Irish Eyes are Smiling. . . well mine are at least.
Ireland wasn’t the selling point for this trip. I had originally thought of it as more of a “Vacation” of sorts, and don’t get me wrong, in some ways it still is. However, when I had planned on going on this race, I was thinking of ministries in all sorts of exotic places, such as Africa and Egypt and Thailand. Not once did Ireland hold a lot of “spiritual” weight for me. I was interested in visiting, but not really excited.
How my opinion has changed. I don’t quite know how to explain it, but something about this place is amazing. There are so many things that I want to talk about… yet I fear that I will never be able to fully describe the experience here. The colors, the people, the ministry, the church, the need, by God.. the need.
I never thought of Ireland in need of Missionaries. Yet as our contact explained to us, less than one percent of Irish are considered Evangelical Christians.
Less than ONE PERCENT. I can’t even begin to fathom the gravity of that statement. This land has been severely hurt by the “Church” and “Religion.” In less than one generation, the people of Ireland have become completely hopeless. They laugh at the idea of God, because their representation of what God is or who He was has been tarnished by years of abuse and misuse. So now God is a joke, and Christians are crazy.
I am so excited to be here.
Ireland has suddenly become the highlight of my trip, and granted, I know I’m only on month three, but I truly believe that Ireland could possibly be the best month of this year. I’m sure it is too early to tell, but who knows?
The Church we are working with is truly a gem, and I’m so excited to be partnering with them this month. They do all sorts of outreach with the local people in Galway, from outright evangelism to cleaning graffiti off of the walls of local businesses. This church truly cares about the people here, and it is refreshing to see a church that is more concerned about the unity of the body of Christ rather than filling seats.
Art is everywhere, creativity flows through Eyre (pronounced Air) Square and Shop street like the river that runs next to the old Church where supposedly Christopher Columbus prayed before he decided to travel to the new world.
I wish I could express the vibe of this place. I don’t suppose I ever could. Every day, I say something along the lines of “I love it here, This place is gorgeous, I love Ireland, I love the world race.” Even that seems shallow compared to the joy I feel. I could probably stay here forever.
So that’s my short update about Ireland. Please forgive the infrequency of my blogs, I have been lazy. Let’s just be honest about it. I hope to post more soon.
Much love, and I miss you all, I really do.
