If late is still better than never . . .

I apologize for not blogging as frequently as I had intended, and for not updating you nearly as often as I should. It has been more difficult than I had thought it would be. I will sincerely make a greater effort to do better from now on.
 
I am currently in Transnistria, a breakaway territory from Moldova.
My team and team Doules are living in what used to be an orphanage. I absolutely love our ministry work this month. Most of our time is spent assisting in teaching English at English classes through the church used as an outreach to the community. We also help with youth clubs, youth evangelism, youth/young adult gatherings/English practice/evangelism in the park, and Sunday school.
 
It has been so long since my last blog post; have I even told you about Ireland? Have I told you about my daily battle against the gloom and mist for a glimpse of the sun?
 
Since I’ve failed to keep you updated, let me go ahead and begin from when we landed in Ireland.
 
Upon my team’s arrival in Ireland, our contact failed to contact us. So after spending most of the day in the Dublin airport trying to figure out what to do or where to go, we decided to call the hostel where we thought it had been pre-arranged for us to stay. We soon found out that not only did the hostel not have our reservation but also that Snoop Dog was in town and all of the hostels and hotels in the area were booked for the concert. Welcome to the World Race.
 

We stayed at CAMAC Valley for 2 nights until Snoop Dog cleared out of town, and then we went to the hostel once we finally got in touch with our ministry contact.
 

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Now that I’ve given you an overview of what our ministry work looked like for the first two weeks in Ireland, do you mind if we take a detour and talk about the weather? Can I tell you about the times that I had to fight to see the sun?Have I told you about my battle against the gloom and mist for a glimpse of the sun, the sun that was so often hidden behind the clouds?
 
The weather in Ireland was typically cloudy with sporadic mists, which felt like the sky was gleeking on us. The sun would peak through every now and then to relieve us of the gloom; we waited earnestly for those moments.
 
Each time the sun would grace us with its warmth, I would honestly drop whatever I was doing at that moment and would sprint for the door, just to soak up the little relief I had outside in the sun before the clouds rolled in and brought back the rain. Sure enough, more often than not, whenever the sun would make an appearance, the rain was never far behind.

Have I mentioned how difficult it was at times to maintain a positive attitude and to keep in mind why we came to Ireland in the first place? Most days we were exhausted from lack of sleep (due to living in a hostel); the overcast and constant drizzle didn’t help when having to walk 20 minutes to and from ministry.
 
The same way the rain and clouds were never far behind the sun so was frustration always following the move of God during our time in Ireland.
 

Revealing the sun:

 
Living in a hostel in Dublin, Ireland for 2 whole weeks was an amazing experience, but a pit stop designed for backpackers is not the most ideal place for missionaries in need of a good night sleep and down time to be energized for the next day of ministry work.  A downside to it was sharing a room with 12 other people who woke up or came in, packed up, stumbled in drunk, etc. at random hours of the night/morning making it difficult to sleep. Although it took up a lot of our time and energy that should have been spent on resting and preparing for our actual assigned ministry, we found ourselves in many conversations with people who didn’t believe in God. We created our own little hostel ministry, welcoming people in who interrupted our feedback sessions and encouraging them to join our worship “services”. We loved every second of it … give or take a few.

Our unofficial ‘hostel ministry’ was the sunshine amongst our exhaustion.

Oh the joys of sorting through bags and bags of urine smelling, who-knows-what stained, donated clothes and bedding at the Lighthouse after a night of approximately 1 hour of sleep. We fought past the smells, insanitation and the disturbing thoughts of what that stain could possibly be; we made the most of it. I miss those days. The heart behind the ministry, the life stories, those faces were the sun shinning through the discomfort.
 

   

 
The last week in Ireland we helped at a junior girls camp for 7-9 year old girls. How exactly can I explain this week? Let me try to paint a picture for you: The day of the 22nd, all of the volunteers awaited with anticipation, the arrival of the 25 precious little girls after spending the past day and a half preparing for them.
 
Five-o-clock hit, the buses pulled up. The doors open and vomit 25 of the most incredibly terrorizing girls. They rip out of the buses like a legion of screeching demons clothed in pink and wearing flowery wellies. 

They took the campground by storm. I swear they possessed supernatural powers, such as lightening speed and the ability to multiply and make 25 seem like 100. Within seconds this hurricane of pink fluff filled every crevasse of that campground and took it upon themselves to get into EVERYTHING!
 
We were warned.
Our ministry host did warn us beforehand that little girls in Ireland aren’t like American little girls. They lack order, respect for authority, discipline, etc. but they do possess a VERY colorful vocabulary, the mind and independence of a teenager/young adult, the knowledge and experience of an adult, the ability to make you feel like a complete idiot in seconds with a single look. We definitely were warned but there was not a single one of us who took the warning serious. I’ve never encountered children like these before and would honestly not be disappointed if I never do so again.
 
Many of these girls experienced more tragedy, heartache, and abuse, in their little lives than should ever be wished upon an individual. Their stories would stun you, and after hearing them we understood their behaviors all the better. Although our hearts broke for these girls, it didn’t make the week with them any easier. But we were there to love them, to gain their trust, to just give them a week of unconditional love. Presenting Jesus to them awarded you with some of the most intense looks of idiocy I had ever received. They knew better than to believe in a god. Their lives did not appear to be an expression of a loving god. It seemed hopeless trying to get through to them. Every morning at our leaders meeting we prayed for them. Some of us spent evenings walking throughout the campsite praying and praying; we prayed that God would show up … and of course, He did. I don’t know what happened except that He made an appearance and all of a sudden girl after girl wanted to know Him. Once they were introduced to Him they would ask for a bible. Once we gave them a bible we practically had to pry it out of their hands to get them to pay attention to the lesson; definitely not the worst problem one could have.
 

12 of the girls met Jesus that week.
 

 

The Sun stepped foot on the enemy’s territory.

Although these girls had one week of Love, they still had to return to their homes, to their broken, abusive families. Pray for these girls; please pray for the work God has started.
 

The sun shinning in the midst of darkness

 
I guess, for me July was a month of recognizing the sun amongst the midst and gloom. At times it has been difficult, but once found it brightened up the entire day. These were a few of those moments.
 

… and there was of course the time we snuck away from the kids camp to pet cows, chase sheep and feed horses.

    

 

God is invading the nations and this is a glimpse of what it looks like. My next blog post, also far overdue, will be a recap of Ukraine. 

I still need $2500 by October 1st in order to travel to the 8 remaining countries in Africa and Asia. 
If you would like to support me, then please click the support me link to the left of the screen. Thank you! Thank you!