May Update: Decision to Stay

I want to first thank you all for your prayers. I mentioned last month that I was earnestly seeking God in the direction He would have me go regarding staying here in Ireland or coming back home. Although I denied His answer for a while, eventually I have come to embrace His call for me at this time. These past couples of months have been an interesting experience, but I am now %100 confident in the decision I have made through the leading of the Holy Spirit.
When I wrote my update last month I had begun the process of applying to Friends University in order to get my Masters Degree. I spoke with some people about living situations and was in the process of looking for a job. It has been hard being so far from home and I was very excited about the opportunity to move back to the States in order to be closer to friends and family. The more I made plans to come home, the harder it became to focus on the ministry that was happening here.
As everything was happening, I continued to pray that God would lead me to do His will and not my own. Something that I have learned in my short life is that God always speaks the loudest when He tells you something you don’t want to hear. As I was praying for God to show me His will, I continued to focus on what I wanted rather then what He wanted. As a result, I was miserable. I felt confused about His will, pulled in two different directions, and unclear about what I should do regarding this next year. God does not always speak to us in a loud boom, but is a soft whisper. He pricks us and pulls us until we submit to His will.
God’s first whisper came to me a couple of months ago when God reminded me about the story of Jonah. Jonah was displeased with the city of Nineveh and when asked to preach to them he ran away from God. I can very easily relate to this story. God has called me to minister here in Ireland, but in my heart I have been running from God looking for an excuse to come home.
God then proceeded to speak to me saying that he does not always ask us to do what we want, but to surrender to His will. We can see that even Jesus experienced this in the garden before he was arrested. He prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” God does not always call us to do something that we will, but as His children we must submit to His will and not our own. Even though it was clearly God speaking to me, I quickly wrote it off as my imagination. The truth is that I was denying that God actually wanted me to stay here.
I told Kevin about my plans and he kept kidding with me telling me that I was abandoning a sinking ship. He of course was just joking with me and trusted that I was doing all I could to discern God’s will. A few weeks later I purchased a CD by an artist called Waking Ashland. Interestingly enough, God was able to use one of the songs called “On Hands on Deck” to speak to me again. The lyrics to this song say, “All hands on deck, don’t abandon the ship. You’ll never know what this could have been. All hands on deck, my ship is sinking. Don’t let me go, don’t let me drown.”
When I heard the lyrics to this song I was immediately taken back. Not too long after that, God whispered to me again. He told me, “Jared, I have only begun my work here. If you leave now, you will be extremely disappointed when you hear about what is happening. You will wish that you were a part of it.” Although it was clearly God, I once again convinced myself that it was only my imagination and that I was still unclear about God’s will for me. I continued on my plan for a Masters Degree, and continued on in the turmoil that I was creating for myself.
God continued to speak to me through scripture and through people. There are many other stories that I can tell you about what God did to speak to me. However, the final prick from God that pushed me into this decision came from a pastor at a Baptist church we visited two Sunday’s ago. He was speaking about how God will tell you clearly what he wants you to do with you life, but that He will not bend your arm behind you back and force you to do it. It was that night that I finally gave in to God and surrendered to His will for the next step in my life. It is clear that God wants me in Ireland.
Ever since I decided to make plans to stay, the confusion and indecisiveness has left me. I no longer feel pulled in two directions, but am confident that this is what God wants me to do. I believe that this first year was important to help me get my feet wet, but God has bigger things planned for Tallaght. I am excited to see what God does, and am doing everything to embrace His call on my life rather than fighting it. I feel blessed that He has called me to a troubled area and desires to use me in this place. I understand that it will still not be easy, but I have confidence that He who is in me is greater that He who is in Tallaght or the world!
I also take encouragement from the book of Jonah. When Jonah submitted to God, He did amazing things in the city of Nineveh. And as we look to Christ, it also brings up an interesting question: what would have happened if Christ decided to do his will rather than his Fathers will in heaven? God sometimes calls us to do things that are in His will and not our own. We are called to be obedient.
I have already discussed my staying with the church here, and they are delighted to keep me for another year. As far as I know, right now it is going to be alright for me to continue living in the house. As far as the rest of my financial needs, I will need to raise support again for the next year. I ask that you please be praying about this and support me again if God leads you to do so. I will still be coming home at the end of July and look forward to seeing as many of you as I can. The church here would like for me to return to Ireland by the middle of September. I trust that the Lord will provide the means for this to happen.
Thank you again. God is already beginning to do great things here changing hearts and minds. I would love to tell you more about all that, but I will wait to do so in my next letter. May His grace and peace be with you all.

April Pictures

Visiting the YWAM bass in Northern Ireland.
The group visiting Glendelough.

A burning Car. A common sight.

This is where I took my Spiritual Retreat.

The Bousmans with Dublin behind them.

April Update

Friends and Family,
The weather has been incredible this past month in Ireland. It has been amazing to watch people come out of their homes with the sun. As soon as the sun came out, people were outside enjoying it. It’s been wonderful.
I am sorry that I never followed up on what happened with the break in here a couple of months ago. We did call the police, and they came and spoke with me. A couple of detectives came to my house about a week later as well in order to get an official report. As I described one of the guys that broke in, one detective recognized who I was speaking of and went and got a picture from back at the police station. He showed me the picture and it was in fact the same guy. I do not know what all happened after that. I have not heard from the police since then.
The Lord can turn every bad situation into something good. We know that He does this. The same was true with this incident. While the detectives were at my house, they saw my Bible and began to ask questions about whom I was and why I was here. I ended up being able to share the gospel with the two men. They did not accept Christ at this point, but at least a seed was planted. I pray that the Holy Spirit will bring more people into their lives to help them come to a personal relationship with Christ.
I have been slow to write this month’s update because I have been waiting on the Lord to reveal his plan for me for the future. I have been seeking the Lord for him to show me His will on whether or not I should return to Ireland. During this time, I have also been thinking about the possibility of going back to school and getting my Masters Degree. As of right now, I have applied to Friends University, and it is looking like that is a plausible option for next year. However, I desire to follow God’s plan and not my own. Please continue to pray with me as I seek Him on this decision. Pray that I will be more concerned with God’s will rather than my own. Pray also that I will be more concerned with God’s will than the will of others around me. I am scheduled right now to return to the States on July 23rd.
I have been giving an African lady from the church named Mary music lessons on Saturdays. She loves to sing, but cannot read music. It has been a fun experience for both of us as we dive into the world of music together. There is a lot to learn, and she is very busy with her job and kids. Please pray that God will grace her with grace to understand, and pray that I will be able to affectively teach her. It has been a blessing for me to spend Saturday’s with her and her family. They have been in Tallaght for only a few moths, and it is a true blessing that they are here.
I have recently had the opportunity to get to know a Polish family from the church who is now living in Tallaght as well. This last Sunday, I was able to go with the family to a park and play tennis with the father Michael. I have had wonderful times of fellowship with this family, and they are teaching me many things about the Polish culture and how blessed we really are here in Ireland and back in America. They grew up in Poland during the time of communism, and it has been interesting to learn their perspective on the world, and to learn about how they began to have a relationship with Christ. Again, the Lord has blessed me with the chance to meet with this family.
Friday nights are continuing to go well. We are doing all we can to reward good behavior in hopes that it will help the kids learn to be respectful. The Bousman’s were able to visit in this last month and Tyler and Jordan had the opportunity to come on a Friday night. They were able to see first hand what all happens on a Friday. Tyler mentioned to me that it would be hard to explain how the kids really are. It is definitely different working with kids here in Tallaght than it would be working with kids in America. The struggle I am finding out is this: how do we reach the kids where they are? Christ met people where they were at and applied the gospel to them in their particular situation. How do we affectively do the same thing here? This is a hard code to crack, but I put my faith and trust in the Spirit to reveal himself to both me and these kids.
Kevin and Shirley are planning on coming out to Colorado for a visit around the same time I am coming back. They plan on being in the States from July 19th, to August 10th. I am not positive on the dates, but that is approximately the right time. They are looking forward to seeing many friends and faces. If you would be interested in doing anything special with them, please let me know so that the can begin to organize their time while in America. They are planning on having a week to be by themselves in order to relax as a family, but that leaves two weeks open. They are excited to see you and to be able to introduce you to their son Jake.
Thank you all for your continued support and prayers. May the Lord bless all of you in all you do to further His kingdom. Praise be to the Lord!
His grace and peace be with you,
Jared

March Pictures

My parents in Kilkenny.

Monk Ruins in Killkenny

Some familiar faces for some of you.

Loida visited from Paris.

Malahide Castle.

Amy and Eliana got along well!

David

Dean and Dan.

Dillon grabbed the bag without touching the ground.

Peter trying to pick up the bag with his mouth.

March Update

This past month has been quite interesting. I went to Scotland for a weekend, then I went on the OM weekend with some youth, I got robbed, and then my parents came to visit. At the end of this week the Bousman’s are also visiting. Some things have been good and others bad, however it has all ventured away from what had been normal. I am baffled at how the Lord has not only been using me here, but also how He has been growing me here. I find myself holding onto the promise given in Luke 18: “I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.” God is good. I am continually leaning more and more what it means for Christ to be sufficient for me.
Thank you all for your encouraging words after you read about the break in. I am sorry that I could not get all of you written back, but know that I appreciate everything that all of you said. It was encouraging to hear from you and know your support and prayers are with me.
God is surely at work here. Bill went on a minister’s retreat and came back believing that something was not right with the church. He and Kevin have been talking and praying about the direction the church should go. A new plan of action they believe the Lord is leading them in is changing the entire structure of the church. They are looking at turning the church into a cell church. That is the church will still be meeting once a week to have a celebratory praise service, but the core of the church will meet in small groups each week. The focus of the church would be directed more to what happens in the small groups rather then on the bigger service. The process of switching to this structure would be very gradual and would take some time. However, the wonderful thing is that people are starting to understand that something needs to change. We are not growing, and they understand that we are doing something wrong. Please join us in prayer for the direction of the church here in Tallaght. Pray that the Lord’s will be done. Pray that the leaders of this church will desire only what the Lord desires for this place.
Presenting the gospel to the kids seems to have gone fairly well. Many of the kids are always asking me, “Why are you here?” Hopefully they are beginning to understand that I am here because I want them to know Christ personally. Having my parents visit revealed to me how many kids I have actually gotten to know since I arrived. My small leadership team has decided we are going to simply play games with the kids on Friday nights, and then give a 30 sec word backed up with scripture. Our prayer is that they will see Christ in us, and that the Holy Spirit will drive the small messages home. I trust that as we continue to seek the Lord, He will give us the right things to say in these small messages so that He can draw the kids to Him.
One of the kids asked me on Friday night if I was going to be coming back to Ireland after August. At this particular point I honestly have no idea. Please be praying for me that the Lord will lead me according to His will. I desire to be in a place that I will be affective for His kingdom; no matter where that is.
“But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” – 1 Peter 3:14-16
Thank you for all your support and prayers. His grace and peace be with you all.

The Break In

It has been a rough week this past week. I went on the OM weekend away and that turned out to be quite difficult. I was asked to come along so that I could sponsor some kids from Tallaght. I thought, yeah this will be great. The first night was a nightmare. I could not keep track of the kids, they would not listen to a word I said, and they kept getting into trouble. The main leader with the church I went with ended up having to take control of them and I was left to help another leader with his kids. I felt terrible. I was asked to do a job and was unable to do it. I spent most of the weekend wondering around by myself feeling like a looser. I did not know anybody. When I would try and talk to new people they were nice for a while, but then went back to their normal group. I did get to know some of the kids, and it was great to meet some kids that were not from Tallaght. I began to wonder, am I really called to Tallaght? Can I actually handle things their at all?
The last day we were in Kilkenny I came down with the flu and am still battling it today. I was also sitting there doing nothing and all of the sudden my pad on my glasses fell off. This is very random, but funny enough to mention. I came home from the weekend a bit discouraged. Hammy is a friend I have made here, and it was his kid, nephews and niece whom I was watching. He has been a Christian for four years now coming out of a drug dealing lifestyle. He is a great guy and loves the Lord. Even though I had not met the kids before, I thought I could handle them because he is such a great guy. Hammy was very encouraging to me as were many others.
Last night I was alone at the church at around 6:45 working on the Bible study for that night. Four guys broke into the church. One was in his mid twenties and the others in their early teens. One of the put his hand on my throat, made a fist, and told to give him my wallet or he would kill me. I was very confused at this time. I thought, do people really say that. I thought it was only something you hear in the movies. It was quite surreal. Anyway I had no money in my wallet. I told him that and gave it to him. Then they went through the pastor office tearing it apart looking for cash. Chris, the man who is in charge of collecting the offering has been gone for the past three weeks and so I had collected it. They took all of that money along with the youth account box. In total I believe they took around 350 euro. They tried to take my laptop but I asked him nicely to let me keep it since they were getting away with all the money. I guess my please persuaded him and they did not take it. Amazingly they did not take any of the computers, the stereo, my guitar, or anything other then the cash. I am fine. I am not hurt or injured in any way. Praise the Lord! All of these things seem to be discouraging me away from Tallaght. I wonder who might want me out of here? Reality has sunk in and I know now to take more precautions for safety. However, we must be doing something right to get all of this opposition. It is obvious that the enemy does not like what is happening here. Bill has been changing. Ever since he had that talk with Kevin and we all began to pray, his heart has slowly began to soften. He and Kevin were discussing yesterday a new way forward in order to be more affective spiritually. He is beginning to realize that Sunday mornings are doing nothing for anybody. It is great. God is on the move! Praise the Lord!
So there is the story. It has been a rough week, but things are continuing to progress. I do not know what to do about Friday night because one of the kids that broke in I recognized from that group. He has only been there a couple of times, but I am not in a hurry to run into him again. On the other hand, none of the other kids had anything to do with it, and I still believe that the Lord wants me to share the gospel with them. You know, get that seed planted. And obviously Satan does not want me to share it with them. Please pray with me as I try to understand the Lord’s plan for all of this. His kingdom come, His will be done. Thanks for all your love and support.

His grace and peace be with you all.

February Pictures

Putting up the curtains.
A split picture: before and after the curtains were up.

A final Picture of the hanging curtains.

Glasgow.

Ross: the Irish tour guide!

Steo and I in front of the Glasgow Modern Art Gallery.