Walls

This weekend conference in Northern Ireland is such a blessing and I feel so privileged to be enabled to be here and share with these wonderful Irish ladies and experience their generous hospitality including copious amounts of tea and cake!  

On Friday afternoon we (Anne and I) were driven from the airport in Belfast to our conference centre in Newcastle, and as there was some spare time our kind host took us for a little drive into the Mountains of Mourne. There were lots of stone walls made of some huge boulders and we discovered that most of them are made by hand. Amazing that anyone could lift them let alone fashion them into a wall! 

On the first evening our speaker introduced her theme ‘Inside Out’ and spoke about the story of the woman at the well meeting Jesus from John chapter 4. She talked about boundaries and described how the woman in the story put up barriers to others and to Jesus in her words and actions but how Jesus crossed the boundaries to reach out to her.  She went on to suggest that all of us sometimes put up walls to create boundaries to try to protect ourselves from others and about how some of those barriers can be unhealthy and unhelpful in building close relationships.  We were reminded that Jesus isn't put off by the walls we try to build and no matter what we've been through in our lives, still loves us and wants to reach out to us if we will let him.  

View from the conference centre

Karen, our speaker for the weekend

View from the back of the car in the Mountains of Mourne

More Houston Happenings!

All the new world Area officers at our induction service

The past 8 days have been so busy I have hardly had time to breathe as I've been attending meetings and sessions from morning till night.  I have met some wonderful people from around the world and learned so much about the variety of cultures and nations represented.  

On Friday night I was installed as the British Area Officer for the World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women, and Vice President for the Britain and Ireland Area.  I will be working over the next five years with Louise Wilson from Ireland who is the President of the Britain and Ireland Area and thankfully we get on with each other like a house on fire and I think we're going to have a lot of fun!  

On Saturday we had a few free hours and were taken to the NASA Space Station for a visit.  It was an amazing opportunity and awesome to see the mission control centre from where the Apollo space missions were conducted.  

Yesterday and today I have been wearing my other hat as I attend the World Methodist Council.  This council comprises Christians from various parts of the Methodist family and we are all part of standing committees looking at some global issues from many perspectives.  

I feel as though I have been away from home for months and feel a bit homesick especially as I'm missing out on all the new beginnings with Mark’s new church at Ivybridge, and I'm so looking forward to heading home tomorrow.  It will be good to spend some time processing all I have learnt and experienced and catching up with my sleep! 

Mission Control

NASA visit

A session of the World Methodist Council.

A very important certificate.

Meeting of the old and new executives of the WFM&UCW 

Louise and I relaxing after a busy day. 

Keeping perspective

Last night I attended the opening service of the World Methodist Council.  It was a bit like the Methodist church version of the opening ceremony of the Olympics as each country processed in with a banner for their nation while we sang lots of verses of ‘Jesus the name high over all’. There was a fabulous choir, excellent musicians and probably a couple of thousand worshippers raising the roof! 

My favourite part was a talk by Dr  Jennifer Wiseman, an astro physicist and Rev 

Dr David Wilkinson a scientist and theologian.  They showed amazing pictures of stars and galaxies and talked about the awesomeness of God’s creation and how vast the universe is.  They went on to read Psalm 8 and how the Psalmist looks at the world and the heavens and asks ‘What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?’.  They reminded us that we do indeed have significance and worth, not because of our own achievements, status, wealth or education but because God created us, loves us and sent Jesus to die for us.  They quoted one of the Apollo astronauts who said, ‘Jesus walking on the earth was more important than man walking on the moon.’.  

It was good to be reminded to keep our lives in perspective against the vastness of creation and yet to realise how special we are to God and how he cares for the details of our lives.  At the end of their talk we sang ‘How great thou art’ and it was so powerful and moving to sing that after all the pictures we had just seen of space.  A fitting talk in the city which houses the NASA space centre! 

An amazing photo from the Hubble telescope of gases from a dying star forming a butterfly image.

The wonderful choir at the service.