Internship in Ireland: January 2008

My internship focuses primarily on the planning and mobilization of a number of events which are meant to bring people to the knowledge of Christ. These events are either weekly or monthly.

Illuminate: showing God’s love in a practical way

The Idea: Each month the Causeway Coast Vineyard endeavors to go out on a Saturday and do something nice (aka, free) for people in Coleraine, just to spread the word that God loves people and wants to bless them. This ministry is the main one that I am responsible. My job is to get it going, gain momentum and then pass it off to a regular church member when I leave.
The Reality: In December, we wrapped gifts for shoppers at a local department store. In January, we carried our buckets in the town centre offering to clean restrooms at local businesses.
The Effect: At first, the woman working the counter at Solstice thought we trying to make money, but after she realized we wanted to clean the toilet at the store for free, just to show God’s love, she kindly obliged us. When we came down the stairs from cleaning the toilet, she looked totally stunned. She said that it made her previously bad day so much better. She looked like a completely different person, and she didn’t seem to know what to do with us. We told her that God’s love compels us to demonstrate that love to others in weird ways.

Street Evangelism: Lollies and Lollygagging after school

The Idea: Friday afternoons in the Coleraine town centre, there are hundreds of students milling about in their uniforms. We go out every Friday to hand out lollipops (“lollies”) and make friends with the students, with the ultimate goal of developing trust and helping them come to a place where they are ready to make a decision to follow Jesus. Since it has been very cold, we have lately been giving out tea and coffee as well as the lollies. This whole thing is difficult for me, cause I don't like to push conversations, but it is great when you can just get talking with someone over a lolly.
The Cube: There is a thing called the “EvangeCube” which is quite embarrassing, but one of our street evangelists, Dave, finds very helpful. In the past two months, this fine person has, using the cube, lead to Christ about 15 kids—some of which have even continued on in our weeknight youth programs. Dave is aptly nicknamed, “The Cube.”
Seat Evangelism: We see many of the same guys every week coming up for tea and coffee and just to chat. In light of this, our youth pastor, Neil, has decided to what is called “revangelism” or “seat evangelism.” All this means is that Neil camps out at the same bench every Friday and talks to the same kids every week, with the goal of having what will almost be a small group formed and functioning in the town centre.

On a Mission 2008: aka 20 Short-term missions teams 2008

The Idea: The Causeway Coast Vineyard has spent the last 9 years focusing outward into the local community, but last year began to spread outward into surrounding countries. The goal of 10 teams sent out last year has doubled to a goal of 20 teams this year.
The Reality: There are three of us working to plan these 20 teams. Ricky, the missions pastor and my boss, Michaela, our administrative assistant/missions assistant/amazing thorough person, and me, the intern. We have invitations to most places but still have to work out objectives for each trip, as well as all the logistics of traveling and staying in a foreign country.
The Field: From April to November, we will be sending teams all over Europe from Norway and France to Lithuania, Romania, and Slovakia. Hopefully we will also send a team to South Africa to assist our first ever sent-from-the-church missionaries who are working with Out of Africa Missions.

Stories@CCV: Gathering and Sharing God stories

The Idea: To communicate stories of what God is doing to everyone in the church, that is, get people excited and remind them how good God is.
The Process: Spreading information can be difficult, especially when it requires someone to write something down and remember to tell someone at the office who then needs to tell whoever else in the office is in charge of getting out God Stories, that is, me. All that to say, I am working on developing a process by which members of the church can send stories through me and they will get retold to the rest of the church.

Prayer: “Ask and…” campaign for prayer.

Lift: Creative Prayer for the Church: Lift is our monthly evening prayer service, which I am responsible for organizing. We are experimenting with the format and order to try to create a safe and comfortable place to learn what’s going on in the church and pray for the church together.
On Our Knees: Pre-church prayer: Every Sunday morning, before the first service, I am responsible for gathering a team to prayer for the morning as a whole. We spend about 5-10 minutes in prayer. Another guy leads another one which meets just before the second service.
Awake: Should be called “Asleep”: The church office opens officially at 9am, but on Wednesdays we gather at 8am to pray for the church. This is my most challenging prayer group, though I hope to be leading it soon, and making it a “prayer and breakfast” group.

Sunday Mornings: We do those, too.

Location, Location: The church currently meets at the university, and stores all equipment in two large trailers, the church office, and the trunks of everyone’s cars. This means everything has to be set up and taken down every week. I do very little of this—in fact, only a tiny fraction. The worship interns work very hard on Sunday mornings. I lead a prayer group and oversee the following:

Connection Café: I temporarily have been, and will continue partially to be, responsible for the visitors’ connection café on Sunday mornings. It is a table and an area for visitors to come and connect with regular attenders (who also serve coffee and tea), leaders, etc and also pick up flyers and leaflets with information about the church and how to get involved.
Welcome Team: Same deal as the connection café, I have been in the position to coordinate the welcome team, but this role is being shifted to our new community pastor.

Location???: We are being gently “nudged” out of the university after four years of meeting there. There is no obvious next home for the church, and we have sort of run out of ideas, though are confident that something God will work something out. Please pray for a meeting place for the church, or for solidarity as the church meets in 20 groups of 20 for a little while.

I know that was a lot, but it is quite comprehensive. Hope that helps you understand what it is I'm actually doing! I promise pictures soon, soon, soon.

love,
Megan

Much of what I do begins in the office, with me at a desk, making phone calls and sending e-mails. I am only just starting to put into practice what I have known to be true from a lifetime of connection and relationship with people in full-time ministry; the main thrust is that God absolutely has to be at the centre.

It is odd to find myself actually feeling things I have heard all about from various pastors and missionaries. Like I’ve had the answer for years but am only just learning what the questions are—like a really off game of jeopardy.

God has to be at the centre. He has to be a focal point, because it’s too easy to spend all of my time in anxiety, trudging through what has potential to be quite discouraging work. It’s those moments which stretch out between truth, like the flat line between the heart beat, when I need to be still and know that He is God…that He Is. And I find Him in the proud stretch of the sea on the Portstewart Strand, and the hiding places in the cliffs at Montana de Oro, and especially just at the perfect corner table at a lovely café with free wi-fi.

My God doesn’t need nature or cafés to communicate with me, He speaks to me through work and through strangers and in transit. But all those nice things help me to keep my focus on Him, they help me to remember kindness, self-sacrifice, and power. Most of all, they help me to begin my days, and my work, with Moses’ Yahweh, rather than with my e-mail. For all of creation sings His praises, and I am without excuse.

In the next week or so, I will post blogs frequently about the ministries I’m involved in. I won’t post it all at once because you likely won’t read it. In fact, if you read it at all, you’re probably in the top 1% of my readers. Cheers…and thanks for your support.