In 2005 I was asked to be part of a small team of five young people from the Presbyterian Church in Ireland who were travelling to Mexico to work alongside Amor Ministries (http://www.amor.org/) and Presbyterian Church of New Providence (http://pcnp.org/church/). I was 18 years old at this stage and when I received the phone call from Graeme Thompson I wasn't sure what to say! When I asked how long I had to think about it, he said there was a team meeting the next day. Once my parents gave me the go ahead I knew I couldn't turn down this opportunity, after all it was so random it has to be from God. So, if my memory is correct, less that three months after that phone call I was on a plane to LA. This was my first trip to the US and it was the beginning on my journey towards Nashville.
The team of five from Northern Ireland was part of a much larger team of approximately 80 young people from PCNP. Once our American team mates arrived the five of us from Northern Ireland were put into one of the five different work teams.We spent five days just across the Mexican border where each team built a house for a Mexican family. The thought of being flung into a team with people I didn't know terrified me before departure. Thoughts such as, "will they like me?", "will they understand me?", etc. went through my head. However, this was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had and was very significant in my journey. So much so, that I went back in 2008 as a co-leader of a team of 9 young people from Northern Ireland. I am sure if you spoke to any of these young people they would also say that their time spent in Mexico was a significant point in their journey thus far.
In 2005, after our time with our American friends in Mexico and San Diego, our small Northern Irish team travelled in LA to spend some holiday time. Before we left, through training and orientation, we had been prepared to see poverty in Mexico, however I did not expect to see poverty in the United States. In my naivety as a teenager who had just left school I thought LA was going to be full of the rich and famous. The amount of homeless people I saw in LA broke my heart. We stayed in Santa Monica and every night walking back to our hostel I could not believe the amount of homeless people I saw. This was the first time I felt a real call from God to work with people who are disadvantaged and living in poverty in the western world, be that Northern Ireland or the USA.There have been other significant times in my journey, but I will save them for another time.
In June 2010 I began to explore the opportunity of serving in the USA. This was when I came across the YAV program in Nashville and straight away I felt a sense of excitement. So, over a year later, I am now one week away from beginning my physical journey to Nashville via London and Chicago!
