Up Till Now...

Hi Everyone!

So I wanted to update you all on the goings on here in Belfast! It's been a bit of a whirlwind (still), as I've been getting settled in and acclimated to my new home. I've battled some illness as well, but I've also had some pretty amazing times already! God is so great, and I'm so excited for what the future will hold! Okay, so let's dive in.

Are you Okay...?

So, as I shared in my last post I got a stomach bug shortly after arriving. A few weeks later I was hit with a cold. I tried to rest and take care of myself, but it still took a little while before I could shake it completely. Then, last week, I was hit with yet another stomach bug. I've never had them so close together before. Usually illness hits when you move to a new place, as you acclimate to your new surroundings, but this just felt like one thing after another. I'm so thankful for all the people that love me, and were willing to bring soup, and medicine, and just sit with me while I tried to rest and recuperate. It is a testament to the family that I have joined here in Belfast, because I was treated as such. Encouraging texts, a willingness to brave getting sick themselves to bring me what I needed. I felt so loved, and it made my heart so incredibly happy to know that I have such amazing people surrounding me, loving me, and encouraging me here on the ground. I'm praying, and ask that you would do so as well, that I do not get sick again. So far, so good, but I still think it is important to be covered in prayer against any other illnesses.

Global Cafe

One of the ministries that I get to be a part of here in Belfast is the Global Cafe. We welcome new comers (Immigrants and Refugees) to our city by cooking a big meal connected with a country we pick for that month, playing some live music, and providing for needs they may have (clothing, toiletries, homeware, etc.). I've been to two so far, and it has been such a privilege to meet the amazing people that come to these gatherings. The first Global Cafe I participated in I had the privilege of helping to provide music, by singing. The food we had was from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and it was just an amazing night to be able to serve with my gifts. The second Global Cafe was Puerto Rican night, and I had the opportunity to share food from my family, my country, and made arroz con pollo (rice with chicken), plantains, and beans. It was so fun, and a little stressful, but mostly fun, to be able to cook food that I love for this diverse group of people. There are people from different countries, with different faiths, that come together in this little space, and enjoy each other. It is so beautiful to see. I met a woman from Somalia, and was able to really connect with her. I am so blessed to be able to be a part of this event. As many of you know, I have a very big heart for the refugee, for immigrants, so this is such an incredible opportunity for me to be a part of, and I look forward to continuing in this ministry.

Youth Night

We also had our first youth night! As you know, my main focus while being here is being a youth minister. So it was pretty exciting to plan our first youth night! There aren't many in our church yet, only three, and only two could make it to our night out, but I loved being able to hang out with them, and get to know them a bit better. We did a movie night. We went to see Black Panther, then grabbed some food at McDonalds afterwards. I am really looking forward to our future youth nights, which we will be doing once a month to start, until we grow a bit larger. I pray that God will open doors for me in this area as well, to be able to reach out a bit more in our community as well. I want to be a safe space for our young adults, to be there for them, and a godly example to them. Also, since we have two young men, and one young woman, please be praying for a man to be able to help with this ministry. We have a policy of needing two adults being present whenever we do something with the youth, but it would be great if we could have a man to help as well, so we have someone for the young men to be able to talk to on a deeper level.

Everything Else...

I've also been helping to lead worship. I'm really excited to be getting back into this area of service. It's been a long time since I've led worship, or helped with worship at all. I'm so happy that God is using my gifts to help in this area as well. I love worship, I have such a heart for it, so I'm really enjoying playing piano and singing, and just giving glory to God through my gifts. 

I've also been building relationships with some of the young women I've met. Many of them are already Christians, at varying degrees of their walk with the Lord. I just feel so blessed to be a part of their lives, to potentially aid in discipleship, but ultimately being able to spend time with these wonderful women that have different experiences, different ways of looking at the Lord. God has blessed me to be able to be a part of their journey, and to have them be a part of mine.

I also wanted to share quickly, that I had the amazing opportunity to spend a week learning more about God on a deeper level. We had a friend come from the States (Minnesota actually, how funny!), he is a Messianic Jew, and taught us, in a different way than I've ever been taught. He broke down the scriptures in the Torah, and shed new light on old passages. It was an intensive week, but it was also so incredible to learn so much, to see God in a new way. He will be coming back two more times this year to visit, and I look forward to learning more from him.

That's All Folks

So that's a quick, basic recap of everything that's been going on! It's been such an amazing two months (Two months?!? Already?!?) being here, growing accustomed to saying "would that suit" instead of "does that work", "Hiya" instead of "Hi", and "Grand" instead of "Great" (among many other phrases), to different (and sometimes better) food, and buildings that never seem to quite get to warm, just warmer than outside. I am loving every moment of it, trying to soak it all in, and enjoy the newness of it all before it becomes commonplace to me. God is doing some pretty incredible things here, people are being healed, they are learning about Him, who He is, the great love He has for us, and the power He has. I cannot wait to see how He continues to move, and what else He has in store for us all. Until next time!

Blessings and Love,

Chrissy

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

On Your Mark, Get Set...

Hi everyone!

So I have lots of very exciting news that I can't wait to share with you all! First, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for sticking with me, thank you for praying for me, encouraging me, supporting me, being great listeners, and being a part of this mission. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

I am so pleased to say, as many of you may already know, I am fully funded! As of mid-November, I was told that I was fully funded, praise God! He provided precisely when He meant to, and I am so thankful for such an incredible God that is my provider! I was commissioned by my sending agency, Bethany Gateways, on November 15th. Essentially, this is a special moment where I am prayed over and officially sent out as a missionary. It was a very profound moment for me, as I felt that this was finally happening. It really hit me that I was going to be leaving soon, so start this new chapter as a missionary.

The next step in the journey was applying for my visa. This is an exciting time, but also a bit daunting and nerve-wracking. It's exciting, because it's taking an official step, saying: I'm doing this. I'm taking a very official step in heading to Belfast! It's a bit daunting because you have to make sure all your paperwork, documents, etc. are in order. You want to nitpick to make sure there is no reason for them to deny your visa. So it is a bit daunting to do so. It's nerve-wracking because what if they deny your visa? What if they say no?

I began the application around Thanksgiving, and submitted it a few days before the end of November. Then it was just a waiting game. Hoping, praying that it would be approved I waited. And today I got the email: my visa is approved! I will be receiving it in the mail in the next couple of days! PRAISE GOD!!

Now, my next step is to book my ticket, which I will be doing tonight. I am so incredibly excited that in a few short weeks, I will be leaving on a plane, to begin my journey in Belfast. I am planning to leave the first week of January, but I will update one FaceBook once I have an exact date.

So here we are, I am getting ready to head off to Northern Ireland, to do ministry, share the gospel, and have some adventures along the way. I am so glad that you are all here, to share in this journey with me. I look forward to telling you all about everything that God is doing, and will do while I'm there!

Blessings and Love,

Chrissy

Major Update

Hello all!

Now, I know that I've just done a blog post a couple of weeks ago, but I wanted to update everyone, because I have some exciting news! I have been wanting to share this with you all, but I needed to wait for full approval from both of the organizations that I am working with. So here we go!

Percentage Breakdown

I am VERY close to my goal for leaving, and now I can give some exact numbers for what that looks like! So here is the breakdown: I have about 50% of my monthly budget actually pledged and currently giving. Now this may not seem like a lot, HOWEVER, I have about 28% more of my budget verbally pledged. This means that I have been told by some how much they are planning to give, but they have not begun to give yet. This means that total I have 78% of my monthly budget taken care of (of course, providing that those verbal pledges become physical pledges)!! This is VERY exciting!

How much I Have Left To Raise

So, I've given a percentage breakdown, but what does that mean as far as actual numbers go? Well, this means that I have exactly $453.34 left to raise for my monthly budget. This brings me so close to my goal! broken down, that is 15 people giving $30 a month! This is very exciting news, but it brings me to my next piece of information that is very important, vital, and possibly the whole reason that you've opened this blog post. So here we go!

My Deadline

I now have a deadline. The deadline I have to raise the rest of my monthly support is October 31st. Again, I had to wait until everyone was on the same page before I released this information, which is why I am just posting this now. 

So why the sudden deadline, and why so so soon? Glad you asked! Well, in order for Every Nation Belfast to sponsor my visa there had to be dates when they filled out the paperwork to receive the rights to do so. So when this was done, a while ago, we all figured I would be there by now, so the end of this year was the deadline. Of course, there have been some unforeseen circumstances in this process, and I am still working on raising this last bit of support. The reason that my deadline is the 31st of this month, and not November is because I still need to apply for my visa, and the closer to Christmas you apply, the less likely it will be done in a timely manner. The visa processing usually takes between three and four weeks, and I need to physically be in Belfast before the end of the year.

So what happens if I don't make it by the end of the year? Great Follow Up question! Well, the consequences could be great. ENB could potentially lose the right to sponsor my, or any visa. There could also be potential problems with the government as well. And since I always try to be as honest as I can on here, I have to say this: I would feel so incredibly AWFUL if that happened. 

So...What Can I do?

Well, there are a couple of ways that you could help. First of course, pray about giving. I emphasize: pray. Make sure that this is a move that God is in accordance with you making. Then, if He moves you to do so, decide how much you want to give. You could give as little as $5 a month, or as much as $453.34, it's between you and Him. If you would like to give, look up at those tabs above this post. Look for the one that says Ways to Give (or just, you know, click that link.) and follow the instructions listed on the page. If you would rather give by check, feel free to email (chrissy.charleman@gmail.com) me, and I'd be happy to send you all the info on how to do so!

The other way you can help is PRAY! Prayer is an even more important way that you can help me out, because we know that the power of prayer is one of the greatest things on this earth. Pray for encouragement for Every Nation Belfast, for the church, and the team that I'm joining there. Pray for me, that the Lord would open the doors that need to be opened in order for everything to happen in time. 

Okay... Let's Do This!

So, everyone, here we are. It's crunch time. But, you guys, I'm so excited. I was spending time with the Lord this morning, and He just gave me the most amazing mixture of peace and excitement. I know that He's going to make this happen, I know it with every fiber of my being. I am so excited that I am finally going to be in Belfast before the end of this year! Time has come, and soon, I'll be on the next phase of my journey, and I am so glad you're all along for the ride! I'm so glad you all get to be a part of this journey with me, and I cannot wait to share with you all, not only how God comes through, as a testimony to His faithfulness, but everything that He is doing in Belfast. I cannot wait for you all to come with me as I head to Belfast, and we can all see how God uses us. Because, I really want you to understand this, you are as much a part of this as I am. If you are praying for me, supporting me financially, or through simple encouragements, you are a part of this! You are vital to this whole journey. So get excited! Because we are about to cross the Atlantic, and embark on a whole new, incredible journey! Are you ready? I know I am!

Blessings and Love,

Chrissy

#blessed

Hi everybody! I just want to start by apologizing for not writing in so long... It's been difficult to do so because there was a lot going on, behind the scenes, lots of moving pieces, that I really couldn't write about until things were all squared away with the right people. As of right now there are still a few parts that are shifting around in order to make sure that everything is up to par for me to leave. But I wanted to update you all, as much as I can, at this moment. So here we go!

I was hoping for a September departure, but since I still have a bit to raise, and still need to go through the process of getting my visa, I think we're looking at an early October departure at this moment. I am SO incredibly excited, as I'm watching this dream, that I've had for over two and a half years finally moving from dream to reality! It's been a long, difficult journey, but I am finally able to see a light at the end of the tunnel, and it has truly been an incredible thing to see God work, and move as I continued to move forward with the vision he has given me. Watching everything fall into place, in His timing has been such a cool thing to see.

I also want to take a moment, in this blog post, to say thank you to a very special person. I want to say thank you to Joan Cox, an amazing woman of God, that has known me, and prayed for me, since before I was born. She has been such a blessing to my family over the years, and has been such an incredible blessing and essential part of helping me in my support raising. I love her so dearly, and I can only hope I can be half as loving, caring, kind, hospitable, and a strong example of the love of Christ as she is someday. So thank you Joan, for all you've done to help me in this process, it has been more encouraging and inspiring than you know.

Now I just need to brag on God for a minute. He has provided such an amazing opportunity to partner with a very special church, the church that I grew up in, that has now become All Souls Community Church. I am so thankful that God, through Joan, opened the doors for me to share with them, and after much prayer and consideration, partner with them. I am so thankful for this opportunity, and there is no doubt in my mind, that this was fully orchestrated by God. He saw where I was at, that I was feeling a bit discouraged, wondering how all this would work out, and He provided this amazing opportunity for a partnership, which I am so excited about, because I believe it was very much God ordained.

God has blessed me. He has blessed me with people that have been supporting me for years, both prayerfully and financially. He has blessed me with a loving and supporting family. He has blessed me with an incredible calling, and while I feel unworthy at times of such a calling, I know that HE has made me worthy of it. I have to say, I cannot believe that this is actually happening. But I am so excited to watch what else God does as I'm preparing to leave for the field. He has done so much already, and I know that He will continue to do so much more.

If you are in a place of doubt, wondering where God is, why He led you to where you're at, only to feel that He abandoned you, know that He hasn't. He will never leave, nor forsake us. He has things we need to learn, ways that we need to grow. Even if you feel like you aren't growing, like God isn't there, He isn't speaking, let me tell you, you are growing, He is there, and He is speaking. As I look back on my time here, I see how God spoke, how when I would feel at my lowest, He would send encouragement, whether through my sister, my best friend, my mom, or total strangers that I was able to forge a deep connection with, He always spoke. Look for the little things, be vulnerable, open up and tell your support system where you're at. If you don't have a support system, tell God where you're at. He knows, but something happens when we're open and vulnerable with Him, He moves, He changes things, whether in the physical, or in our hearts, something changes. It's so easy to forget, believe me, I know, but remember, God will always give you the right perspective when we just ask.

Thank you all, for your continued prayers and support! We're almost there, and I cannot wait to write my first blog post from Belfast VERY soon! Please continue to keep me in prayer as I finish up my time here support raising. Also, remember, if there are any prayer requests that you have you can send them my way, I would love to be praying for all of you specifically as well! Love you all!

Blessings and Love,

Chrissy