Craig and Abby Brotherston

My beautiful daughter // 11 months :)

2011-12-16T13:28:00.000-08:00

Pastor Bill on TBN

2011-11-28T14:41:00.001-08:00

We were privileged to work with this man in NYC until 2008...

Sianna is 10 months tomorrow - wow!!

2011-11-09T09:51:00.000-08:00

Sianna & her walker // August 2011

2011-08-29T11:09:00.000-07:00

Sianna @ 7 months :)

Sianna pictures... :)

2011-06-28T12:15:00.000-07:00

Our baby girl!!

2011-01-11T12:55:00.000-08:00

Sianna (pronounced 'see anna' - meaning 'God is gracious') Grace Brotherston was born on 10th January 2011 at 9:25am... weighing 6lbs and 1oz... after being 8 days overdue!

She is amazing :)

Abby did amazing and is doing great, if a little tired!

We are so excited and thankful to God for a safe delivery and great baby!

*Check out her converse in the pics!*

Significance...

2010-12-30T15:23:00.001-08:00

When I look back on 2010, there are a lot of highlights :)

We have now reached our 2 year mark at Dundonald Elim, working with the youth of the church, and specifically the youth fellowship group - 4:12.

In September I also started my 3rd year of my 6 year part-time degree in Theology. I am really enjoying the course, and it is good to know I am learning things that I will use for the rest of my life. (unlike GCSE Chemistry!)

2010 was the year I did 2 missions trips - first to Durban, South Africa with Lionsraw, and then to Macedonia with Elim missions (and 14 young people!)

2010 is also the year that we found out Abby was pregnant with our first child... we end the year still awaiting the arrival. (Looks like baby bro will be born in 2011!)

When I look back on 2010 - I am grateful to God for all He has done. To see people getting saved, and others grow in God through our ministry at the church, to see the little blessing that God is going to give to us, and to have a greater understanding of God’s grace, and his massiveness, and His love, and His fullness in my life has been nothing short of unbelievable!

When I look forward to 2011, I am impressed with the word ‘Significant.’

My baby’s birth will be a moment in life that is significant...

Changed lives will be significant...

Visiting a certain city will be significant...

Just being a part of the Body of Christ is significant... (1 Cor 12:19 - Msg)

When Jesus refers to the woman with alabaster jar in Matthew 26 - the Message translation quotes Jesus saying, ‘She has just done something wonderfully significant for me.’ (Matthew 26:10)

My prayer is that everyday of 2011 - I would be able to do significant things for Jesus... and to see Him do significant things in my life and others...

As I look at my diary and my time in 2011, I will endeavour to fill it with things of significance...

I don’t remember TV programmes I watched in 2010.

I don’t remember everyone’s Facebook status that I read in 2010.

I don’t remember every minute of everyday...

But I do remember times with God...

I do remember seeing God change lives...

I do remember a lot of significant moments...

Galatians 6:9

“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good...”

Facebook connections map the world...

2010-12-14T15:13:00.000-08:00

Facebook intern Paul Butler has been poring through some of the data held by the social networking firm on its 500m members.

The map above is the result of his attempts to visualise where people live relative to their Facebook friends. Each line connects cities with pairs of friends. The brighter the line, the more friends between those cities.

After tweaking the graphic and data set it produced a "surprisingly detailed map of the world," he said in a blog post.

"Not only were continents visible, certain international borders were apparent as well," he wrote.

"What really struck me, though, was knowing that the lines didn't represent coasts or rivers or political borders, but real human relationships."

However, large chunks of the world are missing, such as China and central Africa, where Facebook has little presence.

Taken from this link...

19 days....

2010-12-14T14:57:00.000-08:00

till the due date and our baby is still not here!
In other news: Christmas is really close!

Tampa / NY

2010-10-01T23:16:00.000-07:00

Off to the airport in about half an hour! In 16 hours Abby and I will be in Tampa, FL meeting Abby's aunt and family for the first time... Then on Friday we will head off to Rochester, NY before hitting the big city on our way home. Looking forward to seeing lots of people that we love!

Almost 6 months... not long to go!

2010-09-20T15:05:00.000-07:00

Pregnant picture of my beautiful wife :)

Baby Brotherston 20 weeks August 2010

2010-08-31T09:37:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest scan picture... done about 2 weeks ago! Kind of weird that we are now counting down instead of counting up!

Macedonia trip 4th August 2010

2010-08-04T08:12:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

Well after leaving the church at 6pm on Monday night, we had 3 flights, 5 coach/bus trips and one airport train :) We arrived at our hotel about 4pm the following day!!

We had some meet and greets and a quick tour of Stip before getting something to eat at the Irish pub around the corner! Then, before everyone went to bed we went on a prayer walk around some of the local areas of interest, especially praying for our outreach in the park we will minister in.

This morning we had a wee lie-in with breakfast and some team time. As I write we are about to leave for prayer meeting at the church, and there is a thunderstorm going on behind me :)

Tomorrow morning begins the hard work - breakfast at 7!!

The hotel website is found here:

http://www.oazahotel.com.mk/

The church website is found here:

http://www.crkvaoaza.com.mk/

The top picture is of one of the pastors in the church: Zoran (pronounced zocky) and his wife, Ole and son. The bottom picture is of the senior pastor: Angel and his wife Daniela.

Macedonia

2010-08-02T04:02:00.000-07:00

In 6 hours we leave for the airport to take us to Macedonia for about 11 days....

We will be helping the Elim church out there doing some work projects, and also outreach into the community.

There will be 14 teenagers and 3 leaders. We are expecting a lot from God on this trip, so if you have a minute then you can pray for us that God would use us in amazing ways to see much fruit for His Kingdom.

Oh, and you can pray for our travel - 3 flights, a coach and a 5 hour sleep in the airport both ways might just take its toll a little bit!!

South Africa missions trip video // Durban June 2010

2010-07-05T04:16:00.000-07:00

Lionsraw South Africa // June 2010 from Dundonald Elim on Vimeo.

Baby Brotherston

2010-07-03T09:47:00.000-07:00

Well.... Abby is 14 weeks pregnant! Baby bro is due at the beginning of January!

Lionsraw on TV

2010-07-02T01:33:00.001-07:00

BBC Look North - Lionsraw Special Report - Part 1 from Dave Dixon on Vimeo.

Vuvuzela...

2010-07-01T02:37:00.000-07:00

I might have brought 6 home from South Africa with me :)

They come to play football...

2010-06-26T00:21:00.000-07:00

and then we show them God's love.

Nombuso

2010-06-23T14:53:00.001-07:00

Last Thursday we decided to go out and spread the word a little bit more that our football school was on at Makaphutu children's village.

I had the privilege to go out further into the valley while the rest of the guys stayed and continued coaching.

A man named Jacques drove a little white pick-up truck that we were going to pick the kids up in. But we also decided to bring a local with us - who could speak to the kids in zulu, and fully explain what was going on. A lady who works for Makaphutu named Nombuso was available.

Jacques, myself and Nombuso (the lady in the picture with the four of us) jumped in the front seat of the pick-up, a little bit of a squeeze to say the least!

While we drove for a few miles further into the Valley of a Thousand Hills, I began to ask Nombuso some questions as I was curious as to how a local woman could get involved and get a job in Makaphutu. Especially as her role is to do life skills classes and leadership training. She explained as we drove past the little shack that her mother still lives in that she went to a local primary and secondary school.

She was then privileged enough to get a scholarship to go to university. As I was talking to her I was gripped at the sense of just how intelligent this lady is, and how this could have been so overlooked in a place with so few opportunities.

I then asked her if she had ever been outside of the Valley and Durban itself. She began to explain how she had been overseas. She got another scholarship (proof to her ability!) to do a years placement, (in her own words) in a place I had probably never heard of - SHANKILL ROAD in BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND. Speechless I was!

I couldn't believe it. Here was this girl who grew up in the valley, her first language is zulu, and she had spent a year in Northern Ireland! We spent some time talking and laughing about her time there.

I asked her why she thought she had been given all of these opportunities to which she replied without a second thought, 'God's grace.'

What amazed me the most about this girl is that she really could have studied anything in university, and gotten a really good job anywhere in SA, and yet she has chosen to give back to her own community.

Please pray for Nombuso, that God would continue to use this amazing woman in the great things she is doing in the Valley.

Love these kids...

2010-06-23T13:29:00.000-07:00

World Cup game

2010-06-23T13:09:00.000-07:00

Still can't believe we got to a world cup game last night! Nigeria v South Korea - and it was a great match. We bought the tickets outside the stadium - ended up with 5 instead of 4, so it was fun watching Mic try his hand at selling! Let's just say we lost a bit of money on that one - I think he's lost his touch!

Our long walk up the hill every day

2010-06-23T13:04:00.000-07:00

Some Valley photos

2010-06-19T21:48:00.001-07:00

U'Jesu Inkosi Yamakhosi

2010-06-17T10:37:00.000-07:00

South Africa June 2010 // Days 1-5

2010-06-16T09:24:00.000-07:00

Well... what a 5 days it has been so far - soooo much to talk about and mention!

Day 1 - Saturday morning we took off from Belfast Internation Airport to London Heathrow. There we had a meeting with some of the other guys going on the Lionsraw trip with us. It was good to meet some people and get the other bags we would be bringing with us. After a few hours sitting around the airport we took off Saturday night for Jo'burg. It was a long flight but I think Mic, Will, Ryan and myself all got a little bit of sleep so this helped.

Day 2 - By the time we arrived in Jo'burg it was morning in South Africa! We were greeted at customs with a free can of World Cup Coke - and people everywhere were wearing football gear, with flags and banners - world cup fever! We then got on our South African coach (complete with free broken window etc...!) All 56 of us that was with 112 bags! That journey on the coach from Jo'burg to Durban took about 8 hours! By the time we reached our hotel it had been about 36 hours travel time for us. LOOOONNNNNGGGG! We got our stuff, and our rooms, some dinner and then went for a little walk down to the stadium where Germany were playing. We ended up watching the match on a big screen outside.

Day 3 - Straight to work! 6:30am breakfast and on the bus for 8am. We headed out to the Valley of a Thousand Hills. Our bus driver took a wrong turn in the Valley. Let's just say we weren't in a valley when he drove down the most narrow road I have ever seen - we were on the cliff side of the bus. O, and then he realised it was a dead end and he started to reverse!! Never again :) After a lot of wrong turns - we made it to our project. While we are doing a soccer school, there is another team building in the same area. It is a place called Makaphutu Children's Village. The people that run it really seem to have their heads screwed on when it comes to helping these people. The Valley is absolutely massive - and most of these people are fly under the radar in South Africa. It is still tribal and run by the Zulu chiefs.

We had about 30 kids the first day at our soccer school, and some of them walked an hour to get there! Unbelievable. We were playing on a relatively flat surface of hard muck. We are definitely not used to playing football on something like this - but the majority of these kids played in bare feet! We really had a chance to bond with some of the kids and give some hugs and love and high fives. Most of the kids don't have great english so there is a bit of a language barrier - but amazing the ways you can communicate despite this! And we have even been learning a little bit of Zulu.

Watching the kids play football against each other was an amazing cultural experience. They have the most awesome temperament. There was no fouling or bad attitudes - they are just happy! Was an amazing day. Times I just stood there and looked out into the valley and looked back at the kids thinking 'I'm in Africa - no way!' Then I would look over at the church in this children's village - a small building, but with the words 'Jesus is Lord' written in Zulu on the wall. Amazing to realise how God really is everywhere! Love it.

Day 4 - A little bit of a different day. The weather was cold and rainy in Africa! Well it is winter here :) We had a lot less kids but we just got stuck in and had fun with the kids we had. This meant that Will, Mic, Ryan and myself played a lot more football ourselves than the day before - I am paying for this today! One of the emotional moments for myself was looking over at the mass graveyard that is visible from Makaphutu. (Some of you may have seen this on the Lionsraw Inside Out documentary on BBC) A white van arrived in the morning and one of the workers from the children's village informed us that it was dropping the bodies off for the day. This was a harsh reminder of severity of the HIV/AIDS epidemic here in Kwa-Zulu Natal.

Each day we close it off with a talk - where we get to share with the kids a bit about Jesus. This day was amazing with a kid named 'Ceesway' translating for me. At the end we were going to pray and then as he had shared with me before that he was a christian, I asked him to pray instead of translating. He prayed in Zulu, and it was amazing to hear his heartfelt prayer to God even though I couldn't understand it.

Day 5 - Today we have had a rest day. We got a later breakfast and then we had a 2 hour meeting in the morning that covered some basic information about South Africa, and also some stuff on HIV/AIDS. We then headed off to the Durban football stadium which we can walk to from our hotel. We tried for 3 hours to get tickets to the Spain v Switzerland game but to no avail! It was amazing to see how many people were going though as they all walked past us!!

It has really been a bit of a whirlwind 5 days with so much happening in such a short space of time - but the trip has been amazing so far. Can't wait to build more of a relationship with some of the kids, and to get more opportunities to serve them and share Jesus more with them.

If some of you want to check out some more pictures go to www.lionsraw.org and there is a link there to the Lionsraw facebook page - there are some pictures on there from the official photographer!

3 sleeps...

2010-06-09T03:27:00.000-07:00

I actually go to South Africa in 3 days! There are 4 of us going from the church (myself, Ryan Campbell, Will Dickson and Michael Myles) with an organisation called Lionsraw. We will be in Durban, South Africa for the World Cup. The organisation will be doing a lot of different projects with over 200 of us going. However, the 4 of us from Dundonald Elim will be running a christian football camp for the kids in the 'Valley of a thousand hills.' This is the HIV capital of the world. Please pray for us that we will be a great blessing to the people there... 3 sleeps :)

An American Dream

2010-05-20T08:28:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture from our play in Dundonald Primary School. I think I was in P4 - so somewhere around 7 or 8.... I find it kind of ironic seeing as I once had my shot at the american dream - you know an apartment in Bushwick (Brooklyn, NY)!

Hilarious!

2010-05-19T05:18:00.001-07:00

Fascinating...

2010-04-22T08:52:00.001-07:00

or scary?!!

Loved it!

2010-01-29T00:43:00.001-08:00

Frozen Britain

2010-01-07T13:07:00.000-08:00

This striking image taken by Nasa's Terra satellite on 7 January shows the UK deep in the clutches of the current cold snap.

The whole country has been very affected by the snow and ice. I, myself really enjoy the snow!

Great Grandparents

2009-11-11T03:32:00.000-08:00

I never met my Great Grandparents - but my Great Aunt (Grandfather's sister) just brought me an old photo from her parent's 50th wedding anniversary. I love this picture, it is cool being able to see the whole family, and my dad is in the picture when he was just a boy, and I haven't seen many of those pictures!
**My dad and uncle are in the front row in the lighter coloured jumpers!**

Surprise!

2009-09-08T06:37:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we flew to Denmark to surprise Abby's parents - it was awesome! They had no idea we were coming, and we had our friends Christian and Kirsten pick us up from the airport - thanks guys! We showed up at church - and Pastor Ruben introduced they had a special singer. Abby and I came from the back fo the church - to present ourselves in front of an unsuspecting Warren and Mae! It was great. We have had a few days with them - and fly back to Dublin tomorrow....

X Factor's back...

2009-08-31T10:12:00.000-07:00

The British version of 'American Idol' - X Factor has started back again. It is just great TV - and the only show that I really would watch consistently. Our friend Jenn was here for two weeks from Philadelphia and has already fallen in love with the season despite only seeing two shows! Check out this guy's first audition - Danyl Johnson. Incredible!!

Leo...

2009-08-31T08:37:00.000-07:00

Some pics from when our boss from Metro Ministries - Leo Van Belen came to visit us in July. We had lots of fun taking him around Northern Ireland - Giants Causeway, Belfast, Titanic boat tour etc.... and also Dublin, Ireland! He is a great guy - he can sooooo come back any time!

Abby singing in church...

2009-08-03T08:30:00.001-07:00

'Not Guilty' by Mandisa

Craziness from Northern Ireland Bible Week!

2009-07-25T15:58:00.000-07:00

Abby and I just got back from Hillsborough Bible Week 2009 - pretty tired but a lot of fun, and incredible encounters with God. Filled and ready to be a blessing! But check out this crazy video...

Green...

2009-07-15T00:17:00.001-07:00

Abby & I went for a walk in the forest a few weeks ago - and I absolutely love this picture that my little cheap digital camera managed to capture!

Lucas is growing up!

2009-07-15T00:11:00.001-07:00

Some more cool pictures of Lucas that I hadn't posted! I am excited that we will be in Rochester, NY for Thanksgiving this year, and I will finally get to meet him!

Leo...

2009-07-13T14:53:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow evening - our boss from Metro Ministries in New York arrives into Belfast for four days with us. We are so excited!

Sean & Rachel's wedding

2009-07-13T14:38:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday and Friday, Abby & I flew to Sheffield, England for Sean & Rachel's wedding. It was an awesome day - they had a brilliant service, and an awesome BBQ at the reception! And we got to see our awesome friends from Colorado - Ben & Nena, and catch up with everything that is going on with them. We also got the added bonus of meeting Martin & Vashti Downs - missionaries in South Africa. They met at Metro Ministries in New York (like Abby and I) and we share a lot of friends - so we have heard a lot about them!

Check out some of the pics:

Cool...

2009-06-18T14:43:00.001-07:00

I took this picture on my amazing iPhone at the beach on Monday night! The clouds were incredible.

Belfast Pt2

2009-06-16T15:31:00.001-07:00

I think you will notice from the pictures that Belfast has an awesome mix of old and new buildings - makes for some good photo opportunities!

Belfast

2009-06-16T15:20:00.000-07:00

Well, we have been back in Belfast for almost 9 months now! And it has flown by! Crazy! One of my favorite things to do on a day off in NYC was to take pictures of some of the city. There was really so many cool things to capture. Then, I realised that I hadn't taken the camera out in Belfast. Probably one of the reasons is that there are not so many tourists in Belfast!! So you stand out just a little bit more walking around with a camera. But on the day it was so amazing to capture the clouds in the sky, in a few of the shots they look awesome! One of the exciting things about Belfast right now is that they are building EVERYWHERE. After years of troublesome times, they are trying to make up for the lost time! It is pretty cool. If you see a big dome in some of the pictures, that is the mall that Abby works at, in the city centre.

Abby starts her new job this morning!

2009-05-25T23:07:00.000-07:00

Abby starts her new job this morning!! She is working for 'Mamas and Papas'. It is an upscale mother and baby store. It is in the legendary new Victoria Square mall, right in the centre of Belfast. (And about 30 secs from a Starbucks!) I would have no money if I worked there!

Before...

2009-05-18T02:51:00.000-07:00

Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you are a mile away, and you have their shoes.

Baby Lucas

2009-04-30T15:31:00.000-07:00

Some of the latest pictures of our little nephew - Lucas Valle! Isn't he just adorable!

Trip to Aberdeen

2009-04-30T14:31:00.000-07:00

So... we were supposed to go see Aaron, Ina & Becs this week in Aberdeen. We booked the trip a few weeks ago, and we were going to go from Monday through Thursday. Becs had driven up from Perth for the occasion, and Aaron & Ina had arranged all the details. It has been about 9 months since we have seen them - and we were totally pumped!

We drove around 2 hours to Dublin to make the flight - it was much cheaper than flying from Belfast. We arrived in Dublin airport long-term parking with an hour before the flight would take off. We were not worried, and this was plenty of time as we had done online check-in. At 9.00am we made it to the gate very pleased.

We joined the line to get on the flight, and I was standing in front of Abby, they took my passport and printed out boarding card - all good. Had started to walk a little towards the plane, when Abby was stopped. They denied Abby boarding at the gate!!! It was because of a new policy that began March 19th. Abby is American, and they said that she had needed to get her visa checked at the check-in desk - even though we had checked in online!! We kind of ran back - but we also kind of knew that we would miss the flight.

So we drove the 2 hours back to Belfast. :( Only flights from Dublin-Aberdeen are Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. £200 each from Belfast ONE WAY! NO WAY!

My wife described her relationship with Ryanair as a love-hate relationship. Cheap flights - LOVE!!!! Denied boarding because of unclear instructions and unhelpful people - HATE!!! However, I think I was the calmest I ever could be. About 20 minutes later - I wasn't that bothered - only the fact of not seeing our friends. I think I am growing.... I think I am not a New Yorker anymore - in a good way :)

We will fly again.... sometime soon.... with Ryanair!

Abby's back!

2009-04-10T23:43:00.000-07:00

Abby got back Thursday - safe and sound, but a little tired. Her sister had the baby - a beautiful boy named Lucas. I will out some pictures up soon!

2 and a half weeks....

2009-03-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

Abby left yesterday morning for 2 and a half weeks!! She has gone to her sisters in Rochester, NY so she can witness the birth of our nephew. He still hasn't come yet, and she and her mom are waiting very patiently! This is the first grandchild! She will return to Belfast on April 9th.... if she decides to.

Day 3 - 4:12 @ The Gathering 09

2009-03-21T08:25:00.001-07:00

Day 2 - 4:12 @ The Gathering 09

2009-03-18T06:27:00.000-07:00

Day 1 - 4:12 @ The Gathering 09

2009-03-16T16:01:00.001-07:00

Check out the video! We took 33 young people and 6 leaders away to a youth conference in Telford, England - run by the Youth department of Elim - www.serious4god.co.uk We had a blast - was a great weekend - hope you enjoy the video...

The Gathering 09...

2009-03-12T14:48:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning we set off with 33 teenagers and 6 leaders for Birmingham, to travel to the annual Elim youth conference - 'The Gathering.' We are meeting at the church, 6.30am in the morning, before we set off on our flight from Belfast City airport to Liverpool. At Liverpool we will pick up two coaches and a car to take the drive to Birmingham where we will be staying. I know that it is going to be a great time of fun and fellowship - but also that these teenagers (and hopefully me!) will have an amazing encounter with God. Please pray that it would be a life changing moment in their lives - at a time when their decision making is really shaped. If you want to follow along in the fun, we will be posting videos and photos at www.dundonaldelim412.blogspot.com

Manou living it up in Northern Ireland! Oh Schnapp! Pt1

2009-03-03T15:43:00.000-08:00

Our good friend Manouchka Guerrier from NYC was staying with us, and left yesterday! She came for a few days last week, went to Holland to stay with joint friends, and then back to us for a few days! She is a lot of fun, and we had a great time showing her around! She was also on vacation and even got 'strongly encouraged' to share the Word last night at [network] - on our first night!

Manou living it up in Northern Ireland! Oh Schnapp! Pt2

2009-03-03T15:29:00.000-08:00

Manou is here!

2009-02-22T05:19:00.000-08:00

Manou and Abby caught eating cookies before their dinner!! Tut tut.

A day of pictures in our beautiful country...

2009-02-12T14:13:00.000-08:00

Abby and I went for a drive today around the 'Ards Peninsula.' We enjoyed the sights, had lunch at the chippy and Abby even had a quick driving lesson - learning to drive stick! Enjoy the pics...

Part 2

2009-02-12T14:05:00.000-08:00

Maribel & Sielke in cold Norn Iron

2009-02-12T13:20:00.000-08:00

We had loadsa fun with Maribel & Sielke when they were here! It was refreshing to spend time with them and cool to show them around our 'new life.' They are soooo welcome back!

Debby Boyce becomes Debby Shaw!!

2009-02-12T13:03:00.000-08:00

Debby got married to Albert on 30th January 2009 in Lisburn! Here are some pictures...

Maribel & Sielke

2009-02-02T02:16:00.001-08:00

Maribel & Sielke, two of our friends from Metro Ministries in New York are staying with us right now. Yesterday, they got to experience some Northern Irish church! My Pastor asked Maribel if she would share her testimony last night, and she did an awesome job!

You can check it out online @

http://dundonaldelim.org/index.php?option=com_sermonspeaker&task=singlesermon&id=10138&Itemid=120

Just copy and paste the link in your browser.

Visitor season

2009-01-31T02:08:00.000-08:00

At Metro when there were a lot of visitors, they would often refer to it as 'visitor season' I know that we haven't had THAT many visitors, but we have had an exciting time with lots of our favorite people from around the world! And I love it! In November, Abby's parents came from Denmark for Thanksgiving in Belfast! Shortly after Abby left to Rochester, and I went a few weeks later, so we got to see lots of our peeps in New York!
On Friday night of last week, Kim Do flew in from Africa to spend a day and a half with us in Belfast! It was awesome, we ate Spanish food, and showed her a bit of Belfast! Then on Thursday, 2 days ago we picked Maribel and Sielke up from Dublin! We spent Thursday afternoon in Dublin, before driving 3 hours back to Belfast. Yesterday was Debby Boyce wedding, and we picked them up last night after a wild Irish party! Today they are going into Belfast with Abby, and I will meet them later after work!
We are having a lot of fun with them.... pictures to follow!

Seattle

2009-01-28T11:16:00.000-08:00

We had the most awesome summer vacation, when we got to go to Chicago, Denver, Sacramento, San Francisco and Seattle! I found some of these photographs from Seattle which feature some of our cool friends. We stayed with Veronika, who did the Metro Ministries internship with me in March 2005. I like Seattle a lot, especially City Church! I still listen to Judah Smith a lot on podcast.

4:12

2009-01-20T06:46:00.000-08:00

Just in case you are not really sure what we do - check out the video! We had a youth service on Sunday in church, and it was great! This video was made by the young people themselves, so the church could get a preview as to what happens on a Friday night!

Christmas in Roc-city!

2009-01-12T17:30:00.000-08:00

Abby left December 5th to get her visa paperwork sorted in America! So I went to Rochester, NY to spend Christmas with her, and of course her sister Hannah and brother-in-law David. We had a great time with them, and even more exciting because they are expecting! Abby got her visa on the 23rd December, so that was even better, because I knew she would be coming home around the same time as me!
Pictured here are Hannah and David at Christmas, and the street and house that Abby grew up in!

My prayer for my husband

2008-09-05T14:37:00.000-07:00

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Abby and I are in our last day in Rochester, NY with her sister and brother-in-law. Her sister lives in the family home where Abby grew up. This is pretty cool for me who came into her life when she was 22, I am able to get a better understanding of where she is coming from. This trip is no.4 for me and it has been particularly great as I feel I now have a greater grasp on the people she cares about, and how she grew up, and why she had the 'ups' and 'downs' that she had.

Anyways, she was going through some of her old stuff in the attic, and showing me bits and pieces when she came across a prayer that she wrote down when she was 18 years old. I will type it exactly the way it has been written!

Lord I thank you for the man that will someday be my husband. I ask he will have a burning desire and passion for you that consumes him more than anything else. I ask that you would show him and confirm to him that which you have called him to. I pray he would know who he is in Christ and in that identity he would be secure and confident. I ask that he will be glad for who he is and what you've called him to. Lord give him a desire for wisdom and knowledge and with that a teachable spirit. Lord I ask that he would have a tender heart towards children and the desire to have his own. Lord I ask you'd begin to equip him now to be the father and husband you've called him to be. Lord I ask that he would have a great sense of humor that would still be pleasing to you. Lord I ask that you would teach him the principles of prosperity and giving, and that he would manage his finances and our finances in a Godly manner. Lord I ask that might have a model marriage, an example of how you intended marriage to be. Maybe it will not be perfect, but that will not be an excuse for being as close as possible. Lord thank you that with you anything is possible.

Pretty insightful for an 18yo I think you'll agree!

Craig interviews wifey

2008-09-01T12:14:00.001-07:00

C: So how are you doing?
A: I’m good (with a light sigh)
C: Why did you not sound so confident dear?
A: Because I’m sleepy, and I feel guilty I’m not making salsa with my sister. Ah well.
C: How is it being in Rochester where you grew up all those years ago?
A: It’s nice to see familiar faces and places.
C: What has been your favorite part so far?
A: Last night at Charlotte Beach
C: Why dear?
A: It was so beautiful and cosy. I enjoyed being with Hannah & David (Abby’s pregnant sister and brother-in-law)
C: How do you feel about moving to Northern Ireland?
A: Sounds good.
C: Why?
A: Because I’m ready for a new challenge.
C: Are you excited about it?
A: I guess I have not allowed myself to be as I don’t have a visa yet.
C: Honey, this is supposed to be a funny interview for all our friends, can you give me something to work with here please?
A: I warned you I would not be funny or witty because I am sleepy.
C: What do you think about the presidential election?
A: I just might play eenie-meenie-mini-mo.
C: But do you feel like that is a responsible thing to do?
A: I believe the Holy Spirit is inside of me – he can even use eenie-meenie-mini-mo.
C: How is your obsession with all things Anjelah Johnson a.k.a Bon Qui Qui going?
A: Not so hot. She really needs to put up some new material. I’ve mastered all the old material.
C: One last question baby…. Who do you love the most in the world ever?
A: Jesus

There you have it folks! You heard it here first. A simple interview after 7 months of marriage and she has to love Jesus first! Well, I guess it should be that way.

Vacation....

2008-07-16T21:30:00.000-07:00

Abby and I are in Chicago, IL and loving it! It is soooo nice to be off work, and just doing fun stuff! We are staying with the awesome Kim Do - Abby's childhood friend from Rochester, NY. She has lived here for three years, so she knows the city really well by now. She has been amazing, fitting lots of things in around her work schedule. The ultimate host! We have done a lot of things in the last few days, including 'Cirque Du Soleil,' Willow Creek church, Buildings tour of downtown, cook out, movie theatre, and even a comedy club! Tomorrow we go to a big park in Michigan! And this is only the first city of four in our vacation.... Looking forward to Denver CO, Sacramento CA and Seattle WA! We will post some pictures soon!

Leaving NYC...

2008-06-28T17:19:00.000-07:00

In Spetember we make our move to Northern Ireland. Abby and I are going to be working for the church in Dundonald. www.dundonaldelim.org We will be working with the children, youth and outreach ministries. As well, I will be studying theology at Bible College. We are very excited about this new adventure in our life!

We also have a very exciting summer schedule, with vacation, camp and visiting friends & family before we get settled in Norn Iron. Please pray for us to get settled quickly and to get all the logistics figured out!

This is our schedule for the next few months:

July 1st-July 10th Teenmania Brooklyn, NY
July 12th - August 5th Vacation in America
August 11th - 22nd Camp - Upstate NY
August 24th Last day working for Metro
August 25th - Sept 6th Rochester, NY (Hannah & David)
September 8th Belfast, N.I
September 10th - 24th Denmark (Abby's parents), Holland (Cindy & Gideon)

We are excited for this transition, but I guess sometimes I forget that we are actually moving country!!
New things in store....

Friends...

2008-06-28T16:31:00.000-07:00

We spent an awesome afternoon with our friends Aaron and Ina. They are at Metro with us. Me and Aaron did the internship together and he was on the bunk bed above me. Now Aaron and Ina live in the apartment above us! Aaron is from Dublin (we joke around a lot!) and Ina from Germany. We went to South Street Seaport with them in New York, ate indian food, and took some great pics! They are great people and we are excited for what God is going to do through them as they move to Scotland in September.

DC with our good friend Jenn

2008-06-28T16:02:00.000-07:00

In April, Abby and I went to DC and stayed with our good friend Jenn. She was on staff at Metro with us, and was living and doing ministry in DC. She was living in Anacostia - the ghetto! We left Sunday afternoon (they cancelled BX church that day - meant we had more time in DC!!) and came back late Monday night. It was an awesome two days. On the first night, we did 'midnight monumenting.' That was so awesome! And on the Monday we went to the National Archives Museum. Here we saw the declaration of independence, the bill of rights and everything! I learnt a lot about America!

We had a great time, it is always awesome to get to see Jenn. And getting to see the White House was just another thing I could tick off my list of things I wanted to see in America! Good times. Good times.

Communication... SO important!

2008-03-05T21:18:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I realised the importance of communication.... again. We had run out of milk in our apartment. I mentioned this fact to Abby - "Abby, we're out of milk." Shortly after I left for visitation, but Abby stayed at the ministry working another job. On my way home I thought to myself - I'll stop for milk. So, at the gas station I purchased a gallon of milk. Which, for those of you who live in NYC know that this lasts only a few days. However, when I arrived home, I went straight to the kitchen like a responsible milk buyer and put my milk in the fridge only to be greeted by.... you guessed it - another gallon of milk! Abby and I had the same idea, and all we had to do was COMMUNICATE. A quick phone call would have solved all this madness! Anyways, just a quick story to explain to you, that we are definitely learning a lot about being married! We will have more honeymoon stories/pictures up soon, but for now - here's a photo from when Abby got her face painted at the Venice Carnvial!

Visit Venice. But don't eat.

2008-01-30T01:37:00.000-08:00

I've always prided myself on being a cultured, well-travelled American. It bothers me when Americans have very closed-minded attitudes when it comes to cultural differences. However, no matter how ragingly American I sound on this matter, I don't care.

European. restaurant. service. sucks. Particularly in Italy. Craig and I are on our honeymoon, and we have eaten at a number of restaurants in the Venice area. At every restaurant the service has been slow, lazy and certainly NOT with a smile. After you have been seated, the servers seem to like to play a game of hide and seek. They make you get up and find them, so that they can take your order. Which I guess is better than waiting for them to show their face.

Yesterday, we ate at a modern, supposedly 'Americanized' restaurant in Venice itself. After Craig won the game of hide and seek with our server, and we ordered our meals, Craig's food arrived a reasonable amount of time later. I encouraged him to start without me, knowing his disdain of cold food. I assumed mine was to arrive soon. I assumed wrong. Craig was halfway finished and still no food for Abby. Craig finishes, still no food for Abby. :-( Five minutes after Craig is finished, we catch the server a second time to inquire about my food. "Five more minutes," she says. I thought it was a given that we would like to eat together. But I was wrong again. Finally sometime later, my food did arrive. Wow!

By this point in the States, I would be eating my food for free because they know that this is unreasonable. O, and did I mention that our meal of one plate of lasagne and one calzone cost the equivalent of $50. Venice is beautiful. The restaurant service is not. Visit Venice. But don't eat.

Honeymoon update...

2008-01-27T02:53:00.000-08:00

Hey guys!

So, we have been married for a week now! The day after the wedding we flew to Northern Ireland for our wedding party on Monday night. It was really cool, and a great chance to see a lot of the people that we love. We were very blessed. Then, we stayed in a beautiful **** hotel in Northern Ireland for three nights. It was so beautiful, and we got an opportunity to rest a bit as well as enjoy the Northern Irish cuisine that I miss so much. Now, we are in Venice. Our hotel is ok but this city is sooooo beautiful. Everywhere you turn, there is something else really cool to see. Amazing!

Wedding pics!

2008-01-27T02:41:00.000-08:00

Hey guys! Some of our wedding pics are ready. Our wonderful, talented friend Rachel McPherson drove from Boston to take our pictures. They are so beautiful, so if you want some, order quick - 15% discount until February 7th 2008! Check it out...

http://mergeweddings.com/clients/index.php?do=photocart&viewGallery=1107

Welcome

2008-01-27T02:34:00.000-08:00

Welcome Bienvenue etc...
This is our marriage blog hehe. We will be posting fun things about relationships, our relationship, what to do, what not to do, what is kew, what is not kew etc...
I will write in normal font. Abby will write in Italics. Therefore you never have to guess who is writing.
Yay! Yay!