So here's my first official update:
The house I'm staying at is up outside the city. I share the house with Elizabeth, and Lindsey, and two Haven interns from France(Gayton & Cedric). In mid March I'll have a roommate from America who went through YWAM in northern Ireland.
Last night I met Lindsey and Evanne as they were on their way to a prayer meeting with Pádraic and Elizabeth.
Pádraic and Evanne are married and live on the other side of town. They're from Cork and they are, as far as I can tell, in charge of the Haven. Elizabeth and Lindsey are from the states and they are in charge of the interns and the different volunteers of the Haven.
The Haven is about a twenty minute walk from the house. I definitely took a few wrong turns on my way into town. But I finally made it:) Its a nice walk downhill. Beautiful old houses and a great view of the city as you're coming in.
Once I made it to the Haven Elizabeth & Lindsey showed me around. They have a nice café with a good lunch selection. They also have a coffee bar!!! This excites me:) As most of you know I love making coffee so this will be fun for me. Connected to the café is an area for little ones to play during the day. It is also turned into a hang out area where the youth of the city hang out and sometimes it is a meeting place for different things. They also have a Christine bookstore with quite a lot to choose from.
Elizabeth then introduced me to Pádraic. He's a nice Irish fella(married to Evanne). I think I'm going to like him a lot. He told me a little history of Cork and told me the condition of the church. He believes that God is about to shake His church here and pump some life in its veins. I pray that I would get to be a part of that shaking.
The main city part of Cork is surrounded by the river Lee that forks around it. The Irish for Cork is "Corcaigh" which means marsh. And here I thought it was an actual cork that plugs up a bottle of wine. There goes my thinking they have the best wine in Ireland. But maybe they do. That being said, the city was originally built on this marshland.
It sounds like they're gunna be keeping me busy while I'm here. I'll work in the café and with the youth when they come in. I'll be there on the youth nights. And it sounds like I might help a pastor named William outside of Cork with some youth stuff and teaching little kids as well.
All in all, I'm pretty excited to see what God has in mind while I'm here. It's going to be quit the ride! But I'm ready to be stretched...I think:) That's all for now. I'll post more later.
Be blessed,
Anthony L. McGarity
