There are more blogs to come in my series about the lessons I’m learning, but I wanted to interrupt that and share in pictures what we’ve been up to this month!
Home Sweet Campsite…
The first day we arrived at the Salthill Caravan Campsite, an adorable
little ball of energy named Samuel came right up to our tents and was
ready to be best friends. Ashely is awesome when it comes to kids, and
she was thrilled to have a little buddy to play games with. Samuel
brought his twin sister, Catherine, and older brother, Thomas, to play
too! For probably the whole last week they were here, they joined us for
our nightly feedback. When we first met them, they looked at us weird
when we asked if they had any prayer requests. By the end of our time
together, they were praying with us and even enduring the ridicule that
other kids from the camp gave them for praying.
little ball of energy named Samuel came right up to our tents and was
ready to be best friends. Ashely is awesome when it comes to kids, and
she was thrilled to have a little buddy to play games with. Samuel
brought his twin sister, Catherine, and older brother, Thomas, to play
too! For probably the whole last week they were here, they joined us for
our nightly feedback. When we first met them, they looked at us weird
when we asked if they had any prayer requests. By the end of our time
together, they were praying with us and even enduring the ridicule that
other kids from the camp gave them for praying.
Samuel
Umoja with Thomas, Samuel, and Catherine on their last night here.
We use the campsites laundry room for our “community room”. We eat meals
here, hang out, read, watch movies and Prison Break (nightly) together
in here. It is a nice little room that keeps us warm and dry… and it’s
become our home base.
here, hang out, read, watch movies and Prison Break (nightly) together
in here. It is a nice little room that keeps us warm and dry… and it’s
become our home base.
This is right outside the laundry room.
Our backyard is a great place to look and bask in the glory of our God. Such wonder and majesty He’s created this place with.
The Streets…
We have been invading the streets of Galway City with outreaches from community clean up to face painting on Shoppe Street. We have prayed with people, given countless free hugs, and had God focused conversations with anyone who will stop. We’ve transformed the faces of little children into their favorite superheros and butterflies, and got to talk to their parents about faith in the meantime.
TIA’s corner face painting booth.
She was a masterpiece before she came to us. But we got to make her into a tiger masterpiece 🙂
For the first time ever, I participated in street evangelism. It was a learning experience for sure – of what exactly evangelism is, and to have no reputation. Evangelism to me is spreading the gospel any way possible. It’s not a day, it’s a way. A way of life that I want to choose to live. Sometimes I got to share Christ by simply chatting with someone about why I’m even in Ireland, why I’m on the World Race. Other times I got to present the full message of who Jesus is to them. It looks different every time. And as far as reputation goes, I am dead to myself so I shouldn’t care what people think of me. Instead, I should care about where they will spend eternity. We had lots of interesting and awesome chats, and the Irish people have captured my heart more and more.
You’re the God of this city, you’re the Lord of this people, You are.
Who knew cleaning would be so fun? I guess when you are in such good company, anything is a blast! We’ve been scrubbing graffiti, picking up trash, and offering stores to serve them in any way they would like. We even got to paint a building! Most people respond in shock that there is no charge. We get to wear these rockin’ orange vests, and lots of conversations are struck up about why we are doing this and who it’s through.
“Discovery Church City Team” YEAH BABY
Discovery Church…
Even though the scenery is breathtaking, and the city is a blast, what
makes this month something to rave about is Discovery Church. The people
who make up this Spirit present fellowship are out of this world. The
way in which they practice community, to the fullest sense of the word,
has been an astronomical blessing. It is ‘probably’ the best church in the world 🙂 Each home we’ve been welcomed into have completely opened
their hearts to us, and we couldn’t be more thankful.
makes this month something to rave about is Discovery Church. The people
who make up this Spirit present fellowship are out of this world. The
way in which they practice community, to the fullest sense of the word,
has been an astronomical blessing. It is ‘probably’ the best church in the world 🙂 Each home we’ve been welcomed into have completely opened
their hearts to us, and we couldn’t be more thankful.
Doing anything with the people of Discovery Church was always such fun! This is us and Jimmy, as we labeled 9000 worship CD’s to slip into the doors of Galway homes.
This is Podrick, teaching us the art of hobnobbing.
Carrie even got to join the band for worship and play the congas!
Downtime…
We’ve gotten to do some pretty deadly things here on our days off! We
hang out at the local coffee shops (An Tober Nua is our favorite of
course… it’s owned and operated by members of Discovery Church!),
visited ancient and beautiful castles and ruins, and even gotten to see
one of the 7 wonders of the world! Hanging out with my teammates,
Koinonia, and our new friends from Discovery has been a defnite highlight of this month as well. I love
these guys.
hang out at the local coffee shops (An Tober Nua is our favorite of
course… it’s owned and operated by members of Discovery Church!),
visited ancient and beautiful castles and ruins, and even gotten to see
one of the 7 wonders of the world! Hanging out with my teammates,
Koinonia, and our new friends from Discovery has been a defnite highlight of this month as well. I love
these guys.
I’m pretty sure I found the best hot chocolate in the world… Hot Chocolate Coconut Dream from the Coco Cafe.
Me, Ashley and Alissa at the Cliffs of Moher!
This is the Prison Break crew. We watch it together in the community room and are in character here. From left to right: Kige is Lincoln, Carrie is Dr. Sarah, I am Sucre, and Tyler is Scoffield. Good times.
Angela and I with Jimmy and Pastor Paul at Ross Errilly Friary, built in 1351. It is one of the best preserved medieval monastic sites in the country.
