The three of us headed out on a
Be-My-Baby jet from Birmingham. We pondered on the situation to hand. Who had
booked us? Where were we playing? Where would we be staying? Who would we be
staying with?
We knew some answers:- Harry had contacted us (‘can you play a ‘200+
seater hall/church in Fermanagh that my family has access to? - You can stay
with my family, or else at Town Houses attached to the venue).
And, Harry’s father - Ian, had sent us
the air fare and would be meeting us at Belfast Airport…..
We wondered how all this would pan out in reality.
We quickly discovered it panned out a lot better than our feeble imaginations
could have concocted. To put it simply, we were treated royally, staying with
Ruth and Ian at their big farm house set in its own grounds. Ian’s brother
Brendan gave us the use of a car so that we be tourists and check out the
beautiful Irish countryside. We were festooned with smiles and yummy things to
eat and the company of Sophie, Ian’s daughter and later in the week, the rest of
the family – Harry (who had his 21st birthday party while we were
there) and Katie, plus a host of young guys.
Our music and ministry was received with
appreciation and we got to meet many interesting people and to partake of the
ever-present undertow of Irish humour.
One of the things we have brought back with us is the memory of the sober
respect shown toward the things of God by the young folk we met in Northern
Ireland.
And the fact that we had no idea we would be so blessed.
Thank you Ian and Ruth, and all the family at Enniskillen.
Mandy, Dave and Alan