An update never posted...until now.

[2/3/15 Note: I completely forgot I wrote this (and don't know why I never posted it...), but this kind of gives you a look into some of what went down during my year at BBC. I have so much more to add to what I wrote here, but I think this is a good start.]

As of today, I've been in Northern Ireland for 49 days.

On the one hand, it's everything I've hoped it would be! The landscape is just like you see in movies (it's so green!). I've been to the north coast twice now and it's breathtaking (the cliffs are amazing to look at and I could just gaze into the sea for ages)! Belfast is beautiful as well, the buildings in Belfast have such beautiful architecture and are older looking than what I'm used to. I've been to castles, listened to live music in a pub, eaten scones, tried Irish dancing, gotten properly wet from a British downpour, picked up Northern Irish slang, have had some good "discussions" about America vs. England (haha), rode on a double decker bus, and have drunk my fair share of tea. What an adventure it has been thus far! 

On the other hand, however, I've had many reality checks since I've been here. 

I've pulled two all-nighters to get essays done; I went days without picking up my Bible except for using it as a textbook; I felt homesick, lonely, and felt like a misfit a couple of times. Time and time again I've been reminded (mostly by myself) of my weaknesses and inadequacies. 

No doubt in the future I will have so much more to say about the amazing, adventure-y things going on during my time here. But I feel like the gritty, raw, real life stuff is more important to talk about right now.

My expectations for my time here at Belfast Bible College in Northern Ireland were pretty huge. For some reason I thought that by coming here I would become this super Christian and change the world. And while I still have about 7 months left of my time here, I doubt I'm going to advance to the status of "super Christian" and complete the task of changing the world. 

If anything, I feel like I've regressed a few notches on the Christian scale.I know that it's not about what I do that determines my status before God (Jesus nailed my sin to the cross and I am now and forever blameless and holy in God's sight because of Christ's righteousness. Amen!), but when I've hardly read my Bible or barely prayed for months it certainly makes me feel pretty rotten. 

Before coming here, the Word of God was so precious to me and now I barely touch it.

Before coming here, my heart ached with a longing to be in God's presence and now I feel numb.

I'm in Bible college for goodness' sake! 

It's a shameful and heart-wrenching place to be at. My weaknesses and inadequacies are right in my face and it's almost suffocating.  

And yet...

The power of God and the power of the cross are at maximum strength.

I can come up right to the throne of God, point at my weaknesses and say, "look at this! And this! And this! Filthy rags compared to Your holy righteousness." And God can just say, "Forgiven, forgiven, forgiven. And you have the holy righteousness of Christ clothing you." 

 What amazing grace God gives us!

..But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 5:20-21)

 It's amazing how through my brokenness and failings I can be drawn to worship!

I didn't expect this at all when I came here to Northern Ireland. And while it seems crazy to say, I feel so blessed to be where I am at. I long for a closeness to God that is beyond what I've ever had and I long for God to make me feel like His Word in my life is vital and essential (because it is!).
Even as I write this God is working in my heart and the last few days I've been drawn to God's Word again with a thirst for it's presence in my life again.
But I  am still so weak and I have so many things to work through.

Getting on the merry-go-round once again

It's been a long time since I've blogged and apart from some journal entries, many short Facebook statuses, and a fraction of the pictures I took uploaded online, most of my memories and adventures have not gone beyond my mind and my computer. And that is quite a shame because not only do I love to write but I know that many of you would enjoy reading and seeing pictures of my adventures. So then, in restoring some honor to my Northern Irish adventures, I will slowly but surely be writing entries and posting pictures to bring those people who care to be more into my world.

Part of the reason why I haven't written much about my year in Ireland is that I didn't really know where to start. I could start at the beginning and work my way to the present day, but that's not how it is all organized (or not organized, really) in my mind. In my mind, I have what I'd call Big Memories and Little Memories – memories that have more of a lasting impression on me and things I would want to share first and memories that are more of secondary memories that add to the year but are not necessarily things I feel I need to spend a whole blog post on (or at least, not until a later time). So, I guess how you're going to receive the story of my year in Ireland will be in more of a random pattern. You may very well find out what my last thoughts of Ireland were as I was leaving before you get the story of what my first thoughts of Ireland were when I arrived. Hopefully, though, the story will fill out and you will start seeing the bigger picture as I post more and more entries and pictures.

So, to start this walk down memory lane, enjoy a few pictures that bring a smile to my face!

My BBC campus family - a special bunch of people! (8 countries represented here!)

One of my best buds, Naina, and I at the Atlantic Ocean (my first visit to the Atlantic) on our Easter camping trip.

Jay, Sonia, Naina, and I went on a great walk in the park one day

More about the college

Hey guys!

In this post I want to tell you about what caught my eye at Belfast Bible College and why

I chose it.

                How I found out about BBC is quite simple. I decided one day to search “Irish Bible Colleges” on google. The BBC’s website was the first one I came across (or at least the first one that made me take more than a glance at). I looked at it and a few days later I applied. On the surface it looks very spontaneous and maybe a little too quick to be making such a big decision on my part. However, I’m the type of person that likes to make plans and know all the details before I make a decision about something so before having even searched for an Irish Bible college I had been praying about finding a Bible college to go to and I had been getting advice from people.  At the same time, though, it was a very spontaneous thing for me to do.

I think I was able to act spontaneously like I did because in my mind I didn’t really consider that going to Ireland for bible school was a possibility. To some extent I did, I guess, because I actually applied, but I never thought I would get past the application process. Belfast Bible College seemed like my dream college, but like a dream, I figured I would just wake up and it would all disappear and I would go back to living in the real world.

                I say Belfast Bible College is my dream college because of where it’s located and what they have to offer. For the longest time I've always wanted to go to Ireland. I know someday that I will go there. Because it was a Bible college I knew that I had to be careful about what I chose. As much as I want to go to Ireland, if the Bible college doesn't seem right for me then I’m not going to go to it. But BBC definitely seems right for me!

                For instance, the classes that they offer are what I am looking for in a Bible college that I decide to go to. That is, foundational studies in the Christian faith. Some of the classes are Discipleship, Interpreting and Communicating the Bible, and The Biblical Story (as stated on their website:“The aim of this module is to introduce and overview the content, key themes, history and background of the Bible.”).  

Another thing I really like about their school is that I can be hands-on in my learning. Every week I’ll have the opportunity to be involved in different types of ministry (evangelism, youth ministry, etc.). I love this aspect because before finding out about Belfast Bible College I was torn between wanting to go to a Bible college or on a mission trip and I felt like if I chose one or the other I would be missing out on something. At BBC I’ll have the opportunity to learn and serve like I would on a mission trip.

In addition to the classes and weekly ministry opportunities, the community that is created at the college is great! They have small groups and prayer groups that meet regularly, there’s diversity in culture (students come from all over the world!), and because it’s a smaller school (around 200 students) there’s more interaction between the staff and students. All of these things I think will make up a great atmosphere for learning and spiritual growth for me.

                 I looked up Belfast Bible College on Google maps and it looks like is is located on the outskirts of Belfast surrounded by a golf course. Belfast is the capital and largest city in Northern Ireland, so it will be nice to be somewhat removed from the main urban area of Belfast.

(The country girl may leave the country, but she’s still a country girl at heart!)

Of course I plan on thoroughly exploring the city, but it will be nice to live in a quiet place.

                The campus consists of the Library, Computer Suite (where they have a Skype room so I can see and talk to people back home!), Worship Centre (where they have chapel once a week and where some of the classes are held), Glenborn House (staff offices and some classrooms), Kitchen and Dining Room, Riverside House (the student housing I’ll be staying in), and Wellesley House (another student housing).

Just writing about the college is making me more excited about it!

If you are interested in finding even more about the school you can check out their website.

With Christ's love,

Karey

My Ireland plans

Ireland. Belfast Bible College. September 2013. 9 months. $24,000. A once in a lifetime experience.

These are a few of the facts about what I’m doing this fall. I know that most of you don’t know all the details about my plans for this fall, and some of you may not know anything at all. So I want to begin this blog by telling you more details of my plan that hopefully will answer a lot of questions you may have!

                To start off with, my name is Karey Stivers.

 I live in the countryside of Idaho where a lot of the time the weather is not what the weatherman said it would be, it’s a 45 minute drive to the nearest city, and a starlit night sky makes you feel really, really small. I am passionate about Jesus, art in any form, and life in general. I feel like I've been living longer than my twenty years, but at the same time I feel like I still have so much life to live! I grew up in a Christian family and was homeschooled Pre-K through 12^th grade.  I’m an introvert by nature, but as I grow older I am choosing to be more of a people person, an adventurer and a risk-taker.

                Speaking of being more of an adventurer and a risk-taker…Last spring I decided that I was going to apply for a small bible college called Belfast Bible College in Belfast, Ireland. At the end of last month I was accepted to their one year foundational course in Theology that will go from September 2013 to June 2014. (I plan on posting more about the college later, but it looks like a really good school!)

                As the way of the world goes, pretty much nothing is free and costs something. It’s going to cost around $24,000 for me to go to Belfast Bible College (BBC). About half of that money is for living costs that I need to have to get a student visa and the other half will be for the cost of tuition, room and board, and a plane ticket. $24,000 is just an estimated amount and there most likely will be other expenses that I will have, but for the purpose of having a firm number to tell people, that’s what I’m giving. I’m also going to have to have all the money by the beginning of July so I have enough time to get my student visa. So that gives me 20 weeks to raise $24,000.

When people ask me how much it’ll cost for me to go to Ireland I hesitate before answering and I know what kind of response I’m going to get…Yes, it’s a lot of money. Before going through this, I thought that $10,000 was a lot of money. So multiplying that by almost 2 and half seems almost an unreal and unreachable amount. Almost.

I am 99.9% convinced that if God wants me to go to Ireland, I will go. I don’t know how, but it will happen. It doesn't matter if it’s $2400 or $24,000 or even $24,000,000 that I will need, He will get me there if that is His will. To be honest, I say 99.9% percent because at times I still wrestle with doubt. However, I do have to say that 99.9% is a lot more conviction than I had when I first applied to BBC. I was maybe 50% convinced at that point. (That’s something I’m going to post about later too – the stretching of my faith.)

Because I’m convinced that it’s up to God whether or not I go to Ireland, what I ask from you above anything else is that you pray for me! Please ask God, that if it be His will, to provide all the money that I will need before July.

At this point I don’t have a whole lot of fundraisers planned (although, I will in the near future!), but if you “like” my fundraising page on Facebook I’ll be posting ways that you can help support me and fundraisers that I’ll be putting on and telling you about when I post something on this blog!

With Christ's love,

Karey