On the Change Bandwagon: Reading Week, My Room, and S.O.S. Bus

From Photos for Blog

(In the election spirit of change, I decided to switch my room around.)

In light of the elections this last week, I haven't been posting much here - but rather, spent way too much time on my "random thoughts" blog. However, as the first sign that things are changing, here's a post returning to what's going on here in Belfast.

Reading Week
The UK system has a week set aside about half-way through the semester for reading, writing papers, catching up on assignments - and, generally, giving the faculty and students some uninterrupted time to focus on their work (for students, it's the only vacation they get during their semester, besides Christmas). That means this week's going to be a wee-bit different. I do still have one thing I have to attend on Thur - a visit to the Public Records Office of North Ireland (PRONI). It's a chance for the class to be exposed to how to use the largest archive in N. Ireland.

Other than that: JBU Bible study (Mon), Guy's Movie Night Out (Tues), Int'l Bible Study (Wed), and S.O.S. bus (Friday, see below). Also, Paul Harvey from the University of Colorado (yeah, when I first saw the name, I thought the radio guy too) speaking on "Religion, Race, and the Right: The Rise of Southern Religious Conservatism" is visiting Queen's. Should be interesting. I'm expecting a pretty critical, left-leaning presentation - but hoping to be surprised. :-)

My Room
In the spirit of change - and needing something new in a room that I spend a lot of time in - I changed around my room today. My desk was staring at a wall, with my back to the two skylights. In a hope that being able to look at the sky will help the long days of reading & studying, I've moved my desk underneath one of the skylights. It's a little more cramped in the room, but we'll give it a shot for a while at least.

Alpha & S.O.S.
You might remember that I was a part of an Alpha group here in town. Due to a lack of interest and people not coming, we've gone ahead and canceled it for the rest of the fall. A bummer for me as I really enjoyed the content and the discussions it brought up - but I understand the decision.

To replace that, I've gotten involved with S.O.S. It's a street ministry that helps with crime in the Greater Belfast area. On Saturday afternoons I go down to the waterfront where the teenagers hang out and we hand out free tea/coffee/hot chocolate/juice/coke and hot soup (Knorr soup, actually, which brings back to mind these horribly catchy commercials from Kenya). It's been shown to significantly bring down hostility and fights in this area. It also has a fairly significant ministry to the kids.

Besides that, S.O.S.'s main ministry is a night ministry to people leaving the bars in Belfast. They setup at a key intersection in town (Dublin Rd., just off of Shaftsbury Square) and are out from 11pm to 3am handing out free coffee/tea and biscuits, providing a resource and blessing to those who are on their way home. On top of that, they have a medic and a van, so they're able to help people who are hurt/injured or need a hospital or a ride home. It's highly sponsored by the PSNI (Police Service of N. Ireland) as it has been shown to decrease crime in the area by 18-25%. I'm up for next Friday night. Should be fun - although the late night is going to kill me. :-)

(Check out the SOS website and the bus. It has two big flatscreen t.v.'s, video cameras, a medical area (oxygen, saline drips, etc.), plus two awnings. It's pretty sweet. They're getting ready to send another one up to Derry/Londonderry where the infamous "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" occured. They're also working on a double decker "IT" bus with computers on the second level for educational outreach.)