Wowzers what a week so far. I can honestly say I've seen God work in a more direct way than ever before. So back to the start…
We arrived at our hostel in Dublin last Monday (which is an amazing hostel I may add), and we specifically prayed for God to provide ministry opportunities during our time here. One of the first people I saw on the way to my room was Kelan. An outgoing 20 year-old English kid in skinny jeans with a lip piercing. Honestly, something about him struck me and I felt like God was going to do something with him, but I had no idea what would ultimately happen. A little while later he popped into our room and introduced himself in his uniquely Kelan fashion (see below). 🙂
Robs and Kelan at coffee
Later that night, my team of 7 plus our squad leader Rachel were having our daily feedback session in the hammock room (yes, our hostel has a hammock room) when Kelan stumbled in. We invited him to stay and hang out while we did our thing, and the first thing he mentioned was that he was an atheist. He began to ask a lot of tough questions about God throughout the night, but I could see the posture of his heart changing from closed off to more pondering and open as we went along. Might I add that he was supposed to leave earlier that day, but had accidentally slept through his flight? Coincidence? No. Appointment by God? Yes.
After that encounter, Kelan asked if he could come along to ministry with us for the next couple of days. This month we are serving with the Dublin Christian Mission, helping out at their Lighthouse ministry, where meals are served to the homeless on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and we've also been sorting clothing donations there. Secondly, we're assisting at the mission itself – cleaning and painting. During our last week here, we'll be going to camp with the junior girls about an hour away. The people at DCM are amazing and I absolutely love them and their ministry. But there has been a ton going on with our unofficial hostel ministry as well, which you're about to read.
Me and Mave at the Lighthouse
Katie cleaning the kitchen at the mission
So back to the story – Kelan has an amazing heart. I'm pretty sure he knows every person staying in this hostel, and he has the ability to become super close with everyone he meets almost immediately. He absolutely loves hugs. Besides that, who volunteers to clean and sort clothes and make sandwiches on their holiday in Dublin, Ireland? This kid does.
On Wednesday night, my team was having worship in the hammock room when Kelan appeared again. It must have looked a little (or a lot) weird to him, all of us worshiping – some with their faces to the ground, others standing with hands raised – not something an atheist sees every day. But he sat down and listened. All the while, we girls were busy writing messages to him in the Bible we bought for him so we could present it to him before he went back to London. Rachel had written Psalm 32:10 in the front of his Bible – "Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him," – but Kelan was not aware that she wrote this yet.
Some of the crew at the Needtobreathe concert
In the midst of all this, he decided he wanted to read the Bible for the first time. He randomly opened it up and began reading Psalm 31 and 32 (part of which Rachel had just written in his Bible). It was amazing to watch him as he read, because you could see the incredulity on his face. At times he had to stop reading because he was just so baffled. The passage directly addressed everything he was going through, so much so that he proclaimed that it was "almost as if someone was in the book looking out at him". How accurate. Kelan smacked himself in the face repeatedly asking if this was really happening. He was literally scared of how real it was. All the while I tried to keep from crying at just how flipping amazingly God works.
We proceeded to play Graham Cooke's message for him (which you should all listen to here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEisSxR2cps) while he read the messages we had written to him in his Bible, and his tears began to flow. We all prayed over him as he laid in the hammock with us surrounding him (must have been a funny sight for the front desk people who could see all of this going down on camera – ha!). As this was happening, Rachel tapped me from under the hammock and mouthed to me, "I'm feeling that you're supposed to be the one to share the gospel with him." So I'm thinking – why is it me?! I had never really done this before. But God seriously put the words in my mouth and they just starting flying out. We asked Kelan if he wanted to accept Jesus and he said yes. So Rachel led him in the prayer asking Jesus into his life, and he pledged to "walk in his footsteps" – his own words. So amazing. The craziest thing – this happened on the THIRD day we had known Kelan. Talk about a resurrection!!! Then he went to his room and read the Bible for 4 hours.
So God sent 8 crazy American girls to a specific hostel in Dublin, Ireland during this exact week in His pursuit for Kelan's heart. Because He loves him so much.
This whole experience has truly demonstrated to me the crucial importance of NOT trying to "win the battle for behavior while losing the battle for the heart". When we first met Kelan, were some of the things that came out of his mouth on the inappropriate side? Yes. But you know what? It doesn't matter. Even if he hadn't become a Christian this week, he would still be 100% worthy of love. And I know that he experienced unconditional love from us from the moment he met us, and that drew him to Jesus. It brings to mind John 13:34-35: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” I seriously feel like I have a new little brother. I absolutely love this kid, and he will be part of my life forever.
Please be in prayer for Kelan as many of his friends do not support his decision to follow Christ. Pray for his continual growth and transformation, and boldness to be set apart from the world. Let me tell you – this man is going to do amazing things for God. We all agree that there is a special anointing on him. And I can't wait to see it unfold.
Some of us on the streets of Dublin
