November Update

I have been back in Ireland for about a month, and God has been really good at helping me to transition back into life over here. God has blessed me with a house mate. Steo has made day to day living incredibly different, but amazingly wonderful. We get along very well, and it has already been a tremendous help in keeping me from feeling lonely. I had hoped to be able to really invest in his life, and this has made that possibility become very easy. Please pray with me that our living together will be a benefit to Steo’s spiritual growth as well as my own.
God has already helped me to make new connections with new people. The Methodist church hired a new lady to run the center on a daily basis. I began talking with her and discovered that her daughter had just taken a missions trip to Greensburg KS in order to help with the rebuilding of the town. How incredible is that!? It turns out that she knows Tim Garrett who used to live here and work as a youth worker for the Lucan Presbyterian Church. Tim then went on to be a Youth Ministries professor at Barclay College. It was Tim who brought Tyler and Chris Bousman to Ireland, and it was through that trip that they became acquainted with Kevin and Shirley. It is truly amazing to see God working.
I went on a surfing trip with a friend named Phil Thomson. Some of you may remember him. He was one of the two guys that came over to America to meet the group that was already here. Phil is an active leader of DV8 which is a Christian gathering that happens once a month. Last year I had the privilege of helping with the worship team. I believe God is calling me to a bigger role in that team this year, and I am hoping to get more involved in the leadership of DV8. I was able to talk to Phil about it extensively on our trip, and he is excited to help be do just that. I am excited to see how God uses this ministry this year.
Everything went well with my visa, and I am officially able to stay in the country for another year. However, I discovered that they base it off of my original visa date, and I only have legal status here until August 3. I spoke to Bill about this and my future plans and it is a possibility that I will only be here through July. We spoke about the continued process of investing in people and helping to raise and train others who can lead the music after I am gone. Please be praying with me that God will not only lead me, but others to step up into this leadership role. My prayer is that I will not be leaving a gap when I leave.
The Friday night soccer club has been put on hold through at least Christmas. I am having trouble getting people to be committed again to this ministry, and it is something that I cannot tackle alone. Again, I am fearful to be the main leader of this ministry because I do not want to leave a gap behind. I really long to see an Irish person step up into this role so that the ministry started can continue and the kids will not feel abandoned. I am more than willing to help and support this ministry; I just do not believe God is calling me to be the leader of it this year.
Kevin and Shirley believe that they will only be at the Methodist Church for another six to twelve months. Kevin has been active in working on starting his own church which will be called Shine Ministries. He believe that this is the direction God is calling him, and believes that he is being called away from the Methodist Church.
A local TV station televises church services from around Ireland regularly. The Tallaght Methodist Church has been asked to be a part of this and have been offered the chance to lead the service on December 23. This is a very exciting opportunity that we are all looking forward to. Please pray that God will help us to be affective as we prepare for this service.
I am also working quickly to help put together a carol service that will be held on December 17. We are hoping to get a local choir to come and sing some carols as well as having some of our local congregation to share their talents that God has blessed them with. I am excited to be able to take of an active role in this service as I did not do much for it last year.
The men’s and women’s groups that were started are continuing to go very well. The men’s group meets here at my house every Tuesday evening. God has really been emphasizing to me the need to be submissive and serve on another. A huge problem that I have seen amongst Christians here in Tallaght (not only the Methodist Church) is their lack of unity. Everybody thinks that they know best and nobody wants to listen to one another. I often feel that everyone is going in there own direction and causing nobody to go anywhere. This is a huge prayer concern. I believe that if these people would submit to one another and consider others better than themselves (Phil 2:3) that unity would come to this place. Please think of us in your prayers as we strive to follow Christ’s example of servant hood (Phil 2:6).
I was surprised at how quickly my money was running out since I have been back in Ireland, and quickly learned that the exchange rate was $1.45 to €1. God has been very good to provide me with all that I need even though I was not expecting the decrease of the value of the dollar. I do ask that you will pray that God will continue to provide me with what I need, and will lead me to be wise with the money that He provides.
Thank you all very much for your constant prayer and support. May God bless and keep you in all that you do.