Triplet to Ireland and the UK

I was invited to go to Enniskillen in Ireland in August, to be the speaker on the YWAM Ireland gathering. I was really blown away by the invitation, but as I had already been playing around in my head with maybe making a trip to the UK to see people and also get my UK passport sorted out, it seemed like a lovely way to combine the two.

I spent 3 lovely days with the wonderful people who make up YWAM in Ireland. In reflecting for the talks I realised that my relationship with YWAM in Ireland and all the good things that have come out of it (including 5 "Faith and Conflict" conferences), started because of two conferences that I went to. One was in 2007 and on the way back from the conference I "happened" to take a train with then YWAM Ireland leader, Jonny Clark. We also happened to get lost and took the train in the wrong direction... but that is another whole story! And the other was in 2014 in Lyon when I sat next to Alex Atwell, who is now leading YWAM Enniskillen, on a flight from there to Manchester. Random? Coincidence? I think not!  

It really was a privilege to share more of my story and what the Lord has taught me along the way and I really enjoyed sharing on how to persevere and press on into what the Lord is calling you into. We are the hands and feet of Jesus here on earth which this saying from St Teresa of Avila reminds us of! 

And some other reflections the Lord has been showing me about how to bring a little bit of His joy and life and celebration even when things are not going the way we wish they did...

And a case in point - why let a little bit of rain stop us from having a fun outing to Lough Erne together... crazy people! Group pic using the car as a tripod:

Here I am warming up by the fire with my fellow South African, Musa, who was crazy enough to jump in the lough...

Along with other crazy people - Alex and Martin. In the background you can see the ruins of Devenish Island Monastery... very eerie in the fog! 

And this time a selfie-stick pic with the monastery in the background as well...

I also managed to finish up my passport by going to Belfast before the conference and fast tracking it. My old one is not up until 2026, but it is almost full! And why is it almost full?? Because silly border guards in Bosnia and Croatia mostly don't care where they put their stamps. I only have 3 in my new passport and look at how much space they already take up!! (And if I fly from Zagreb, which is my closest airport I get between 4-6 stamps each time depending on if I am going to Schengen or not!)

I used my new passport to travel to the East Midlands Airport and to hang out with my godson, Christopher and his wonderful family. 

And I say wonderful, because on the day I was supposed to get on a bus and travel on to my next place, I felt horrible and recognised the feeling from the time I had covid... and they have some old tests hanging around and I took one, and guess what!! Yip. I was positive...

Thankfully, they were ok with me staying on, and we tried to isolate me as much as possible, but Trevor and Carol had already got it from me, but luckily the kids didn't get it! So yes, not my most successful trip ever... thanks to them for being so fantastic!! 

On the day that Christopher got his A-level results, they had scones to celebrate and they sat outside in the garden and I was upstairs talking to them through the window and enjoying my portion!

Then it was time to try and figure out my further travel. I had planned on going to a few people, but with not feeling so great after covid, I just narrowed it down to my sister and her family and changed my flight to come back a bit sooner. My nephew James had returned from a gap-year trip around Asia and it was wonderful to hear all his stories in person! 

And also enjoy time with my sister and brother-in-law, and their wonderful garden!!

Then it was time to be back in Banja Luka, getting ready for the new school year! 

European Leadership Gathering

I travelled to the UK to help with the organisation of the European Leadership Gathering in Harpenden, England. Before the conference, I managed to spend the weekend with my sister, Astrid, in Oxford. It would have been better if I hadn't caught a cold on my travel to the UK :(

At the YWAM Harpenden base, we gathered with around 300 YWAM Leaders from all over Europe. Unfortunately because I was sick, I wasn't able to take part in much of what was going on. The below is one of the official photographs of Patrick Dixon, one of our speakers, sharing on signs of the times.

I wasn't in the chapel other than when I was on the stage for two times on the first day, one was to share about the European Leaders' Learning Community (see video below) and the other was to organise the "Unconference" which was how we did our workshops and sharing times together. I just filled myself up on cold meds and made it through... but then the next day collapsed completely, oh well. I did manage to get a bit better by the end to be able to travel on to my next destination - my friends, Trevor and Carol. 

Here is the presentation that we did for the European Leaders' Learning Community! (apologies for the sound quality for me in the beginning, it does get better! And you will get to enjoy my colleagues, Laura and Johan doing some improv scenes...)

It was so sad to be at a conference and not actually be able to be there. But I am glad I was able to serve in the background a bit and I did "attend" by watching on the life stream when I wasn't sleeping the fever off. 

After the weekend with Trevor and Carol, I travelled to visit my former "boss" in YWAM, Carmelita and I was so glad to be looked after well and completely recover from my sickness so I could go back to Bosnia fighting fit! 

England and Ireland trip...

In July, I went on a lovely trip around England and Ireland. I started off at two YWAM bases - one in England - YWAM Harpenden: I got to catch up with so many lovely people - but of course didn't get ANY pictures with them... here is one of some of the base:

I also spent a lovely afternoon with a family that used to be in Romania, but are now based in Harpenden... we went to the zoo! And of course this is the ONLY pic I have of them, looking at the meercats (and one of the boys is missing, oh well) 

It was a really fun afternoon - and we got to see many fun animals, including the lemurs :)

Then it was time to head over to YWAM Rostrever in Ireland, where I stayed with my friend, Belinda. Here we are in front of Inch Abbey... we took a quick selfie before the Game of Throne tour group came to see it - as it is in one of the episodes...

 We also went to a stone circle - really interesting:

 And we also went to the church which was built on the spot where St Patrick had his first church:

And here is a statue of him at the entrance of Downpatrick:

 I also got to see the Narnia trail: Rostrevor lays claim to the fact that CS Lewis said that this part of Ireland is how he imagined Narnia...

 I did it with my friend, Alex, who has come many times to Bosnia... here we are with "Aslan"

 At the same time that I was there, there were two lovely people from the YWAM Thessaloniki team who were there too: Catherine and Carrie. We went with Belinda across the lough on the ferry. A really fun evening!

 And there were some fun signs on the other side: Love the Irish sense of humour

I loved being able to be in Ireland and catching up with everyone there (not everyone is pictured!), but then it was time to fly to Newcastle and visit with the Smiths: I haven't seen Megan since she was 7 and she is now 14, so it was great to be able to catch up!

I also got to catch up with Ali Howey who took me to Belsay Hall and it was such a lovely afternoon, but of course I didn't get a photo of her and I together! But here is the Hall and the original castle:

And then I headed by bus to my godson and his family in Nottingham. I managed to be there for his 13th birthday which was really fun... And of course, I didn't get a picture with them... the only one I have is of their new kitty watching the tennis with us: It was such a fun afternoon of sport - between the amazing Wimbledon final and the England vs New Zealand cricket world cup final it was hard to know what to watch...

It was then on to All Nations College for the "Refresh" course: Easneye Hall where the college is, has a long history and the grounds and surrounds are truly lovely. It was definitely a wonderful place to enjoy a week's retreat... There were only six of us on the course and we truly became family during the week. I am so glad that I was able to be a part of this!

Then it was time for me to return back to Banja Luka... here we are coming into land at Banja Luka airport... the little hop from Belgrade is always in a propeller plane: and I just sat in the right seat to get this shot: 

I didn't manage to see my sister and her family (who live in Oxford) this trip, because she was away or busy when I could come, so that was a bummer... next time! Now it is just time to reflect on all the fun people I got to hang out with, as well as all the connections I made and meetings I managed to have along the way... such a lovely trip!!

Team from Bristol | Kid's summer workshops

We had a fantastic time with the team from England... We started with two days of workshops/dramas/playing games at the Children's Home:

Here I am translating:

And actually helping to make the lion masks, that doesn't normally happen, as I usually run around... but I took two of the naughty boys and sat with them and actually made them zombi lion masks, otherwise we wouldn't have got anywhere... but anything to make sure we have peace and quiet!

 Here are some of the kids with them on...

 Getting ready for the play:

 Yes, you guessed it, Daniel in the Lion's Den, complete with hungry lions... It was super cute!

 Then it was time to move outside for facepainting/playing football and loom bands!

And on the second day, the four girls had prepared a dance for us:

They went one day to Prijedor and ran a workshop there, but I stayed back to do some errands here and get things ready for our two days of workshops. The first day was in our building:

The girls loved the crafts:

 Armour of God:

 And the boys loved the games (and also the facepainting!)

 And the cool juice boxes:

 The girls got to take part in a dance workshop, here they are showing off their dance:

The next day we were able to go to a nearby school and use their grounds, and it was so great! We had another dance workshop, but this one with more space:

And were able to do some fun water games (which ended up with a water fight, but everyone involved had spare clothes, so we were ok!!)

 We also had some fun outdoor games: swordfighting:

 And blow soccer: Father and son having a go:

And being outside meant we could have everyone's summer favourite: watermelon!! 

As you can see, we had a great time with the team - in fact they coined a new phrase "Super Bravo" using two words we use in the local language from English, but not usually together!! And they were a "Super Bravo" team indeed! 

Thanks also to all the wonderful local volunteers who helped us make it a fun time for the kids and the team! Picture credits: Ljiljana Baniček and Conner Haines