 6:25-34, NIV

God is faithful in all things, we don’t need to worry, just seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. He’ll take care of us.

Oh, by the way: Old Navy makes a great pair of jeans.

They went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Matthew 2:9-11

God bless you all! Merry Christmas!

Last week Dad, Steven and I went to Uzhgorod with a team of other YWAMers for our annual Christmas program in the orphanage. I really feel like this year went even better than last. You see, last year the orphans where just that to me: “The Orphans”. But a year later, after multiple visits to the orphanage and our week long summer camp, they aren’t “The Orphans” anymore… they’re Sasha, Evan, Aurthur and Joseph. Oh, there are more then four of them, but my point is now they are individuals. We have relationships, we can communicate much better, I know them and they know me.

Here’s a sort of travel diary of our time in Uzhgorod. (more…)