What can I say, fun just follows me. Fun is also a little white and grey fluff ball called soup. I swear i’ve never been more obsessed with a cat. Call me the crazy cat lady, I DON’T CARE! okay, okay let me think what have I done this summer…

I took a quick trip over to Wales to visit my best mate. It really does suck that Amy lives in a different country now, but so sweet that it’s only a short and cheap flight away. We saw the Adams family musical which honestly felt like we were in a fever dream. Weirdest show of my life but enjoyed it nonetheless. Her and Laura were house sitting for a family, so I got to stay there with them and the cutest wee sausage dog called pickle.

After many insane weeks that I’ll talk about under ‘ministry stuff’, I got to go on my long awaited holiday to Turkey with Sarah! We had the most chaotic trip ever. I’ll summarise it for you in a few words here: Geography quizzes, Turkish police station, almost missed flight, MR. Keanna Salas, Bird poop, Slug, ants, Cats, sweat. I really hope you let your mind wander with all that and create the Sarah and Keanna holiday in your head!

It was only felt like summer in Ireland for 3.2 seconds so there wasn’t much sun bathing… but there was sea swimming. Ooh Ooh and jam sessions with Amy and Sarah. I swear I only sing loud when I sing with them. They somehow don’t make me sound tone deaf?

Also i’ve been working out a lot. I know you're thinking, “that’s not fun Keanna, why is it under ‘fun stuff’?”. Because I enjoy it! There is something thrilling about walking around knowing you are strong. Idk its weird.. i’ll stop talking about it. But like if you ever want to arm wrestle, let me know.

I got a prophetic word from someone recently. I know I can get quite vulnerable on here and I don’t mean to tease you but I won’t be sharing it with you. But I wanted to say I received this word because it shook me. It was so specific. So detailed with things only the Lord knew. It made me feel seen and known by Him in a way I cannot express. Now, I’ve gotten pretty amazing pictures and words from the Lord before. So why did this one shake me? I think because He challenged me in this one. He grabbed me by the arms, looked me dead in the eyes and said “I want you, do you want me too”. Well, not actually that but it felt like that. It felt like through this he wasn’t pulling me in. He pulls me in a lot. He simply opened the door and gave me the choice to walk in or not. Gave me some goggles and a snorkel and said “You jumping in or what?”. I know I’m being so weird and cryptic but hey, this is my newsletter. And this is the heart stuff tab. And this is what my heart is saying right now.

Let me tell you what else my heart is saying. I’ve prayed, as long as I’ve known Jesus, for out of this world friendships. Before I knew Jesus I dreamed of out of this world friendships. I’m talking about my girls here so all my boy besties can get their panties out of a wad. I can look back through the years and see how God has given me my hearts desire for friendship. When I say I have the best friends in the world, I genuinely think I’m right. The Lord has given me people who never leave. Like seriously, it’s like I can’t get rid of them! They mirror Jesus with every look. And you guys… some don’t even believe in Jesus. But that’s just how good He is. He reveals Himself to be even then. I cannot express how deeper in love with Jesus I become just by thinking of the gift of friendship he has given me… through HUMANS! Like when I think of the friendship He gives me in Himself… I WEEP!! SO. Hannie, Dieuwke, Sarah, Amy, Lauren, Brittini, Emory… the list could go on and on. You are a gift from God. Thanks you for sitting on the phone with me while I clean my house. For watching movies over FaceTime. For buying a cake to celebrate my brother and your mum. For trusting me with engagement plans and letting me hold on to the ring. Thank you for not being mad when we miss each others calls over and over. Thank you for always answering my walkie talkie through our apple watches. For ALWAYS praying.

Holy summer camps! I feel like my summer was just one camp to another. From Summer madness to MOVE, it was all incredible. For context, Summer Madness is like a festival mixed with a conference but all for young people. I worked at the CIYD (Church of Ireland Youth Department) tent. We created a space for youth workers, leaders, and volunteers to take some space, relax, and get away from the young people for a moment lol. Sometimes you just need that, you know? Youth work can be A LOT, so what better way to do that then shower them with coffee, tea, and scones!

We brought 20 something young people to MOVE this year. MOVE is a CIY camp. I know, I know, so many acronyms. This one stands for Christ in Youth. It’s actually an American organisations. But it’s so cool that CIY is making its mark on Ireland and so many other places. We brought young people from 4 different counties and countless different churches. Some don’t even come from a church background at all! This camp was radical. The way God moved through these young people was INCREDIBLE. You could see the chains breaking off of them. You could see the spirit moving in them. They way they connected with God and each other is something that will stick with me for life. I want to share so many specific testimonies of how the Lord moved, but to respect the privacy of these young people I won’t post them here. Send me a message if you’d like to hear, because I’d love to share!

I’ll take it easy on the camps and give you an update on Alpha! Just because the schools were out for summer doesn’t mean we stopped working on facilitation Alpha! We had multiple Alpha trainings this summer to discuss how we can improve and connect with others running Youth Alpha’s. We had an amazing meeting with the TY (transition year) coordinator just last week. After explaining what are hope was for Alpha, she said “It would be a shame for some students to miss this opportunity. Why don’t we do it with every TY group!”. I’m sorry… WHAT?! YES. Let’s absolutely do that! So in a catholic school, we will be facilitation the Alpha course from Sept-May for all the TY students. COME ON GOD. This same set up is also happening in the local protestant school as well. PLUS, we are still doing an opt in course for TY students in a different Catholic school. We will also start and adult Alpha in ReCentre starting in September as well. Yes, that does mean my whole life will be consumed by Alpha.

Okay last, but certainly not least. Actually this is probably my favourite update. Young adults are coming out of nowhere! It seems like every week someone is sending me a young adults concat info telling me they love Jesus and are looking for community in Sligo. This is such an answer to prayer! I’ve been praying and praying that He would send hungry young adults. That we would be able to find each other and build something beautiful. IT’S HAPPENING!