Dear Friends, Family, Colleagues, Supporters, and Congregation members,

I believe that I have now stepped into the twilight zone of mission work. I find myself feeling as though I have only been off the plane at Belfast City Airport for a month but in the same thought I look back at what I have done and experienced and it then feels like several years have passed. So let's enter the Twilight Zone.

As time keeps flying by I want to express my gratitude to everyone who has continually showed their support through the many ways that they have found to do so. I especially want to thank everyone who has sent me emails and letters because those take a special place in my day when I get them.

Now the Twilight zone begins......... First, my football team, The Cliftonville Reds, never really came back from their losing slump and pretty much ended up next to last in the Irish Premiership while still winning the top league cup in the same season. In the previous month's newsletter I discussed the youth group at Fortwilliam Park, "The Point" which recently had their big yearly weekend retreat. I took 21 people from the congregation up to Guysmere, which is a Presbyterian Church of Ireland retreat centre, for the weekend of fellowship. The theme for the weekend was "Heroes of the Old Testament" in which we covered Ruth, Elijah, Ester and Daniel. The top of the weekend was a 40ft long plastic slide which went down a small hill. The slide had young and old running and diving down it for a blast of enjoyment. The best part was for me was that I got to be with the members of the church while they continued to build relationships with each other. Now here is the real twilight zone part, I actually within the last month have played at several Open-Mic nights using material that I have written myself. The best part is that the performances have gone great and have been enjoyed by the audience that were present.

This month's program overview is going to be the Boys Brigade Company I am with at Macrory Memorial Presbyterian Church. I work with the 41st Company of the Belfast Battalion. This group is similar to what we know as the Boy Scouts but interestingly the Boy Scouts were an offshoot of the Boys Brigade. The BB is dedicated to developing boys in the Christian faith but also with an emphasis on obedience. The boys who are part of the 41st are from Tiger's Bay which is a protestant community reflective of the New Lodge which is catholic community. Interestingly enough Macrory Memorial sits on the street dividing the two communities. Tiger's Bay is a working class neighbourhood which has traditionally been a stronghold for Loyalist Paramilitary groups.

Within the 41st I am a warrant officer which means that I haven't completed more in-depth officer training but I am competent enough to take an active role in the Company. With the little kids, ageing from 5-10 years old, I help out with about everything needed from helping with games to aiding with the gym time. The main involvement comes with the older kids ranging from 11- 17 years of age. For them I am a person there that they can talk to and interact with. The amazing thing is that within this group of boys there are few who are academically excelling and attend some of the top schools in Belfast. For the teenage boys the BB has provided a stable environment which may at times be the only stable thing in their lives but also has given them something to fall back on to keep themselves out of trouble.

To many of you this won't be a surprise but to some it might be. Over the past two months I have been wrestling with thoughts on what to do next once I return from Belfast. Through much prayer and reflection I have felt led to seek another term in the Young Adult Volunteer program with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Since that decision was made I have applied and interviewed for one location to be reassigned to. Since having that interview I have been accepted to serve a term in Hungary/Ukraine working with the Roma (Gypsy) populations.

Throughout this year I have been constantly thinking about what God wants me to do, what do I want to do and what should I do with my life. With all of those things on my mind I could never stop from coming back to wanting to work with people and trying to help those who need it.

Everything goes back to over a year ago when I started this whole journey. While studying international relations in college I focused partially on Eastern Europe and through several professors directing me I began to learn more about the Roma and the realities for them in this region. In 2001 the PC(USA) published a report entitled the "Roma Imitative" which outlined the denominations dedication to helping and aiding the Roma people in Europe. One of the goals of the YAV program to Hungary is that people from the PC(USA) get to experience and see what the realties are like for these people and then to go back and become an educator about the Roma and also the PC(USA) initiative. This next year will be the second year of the Hungary YAV program which is still in its infant stage but, is changing so rapidly for the better. One reason that led me to decide that this next year was right to go was because the longer people wait to learn about the Roma then less of an impact we can make in their future.

This letter and my previous letters are posted on my website at http://Brenton-ni.blogspot.com Also I have updated my photos section with new pictures from this past month so check those out and also browse through the previous photos.

If you are receiving this letter from a friend or as a forward and would like to be added to the list of people I sent this to please feel free to email me at Brenton_ni@Yahoo.com to be added.

I can never thank everyone enough for your prayers and support. Please feel free to email me or write me with your questions or thoughts. Also if you would keep me in your prayers because I will be walking a marathon on May 3rd for charity in Belfast and I will need all the strength I can get to finish it.


Peace,

Brenton Thompson