TrewsNews

Church of Ireland Gazette - 29th May 2015. I WAS very encouraged by my first Church of Ireland General Synod and will explain why, as I share some first impressions. When I walked through the entrance to the Armagh City Hotel conference centre, the first thing that struck me was the variety of clerical dress and hairstyles. Had I arrived at a Father Ted convention by mistake? I batted that image from my mind and took in the variety of exhibition displays and saw a few familiar clerical faces. The place was buzzing. I found a seat in the main hall and soaked up the atmosphere. First up was the Presidential Address by the Most Revd Richard Clarke, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland. I had not seen the Archbishop in the flesh before and he is a real gentleman. The address started well, emphasising the importance of Church communities having good inter-relationships – very timely. Then he threw in some statistics, the most interesting being that only 15% of those ...

This speech was given at the Church of Ireland Synod debate on t he  Report of the Representative Body . I would like to draw your attention to the revised policy statement on Socially Responsible Investment on page 89 which was approved by the RB in March 2015 and published in General Synod 2015 Book of Reports .  I welcome the focus on Environmental, Social and Governance issues.  But I believe it does not go far enough. At the bottom of p89 the policy states,  "The RCB actively seeks to avoid investment in business which would be inconsistence with the ethos and mission of a Christian organisation." The question is, is it ethical to invest in fossil fuels?   In each of the last three years, of the ten largest equity holdings in the RB General investments fund, five of them where in fossil fuel companies. Should the Church of Ireland continue to invest in energy companies that contribute to the growing threat of climate change?   This ...

The last couple of days have again been spent relaxing with special friends. Yesterday we went out with the four other mission partner teachers we worked with during our 8 years here. We'd a delicious Brazilian churrasqueria barbeque dinner, where the waiters just keep bringing more and more meat until you can't move. Today we had breakfast with Diana, who looked after Elijah and Hannah from they were babies, and now is married with her own 1 month old son. Lunch with some Paraguayan friends from school and dinner with Linn - which we just adored. Another great day. Tomorrow morning we're up at 5 am (!!) for the 8.30 flight to Montevideo, Madrid, and Dublin.

After the events of the previous day we finally arrived in Foz around 8pm. We'd taken the coach to Cuidad del Este and the regular bus across the border to Brazil. After getting off the bus we took a taxi, for what turned out to be just 5 minutes, to our guest house - the Pousada Evelina in Foz do Iguacu, which was a good choice (recommended by Footprints). As we were starving we went out for dinner to the nearest restaurant, a local place with three items on the menu and an aroma of grease. The food was tasty though and we ate a lovely meal then went to bed. The rooms in the Pousada were simple but clean, with a good hot shower. Breakfast was great and their advice on what to do for the day was excellent. So we set off for the Parque de Aves (Bird Park) first. Ana in the guest house had told us the birds are more awake in the morning. The regular bus service to the Falls and Bird Park is just 100 m from the guest house which made it dead easy. The Bird Park was fantastic a...

We made it. Managed to catch the noon bus and arrived at 7 pm last night. Had a simple but delicious dinner. We're off to the falls after breakfast!

Well, so far our time here has been very enjoyable. We had quality time with friends and just spent time relaxing. We'd planned to get the coach to Foz do Iguacu last night, by now we should have been in Brazil, but we're not. We were actually sitting in our seats on the bus when other passengers arrived with the same seat numbers. The driver checked our tickets and told us our tickets were for the day before! It was a midnight service, 12.15 am, and we'd asked for the Monday midnight bus, but we're sold the Monday morning tickets - confusion reigned. So we had to get off the bus with crying children and were abandonded in a freezing terminal. They offered to sell us tickets for the 1.30 am bus to Cuidad del Este (the wild west style city full of contraband) , we didn't fancy that. We taxied home and had a bit of a sleepless night. So we're back at school waiting to see if they will transfer us onto a lunchtime bus instead. We shall see.

After an X-Ray(!) it turns out there are no broken bones and it's just a bad sprain. Pouring with rain today, the streets are like swollen rivers. So we grabbed a lift to the shopping centre for a lomito burger and bought some lovely Paraguayan T-shirts.

We've enjoyed the last couple of days. More time with friends and relaxing in the school flat, not going too far. We have had real quality time with our Paraguayan friends. Last night we had tea with Ruth and Tadeo, really committed, Christ-like people. We just shared about our lives and cemented a friendship that we know will last a long time. I spent an hour yesterday buying a SIM card for the phone. All new phone numbers must be registered, which took forever, and in the end it turns out we cannot text the UK with that network. Still, useful to have a local number. The kids went with all of primary to Surubii where the playing fields are. They enjoyed it but Elijah came back with a swollen wrist after a knock with a football. Today it's swollen a bit more so we have it in a sling. A visit to the doctors may be required.

Almost 3 years to the day we've returned to Paraguay for a holiday. Back to St. Andrew's College where we worked for almost 8 years. Just two hours after arriving we cheered on Paraguay in the quarter final of the world cup. The excitement of penalties mixed with the bang of fire crackers from the neighbours meant we'll not forget it quickly. Yesterday we enjoyed a service in the English chapel. And had a lovely afternoon watching the St Andrew's female teachers team thrash two other school teams! The women here would run rings round half the professional teams back home. It was so good just to sit with old Paraguayan friends, relax and catch up. Today was the first day back in school. The kids were a bit nervous at first as they have lost most of their Spanish, but their friends are so kind and helped them settle back in really quickly. They had a really good day being back with their classes. Eil and I spent the whole day just chatting with staff and close fri...

We moved house almost a year ago. Hard to believe. I also have been working for the Dept Agriculture for over a year now too. Where does the time go? Eileen is settled into her primary school too. Two jobs we both enjoy, good stuff. The long range forecast is good for the end of middle of September. I have some farms to inspect in the high Sperrins - those hills are calling. I was at a meeting in Elijah's primary school last week for P7 parents on transferring to secondary school. We cannot believe our wee son will soon be leaving primary. Here he'll be going to Lurgan Junior High so we have not worries about transfer tests. They have a selective transfer again going into 3rd year. The kids are both very happy in school here. We were just looking out some old photos, pre-digital days, to scan into the Mac. You sometimes wonder if life existed before kids.

Off sick today. We all are in fact, Elijah, Hannah and myself. Thankfully Eileen was not at work over the last two days and could nurse us all. We thought Han had taken food poisoning after a Mc'D's last weekend, but it turned out to be a winter vomiting virus. I cleaned up the vomit of chips beside her bed and must have infected myself. Two days incubation later I was kneeling beside the loo in the en-suite retching repeatadly, wiping down, then crawling back into bed. A few hours later Eljah joined in the fun and Eileen had to mop the decks. Two days later we are all just about recovered. New year has been good. We invested in a new patio at the back, the dog does not need bathed after every pee. Work has been going well for both of us. Eileen loves her new school and I'm enjoying seeing much of Co Tyrone and visting the farms.

Hannah has won a Christmas card design prize for her school.  Her design was selected from everyone in the school to be the school Christmas card!  This follows Elijah winning an environmental art design prize last week!

Elijah won a prize for designing a page in a calendar about recycling. Here he is collecting his prize from the Mayor.

After several months of search Eileen found her perfect job. It's a two day a week principal's release post. She went to a pre-interview visit last week and just loved the school. After preparing and praying hard for the interview she felt really ready, and it went fine. A few days later a letter arrived saying she had got the job. She was thrilled. She starts tomorrow and is really looking forward to it. We found after school care for the kids too. Everything just fell into place. God is good.

Almost three months since last update, sorry about that. Well, we did move house. On Thursday 18th September to be exact. We found a lovely home in Lurgan. It's invester magnolia, and has a really big back garden. Which is very muddy at the moment, roll on the Spring when we can sow grass. The last few months have been settling in and making a home. The kids changed school and really like their new one. They settled very quickly, much quicker than last year when we returned from Paraguay. Both of them have been selected for music lessons - Elijah for Clarinet, and Hannah for Violin. We'll have a little ensemble before long! My job is still going well, based in Loughry now and a 45 minute commute. Not too bad. I'm involved with press and communications which is keeping me more in the office than I'd like. I get out and about once a week or so at the moment. Eileen is still job hunting. Next week we'll take the plunge and go for after school child care so...

Well things are moving quickly. I started my new job last week and I have to say it's just what I hoped it would be. I'll be out in the wilds much of the time visiting farms and drawing up management plans to improve the conservation value of farmland habitats. This first few weeks have been training and job shadowing. There have been some long commutes, up to 100 miles, but hopefully that will reduce when we move house. It looks like we'll be moving at the beginning of September. We managed to get a mortgage and have found a lovely house in Lurgan. It means a big move for the family, but we have prayed long and hard about this and we know it's God's timing.

I'm in Buenos Aires and Eileen is with the kids in Scotland. The trip is going really well so far. Here are some photos. Check out lacaldera2008.blogspot.com for updates.

Tomorrow I leave for Argentina. I'm leading a SAMS Ireland trip to the diocese of Northern Argentina that has a link with the Diocese of Down and Dromore. There are 10 young people and another leader, Katy. The team are really talented and I'm looking forward to see how they all get stuck in. We leave by bus from Belfast for Dublin airport, then fly via Madrid to Buenos Aires. We have two days there sightseeing and then go to Salta in the North West in the foothills of the Andes. We're staying in La Caldera helping develop a retreat centre. We return on the 25th of July. It's a long time to be away from Eileen and the kids, I'll really miss them. We'll be apart for our anniversary on the 7th. Hopefully modern technology will allow us to talk pretty often. I'll be updating via text message, you can see the results on the right side of the blog. The team also has a blog at lacaldera2008.blogspot.com .

The last couple of months have been quite a ride. We have been trying to figure out exactly where we are going to live, work, and send our kids to school. But trying to buy a house here at the minute is like trying to walk through a mortgage lender's minefield. The lenders want you to bear all - your bank account, spending habits, ever to prove how you acquired you savings. They pick through it all looking for holes and excuses not to lend you money. Mines have exploded twice already. Eileen has had a few teaching interviews, but no success as yet. She is applying for jobs from one end of the country to the other, and if she gets one that may affect where we can live - it's a bit of a chicken and egg thing. Teaching jobs in Northern Ireland are really hard to get. There are up to 100 application for each post and the criteria are very specific. We are just praying the right job for her will there soon. I did get my security clearance through for the Department of Agricul...

This weekend I'm in Navan, Ireland for the beginning of a new era in the Church of Ireland theological training. I'm at a Foundation Course weekend to explore a calling to ordained ministry. It's a chance to ask God what the future holds. In Paraguay it looked like I was heading towards ordination, but returning last year meant that was not meant to be. After coming back Eileen and I have been asking God what's next. We thought it was going to be with St. Jude's and SAMS, part-time with both, but then the Advisor in Countryside Management job came along. The Church of Ireland is changing however, now there are options for distance learning - the Foundation Years allows you to explore possibilities. Tonight we had a get to know you session, sharing in a small group how we come to be here. The rest of the weekend is exploring what Vocation is all about. We're staying in the Irish Mission Union building, which looks at bit like Shawshank Prison. The food is...