I just finished Day 2 of ministry, my 8th day in Ireland, and my 22nd day away from my parents, friends, animals… my home. However, God has welcomed me with open arms in Ireland. It is B-E-A-Utiful here. Honestly, at first, I was like what in the world am I doing here. You can see God everywhere. From the oceans, to the cliffs, to the GREEN pastures lined with stone fences, God is in this place. Did you know that less than 1 percent of Ireland is Christian? Insane. The church we have been working with asked a question on Sunday. They asked “How many people in here know someone that has commited suicide?” Ninety percent of the church raised their hands. Second question. “How many people in here have a close friend or family member that have commited suicide?” Eighty percent raised their hands. Some of the locals blame alcohol, drugs, depression, while others think a demon sweeps through the smaller towns. While any of these are possibilities all have the same answer. Jesus.
On our first day of ministry we hit the streets of Galway. We were armed not with a Bible but scrub brushes and bleach water. Galway, a city known for being liberal, artsy, and young doesn’t need Bible bashing street evangelists, but rather to see Christians who care enough to work for a relationship. The face of the city boasts of newer contemporary buildings as well keeping a lot of the “old Ireland” stone roads and pubs. Beautiful to look at but when you go a little deeper, look a little harder, the alleys are covered with vulgar and graffiti. And we were here to clean it up, and get it back to the way it was meant to be. It was the perfect example of the people themselves.
This is Day 2. I’ll keep you posted.
