Today at church I turned around for some reason, and at JUST that moment, Anna Gerard (a close friend from Camp Qwanoes 2006) walked in the door! I was gob-smacked! (The British use that word often to mean extremely shocked or surprised :).) Anna is from Belfast and we had emailed her before we left, hoping to meet up at some point, but she didn't respond to the email (as she was away on holidays for the entire summer). AND THEN, she decided to come to the Causeway Coast Vineyard today, which is quite a ways from her home and home church! I'm sooo glad we got to meet up! David and I will most likely be leaving from Belfast en route to our next location, and she's offered to make us dinner and show us around the big city (ha, as our first experience there--remember, sleeping on the street?--wasn't the grandest! ;)), and give us a bed to stay in for a night or two! It's just sooo cool!
David's new friend Andrew heard about my eyes/contacts/wearing broken glasses "ordeal" and he introduced us to Andrew and Leona Spence, a couple in the congregation who both practise optometry! It was also their B&B we were able to stay at our first 3 days here, but we hadn't met them until today. Anyway, Leona has agreed to look at my eyes and my contacts on Tuesday--her day off! WHAT WONDERFUL PEOPLE THERE ARE HERE! I cannot believe it... this church is just so friendly!
We also have at least 2 or 3 dinner invitations for the next week! Yeehaw! As of now, we'll be in Northern Ireland until September 1st, and perhaps a few days longer if we decide to go to this cottage on the beach which was offered to us (!!!), but we'll stay as long as we're being used and being a blessing, and then carry on from there. We both realized that as much fun as it is to meander about aimlessly, we thrived best once we had tasks and work to do! Next week will be pretty slack, which is great--it'll give us time to explore the coast and see some of the beaches and the Causeway--yet the last thing we want to do is be a burden on the congregation, or to be jumping from place to place just for a bed to sleep in. We've been thanked countless times for our work here, and yet WE feel as though we're the ones being truly blessed!
We're both healthy and in good spirits. Thank you for your prayers! David wishes he could upload more photos, but it takes sooooooooo loooooooooong on these library computers, so he sends his apologies. WE LOVE YOU ALL!