Go!

Hi Everyone! Greetings from Belfast!!

I have been here for a week already! I just wanted to share a bit about my first week here, and about future communications, so that we can all be on the same page. So here we go!

My first week here in Belfast has been quite interesting. I arrived last Thursday, I was met at the airport by the wonderful Johann and Andrea. Right off I was able to go view an apartment that was in a great location, and in my price range. It was really exciting to find such  a great place just a few hours after arriving. I fought through some jet lag, and had a lovely dinner with my ENB family! The next day was Johann and Andrea's eldest daughter, Makayla's birthday! So we went out to dinner to celebrate.

Unfortunately that night I was hit with a stomach bug, I thought at first was food poisoning, but I think it was actually a virus I caught on the plane. So I spent all of Saturday just resting and trying to recover. Thank you to everyone who prayed for me during this time!

Sunday I was feeling a bit better, and attended my first church service! I had the privilege of meeting several of our Every Nation Church Belfast members, and it was a lovely time becoming acquainted with them. I am so excited to see more of them in the future!

Monday, our day off, I was feeling fully better, but it was time to fast, as our church is spending this week in prayer and fasting. I also went to the city center to set up my bank account, and turn in my application for the apartment I had seen on Thursday. Afterwards I got to have coffee with Caly, Lenny, and their son Eli. It was lovely to just spend a bit of time with them and chat, and I loved spending time with Eli, as he reminds me so much of my niece Selah.

Tuesday was staff meeting, and it was so great just getting to be with my team, my family, here and pray together, plan together, and just being a part of everything. I'm so excited that I get to work with such amazing people! I am truly blessed! In the evening we had a time of church prayer and worship, and it was such a sweet time to be together in prayer and agreement with each other.

Last night I was able to attend a special welcome dinner for international students arriving at the university. It was a great time of fellowship, and while we were overstaffed, and I wasn't able to eat with any international students, I was able to eat with some students that are from Northern Ireland, and I was able to learn a little bit about my new home. It was a lovely time, and I'm glad that I could learn a bit about Northern Ireland from the locals!

Today I found out that I got the apartment I applied for! Praise God! So hopefully I will be moving in the end of the month! I am so excited to get fully settled in, and begin my regular schedule of work in the coming weeks, so that I can continue connecting with my new home, and my new friends here.

So, that was my first week here in Belfast! The shortened version, but overall it's been such a wonderful time getting to know my leaders, my family here, and my environment. I look forward to learning and knowing more about my home. God has been so good to me, and I think I can safely say He is just as excited as I am that I'm here. I know that He's got big plans, and I feel so honored and blessed to be part of those plans! I am so excited that you all get to be part of these plans as well, as you are actively supporting and praying for me, you are part of what God is doing here, how cool is that? I love how the body of Christ works! So to that end, I would like to update you on how I will be communicating with all of you during my time here in Belfast!

Okay, so my plan is to continue blogging monthly, but I am thinking about adding a new medium of communication in as well: vlogging. I am planning to do my first vlog in February, and if I feel that this is a good form of communication I might do one every other week, maybe just five to ten minute updates. If this is something that you are interested in seeing, please let me know, because I think this might be a fun, somewhat more interactive way to know what's going on. Plus, you won't forget what my lovely face looks like!

Also, side note, all online communication (this blog, my vlog) links will no longer be shared straight from my FaceBook page, so if you'd like to receive those links, and even immediate updates (if something major, but sensitive comes up) I do have a private FaceBook group called Chrissy's Call. If you would like to be added, you can just let me know, and I will add you to the group!

I will also be sending out a quarterly email newsletter. I do have some of your email addresses, but if you would like to make doubly sure, and would like to send along your email address so I can add it to my list, I would not mind at all.

Now, you may be wondering, why all the communication? Well, I would like you to feel as much a part of my journey as you actually are! I want to be as transparent as possible (If you haven't figured that out from some of my older posts), and I want to share all that God is doing as quickly as possible! So, the blog and newsletter will definitely stick, we'll see about the vlog, as it is a new possibility that may or may not stick. But all this to say, I want you to be as well informed as possible, because this is your journey too! If you have any questions, concerns, or want to share anything with me, please feel free to shoot me an email, Facebook message, text, WhatsApp, whatever you'd like!

As always, thank you all for your support and prayers, they mean the world to me. I am so excited to see what the future in Belfast will be like, and I cannot wait to learn all that God wants to teach me here. Stay tuned! Until next time,

Blessings and Love,

Chrissy