So I have been here in Ireland for just over two weeks now and I am happy to report that we have a ministry contact and place to stay for the rest month! We are staying with a couple that has been living in Ireland and doing ministry here for over 25 years. For the first eight days we helped them around the house and then in the evenings we have been going on different outreaches. I have pulled a multitude of weeds, and passed out a multitude of tracts…let me elaborate.
Passing out tracts. This is new for me. This is different for me. This is out of my comfort zone (I didn’t think I had a comfort zone until I met Ireland). One Saturday evening we headed into Dublin with tracts in hand and my teammate Tracy by my side we headed for the streets. I felt bold, and I wasn’t really nervous but I continued to think “I’m not really the tract passing out kind of a Christian� and the thought of conviction quickly followed “Who do I think I am?!? Is this right wrong or different?� Different. As Tracy and I prayed about where to stand we found ourselves right outside the exit of a subway. We had prayed that the Lord would bring us people we could talk with and relationships to invest in and as the day went on we each had conversations with different people; conversations with people who had questions, burdens, hopes, hurts, faith, and more questions. We have continued to go into Dublin and talk with people and I have continued to see the Lords goodness come to fruition when we step out in boldness. Let me share the story of a girl named Holly…
I met Holly in Dublin, she was standing listening to a message being shared on the street. Aly Beeler and I struck up conversation with her and we were met with a multitude of questions, legitimate questions. She was raised Catholic but didn’t really hold faith in anything; she said she prayed but she didn’t know to whom or what. She was a recovered addict of drugs and alcohol, as she shared her story full of hurts and disappointments I felt a burden of love for her. Jesus loves Holly so very much and that just what I shared with her, Aly shared a bit of her testimony and shared some of mine but it ended with a declaration of Gods love for her. We went and bought her a Bible because we obviously did not have all of the answers to her questions. She was so grateful and so excited to search out Gods Word; I hope to see her again on the streets of Dublin or perhaps on the streets of gold.
Basically what I’m saying is that we have no idea the difference we can make. Weather it’s passing out a tract, buying a meal for a friend, or sharing “Jesus loves you� the things that may appear small to the natural eye just may be the things that are shifting and bringing Gods Kingdom.
*just a friendly reminder…The same God that created the Irish Sea created you and me…WOAH.
