Becoming Greek

Home Safe

We are home safe after a day of airports and flying. It was great to be in Ireland, but there is no place like home. Pretty soon the only place that will feel like home for me will be the airplane......

The last assembly for our team was a hoot. It started with a student proclaiming how good we smelled. It was Fabreeze, not our natural body odor.....

We witnessed several situations on the way back to the building of violence and hurt. People here can be so hurtful to one another. I have said this before, but I am glad the church here is not in a back corner.

Here are some of my experiences from last night: Tucker and I ran into a few students that we had built relationship with last week. They remembered our names. We remembered theirs. We had general relationship built from the week before, and had a chance to speak on a deeper level. I thought how great it would be if you were on those walls on a regular basis.

I had the chance to run into a student who was involved in youth while I was here in the city. He is now struggling and it was cool to still have relationship. I am praying for Paul tonight, and it was nice to reconnect. I have not seen him in seven years. This reminds me never to underestimate the power of investment.

Street pastors was another night of pure ministry. I am shocked at the things we see, but should the church shy away from the world? Andrew had a chat with the church members tonight and gave this perspective. Friday night on the walls is one of the most important services of the week. He stated that most of these kids would never walk into a church service, but they will hang out on the walls and talk with us. When the church begins to retreat it begins to age and dry up. The church here is on the move. Instead of looking at this location as a no mans land for Christians they have embraced these kids.

This morning we were at my favorite Primary school. This is the last assembly the Ireland team in 2003 ever did. The students sang to us, they laughed, and slapped fives with us (that hurt by the way). The feel was just so great. We have another assembly this afternoon, and the other team is at a school all day. Then tonight we have street pastors. Pray we have tremendous opportunities to share Christ on the city walls.
I was thinking about this mornings school, and how life interlinks things together. There is no accident or chaos in God’s plan of lives. I just have to realize that every individual we talk to was orchestrated by God with precision accuracy. There is not an uncalculated accident in God’s eyes. Seven years ago I made the decision to come to Ireland for three months. I never thought my life would be so entwined here. I praise God for things like this, and pray that we are able to entwine these students closer to God in all we do.

I will post tonight about the Street Pastors.

Our kids have jumped out of thier comfort zones in so many ways. I am blown away at the Life Stories they share. These guys have been doing an excellent job. Hans shared in youth last night and it was so good..... Also, tonight the team passed out flyers in a few estates to promote their kids event in two weeks. We have been a very busy group..... This is a picture with one of the Cornerstone church members Stephen. He just wants to Go after God. As we sat in the assembly he was just breaking for the students. He just wished he could see all of them come to Christ. His life has been changed radically, and he inspires me.

I am just going to share a quick little nugget from today. We were in a school that wanted us to have some extra time in the assembly. We had been in the assembly for an hour and fifteen minutes and then they asked us to do another half hour. We had a program planned and then we were doing some break out small groups with the kids. It was really neat to see our students close the sessions with prayer. There was an evident mark of God on the room. We had some extra time and so we did “now behold the lamb” at the end of the assembly. There was a tangible move of God in the room….. Even the head teacher talked to the students about finding a relationship with God through this team. It was so cool in the same style of culture to show our relationship with God. Most of the time you shine Jesus through life, but this was done through worship. We had a tremendous day. Andrew’s sons were at one of the other schools we were at today and said we were a hit. Kids in the playground were mimicking the Jump in Jump out…. (thanks to Vailsburg A/G in Newark)
I can’t believe we will be home in only a few hours….. I am impressed with these students. When we sit in the room for devotions, I sit with greatness. In so many ways we minister as peers. This is a devoted group of students that have done things that has blown away my expectations. I love them a lot.

Ministry Day

Today was a great here in Ireland. We had something that has never happened to me before at a school here in the city. We had a school that had booked us for three assemblies, and they loved it. They liked it so much at the High School level that they booked the Jr high school that afternoon. We had a tremendous day. Also, another team visited a special needs school, and it was such a fun experience. Today was ironic for me because the girls who helped me pick out the shirt last night were in today’s assembly. They were a ton of fun, and they were so receptive to the assembly message. Also, there was a couple of girls that snuck to all the assemblies we did. They were such neat kids…..
Tonight we helped in their youth gathering and Hans shared. He did an excellent job. I hope all is well in PA!!!

Giants Causway

We spent the evening at the Giants Causway today.... It is a really amazing geology snapshot. The students had a lot of fun hiking and enjoying the view. I will have to share more about this location in another post someday.