A letter from Doug and Elaine Baker in Northern Ireland
September 21, 2009
Dear Friends,
The 2009-10 Belfast YAVs with their site coordinator, Doug Baker. From left to right: Stephen, Doug, Andy, Madeline, Nathaniel, Amy, Lynnea, Sally, Patricia and Rob.
This is the 17th year for the PC(USA) Young Adult Volunteer program in Northern Ireland. A team of nine new YAVs arrived September 1. Thirty years of “The Troubles” have left behind serious economic, emotional and spiritual needs — particularly in lower income areas. These volunteers are already at work with a variety of urban church and community projects offering a range of activities addressing that legacy. There are plenty of possibilities for each to match their skills and interests to the particular needs of their placement site and to develop new skills to tackle unexpected challenges!
Amy Wilson Stayton (Seffner Presbytreian Church, Seffner, Florida) is serving with Regent Street Presbyterian Church and The LINK Family and Community Centre in Newtownards. The LINK connects town churches and the local community through a drop-in center and programs for young people from low-income areas. In Regent Street, Amy works with the youth fellowship and Sunday morning Christian education programs and assists with worship and pastoral duties.
Nathaniel McQueen (John Calvin Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, Texas) is serving with Glengormley Presbyterian Church working with youth from the congregation and community in a mixed area of north Belfast and assisting with worship music and other programs. Several days each week he serves with The 174 Trust, operating a community and youth center in a low-income Nationalist area of north Belfast.
Madeline Burgess (Davidson College Presbyterian Church in Davidson, North Carolina) is serving with Dundonald Methodist Church, which is located in a large, predominantly Loyalist housing estate in East Belfast. It does outreach to children and youth through the Dundonald Family and Community Initiative, some of whose activities are shared with nearby Church of Ireland and Presbyterian congregations.
Sally Stracener (First Presbyterian Church, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina) is serving at Strand Presbyterian. Located in a modest residential district of East Belfast, Strand is a pilot project in urban mission through the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. It plans to replace its traditional building with a multipurpose community facility that’s more likely to attract local residents. Sally works with children’s and youth ministries and works with local schools to develop an after school drop-in project. She also works with East Belfast Mission (Methodist Church in Ireland) on the Newtownards Road in inner East Belfast, where she assists in the development of youth and family ministry.
Lynnea Hunter (Covenant Presbyterian Church in Johnson City, Tennessee) is serving with Fortwilliam Macrory Presbyterian Church in a mixed area of North Belfast. She helps lead the youth fellowship and Sunday-morning youth class, a guitar group, and a nearby youth club. Some of her time is at the nearby WAVE Trauma Centre, which provides support for those bereaved, injured or traumatized by events during “the Troubles.”
Stephen Cottingham (First Presbyterian Church in Garland, Texas) is serving with Whitehouse Presbyterian Church, which is situated between Loyalist and Republican areas in North Belfast. His role includes youth ministry, contact with a cross-community project for older adults, assisting with worship and linking with schools in the area. He spends time each week with the Vine Centre in a low-income interface area in North Belfast. The Vine has a broad range of community services to all age groups, including after-school tutoring/study support, youth clubs, women’s groups, and a senior citizen’s lunch club.
Andy Bair (Williamsburg Presbyterian Church in Williamsburg, Virginia) serves with Kilmakee Presbyterian Church in a low-income housing estate on the edge of Belfast. He assists in developing a youth strategy, worship leadership (including a youth drama group) and outreach appropriate to the community such as a parent and toddlers group, and creative approaches to prayer life in the congregation. Kilmakee’s youth project, Fusion, has strong links with a group of Catholic/Nationalist youth. Andy also helps nearby Dunmurry Presbyterian Church with a mid-week children’s ministry.
Robert Vaughan (Westminster Presbyterian Church, Charlottesville, Virginia) serves with Harmony Hill Presbyterian Church in Lambeg, which cooperates with nearby Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland parishes in supporting The Base, a drop-in and after-school center for kids aged 10-18. He also supports youth ministries in the congregation, assists in worship, works with a unique Sunday afternoon Christian education program for those with learning disabilities and supports a parent/toddlers pre-school program two mornings a week.
Patricia Cope (St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Jacksonville, Florida) is serving with Garnerville Presbyterian Church, which is between a middle-class private housing and a low-income housing estate in East Belfast. She is helping to develop their youth ministry, engages in building relationships with the nearby predominantly Loyalist housing estate and works with the local primary school and community center.
Applications are currently being sought from those who wish to serve as YAVs in one of the national or international sites from September 2010 to July 2011. The application deadline for international sites is January 20. Full information can be found at the PC(USA)'s YAV Web site.
Please look around your congregation or circle of contacts and ask yourself “Who should I be encouraging to think about serving as a YAV?” and then make sure they have the necessary information to pursue this option. And please remember in your prayers both the young adults who are currently serving around the United States and the world and those of us privileged to work with them.
Faithfully yours,
Doug and Elaine Baker
The 2009 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 171
